A Performance Review of 3D TOF Vision Systems in Comparison to Stereo Vision Systems

Abstract

In the past years the modality of Time-of-Flight (TOF) imaging became more and more attractive to a growing research community (Schwarte_a et al., 1997; Schwarte_b et al., 1997). Because of the enormous progress in TOF-vision systems, nowadays 3D matrix cameras can be manufactured und be used for many application such as robotic, automotive, industrial, medical and multimedia applications. Due to the increasing demand of safety requirements in the automotive industry it can be assumed that the TOF-camera market will grow and the unit price of these systems in the mass production will drop down to ca. 100 € (Hussmann & Hess, 2006).