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3D Imaging from Multipath Temporal Echoes

Alex Turpin, Valentin Kapitany, Jack Radford, Davide Rovelli, Kevin Mitchell, Ashley Lyons, Ilya Starshynov, and Daniele Faccio
Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 174301 – Published 30 April 2021
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Abstract

Echo location is a broad approach to imaging and sensing that includes both manmade RADAR, LIDAR, SONAR, and also animal navigation. However, full 3D information based on echo location requires some form of scanning of the scene in order to provide the spatial location of the echo origin-points. Without this spatial information, imaging objects in three-dimensional (3D) is a very challenging task as the inverse retrieval problem is strongly ill-posed. Here, we show that the temporal information encoded in the return echoes that are reflected multiple times within a scene is sufficient to faithfully render an image in 3D. Numerical modeling and an information theoretic perspective prove the concept and provide insight into the role of the multipath information. We experimentally demonstrate the concept by using both radio frequency and acoustic waves for imaging individuals moving in a closed environment.

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  • Received 11 November 2020
  • Revised 11 December 2020
  • Accepted 9 March 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.174301

© 2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

General Physics

Focus

Key Image

Multi-Echo Imaging

Published 30 April 2021

With a one-pixel detector and a pulsed emitting device, researchers are able to produce a 3D image of a room from multiple echoes.

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Authors & Affiliations

Alex Turpin1,*,‡, Valentin Kapitany2,‡, Jack Radford2, Davide Rovelli2, Kevin Mitchell2, Ashley Lyons2, Ilya Starshynov2, and Daniele Faccio2,†

  • 1School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
  • 2School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom

  • *Corresponding author. alex.turpin@glasgow.ac.uk
  • Corresponding author. daniele.faccio@glasgow.uk
  • A. T. and V. K. contributed equally to this work.

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Issue

Vol. 126, Iss. 17 — 30 April 2021

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