Toward Laser Pulse Waveform Analysis for Scene Interpretation

Laser based sensing for scene interpretation and obstacle detection is challenged by partially viewed targets, wiry structures, and porous objects. We propose to address such problems by looking at the laser pulse waveform. We designed a new laser sensor with off-the-shelf components. In this paper we report on the design and the evaluation of this low cost and compact sensor, suitable for mobile robot application. We determine classical parameters such as operation range, repeatability, accuracy, resolution, but we also analyze laser pulse waveforms modes and mode shape in order to extract additional information on the scene.