Highly Sensitive Flash LADAR Camera

To address the urgent need for 3D flash-lidar technology for landing on solar system bodies and for spacecraft rendezvous and docking with satellites, an effort is proposed to fabricate, characterize, and test a versatile, high-sensitivity InGaAs APD 3D flash lidar and to advance the technology-readiness level (TRL) of lidar technologies suitable for NASA mission requirements. Leveraging an existing InGaAs APD focal-plane array (FPA) technology, improvements will be made to increase its reliability and performance. The high-gain, low-excess-noise APD FPAs will be characterized and integrated with miniature camera electronics, along with a medium-pulse-energy, high-repetition-rate, ultra-compact, pulsed diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) laser. The lidar sensor will be shown to meet NASA needs in terms of sensitivity and 5-cm range resolutions. Using these results, a large-format (e.g. 1024 x 1024, or larger) FPA will be designed for qualification for space missions.

High-performance 3D flash-lidar technology is urgently needed for landing on solar-system bodies and spacecraft rendezvous and docking with satellites or asteroids. Similarly, the problem of autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking is challenging for complex space missions. Some of these applications include: asteroid sample return and redirect, space-debris removal, human landing on the moon and Mars, lunar mining, autonomous resupply and crew transportation to and from the International Space Station, robotic servicing/refueling of existing orbital assets, and on-orbit assembly. Other applications include ranging and altimetry, and atmospheric profiling.

Commercial markets include lidar for: scanned lidar for robotics and human computer interfacing; building-information management (BIM); and automobile driver assistance and autonomous navigation. Most current lidar approaches are significantly limited by their hazard to the human eye. Many lidar systems are being developed in the invisible wavelength of 905 nm. Lasers that emit at this wavelength can potentially damage eyes. Due to ocular-damage threshold levels, the optical power of the lasers must be kept low. Lower laser power limits the range of lidar systems, making it difficult to cover large areas. With highly sensitive detectors operational in the eyesafe spectral region, with low-cost lasers operating at 1500-nm, a million-times-greater laser-pulse energy is permissible, allowing for more compact mobile lidar systems in a low-cost product.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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