Progress in High Accurate Angle Measurement Technology of Long-Distance Target Based on Computational Interferometry

The angle measurement technique based on the centroid positioning principle of the traditional optical imaging system generally has an upper limit of the measurement accuracy, it is about 1/100 of a pixel. Thus, in order to improve the angle measurement accuracy, cameras with the longer lens focal length and the larger detection array generally need to be adopted. But it increases the size, the weight, and the power consumption. It is not conducive to the miniaturization of equipment and the application on platforms with limited size, weight, and power consumption (such as satellites and aircrafts). The high accurate angle measurement technique for long distance target based on the computational interferometry converts the angle change of target light into the phase change of interference fringe by the optical interference method. Because the measurement accuracy of the phase change can be achieved as low as 1/1000 period by the mature interpolation method, the angle accuracy of interferometry is greatly improved compared with the traditional optical method. This paper mainly introduces the basic principle, the main characteristics, the research progress, and the existing difficulties of the high accurate angle measurement technique for long distance target based on the computational interferometry. It is hoped that the introduction of this paper will arouse the research interest of the majority of peers and promote the rapid development and the engineering application of this technique.