Reconstructing images of barcodes for construction site object recognition

This work investigates the potential for using LADAR to read barcodes at a range of 10–40 m. The first step is to choose appropriate materials for the barcode and collect data for both the images of bars at various distances and the characteristics of the LADAR beam. The second step is to develop a mathematical model for how intensity images are distorted by LADAR optics and to study how the images might be reconstructed. Our model is a linear convolution equation, and we solve for the original image through a regularized least squares problem. We present the results of our experiments along with evidence that the proprietary LADAR data processing introduces considerable nonlinearities, which must be understood in order to achieve good reconstructions.