Real-time Digital Control in Gated Imaging

The paper reports development of an FPGA-based control for a range-gated imaging system where real-time image and video processing is desired. The imaging system uses a pulsed laser for illumination and a gated camera for capturing images at desired distances. We demonstrate that FPGA can control the most important functions of the system, i.e. timing and synchronization of gating. In addition, FPGA can perform various image processing tasks, both in the image domain (enhancement of individual gated images) and the time domain (e.g. fusion of several gated images, ambient light removal). The results show that FPGA-based control is a feasible solution for gated imaging systems working under tight time and visibility requirements in real-time applications.