Flash lidar performance testing: configuration and results

Abstract

Future planetary and lunar landers can benefit from a hazard detection (HD) system that employs a lidar to create a highresolution 3D terrain map in the vicinity of the landing site and an onboard computer to process the lidar data and identify the safest landing site within the surveyed area. A divert maneuver would then be executed to land in this safe site. An HD system enables landing in regions with a relatively high hazard abundance that would otherwise be considered unacceptably risky, but are of high interest to the scientific community. A key component of a HD system is a lidar with the ability to generate a 3D terrain image with the required range precision in the prescribed time and fits within the project resource constraints. In this paper, we present the results obtained during performance testing of a prototype "GoldenEye" 3D flash lidar developed by ASC, Inc. The testing was performed at JPL with the lidar and the targets separated by 200 m. The analysis of the lidar performance obtained for different target types and albedos, pulse energies, and fields of view is presented and compared to key HD lidar requirements identified for the Mars 2018 lander.