This paper present results from a series of preliminary tests to evaluate a scannerless range-imaging device as a potential sensor enhancement tool for divers and as a potential identification sensor for deployment on small unmanned underwater vehicles. The device, developed by Sandia National Laboratories, forms an image on the basis of point-to-point range to the target rather than an intensity image. The range image is constructed through a classical continuous wave phase detection technique which synchronously couples a modulated light source to a gain- modulated image intensifier in the receiver. Range information is calculated on the basis of the phase difference between the transmitted and reflected signal. The initial feasibility test at the Coastal Systems Station showed the device to be effective at imagin glow-contrast underwater targets such as concertina wire. It also demonstrated success at imagin a 21-inch sphere at a depth of 10 feet in the water column through a wavy air-water interface.

Date Published: 23 July 1999
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 3711, Information Systems for Navy Divers and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Operating in Very Shallow Water and Surf Zone Regions, (23 July 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.354650

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3711:
Information Systems for Navy Divers and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Operating in Very Shallow Water and Surf Zone Regions
Jody L. Wood-Putnam, Editor(s)