Target Tracking and Ranging Based on Single Photon Detection

In order to achieve non-cooperative target tracking and ranging in conditions of a weak echo signal, this paper presents a real-time acquisition, pointing, tracking (APT), and ranging (APTR) lidar system based on single photon detection. With this system, an active target APT mechanism based on a single photon detector is proposed. The target tracking and ranging strategy and the simulation of target APT are presented. Experiments in the laboratory show that the system has good performance to achieve the acquisition, pointing and ranging of a static target, and track a dynamic target (angular velocity around 3 mrad/s) under the condition of extremely weak echo signals (a dozen photons). Meanwhile, through further theoretical analysis, it can be proven that the mechanism has stronger tracking and detection ability in long distance. It can achieve the active tracking of the target with a lateral velocity of hundreds of meters per second at about one hundred kilometers distance. This means that it has the ability of fast long-distance non-cooperative target tracking and ranging, only by using a single-point single photon detector.