Experimental Study on the Effects of Ambient Light on the Precision of Short-Range Near-Infrared LiDAR Systems

This work investigates the influence of ambient light noise on the performance of an 850 nm single-point light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system, specifically focusing on targets with varying reflectivity and range. A commercial LiDAR module was used, in conjunction with six distinct specimens, to collect and analyze spatial-temporal data over a measurement range of up to 4 meters. The spatial-temporal analysis of quasi-static experimental data reveals that luminous intensity and range critically affect LiDAR accuracy. At the same time, reflectivity consistently impacts LiDAR measurements irrespective of their magnitude but varies with material type. The relative error in measurement, reflectivity of material, and luminous intensity of the light noise exhibit near-normal distributions with asymmetrical tails. Statistically significant differences between the distributions of relative error, reflectivity, and luminous intensity highlight the complex interactions influencing LiDAR performance. These findings offer essential insights for the design and optimization of LiDAR systems, ensuring accurate environmental sensing under variable ambient light conditions, and they affirm the possibility of developing transferable models.