What are possible applications for wide range time of flight measurement?
In the course of a university project we are currently involved in a new technology that captures environments and creates 3D models thereof. In particular, the technology offers the following benefits:
- Captures large areas of up to 32x32ft (or 10x10m)
- Offers high precision of 0.03" (or 1mm)
- Detects motions in real-time with up to 1000fps (Response time: 1ms)
- Offers high resolution of 640x480 (VGA)
- Works independent of light (both bright and dark light conditions)
- Is resistent to interference due to HDDM (High Definition Distance Measurement)
- Is portable (0.8"x0.8")
- Consumes low power (50mW-500mW)
- Captures an angle of 180°; when combining two modules 360° would be possible.
What application fields / problems could be relevant that would require operating in such large areas, at given precision and time resolution? We would be highly interested in applications or problems with focus on a rather large group of users.
thanks for your remarks...the main reason why we posted here was to get further insights from experts. Since we are a student team at a business university, we do not have a very deep understanding of all the technical specifications.
Therefore, we would like to know what application flields come to your mind for such (or a similar) technology. What potential could such an invention have?
Looking foreward to getting to know interesting ideas from you!
@ Spike Cyclone: The technology we are talking about is not based on laser scanning but on a infrared TOF-3D chip.
how does .03" relate to 640x480? are we measuring a building here, or topography? what about something like a recess? you need a line-of-sight for your technology, so if for example your camera is from above and there is a canopy, you're not recording the door below it?
if your looking at larger topographies there may be a use for city/county water drainage and retention planning. many municipalities keep gis documents for that reason, and with the recent floods and blowing up dams and whatnot, you could make a case that your technology could help save farms or whatever. can you easily convert your data into gis without unreasonable file sizes? how easy is it to accurately stitch multiple 32' sections together?
how does motion help if modelling a 3d environment? models don't have motion; animations do...
another thought. is this thing how the kinect works? maybe instead of modelling real environments, you want to look at your camera as an input device for sketching or drafting or whatever, like the stuff tom cruise does in minority report but without the gloves. maybe this could provide and advantage for people who sit in a cube all day but have some sort of disability like carpal tunnel, maybe poor eyesight?
How about a real-time production environment where cuts, chamfers, miters, etc in a production shop are shown in real time on a monitor for quality control. Even better would be a projector overlay with surface mapping that updates in real time - eliminate the need for tape measures and such.
This is pretty common in analytical sciences using mass spectrometers. In this application, you'll see it refered to as MADLI-TOF (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionizing). Basically, particles get ionized and accelerated to a common level of kinetic energy (the MALDI part). Their movement gets recorded and modeled (the TOF part). This is a gross oversimplification, but at least it will give you something to Google.
Your ideas are really great! Thanks a lot, that helps us a lot :-)
@curtkram: thanks for your interesting remarks and ideas. I especially like your last application idea. You are right, the technology is quite similar to that of Kinect, but offers some advantages, at least to our point of view. Foremost it is more precise. Since the chip is based on infrared which sends out signals that are then reflected and sent back, line-of-sight is necessary. What we meant with motion is that the chip can be located at a moving unit without affecting its precision. Regarding the combination of various sensors, there are no limits at the moment. However, since the technology is still in development, not all specifications are clear yet.
Your comments are really interesting and are helping us a lot. Do you have encountered any other problems that could be eventually solved by this technology?
@Nocholas Cecchi: sounds very interesting. What specific issues in the field of quality control are faced at the moment and could potentially be solved with the new technology?
@Medusa: thanks for your comment. Have you got any other potential application fields in your mind?
give it to goolge and have them stick it on their cars with the cameras. then they can create a rudimentary and highly flawed but still cool sketchup model of everywhere. except they sold sketchup.
time of flight, phase shift, infra red, laser, modulated light, put it on a car, put it on a boat, 180, 360, whats special about this bit? Time of flight measurement is not new. The resolution is not remarkable. is it that it is all in a chip, that it can rapidly rescan the same area over and over, like say frames hitting the ccd of a digital camera as opposed the lengthy rotations of a a-hem old fashioned scanner? Im curious. please, do tell. my fingers are too tired to google. and what kind of business school is this? my curiosity is piqued.
im old and slow. help me young ones.
May 6, 13 8:08 am ·
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What are possible applications for wide range time of flight measurement?
What are possible applications for wide range time of flight measurement?
