Single Photon Infrared Imaging, Detection and Ranging (SPIDAR)

A single-photon camera can now measure the distance to an object with sub-nanosecond precision by timing individual particles of infrared light as they bounce back from a laser pulse. This matters because existing 3D cameras—used in everything from factory robots to self-driving cars—lose accuracy at long range. As light dims with distance, conventional sensors struggle to distinguish signal from noise. By detecting the faintest possible light signals, this system can "see" further than any 3D camera available today. If the project succeeds, autonomous vehicles could detect pedestrians, cyclists, or obstacles at greater distances, giving them more time to react. Driver-assistance systems would become more reliable in low-light conditions. Beyond transport, the same technology could improve industrial robotics, security scanning, and any application where precise depth information at a distance is critical. The work is applied engineering—it takes existing single-photon detection techniques and pushes them into a practical, real-world imaging system. The immediate goal is a working prototype for driver assistance, not a fundamental discovery.