Fast scanning LIDAR with dynamic voxel probing
First Claim
1. A method for measuring a range to a surface of one or more objects, the method comprising:
- a) scanning, by a first scanner, a continuous light beam over a field of view in a first scan pass;
b) detecting, by a receiver, photons of the continuous light beam that are reflected from one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects, wherein the receiver comprises a plurality of pixels;
c) determining, by one or more processor devices, a coarse range to the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the continuous light beam from the scanner and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver;
d) scanning, by the first scanner, a plurality of light pulses over the field of view in a second scan pass;
e) detecting, by the receiver, photons from the plurality of light pulses that are reflected from the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects;
f) determining, by the one or more processor devices, a refined range to the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the light pulses from the scanner and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver; and
g) repeating steps d) through f) one or more times to further refine the refined range, wherein, in each repetition, the light pulses for that repetition are offset in time from the light pulses from each preceding scan pass.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A LIDAR system includes a scanner; a receiver; and one or more processor devices to perform actions, including: scanning a continuous light beam over the field of view in a first scan pass; detecting photons of the continuous light beam that are reflected from one or more objects; determining a coarse range to the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the continuous light beam and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver; scanning light pulses over the field of view in a second scan pass; detecting photons from the light pulses that are reflected from the one or more objects; and determining a refined range to the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the light pulses and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for measuring a range to a surface of one or more objects, the method comprising:
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a) scanning, by a first scanner, a continuous light beam over a field of view in a first scan pass; b) detecting, by a receiver, photons of the continuous light beam that are reflected from one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects, wherein the receiver comprises a plurality of pixels; c) determining, by one or more processor devices, a coarse range to the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the continuous light beam from the scanner and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver; d) scanning, by the first scanner, a plurality of light pulses over the field of view in a second scan pass; e) detecting, by the receiver, photons from the plurality of light pulses that are reflected from the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects; f) determining, by the one or more processor devices, a refined range to the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the light pulses from the scanner and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver; and g) repeating steps d) through f) one or more times to further refine the refined range, wherein, in each repetition, the light pulses for that repetition are offset in time from the light pulses from each preceding scan pass. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system to measure a range to a surface of one or more objects, comprising:
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a first scanner configured to scan received light over a field of view; a receiver that comprises a plurality of pixels, wherein each of the pixels is configured to detect photons received by the pixel; one or more memory devices that store instructions; and one or more processor devices that execute the stored instructions to perform actions, including; a) scanning, by the first scanner, a continuous light beam over the field of view in a first scan pass; b) detecting, by the receiver, photons of the continuous light beam that are reflected from one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects; c) determining, by the one or more processor devices, a coarse range to the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the continuous light beam from the scanner and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver; d) scanning, by the first scanner, a plurality of light pulses over the field of view in a second scan pass; e) detecting, by the receiver, photons from the plurality of light pulses that are reflected from the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects; f) determining, by the one or more processor devices, a refined range to the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the light pulses from the scanner and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver; and g) repeating steps d) through f) one or more times to further refine the refined range, wherein, in each repetition, the light pulses for that repetition are offset in time from the light pulses from each preceding scan pass. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A non-transitory processor readable storage media that includes instructions for measuring a range to a surface of one or more objects, wherein execution of the instructions by one or more processor devices cause the one or more processor devices to perform actions, comprising:
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a) scanning, by a first scanner, a continuous light beam over a field of view in a first scan pass; b) detecting, by a receiver, photons of the continuous light beam that are reflected from one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects, wherein the receiver comprises a plurality of pixels arranged in one or more rows; c) determining, by one or more processor devices, a coarse range to the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the continuous light beam from the scanner and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver r; d) scanning, by the first scanner, a plurality of light pulses over the field of view in a second scan pass; e) detecting, by the receiver, photons from the plurality of light pulses that are reflected from the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects; f) determining, by the one or more processor devices, a refined range to the one or more portions of the surface of the one or more objects based on times of departure of the photons of the light pulses from the scanner and times of arrival of the photons at the receiver; and g) repeating steps d) through f) one or more times to further refine the refined range, wherein, in each repetition, the light pulses for that repetition are offset in time from the light pulses from each preceding scan pass. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification