Characterization and testing of a high-resolution Time-of-Flight camera for autonomous navigation

This paper presents the results of research activities carried out to characterize and test the operation of a latest generation commercial, high-resolution Time-of-Flight (TOF) camera. The aim is to preliminary evaluate achievable performance as well as potential limitations related to the use of this instrument for autonomous navigation purposes. Two fields of investigation have been identified: autonomous navigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles flying in GPS-denied environments; autonomous relative navigation between non-cooperative space objects. With reference to these applications, first, a metrological characterization has been done within a laboratory setup. Second, experimental tests have been realized by processing point clouds acquired by the TOF sensor with state-of-the-art algorithms (for depth-based odometry and non-cooperative pose determination, respectively).