Spatial filtering velocimeter using frequency shifting by the method of rotating kernel

•Frequency shifting is employed to reduce the uncertainty of velocity measurement.•Frequency shifting is proposed to increase the maximum measurable velocity.•Frequency spectrum correction is employed to get more accurate signal frequency.•The undesired output by frequency shifting comes from non-uniformed illumination.

A new approach of frequency shifting by rotating kernel is proposed to improve the performance of a spatial filtering velocimeter, used to provide accurate velocity information for a vehicle self-contained navigation system. A linear CMOS image sensor was employed both as a spatiotemporal differential spatial filter and as a photodetector. The filtering operation was fully performed in FPGA and is realized by applying a rotating kernel to the pixel values of the image. Theoretical analysis showed this method could double the maximum measurable velocity. The power spectrum of the output signal was obtained by fast Fourier transform (FFT), and was corrected by a frequency spectrum correction algorithm, named energy centrobaric correction. This velocimeter was used to measure the moving velocities of a conveyor belt. Experimental results verified the method’s ability of reducing the output signal frequency and standard uncertainty of velocity measurement. What is more, the undesired output introduced by frequency shifting to the power spectrum of the output signal was deeply investigated and a new method was proposed to eliminate the undesired component in output signals. This velocimeter aims at providing accurate velocity information for vehicle autonomous navigation system.