In the course of a university project we are currently involved in a new technology that captures environments and creates 3D models thereof. In particular, the technology offers the following benefits:
- Captures large areas of up to 32x32ft (or 10x10m)
- Offers high precision of 0.03" (or 1mm)
- Detects motions in real-time with up to 1000fps (Response time: 1ms)
- Offers high resolution of 640x480 (VGA)
- Works independent of light (both bright and dark light conditions)
- Is resistent to interference due to HDDM (High Definition Distance Measurement)
- Is portable (0.8"x0.8")
- Consumes low power (50mW-500mW)
- Captures an angle of 180°; when combining two modules 360° would be possible.
What application fields / problems could be relevant that would require operating in such large areas, at given precision and time resolution? We would be highly interested in applications or problems with focus on a rather large group of users.
Thank you in advance for your support!
laser scanning sucks! what are the possible applications of a pencil? gotta begin at the beginning.
high resolution of 640x480 (VGA)
LOL
Hey...
thanks for your remarks...the main reason why we posted here was to get further insights from experts. Since we are a student team at a business university, we do not have a very deep understanding of all the technical specifications.
Therefore, we would like to know what application flields come to your mind for such (or a similar) technology. What potential could such an invention have?
Looking foreward to getting to know interesting ideas from you!
@ Spike Cyclone: The technology we are talking about is not based on laser scanning but on a infrared TOF-3D chip.
questions back at you
how does .03" relate to 640x480? are we measuring a building here, or topography? what about something like a recess? you need a line-of-sight for your technology, so if for example your camera is from above and there is a canopy, you're not recording the door below it?
if your looking at larger topographies there may be a use for city/county water drainage and retention planning. many municipalities keep gis documents for that reason, and with the recent floods and blowing up dams and whatnot, you could make a case that your technology could help save farms or whatever. can you easily convert your data into gis without unreasonable file sizes? how easy is it to accurately stitch multiple 32' sections together?
how does motion help if modelling a 3d environment? models don't have motion; animations do...
another thought. is this thing how the kinect works? maybe instead of modelling real environments, you want to look at your camera as an input device for sketching or drafting or whatever, like the stuff tom cruise does in minority report but without the gloves. maybe this could provide and advantage for people who sit in a cube all day but have some sort of disability like carpal tunnel, maybe poor eyesight?
How about a real-time production environment where cuts, chamfers, miters, etc in a production shop are shown in real time on a monitor for quality control. Even better would be a projector overlay with surface mapping that updates in real time - eliminate the need for tape measures and such.
This is pretty common in analytical sciences using mass spectrometers. In this application, you'll see it refered to as MADLI-TOF (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionizing). Basically, particles get ionized and accelerated to a common level of kinetic energy (the MALDI part). Their movement gets recorded and modeled (the TOF part). This is a gross oversimplification, but at least it will give you something to Google.
Your ideas are really great! Thanks a lot, that helps us a lot :-)
@curtkram: thanks for your interesting remarks and ideas. I especially like your last application idea. You are right, the technology is quite similar to that of Kinect, but offers some advantages, at least to our point of view. Foremost it is more precise. Since the chip is based on infrared which sends out signals that are then reflected and sent back, line-of-sight is necessary. What we meant with motion is that the chip can be located at a moving unit without affecting its precision. Regarding the combination of various sensors, there are no limits at the moment. However, since the technology is still in development, not all specifications are clear yet.
Your comments are really interesting and are helping us a lot. Do you have encountered any other problems that could be eventually solved by this technology?
@Nocholas Cecchi: sounds very interesting. What specific issues in the field of quality control are faced at the moment and could potentially be solved with the new technology?
@Medusa: thanks for your comment. Have you got any other potential application fields in your mind?
Best regards :-)
give it to goolge and have them stick it on their cars with the cameras. then they can create a rudimentary and highly flawed but still cool sketchup model of everywhere. except they sold sketchup.
time of flight, phase shift, infra red, laser, modulated light, put it on a car, put it on a boat, 180, 360, whats special about this bit? Time of flight measurement is not new. The resolution is not remarkable. is it that it is all in a chip, that it can rapidly rescan the same area over and over, like say frames hitting the ccd of a digital camera as opposed the lengthy rotations of a a-hem old fashioned scanner? Im curious. please, do tell. my fingers are too tired to google. and what kind of business school is this? my curiosity is piqued.
im old and slow. help me young ones.
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