COMBINED LOAS AND LIDAR SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A combined system of a laser obstacle awareness system (LOAS) and a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system for obstacle detection and flow velocity measurement, said combined system comprising:
- a LIDAR arrangement of optical elements for generating a first coherent beam of light at a first predetermined wavelength;
a LOAS arrangement of optical elements for generating a second coherent beam of light at a second predetermined wavelength;
a beam expander;
a dichroic filter optical element for directing said first and second coherent beams of light substantially on a first common optical path towards an aperture of said beam expander, said beam expander being aligned to accept and expand said first and second coherent beams and exit said expanded first and second coherent beams along a second common optical path at an output thereof;
at least one output optical element, said second common optical path being incident on said at least one output optical element which directs both of said expanded first and second coherent beams of light from said system, said at least one output optical element also for receiving reflections of said first and second coherent beams of light and directing said reflections to said beam expander wherein said beam reflections are collected; and
said dichroic filter optical element for separating the collected light corresponding to said first coherent beam from the collected light corresponding to said second coherent beam, the separated light corresponding to said first coherent beam being directed back to said LIDAR arrangement of optical elements for use in determining flow velocity, and the separated light corresponding to said second coherent beam being directed back to said LOAS arrangement of optical elements for use in detecting at least one object.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A combined system of a LOAS and a LIDAR system comprises: a LIDAR arrangement of optical elements for generating a first coherent beam of light at a first predetermined wavelength; a LOAS arrangement of optical elements for generating a second coherent beam of light at a second predetermined wavelength; a dichroic filter optical element for directing the first and second coherent beams of light substantially on a first common optical path towards an aperture of a beam expander; at least one output optical element which directs both of the expanded first and second coherent beams of light from the system, the at least one output optical element also for receiving and directing reflections of the first and second coherent beams of light to the beam expander wherein the beam reflections are collected; and wherein the dichroic filter optical element separates and directs the collected light corresponding to the first coherent beam back to the LIDAR arrangement of optical elements for use in determining flow velocity, and separates and directs the collected light corresponding to the second coherent beam back to the LOAS arrangement of optical elements for use in detecting at least one object.
85 Citations
55 Claims
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1. A combined system of a laser obstacle awareness system (LOAS) and a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system for obstacle detection and flow velocity measurement, said combined system comprising:
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a LIDAR arrangement of optical elements for generating a first coherent beam of light at a first predetermined wavelength;
a LOAS arrangement of optical elements for generating a second coherent beam of light at a second predetermined wavelength;
a beam expander;
a dichroic filter optical element for directing said first and second coherent beams of light substantially on a first common optical path towards an aperture of said beam expander, said beam expander being aligned to accept and expand said first and second coherent beams and exit said expanded first and second coherent beams along a second common optical path at an output thereof;
at least one output optical element, said second common optical path being incident on said at least one output optical element which directs both of said expanded first and second coherent beams of light from said system, said at least one output optical element also for receiving reflections of said first and second coherent beams of light and directing said reflections to said beam expander wherein said beam reflections are collected; and
said dichroic filter optical element for separating the collected light corresponding to said first coherent beam from the collected light corresponding to said second coherent beam, the separated light corresponding to said first coherent beam being directed back to said LIDAR arrangement of optical elements for use in determining flow velocity, and the separated light corresponding to said second coherent beam being directed back to said LOAS arrangement of optical elements for use in detecting at least one object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A block arrangement of optical elements for use as a transmitter/receiver for a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system, said block arrangement comprising:
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a plurality of glass modules aligned together as a block to form a plurality of optical paths therein and secured together to maintain said alignment;
a collimated light source secured to said block for generating a coherent beam of light over at least one optical path in said block which guides said coherent beam of light to an exit point of said block;
a light detector secured to said block;
said block for receiving a return coherent beam of light and configured to conduct said return coherent beam of light to said light detector over at least one other optical path formed in said block. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A combined system of a laser obstacle awareness system (LOAS) and a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system for obstacle detection and flow velocity measurement, said combined system comprising:
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a LIDAR arrangement of optical elements for generating a first coherent beam of light at a first predetermined wavelength;
a LOAS arrangement of optical elements for generating a second coherent beam of light at a second predetermined wavelength;
a dichroic filter optical element for directing said first and second coherent beams of light substantially along a common optical path;
a scan head including a beam expander for accepting and expanding light from said common optical path; and
at least one output optical element, for directing both of said expanded first and second coherent beams of light from said scan head, said at least one output optical element also for receiving reflections of said first and second coherent beams of light and directing said reflections to said beam expander wherein said beam reflections are collected and returned to said dichroic filter optical element along said common optical path; and
said dichroic filter optical element for separating the collected light corresponding to said first coherent beam from the collected light corresponding to said second coherent beam, the separated light corresponding to said first coherent beam being directed back to said LIDAR arrangement of optical elements for use in determining flow velocity, and the separated light corresponding to said second coherent beam being directed back to said LOAS arrangement of optical elements for use in detecting at least one object. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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Specification