A Parallel-Phase Demodulation-Based Distance-Measurement Method Using Dual-Frequency Modulation

Abstract

Time-of-flight (ToF) measurement technology based on the amplitude-modulated continuous-wave (AMCW) model has emerged as a state-of-the-art distance-measurement method for various engineering applications. However, many of the ToF cameras employing the AMCW process phase demodulation sequentially, which requires time latency for a single distance measurement. This can result in significant distance errors, especially in non-static environments (e.g., robots and vehicles) such as those containing objects moving relatively to the sensors. To reduce the measurement time required for a distance measurement, this paper proposes a novel, parallel-phase demodulation method. The proposed method processes phase demodulation of signal in parallel rather than sequentially. Based on the parallel phase demodulation, 2 pi ambiguity problem is also solved in this work by adopting dual frequency modulation to increase the maximum range while maintaining the accuracy. The performance of proposed method was verified through distance measurements under various conditions. The improved distance measurement accuracy was demonstrated throughout an extended measurement range (1-10 m).