# Long-range depth imaging using a single-photon detector array and non-local data fusion

## TL;DR

This paper presents a novel long-range 3D depth imaging system combining single-photon detector arrays with non-local data fusion, achieving sub-centimeter accuracy at 150 meters for applications like autonomous vehicles and security.

## Contribution

It introduces a new method integrating high-resolution single-photon detectors with non-local data fusion to enhance long-range depth imaging accuracy.

## Key findings

- Achieves sub-centimeter 3D depth resolution at 150 meters
- Combines optical imaging with sparse photon data for improved accuracy
- Demonstrates effective depth imaging in low signature regions

## Abstract

The ability to measure and record high-resolution depth images at long stand-off distances is important for a wide range of applications, including connected and automotive vehicles, defense and security, and agriculture and mining. In LIDAR (light detection and ranging) applications, single-photon sensitive detection is an emerging approach, offering high sensitivity to light and picosecond temporal resolution, and consequently excellent surface-to-surface resolution. The use of large format CMOS single-photon detector arrays provides high spatial resolution and allows the timing information to be acquired simultaneously across many pixels. In this work, we combine state-of-the-art single-photon detector array technology with non-local data fusion to generate high resolution three-dimensional depth information of long-range targets. The system is based on a visible pulsed illumination system at 670~nm and a 240~$\times$ 320 pixel array sensor, achieving sub-centimeter precision in all three spatial dimensions at a distance of 150 meters. The non-local data fusion combines information from an optical image with sparse sampling of the single-photon array data, providing accurate depth information at low signature regions of the target.