Paper 14040-21
Paper 14040-21
An end-to-end processing chain for Geiger-mode LiDAR at the edge
29 April 2026 • 5:40 PM - 6:00 PM EDT | Chesapeake 5
Abstract
In this manuscript, an end-to-end processing chain for Geiger-mode LiDAR at the edge is described. This chain includes GPU accelerated algorithms for pointcloud synthesis, coincidence processing, registration and secondary light detection to take advantage of the additional computational power afforded GPU systems on a chip. This processing chain is applied to data collected with the PHOENIX High CASTLE Geiger-mode LiDAR sensor, and an analysis of how performance scales with system resource allocation is presented, including a discussion of computational, data fidelity, and SWaP tradeoffs.
Presenter
Weston Baines
Army Geospatial Ctr. (United States)
Dr. Weston Baines is a physical scientist researching LIDAR processing and applications at the U.S. Army Core of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL). He holds a PhD in Mathematics from Texas A&M University and has been working with Geiger-mode LIDAR imaging sensors since 2019 when he developed coincidence processing algorithms for filtering pointclouds collected from the PHOENIX High CASTLE Geiger-mode LIDAR sensor. He is currently the computer electronics subsystem lead for a low Size Weight and Power (SWAP) Geiger-mode LIDAR sensor being developed at ERDC. He is also the principal investigator for a basic research project studying the correlation of gap fraction and lacunarity with forest type and an applied research project on accelerating image processing for photon counting imaging sensors.