Ladar Transmitter with Optical Field Splitter/Inverter for Improved Gaze on Scan Area Portions
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- scanning a first mirror at a sinusoidal frequency to define a periodic scan pattern along a first axis within a scan area;
scanning a second mirror to define another scan pattern along a second axis within the scan area, wherein the scanning of the first and second mirrors defines the scan area;
splitting and inverting the scan area via an optical field splitter/inverter that is positioned optically downstream from the first and second mirrors; and
transmitting a plurality of light pulses to the split and inverted scan area via the scanning first and second mirrors and the optical field splitter/inverter.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is a scanning ladar transmitter that employs an optical field splitter/inverter to improve the gaze characteristics of the ladar transmitter on desirable portions of a scan area. Also disclosed is the use of scan patterns such as Lissajous scan patterns for a scanning ladar transmitter where a phase drift is induced into the scanning to improve the gaze characteristics of the ladar transmitter on desirable portions of the scan area.
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Citations
65 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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scanning a first mirror at a sinusoidal frequency to define a periodic scan pattern along a first axis within a scan area; scanning a second mirror to define another scan pattern along a second axis within the scan area, wherein the scanning of the first and second mirrors defines the scan area; splitting and inverting the scan area via an optical field splitter/inverter that is positioned optically downstream from the first and second mirrors; and transmitting a plurality of light pulses to the split and inverted scan area via the scanning first and second mirrors and the optical field splitter/inverter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A beam scanner apparatus for a ladar transmitter, the apparatus comprising:
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a first scanable mirror configured to scan to a plurality of scan positions with respect to a first axis of a scan area; a second scanable mirror positioned optically downstream from the first scanable mirror, the second scanable mirror configured to scan to a plurality of scan positions with respect to a second axis of the scan area, wherein the scan positions of the first and second scanable mirrors define where the ladar transmitter is targeted within the scan area; a beam scanner controller configured to drive the first and second scanable mirrors to scan along the first and second axes to define a scan pattern for targeting by the ladar transmitter within the scan area, wherein the beam scanner controller is further configured to drive the first and second scanable mirrors such that at least one of the first scanable mirror and the second scanable mirror scans at a sinusoidal frequency; and an optical field splitter/inverter positioned optically downstream from the first and second scanable mirrors to split and invert the scan area defined by the first and second scanable mirrors. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A method comprising:
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scanning a first mirror and a second mirror to define a spiral scan pattern within a scan area; splitting and inverting the scan area via an optical field splitter/inverter that is positioned optically downstream from the first and second mirrors; and transmitting a plurality of light pulses to the split and inverted scan area via the scanning first and second mirrors and the optical field splitter/inverter.
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51. A beam scanner apparatus for a ladar transmitter, the apparatus comprising:
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a first scanable mirror configured to scan to a plurality of scan positions; a second scanable mirror positioned optically downstream from the first scanable mirror, the second scanable mirror configured to scan to a plurality of scan positions, wherein the scan positions of the first and second scanable mirrors define where the ladar transmitter is targeted within a scan area; and an optical field splitter/inverter positioned optically downstream from the first and second scanable mirrors to split and invert the scan area defined by the first and second scanable mirrors. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A method comprising:
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scanning a first mirror to a plurality of first mirror scan positions; scanning a second mirror to a plurality of second mirror scan positions; while the first and second mirrors are scanning, transmitting a ladar pulse, via the first and second mirrors, toward an optical field splitter/inverter; splitting and inverting, via the field splitter/inverter, a scan area defined by the scanning of the first and second mirrors, wherein the splitting and inverting redirects the transmitted ladar pulse toward a range point within the split and inverted scan area. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A ladar transmitter comprising:
a beam scanner, the beam scanner comprising (1) a plurality of scanable mirrors for targeting ladar pulses toward a plurality of range points within a scan area, and (2) an optical field splitter/inverter optically downstream from the mirrors, the field splitter/inverter configured to split and invert the scan area to redirect the ladar pulses toward the range points.
Specification