• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.415-423
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• 2016

A TOF type LADAR is utilized for unmanned systems(UGV, UAV, USV, etc.), precision digital elevation maps, and electronic fences. Electronical and optical signal processing techniques are melted in LADAR sensor systems. In this study important factors are examined for high reliability sensor development. By considering those factors, hardwares and softwares of a test LADAR is developed and tested, We report the practical design tips, test results, and future works for better LADAR system development.

• Journal of Korean Society for Geospatial Information Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.87-95
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• 2008

Ladar (Laser Detection And Ranging, Lidar) is a sensor to acquire precise distances to the surfaces of target region using laser signals, which can be suitably applied to ATD (Automatic Target Detection) for guided missiles or aerial vehicles recently. It provides a range image in which each measured distance is expressed as the brightness of the corresponding pixel. Since the precise 3D models can be generated from the Ladar range image, more robust identification and recognition of the targets can be possible. If we simulate the data of Ladar sensor, we can efficiently use this simulator to design and develop Ladar sensors and systems and to develop the data processing algorithm. The purposes of this study are thus to simulate the signals of a Ladar sensor based on linear frequency modulation and to create range images from the simulated Ladar signals. We first simulated the laser signals of a Ladar using FM chirp modulator and then computed the distances from the sensor to a target using the FFT process of the simulated signals. Finally, we created the range image using the distances set.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.687-698
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• 2012

LADAR systems can rapidly acquire 3D point clouds by sampling the target surfaces using laser pulses. Such point clouds are widely used for diverse applications such as DSM/DTM generation, forest biomass estimation, target detection, wire avoidance and so on. Many kinds of LADAR systems have been developed with their respective purposes and applications. Particularly, Geiger mode imaging LADAR systems are increasingly utilized since they are energy efficient thank to extremely sensitive detectors incorporated into the systems. The purpose of this research is the performance assessment of a Geiger mode imaging LADAR system based on simulation with the real system parameters. We thus developed a simulation method of such a LADAR system by modeling its geometric, radiometric, optic and electronic aspects. Based on the simulation, we performed the performance assessment of a newly designed system to derive the outlier ratio and false alarm rate expected during its operation in almost real environment with reasonable system parameters. The proposed simulation and performance assessment method will be effectively utilized for system design and optimization, and test data generation.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2019

We describe a common optical system that merges a LADAR system, which generates a point cloud, and a more traditional imaging system operating in the LWIR, which generates image data. The optimum diameter of the entrance pupil was determined by analysis of detection ranges of the LADAR sensor, and the result was applied to design a common optical system using LADAR sensors and LWIR sensors; the performance of these sensors was then evaluated. The minimum detectable signal of the $128{\times}128-pixel$ LADAR detector was calculated as 20.5 nW. The detection range of the LADAR optical system was calculated to be 1,000 m, and according to the results, the optimum diameter of the entrance pupil was determined to be 15.7 cm. The modulation transfer function (MTF) in relation to the diffraction limit of the designed common optical system was analyzed and, according to the results, the MTF of the LADAR optical system was 98.8% at the spatial frequency of 5 cycles per millimeter, while that of the LWIR optical system was 92.4% at the spatial frequency of 29 cycles per millimeter. The detection, recognition, and identification distances of the LWIR optical system were determined to be 5.12, 2.82, and 1.96 km, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2013

In this paper, we propose a CUDA(Common Unified Device Architecture) based SW(software) design method for CPU(Central Processing Unit) and GPU(Graphic Processing Unit) parallel structure to implement real-time process in 3D Laser ladar(LADAR) imaging system. LADAR is a complex system to generate 3-dimensional image based on the laser ranging information, and requires massive process resources in each phase. Therefore, designing and implementing parallel structure are crucial to realize a real-time process within limited system resource. As a conclusion, we can meet the speed of required real-time process allocating separable work load to CUDA GPU by analyzing process algorithm in each phase and confirm the process speed increase by 46%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.387-390
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• 2017

With the advent of high-resolution sensors in the embedded field, the demand for heterogeneous computing continues to increase. Logic Module is an embedded system for controlling LADAR system components and for real-time 3D imaging of laser radar image data. In this paper, we discuss the design of Logic Module and the signal processing using CPU-GPU heterogeneous computing.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.176-183
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• 2013

