Theoretical and experimental error analysis of continuous-wave time-of-flight range cameras

Mario Frank; Matthias Plaue; Holger Rapp; Ullrich Koethe; Bernd Jähne; Fred A. Hamprecht

doi:10.1117/1.3070634

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1 January 2009 Theoretical and experimental error analysis of continuous-wave time-of-flight range cameras

Mario Frank, Matthias Plaue, Holger Rapp, Ullrich Koethe, Bernd Jähne, Fred A. Hamprecht

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Optical Engineering, 48(1), 013602 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3070634

Abstract

We offer a formal investigation of the measurement principle of time-of-flight 3-D cameras using correlation of amplitude-modulated continuous-wave signals. These sensors can provide both depth maps and IR intensity pictures simultaneously and in real time. We examine the theory of the data acquisition in detail. The variance of the range measurements is derived in a concise way and we show that the computed range follows an offset normal distribution. The impact of quantization of that distribution is discussed. All theoretically investigated errors like the behavior of the variance, depth bias, saturation and quantization effects are supported by experimental results.

©(2009) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

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Mario Frank, Matthias Plaue, Holger Rapp, Ullrich Koethe, Bernd Jähne, and Fred A. Hamprecht "Theoretical and experimental error analysis of continuous-wave time-of-flight range cameras," Optical Engineering 48(1), 013602 (1 January 2009). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3070634

Published: 1 January 2009

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