Lidar display systems and methods

• US 10,394,345 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2018
• Issued: 08/27/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uatc, LLC (Uber Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Donnelly, Richard Brian, Rice, David Patrick, Haban, Philipp, Watson, Jr., Thomas Jeffery
• Primary Examiner(s): Harris, Dorothy
• Application Number:
  US15/905,364
• Publication Number:
  US 20180292916A1
• Time in Patent Office: 547 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/2611 Indicating devices mounted on the roof of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/5035 electronic displays
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/507 specific to autonomous vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/543 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/547 for issuing requests to other traffic participants; for confirming to other traffic participants they can proceed, e.g. they can overtake
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/51 Display arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/00 Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/005 forming an image using a quickly moving array of imaging elements, causing the human eye to perceive an image which has a larger resolution than the array, e.g. an image on a cylinder formed by a rotating line of LEDs parallel to the axis of rotation

Abstract

Systems and methods for displaying imagery on a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system are provided. In one example embodiment, a method includes determining, by the one or more computing devices, a rotational frequency of a LIDAR device located on a vehicle. The method includes illuminating, by the one or more computing devices, one or more of a plurality of light emitting elements coupled to the LIDAR device based at least in part on the rotational frequency of the LIDAR device and the one or more images for display.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a computing system comprising one or more computing devices, one or more images for display;

receiving, by the computing system, first information representing conditions surrounding a vehicle;

receiving, by the computing system, second information representing an area in which the vehicle is located and a lawfully allowed maximum brightness for the area;

determining, by the computing system, a brightness of imagery associated with the one or more images for display, wherein the brightness does not exceed the lawfully allowed maximum brightness for the area; and

illuminating, by the computing system, one or more of a plurality of light emitting elements coupled to a rotational portion of a LIDAR device based at least in part on the conditions surrounding the vehicle, a rotational frequency of the LIDAR device, and the one or more images for display, wherein the one or more of the plurality of light emitting elements rotate at the rotational frequency of the LIDAR device and illuminate to display the imagery at the determined brightness.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising selecting, by the computing system, the one or more images for display, wherein the one or more images for display are associated with a user of a transport service associated with the vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the one or more images for display are selected based at least in part on predefined preferences of the user accessible by the computing system.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the one or more images for display are selected based at least in part on a request for the transport service by the user.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the one or more images for display are selected based at least in part on a state of the vehicle in response to the request for the transport service, the state of the vehicle comprising at least one of i) the vehicle traveling to a pickup location of the user, ii) the vehicle approaching the pickup location of the user, iii) the vehicle being positioned within a predetermined distance of the pickup location of the user, or iv) the vehicle being positioned within the predetermined distance of the pickup location of the user and being stationary for a predetermined amount of time.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more images for display comprise advertising, news, artwork, or combinations thereof.

7. A computing system for displaying imagery, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer readable media that collectively store instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computing system to perform operations, the operations comprising;

receiving one or more images for display;

receiving first information representing conditions surrounding a vehicle;

receiving second information representing an area in which the vehicle is located and a lawfully allowed maximum brightness for the area;

determining a brightness of imagery associated with the one or more images for display, wherein the brightness does not exceed the lawfully allowed maximum brightness for the area; and

illuminating one or more of a plurality of light emitting elements coupled to a rotational portion of a LIDAR device based at least in part on the conditions surrounding the vehicle, a rotational frequency of the LIDAR device, and the one or more images for display, wherein the one or more of the plurality of light emitting elements rotate at the rotational frequency of the LIDAR device and illuminate to display the imagery associated with the one or more images for display at the determined brightness.

8. The computing system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise selecting the one or more images for display, wherein the one or more images for display are associated with a user of a transport service associated with the vehicle.

9. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the one or more images for display are selected based at least in part on predefined preferences of the user accessible by the computing system.

10. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the one or more images for display are selected based at least in part on a request for the transport service by the user.

11. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the one or more images for display are selected based at least in part on a state of the vehicle in response to the request for the transport service, the state of the vehicle comprising at least one of i) the vehicle traveling to a pickup location of the user, ii) the vehicle approaching the pickup location of the user, iii) the vehicle being positioned within a predetermined distance of the pickup location of the user, or iv) the vehicle being positioned within the predetermined distance of the pickup location of the user and being stationary for a predetermined amount of time.

12. The computing system of claim 7, wherein the one or more images for display comprise advertising, news, artwork, or combinations thereof.

13. A display system, comprising:

one or more sensors configured to detect conditions surrounding a LIDAR device;

a control system configured to receive information representing an area in which a vehicle is located and a lawfully allowed maximum brightness for the area, wherein the control system is configured to determine a brightness of imagery associated with one or more images, wherein the brightness does not exceed the lawfully allowed maximum brightness for the area;

one or more support elements configured to be coupled to the LIDAR device;

a plurality of light emitting elements coupled to the one or more support elements; and

one or more controllers in communication with the plurality of light emitting elements coupled to a rotational portion of the LIDAR device and configured to cause one or more of the plurality of light emitting elements to illuminate for display based at least in part on a rotational frequency of the LIDAR device, wherein the one or more of the plurality of light emitting elements rotate at the rotational frequency of the LIDAR device and illuminate at the brightness.

14. The display system of claim 13, wherein the one or more controllers are configured to communicate with one or more computing devices to receive one or more images for display from the one or more computing devices.

15. The display system of claim 14, wherein the one or more controllers are configured to cause one or more of the plurality of light emitting elements to illuminate for display based at least in part on the one or more images for display.

16. The display system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of light emitting elements comprise light emitting diodes.

17. The display system of claim 16, wherein the one or more controllers comprise one or more drivers.

18. The display system of claim 13, wherein the one or more support elements are configured to be coupled to a housing of the LIDAR device such that the one or more light emitting elements are visible.