A New Vehicle Localization Scheme Based on Combined Optical Camera Communication and Photogrammetry

The demand for autonomous vehicles is increasing gradually owing to their enormous potential benefits. However, several challenges, such as vehicle localization, are involved in the development of autonomous vehicles. A simple and secure algorithm for vehicle positioning is proposed herein without massively modifying the existing transportation infrastructure. For vehicle localization, vehicles on the road are classified into two categories: host vehicles (HVs) are the ones used to estimate other vehicles' positions and forwarding vehicles (FVs) are the ones that move in front of the HVs. The FV transmits modulated data from the tail (or back) light, and the camera of the HV receives that signal using optical camera communication (OCC). In addition, the streetlight (SL) data are considered to ensure the position accuracy of the HV. Determining the HV position minimizes the relative position variation between the HV and FV. Using photogrammetry, the distance between FV or SL and the camera of the HV is calculated by measuring the occupied image area on the image sensor. Comparing the change in distance between HV and SLs with the change in distance between HV and FV, the positions of FVs are determined. The performance of the proposed technique is analyzed, and the results indicate a significant improvement in performance. The experimental distance measurement validated the feasibility of the proposed scheme

Space Flight LiDARs, Navigation & Science Instrument Implementations: Lasers, Optoelectronics, Integrated Photonics, Fiber Optic Subsystems and Components

For the past 25 years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center's Photonics Group in the Engineering Directorate has been substantially contributing to the flight design, development, production, testing and integration of many science and navigational instruments. The Moon to Mars initiative will rely heavily upon utilizing commercial technologies for instrumentation with aggressive schedule deadlines. The group has an extensive background in screening, qualifying, development and integration of commercial components for spaceflight applications. By remaining adaptable and employing a rigorous approach to component and instrument development, they have forged and fostered relationships with industry partners. They have been willing to communicate lessons learned in packaging, part construction, materials selection, testing, and other facets of the design and production process critical to implementation for high-reliability systems. As a result, this successful collaboration with industry vendors and component suppliers has enabled a history of mission success from the Moon to Mars (and beyond) while balancing cost, schedule, and risk postures. In cases where no commercial components exist, the group works closely with other teams at Goddard Space Flight Center and other NASA field centers to fabricate and produce flight hardware for science, remote sensing, and navigation applications. Summarized here is the last ten years of instrumentation development lessons learned and data collected from the subsystems down to the optoelectronic component level