Noise characterization of depth sensors for surface inspections

In the context of environment reconstruction for inspection, it is important to handle sensor noise properly to avoid distorted representations. A short survey of available sensors is realize to help their selection based on the payload capability of a robot. We then propose uncertainty models based on empirical results for three models of laser rangefinders: Hokuyo URG-04LX, UTM-30LX and the Sick LMS-151. The methodology, used to characterize those sensors, targets more specifically different metallic materials which often give distorted images due to reflexion. We also evaluate the impact of sensor noise on surface normal vector reconstruction and conclude with observations about the impact of sunlight and reflexions.