Interference Detection Performance and Hardware Experiments with LIDAR System

Reliable and accurate sensory information from Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems is essential to support the growing popularity of self-driving vehicles and drone surveillance applications. This research work utilizes the noise power spectrum characteristics of near infrared (NIR) receivers to examine the effects that interference have on LIDAR system's detection performance. This research work measures the false detection rate of a Velodyne VLP-16 LIDAR in the presence of various pulsed and continuous wave interferences. The experimentation findings reveal that the VLP-16 has built-in schemes to help it reduce false detections by adaptively responding to interference present in the environment. The findings demonstrate that a typical LIDAR system's detection performance can be negatively affected by low-powered interference. Further research is needed to further minimize the negative effects that interferences have on a LIDAR's detection performance.