Dynamic cascade-model-based frequency-scanning interferometry for real-time and rapid absolute optical ranging

A new frequency-scanning interferometry (FSI) scheme using in-phase and quadrature (IQ) detection for real-time and rapid absolute optical ranging is presented. Dynamic measurement with FSI modulates interference signal frequency by both target movement and time-varying optical-frequency scanning rate; hence, a dynamic model is proposed to decouple dynamic absolute distance from the instantaneous frequency of interference signals. The unscented Kalman filter and particle filter algorithms are implemented for the nonlinear first-layer and non-Gaussian second-layer models, respectively. The proposed FSI scheme eliminates nonlinear optical-frequency scanning effects in dynamic measurements and realizes real-time measurement only current observed data are used. Experimental results verify high tracking performance for a vibrating target with approximately 10 μm amplitude and 50–500 Hz frequency.