In this paper, we report the design, fabrication and characterization of the 3-Dimensional optical receiver for a Laser Detection And Ranging (LADAR) system. The optical receiver is composed of three parts; $16{\pm}16$ Geiger Mode InGaAs Avalanche Photodiode (APD) array device operated at 1560 nm wavelength, Read Out Integrated Circuit (ROIC) measuring the Time-Of-Flight (TOF) of the return signal reflected from target objects, a package and cooler maintaining the proper operational condition of the detector and control electronics. We can confirm that the LADAR system can detect the signal from a target up to 1.2 km away, and it showed low Dark Count Rate (DCR) of less than 140 kHz, and higher than 28%-Photon Detection Efficiency (PDE). This is considered to be the best performance of the $16{\pm}16$ FPA APD optical receiver for a LADAR system.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2013

In this paper, we report design, fabrication and characterization of the WBRM (Wide Band Receiver Module) for LADAR (LAser Detection And Ranging) application. The WBRM has been designed and fabricated using self-made APD (Avalanche Photodiode) and TIA (Trans-impedance Amplifier). The APD and TIA chips have been integrated on 12-pin TO8 header using self-made ceramic submount and circuit. The WBRM module showed 450 ps of rise time, and corresponding 780 MHz bandwidth. Furthermore, it showed very low output noise less than 0.8 mV, and higher SNR than 15 for 150 nW of MDS(Minimum Detectable Signal). To the author's knowledge, this is the best performance of an optical receiver module for LIDAR fabricated by 200 um InGaAs APD.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.90-95
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• 2014

The system design and the system performance analysis of 3D imaging laser radar system for the mapping purpose is addressed in this article. For the mapping, a push-bloom scanning method is utilized. The pulsed fiber laser with high pulse energy and high pulse repetition rate is used for the light source of laser radar system. The high sensitive linear mode InGaAs avalanche photo-diode is used for the laser receiver module. The time-of-flight of laser pulse from the laser to the receiver is calculated by using high speed FPGA based signal processing board. To reduce the walk error of laser pulse regardless of the intensity differences between pulses, the time of flight is measured from peak to peak of laser pulses. To get 3D image with a single pixel detector, Risley scanner which stirs the laser beam in an ellipsoidal pattern is used. The system laser energy budget characteristics is modeled using LADAR equation, from which the system performances such as the pulse detection probability, false alarm and etc. are analyzed and predicted. The test results of the system performances are acquired and compared with the predicted system performance. According to test results, all the system requirements are satisfied. The 3D image which was acquired by using the laser radar system is also presented in this article.

• Proceedings of the Korean Association of Geographic Inforamtion Studies Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.265-268
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• 2008

Lidar(Light Detection and Hanging, Ladar)는 물체에 반사되어 되돌아오는 광학신호를 관측하여 물체와의 거리를 측정하는 센서로 정밀한 3차원 모델 생성 및 도시지역의 변화탐지 등에 효율적으로 적용될 수 있다. 시뮬레이션은 시스템의 동작을 인공적으로 만들어 내고, 이 동작의 실행을 관찰하여 실제 시스템의 특성을 추론하는 일련의 활동으로, 하드웨어의 설계 및 분석, 보완, 성능 평가 등에 효율적으로 이용된다. 본 연구에서는 Lidar 시스템의 원리 및 구조 분석을 통해서 Lidar 데이터를 시뮬레이션하기 위한 소프트웨어를 설계하였다. Lidar의 특성이 시뮬레이션 소프트웨어에 정확하게 구현되도록 하기위해 Lidar 동작과 관련된 내부 및 외부요소를 분석하고 기능에 따라 추상화하여 소프트웨어 모들로 구성하였다. 시스템 내부요소로 송신부 수신부 신호/영상처리부 모델과 외부환경요소로 비행환경 모델, 타겟 모델, 대기 모델을 정의하였다. 또한, Lidar 시스템 실행 중에 발생하는 주요 프로세스를 함수 모듈로 정의함으로서, 모델들 간의 구조적인 관계를 정의하였다. 본 연구의 설계결과는 이후 Lidar시뮬레이션 소프트웨어의 보다 체계적인 구현에 적용될 예정이다.