Three-dimension imaging lidar
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An imaging lidar system aboard an aircraft or a spacecraft comprising:
- a light source transmitting a first beam of light;
a scanner for scanning both the first beam of light transmitted to the surface of the ground and a second beam of light received from the surface of the ground, wherein transmission scanning of the field of view of the surface is ahead of reception scanning of the field of view of the surface;
a detector for detecting the second beam of light received from the scanner and generating signals responsive to the light, wherein the detector comprises a photon detector that includes an array of two-dimensional pixellated detectors for detecting the second beam of light received from the scanner and generating signals responsive to the light;
a processor system for processing signals from the detector; and
,a multi-channel timing receiver wherein the number of channels is equal to the number of pixels in the array detectors.
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Abstract
This invention is directed to a 3-dimensional imaging lidar, which utilizes modest power kHz rate lasers, array detectors, photon-counting multi-channel timing receivers, and dual wedge optical scanners with transmitter point-ahead correction to provide contiguous high spatial resolution mapping of surface features including ground, water, man-made objects, vegetation and submerged surfaces from an aircraft or a spacecraft.
173 Citations
25 Claims
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1. An imaging lidar system aboard an aircraft or a spacecraft comprising:
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a light source transmitting a first beam of light; a scanner for scanning both the first beam of light transmitted to the surface of the ground and a second beam of light received from the surface of the ground, wherein transmission scanning of the field of view of the surface is ahead of reception scanning of the field of view of the surface; a detector for detecting the second beam of light received from the scanner and generating signals responsive to the light, wherein the detector comprises a photon detector that includes an array of two-dimensional pixellated detectors for detecting the second beam of light received from the scanner and generating signals responsive to the light; a processor system for processing signals from the detector; and
,a multi-channel timing receiver wherein the number of channels is equal to the number of pixels in the array detectors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An imaging lidar system aboard an aircraft or a spacecraft comprising:
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a light source transmitting a first beam of light; means for scanning both the first beam of light transmitted to the surface of the ground and a second beam of light received from the surface of the ground, wherein transmission scanning of the field of view of the surface is ahead of reception scanning of the field of view of the surface; means for detecting the second beam of light received from the scanning means and generating signals responsive to the light wherein the detector means comprises a photon detector that includes an array of two-dimensional pixellated detectors for detecting the second beam of light received from the scanning means and generating signals responsive to the light; a processor system for processing signals from the detector means; and
,a multi-channel timing receiver wherein the number of channels is equal to the number of pixels in the array detectors. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An imaging lidar system aboard an aircraft or a spacecraft comprising:
a light source transmitting a first beam of light; means for scanning both the first beam of light transmitted to surface of the ground and a second beam of light received from the surface of the ground, wherein transmission scanning of field of view of the surface is ahead of reception scanning of field of view of the surface; an array of two-dimensional pixellated detectors for detecting the second beam of light received from the scanning means and generating signals responsive to the light; and a processor system for processing signals from the detectors wherein said processor system includes a multi-channel timing receiver wherein the number of channels is equal to the number of pixels in the array detectors.
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15. An imaging lidar system aboard an aircraft or a spacecraft comprising:
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a light source transmitting a first beam of light; a optical scanner comprising; a first optical wedge, with a first cone half-angle, comprising a central portion and an annular portion; a second optical wedge, with a second cone half-angle, comprising a central portion and an annular portion; wherein phases of the central portions of the first and the second optical wedges are advanced relative to phases of the annular portions of the first and the second optical wedges, respectively; and means for counter-rotating the first and the second optical wedges whereby rotation of one of the optical wedges is in one direction while rotation of the other optical wedge is in the opposite direction and with a fixed phase offset Δ
φ
; andmeans for detecting the second beam of light received from the scanning means and generating signals responsive to the light; and a processor system for processing signals from the detecting means.
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16. An imaging lidar system aboard an aircraft or a spacecraft comprising:
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a light source transmitting a first beam of light; a optical scanner comprising; a first optical wedge, with a first cone half-angle, comprising a central portion and an annular portion; a second optical wedge, with a second cone half-angle, comprising a central portion and an annular portion; wherein phases of the central portions of the first and the second optical wedges are advanced relative to phases of the annular portions of the first and the second optical wedges, respectively; and means for counter-rotating the first and the second optical wedges whereby rotation of one of the optical wedges is in one direction while rotation of the other optical wedge is in the opposite direction and with a fixed phase offset Δ
φ
; andan array of two-dimensional pixellated detectors for detecting the second beam of light received from the scanning means and generating signals responsive to the light; and a processor system for processing signals from the detectors.
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17. A method of imaging a contiguous map of ground from an aircraft or a spacecraft comprising:
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providing a laser beam; scanning the laser beam transmitted to a surface of the around; scanning the laser beam received from the surface of the ground such that transmission scanning of the field of view of the surface is ahead of reception scanning of field of view of the surface wherein the step of scanning the transmission beam and the step of the scanning the reception beam are effected by a dual wedge scanner comprising; a first optical wedge, with a first cone half-angle, comprising a central portion and an annular portion; a second optical wedge, with a second cone half-angle, comprising a central portion and an annular portion; wherein phases of the central portions of the first and the second optical wedges are advanced relative to phases of the annular portions of the first and the second optical wedges, respectively; counter-rotating the first and the second optical wedges whereby rotation of one of the optical wedges is in one direction while rotation of the other optical wedge is in the opposite direction; and
,detecting the laser beam returned from the surface of the ground and processing a signals responsive to the returned beam. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification