CN116888505A

CN116888505A - Laser radar system, adjusting method and related equipment

Info

Publication number: CN116888505A
Application number: CN202180093760.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王文昌; 朱琦
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-02-23
Filing date: 2021-02-23
Publication date: 2023-10-13
Also published as: WO2022178667A1

Abstract

A lidar system (300), an adjustment method and related devices, wherein the lidar system (300) is applicable to an intelligent vehicle (200). The lidar system (300) comprises a lidar (302) and a sensor system (301); the lidar (302) comprises N devices, the sensor system (301) comprises M temperature sensors (3011, 3012, 3013, …); m temperature sensors (3011, 3012, 3013, …) for monitoring one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices (S901); a lidar (302) for determining a second temperature of the N devices based on the one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices (S902); the laser radar (302) is further used for adjusting one or more working parameters of one or more devices in the N devices respectively based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule (S903); the laser radar (302) is further used for detecting the driving environment of the intelligent vehicle (200) through the adjusted N devices (S904). By adopting the embodiment, the temperature of the laser radar (302) during working can be effectively controlled, and the driving safety is ensured.

Description

Laser radar system, adjusting method and related equipment

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of laser radars, in particular to a laser radar system, an adjusting method and related equipment.

Background

The laser radar (light detection and ranging, liDAR) can calculate the relative distance between the target and the laser according to the turn-back time of the laser when the laser encounters an obstacle. The laser beam emitted by the laser radar can accurately measure the relative distance between the edge of the outline of the object in the field of view and the equipment, and the outline information forms a so-called point cloud, so that a three-dimensional (3D) environment map can be drawn, and in general, the accuracy of the 3D environment map can reach the centimeter level.

As a core component of an automatic driving automobile, lidar has recently been increasingly paid attention to in the industry, and various manufacturers have successively introduced a plurality of lidar products. However, due to the complex application of the vehicle, the requirements on safety and reliability are high, and few laser radar products really meeting the vehicle-standard are provided. The environment temperature range required to be supported by the current vehicle-standard laser radar is about-40 ℃ to 85 ℃, and the environment temperature supported by most laser radars in the industry can only reach about 60 ℃ to 65 ℃ at most. Therefore, in order to avoid the situation that the driving safety is endangered due to the fact that the laser radar is in fault caused by overtemperature, the power consumption of the laser radar is often required to be limited, heat dissipation of the laser radar is guaranteed, and accordingly the temperature of internal devices, the temperature of a shell and the like of the laser radar are reduced. For example, in order to reduce power consumption, the commercial vehicle standard laser radar SCALA1 in the market only supports a laser beam of 4 lines to ensure heat dissipation, and the point output rate is limited to 43kp/s, so that the measurement accuracy is greatly reduced, and thus, only lower-level (for example, L3-level) automatic driving can be supported. With the increasing requirements of the modern society on the laser radar, the performance of the laser radar is also stronger (such as ranging range, point outlet rate and frame rate are improved), and meanwhile, the power consumption of the laser radar is larger, and the overtemperature problem is more serious. Especially when the speed of a vehicle is slower or the vehicle is stopped, the wind speed is reduced, the heat dissipation condition is deteriorated, the shell temperature of the laser radar can be rapidly increased, and the overtemperature risk exists, so that the laser radar is caused to fail, serious traffic accidents are caused, the driving safety is endangered, and private and public property is damaged.

Therefore, how to effectively control the temperature of the laser radar during operation within a safe range so as to ensure driving safety is a problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a laser radar system, an adjusting method and related equipment, which can effectively control the temperature of the laser radar in a safe range during working, thereby ensuring driving safety.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a lidar system, the lidar system comprising a lidar and a sensor system; the laser radar comprises N devices, the sensor system comprises M temperature sensors, and N and M are integers which are larger than or equal to 1;

the M temperature sensors are used for monitoring one or more first temperatures of the N devices respectively;

the laser radar is used for determining second temperatures of the N devices based on one or more first temperatures of the N devices respectively;

the laser radar is further used for adjusting one or more working parameters of one or more devices of the N devices respectively based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule; the preset adjustment rule comprises that when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds, one or more working parameters of one or more devices of the N devices are adjusted to a value matched with the any one device temperature threshold; k is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

The laser radar is also used for detecting the driving environment of the intelligent vehicle through the adjusted N devices.

In the embodiment of the application, in order to control the temperature of the laser radar during working and avoid the hidden trouble of driving caused by overtemperature, a plurality of temperature thresholds can be set in advance for a plurality of devices (such as a laser, a detector, a scanner, a shell and the like) in the laser radar. In this way, the real-time temperature of a plurality of devices in the laser radar is monitored through a plurality of temperature sensors in the vehicle, and when the temperature of any one of the devices exceeds any one temperature threshold, the laser radar can adjust the working parameters of one or more of the devices to a value matched with the any one temperature threshold according to the any one temperature threshold. For example, when the temperature sensor detects that the shell temperature of the laser radar exceeds 80 ℃, the laser radar can adjust the frame rate corresponding to the scanner from a default of 25F/s to 20F/s; for another example, when the housing temperature exceeds 90 ℃, the frame rate corresponding to the scanner can be adjusted down from the current 20F/s to 15F/s again; for another example, after the frame rate is adjusted down, the laser radar may again adjust the frame rate corresponding to the scanner from the current 15F/s up to 20F/s, etc., as the housing temperature gradually drops to 82 ℃. Therefore, the working parameters can be quickly and effectively regulated in real time according to the real-time temperature of each device in the laser radar, the measurement accuracy is reduced (namely, the power consumption is reduced) when the temperature is too high, the driving hidden danger caused by the overtemperature of the device is avoided, the measurement accuracy can be recovered when the temperature is reduced to be within a safety range, the safety and the comfort of automatic driving are improved, and the like. Therefore, compared with the scheme that the temperature of the laser radar is reduced in the prior art through external auxiliary modes such as a liquid cooling device and the like, so that the equipment size is increased and the production cost is increased, the laser radar in the embodiment of the application can adaptively adjust each working parameter in the laser radar according to the real-time change of the temperatures of a plurality of devices, effectively control the working temperature of the laser radar, avoid driving accidents caused by overtemperature of the devices, and ensure driving safety. In addition, as described above, the embodiment of the application can actively reduce the measurement accuracy of the laser radar when the device temperature is higher, that is, reduce the working load of the laser radar, so that the laser radar is not always in a working state with high accuracy and high load, and further effectively prolong the service life of the laser radar.

In one possible embodiment, the N devices include one or more of a laser, a detector, an optical system, a scanner, a control chip, and a housing; the M temperature sensors are specifically used for:

monitoring one or more first temperatures corresponding to one or more positions of an ith device in the N devices through one or more temperature sensors in the M temperature sensors, wherein the second temperature is the highest temperature in the one or more first temperatures; i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N.

In the embodiment of the application, the laser radar can comprise a plurality of devices such as a laser, a detector, an optical system, a scanner, a control chip, a shell and the like. As described above, because the temperatures of different positions of the device are different, especially the temperature of each position of the device with larger volume is larger, under the condition that the temperature of one position is lower, other positions may be seriously over-heated, which affects the operation of the device. Therefore, the temperature (for example, the first temperature) of a device at a plurality of positions can be monitored through a plurality of temperature sensors, the highest temperature is selected as the actual temperature (for example, the second temperature) which can be referred to, and the temperature is compared with the preset device temperature threshold value, so that the overtemperature condition of the current laser radar can be mastered more comprehensively and strictly. Therefore, the working parameters can be quickly and effectively regulated in real time according to the real-time temperature of each device in the laser radar, the measurement accuracy is reduced (namely, the power consumption is reduced) when the temperature is too high, the driving hidden danger caused by the overtemperature of the device is avoided, the measurement accuracy can be recovered when the temperature is reduced to be within a safety range, the safety and the comfort of automatic driving are improved, and the like.

In one possible embodiment, the one or more operating parameters include one or more of a frame rate, an out-point rate, a ranging range, an angular resolution, a field angle FOV, and a region of interest ROI; one or more devices of the N devices are devices associated with the any one device; the one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices are operating parameters associated with the any one device.

In the embodiment of the application, the laser radar can correspondingly adjust one or more working parameters of the frame rate, the point outlet rate, the ranging range, the angle resolution, the field angle FOV and the region of interest ROI of the devices according to the temperature change of the devices, and the like. Therefore, based on real-time temperature change of the device, relevance among the devices and a large number of adjustable working parameters, under the condition that a certain device is overtemperature, corresponding parameters of the device (which can comprise the device) related to the device can be adjusted, so that the power consumption of the laser radar can be adjusted more flexibly, the temperature of each device in the laser radar is controlled within a safety range, the normal operation and service life of the laser radar are ensured, the safety and comfort of automatic driving are improved, and the like.

In a possible embodiment, the one or more operating parameters each correspond to K settings; the K device temperature thresholds are in one-to-one correspondence with the K set values; the laser radar is specifically used for:

if the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the jth device temperature threshold value of the K device temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more N devices to a jth set value corresponding to the jth device temperature threshold value;

if the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the j+1th device temperature threshold value of the K device temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more N devices to a j+1th set value corresponding to the j+1th device temperature threshold value; wherein the jth device temperature threshold is less than the jth+1 device temperature threshold, the jth set point being greater than the jth+1 set point; j is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to K.

In the embodiment of the application, in order to control the temperature of the laser radar during working and avoid the driving hidden trouble caused by overtemperature, a plurality of temperature thresholds can be set for a plurality of devices in the laser radar in advance, and the set values of the working parameters corresponding to the temperature thresholds can be set. For example, the default value of the frame rate may be 25F/s, when the skin temperature of the lidar exceeds 80 ℃, the frame rate may be adjusted down to 20F/s, when the skin temperature of the lidar exceeds 90 ℃, the frame rate may be further adjusted down to 15F/s, and so on. For another example, after the frame rate is adjusted down, the laser radar may again adjust the frame rate corresponding to the scanner from the current 15F/s up to 20F/s, etc., as the housing temperature gradually drops to 82 ℃. For another example, when the temperature of the control chip of the laser radar exceeds 100 ℃, the frame rate may be adjusted down to 20F/s, when the temperature of the control chip exceeds 105 ℃, the frame rate may be further adjusted down to 15F/s, and so on, which will not be described in detail herein. Therefore, the working parameters can be quickly and effectively regulated in real time according to the real-time temperature of each device in the laser radar, the measurement accuracy is reduced (namely, the power consumption is reduced) when the temperature is too high, the driving hidden danger caused by the overtemperature of the device is avoided, the measurement accuracy can be recovered when the temperature is reduced to be within a safety range, the safety and the comfort of automatic driving are improved, and the like.

In one possible implementation, the control chip includes a laser control module and a scanner control module; the laser control module is connected with one or more lasers, and the scanner control module is connected with the scanner;

the laser control module is used for controlling the emission frequency and/or the emission power of the one or more lasers based on the point-out rate, the ranging range and one or more working parameters in the ROI;

the scanner control module is configured to control a scan rate and/or a scan angle of the scanner based on the frame rate, the angular resolution, and one or more operating parameters in the FOV.

In the embodiment of the application, the control chip of the laser radar can comprise a laser control module and a scanner control module, wherein the laser control module can be connected with one or more lasers, and the scanner control module can be connected with a scanner. Wherein the laser control module may control the emission frequency and/or the emission power of the one or more lasers based on one or more of the above-described point-out rate, ranging range, and ROI; wherein the scanner control module may control the scan rate and/or scan angle of the scanner based on one or more of the frame rate, angular resolution, and FOV operating parameters described above, and the like. Therefore, the laser and the scanner can be controlled in real time based on the temperature change of each device and the numerical adjustment of corresponding working parameters through the laser control module and the scanner control module in the control chip, and the normal operation of the laser radar under various temperature conditions (namely under various parameter settings) is ensured.

In one possible embodiment, the sensor system further comprises a speed sensor;

the speed sensor is used for monitoring the running speed of the intelligent vehicle; the running speed corresponds to K speed thresholds;

the laser radar is specifically used for:

when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the running speed is less than any one of the K speed thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices to a value matching the any one device temperature threshold and the any one speed threshold.

In an embodiment of the present application, the sensor system may further include a speed sensor, where the speed sensor may monitor a running speed of the intelligent vehicle. The external heat radiation condition of the lidar is complex, and particularly, the variation range of wind speed is wide. Under the conditions of low-speed running or stopping and the like, the external wind speed is greatly reduced, the heat dissipation condition is deteriorated, and the risk of overtemperature exists in the internal devices of the laser radar, so that the normal use and the service life of the laser radar can be seriously influenced. In addition, the requirements on the performance of the laser radar are lower in the scenes of low-speed running or parking and the like, for example, when the vehicle runs at a speed of 120km/s, the higher the speed is, the higher the requirement on the measurement accuracy of the laser radar is, the higher the wind speed is, the good heat dissipation condition is achieved, the laser radar can be required to measure 200m, and the frame rate is at least 25F/s; in the case of low-speed traveling, parking, or the like, when the heat radiation condition is deteriorated, the range of the laser radar may be required to be shortened (for example, 100 m), the frame rate may be reduced to 5F/s to 10F/s, or the like. Therefore, the embodiment of the application not only can adaptively adjust the working parameters such as the frame rate, the point outlet rate and the like according to the temperature of each device in the laser radar, but also can further refer to the running speed of the current vehicle, and reduces the measurement precision and the power consumption of the laser radar when the laser radar runs at a high temperature and a low speed, thereby effectively controlling the temperature of each device in the laser radar within a safety range, not only meeting the automatic driving application, but also improving the reliability of laser radar products and ensuring the driving safety.

In one possible embodiment, the M temperature sensors are further used to monitor an ambient temperature of the intelligent vehicle; the ambient temperature corresponds to K ambient temperature thresholds;

the laser radar is specifically used for:

when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the ambient temperature is greater than any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices to a value that matches the any one of the device temperature thresholds and the any one of the ambient temperature thresholds.

In the embodiment of the application, the plurality of temperature sensors can also monitor the ambient temperature around the intelligent vehicle, so that the temperature and the ambient temperature of each device can be referenced simultaneously, the working parameters can be regulated more accurately and reliably, the temperature of the laser radar can be controlled effectively, and the driving safety is ensured. For example, when the temperature of any device and the temperature of the environment exceed a certain temperature threshold, the frame rate, the point outlet rate, the range finding range and the like can be adjusted downwards to a larger extent, so that the temperature of the laser radar is reduced rapidly, and the driving safety is ensured.

In one possible embodiment, the lidar is specifically configured to:

and when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds, the running speed is smaller than any one of the K speed thresholds, and the ambient temperature is larger than any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of one or more of the N devices to a value matched with the any one of the K device temperature thresholds, the any one of the K speed thresholds and the any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds.

In the embodiment of the application, the frame rate, the point output rate and other working parameters can be adaptively adjusted according to the temperature of each device in the laser radar, the running speed of the current vehicle and the ambient temperature around the vehicle can be further referred, the measurement precision is reduced, and the power consumption of the laser radar is reduced when the device and the ambient temperature are higher and run at a low speed, so that the temperature of each device in the laser radar is effectively controlled within a safety range, the automatic driving application is satisfied, the reliability of a laser radar product is also improved, and the driving safety is ensured.

In one possible embodiment, the lidar is further configured to:

if the N devices and the running speed meet the target conditions, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operation parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the travel speed is less than a minimum value of the K speed thresholds.

In the embodiment of the application, after the working parameters such as the frame rate, the point out rate and the like are adjusted down to the lowest set values for a plurality of times, the temperature of any device in the laser radar is still higher, and under the condition that the current vehicle speed is lower (namely the heat dissipation condition is bad), the laser radar can be directly controlled to stop working (namely downtime) and report an abnormal alarm to the intelligent vehicle, thereby avoiding damage to each device in the laser radar in a continuous high-temperature state, prolonging the service life of the laser radar and ensuring the driving safety.

In one possible embodiment, the lidar is further configured to:

If the N devices and the environmental temperature meet the target conditions, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operating parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and a second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the ambient temperature is greater than a maximum value of the K ambient temperature thresholds.

In the embodiment of the application, after the working parameters such as the frame rate, the point out rate and the like are adjusted down to the lowest set values for a plurality of times, the temperature of any device in the laser radar is still higher, and under the condition that the current environment temperature is higher (namely, the heat dissipation condition is bad), the laser radar can be directly controlled to stop working (namely, downtime) and report an abnormal alarm to the intelligent vehicle, thereby avoiding damage to each device in the laser radar in a continuous high-temperature state, prolonging the service life of the laser radar and ensuring the driving safety.

In one possible implementation of the method according to the application,

if the N devices, the running speed and the environmental temperature meet target conditions, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operation parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the travel speed is less than a minimum value of the K speed thresholds, and the ambient temperature is greater than a maximum value of the K ambient temperature thresholds.

In the embodiment of the application, after the working parameters such as the frame rate, the point out rate and the like are adjusted down to the lowest set values for a plurality of times, the temperature of any device in the laser radar is still higher, and under the conditions that the current vehicle speed is lower and the environment temperature is higher (namely, the heat dissipation condition is extremely bad), the laser radar can be directly controlled to stop working (namely, downtime) and report an abnormal alarm to the intelligent vehicle, thereby avoiding damage to each device in the laser radar in a continuous high-temperature state, prolonging the service life of the laser radar and ensuring the driving safety.

In one possible implementation of the method according to the application,

if the N devices meet the target conditions, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operating parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set points, and a second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds.

In the embodiment of the application, after the working parameters such as the frame rate, the point out rate and the like are adjusted down to the lowest set values for many times, under the condition that the temperature of any device in the laser radar is still higher, the laser radar can be directly controlled to stop working (namely downtime) and report an abnormal alarm to the intelligent vehicle, thereby avoiding each device in the laser radar from being damaged in a state of continuous high temperature, prolonging the service life of the laser radar and ensuring the driving safety.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an adjustment method, which is applied to a laser radar system; the laser radar system comprises a laser radar and a sensor system; the laser radar comprises N devices, the sensor system comprises M temperature sensors, and N and M are integers which are larger than or equal to 1; the method comprises the following steps:

monitoring, by the M temperature sensors, one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices;

determining, by the lidar, a second temperature of the N devices based on the one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices;

respectively adjusting one or more working parameters of one or more devices in the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule through the laser radar; the preset adjustment rule comprises that when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds, one or more working parameters of one or more devices of the N devices are adjusted to a value matched with the any one device temperature threshold; k is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

And detecting the driving environment of the intelligent vehicle through the N adjusted devices by the laser radar.

In one possible embodiment, the N devices include one or more of a laser, a detector, an optical method, a scanner, a control chip, and a housing; the monitoring, by the M temperature sensors, one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices includes:

In a possible embodiment, the one or more operating parameters each correspond to K settings; the K device temperature thresholds are in one-to-one correspondence with the K set values; the adjusting, by the lidar, one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices of the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule, includes:

In one possible implementation, the control chip includes a laser control module and a scanner control module; the laser control module is connected with one or more lasers, and the scanner control module is connected with the scanner; the method further comprises the steps of:

controlling, by the laser control module, a transmit frequency and/or transmit power of the one or more lasers based on the point-out rate, the ranging range, and one or more operating parameters in the ROI;

the scan rate and/or scan angle of the scanner is controlled by the scanner control module based on one or more operating parameters in the frame rate, the angular resolution, and the FOV.

In one possible embodiment, the sensor method further comprises a speed sensor; the method further comprises the steps of:

monitoring the running speed of the intelligent vehicle through the speed sensor; the running speed corresponds to K speed thresholds;

the adjusting, by the lidar, one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices of the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule, includes: when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the running speed is less than any one of the K speed thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices to a value matching the any one device temperature threshold and the any one speed threshold.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

monitoring the ambient temperature of the intelligent vehicle through the M temperature sensors; the ambient temperature corresponds to K ambient temperature thresholds;

the adjusting, by the lidar, one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices of the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule, includes: when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the ambient temperature is greater than any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices to a value that matches the any one of the device temperature thresholds and the any one of the ambient temperature thresholds.

In one possible implementation manner, the adjusting, by the lidar, one or more operating parameters of each of one or more of the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule includes: and when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds, the running speed is smaller than any one of the K speed thresholds, and the ambient temperature is larger than any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of one or more of the N devices to a value matched with the any one of the K device temperature thresholds, the any one of the K speed thresholds and the any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

if the N devices and the running speed meet target conditions through the laser radar, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operation parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the travel speed is less than a minimum value of the K speed thresholds.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

if the N devices and the environmental temperature meet target conditions through the laser radar, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operating parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and a second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the ambient temperature is greater than a maximum value of the K ambient temperature thresholds.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

if the N devices, the running speed and the environmental temperature meet target conditions through the laser radar, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operation parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the travel speed is less than a minimum value of the K speed thresholds, and the ambient temperature is greater than a maximum value of the K ambient temperature thresholds.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

if the N devices meet target conditions through the laser radar, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operating parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set points, and a second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an intelligent vehicle, where the intelligent vehicle may include a lidar system according to any of the first aspect, and the lidar system is configured to implement a function related to the adjustment method flow according to any of the second aspect.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a lidar system, where the computing device includes a processor configured to support the lidar system to implement the corresponding function in the adjustment method provided in the second aspect. The lidar system may also include a memory for coupling with the processor that holds the necessary program instructions and data for the lidar system. The lidar system may also include a communication interface for the lidar system to communicate with other devices or a communication network.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the adjustment method flow of any one of the second aspects above. Wherein the processor may be one or more processors.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the adjustment method flow of any of the second aspects described above.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system may include a lidar system according to any of the first aspect, and is configured to implement a function related to the adjustment method flow according to any of the second aspect. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the tuning method. The chip system can be composed of chips, and can also comprise chips and other discrete devices.

Drawings

In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following description will explain the drawings used in the embodiments of the present application or the background art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a lidar system.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a shell temperature drive test result of a lidar according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram of an intelligent vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a lidar system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an adaptive adjustment procedure according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another lidar system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7a is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7b is a schematic diagram of another application scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a shell temperature drive test result of another lidar according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a flow chart of an adjustment method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

The terms "first," "second," "third," and "fourth" and the like in the description and in the claims and drawings are used for distinguishing between different objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. Furthermore, the terms "comprise" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those listed steps or elements but may include other steps or elements not listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those of skill in the art will explicitly and implicitly appreciate that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between 2 or more computers. Furthermore, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with one another in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

First, some terms in the present invention will be explained in order to be understood by those skilled in the art.

(1) LiDAR (light detection and ranging, liDAR) is a radar system that detects characteristic amounts of position, speed, etc. of a target with a laser beam emitted. The laser radar works in such a way that a detection signal (laser beam) is emitted to a target, then a received signal (target echo) reflected from the target is compared with the emission signal, and relevant information of the target, such as parameters of a target distance, a target azimuth, a target height, a target speed, a target attitude, a target shape and the like, can be obtained after proper processing, so that the targets of vehicles, pedestrians, buildings and the like in front are detected, tracked and identified, and the detection range is wide and the precision is high.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a lidar system. As shown in fig. 1, the lidar system may include an optical system 101 (which may include a correction lens group, a collimator lens group, a receiving lens, etc., not shown in fig. 1), a plurality of lasers (e.g., a laser 102a and a laser 102b, etc.), a scanner 103, a plurality of detectors (e.g., a detector 104a and a detector 104 b), a driver 105, a scanning motor 106, a laser control module 107, a scanner control module 108, a data receiving module 109, a data processing module 110, and a communication interface 111.

The laser radar system mainly comprises a transmitting system, a receiving system, an information processing system and the like. The emission system may include the above-described lasers 102a, 102b, a driver 105, a scanner 103, a scan motor 106, and the like. As shown in fig. 1, lasers 102a and 102b may be coupled to drive 105 and laser control module 107 may be coupled to drive 105 to control the lasing of the plurality of lasers. Alternatively, the lasers 102a, 102b may be, for example, carbon dioxide lasers, neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet lasers, semiconductor lasers, wavelength tunable solid state lasers, and the like. Wherein the scanner 103 is located in the light emitting direction of the lasers 102a and 102b, as shown in fig. 1, the scanner 103 may be connected to a scan motor 106, and a scanner control module 108 may be connected to the scan motor 106 to control the scanner 103 to rotate, so as to change the angle of the laser beams emitted by the lasers 102a and 102 b. The receiving system may include the above-mentioned detectors 104a and 104b, etc., and alternatively, the detectors 104a and 104b may be various types of detectors including a combination of photomultiplier tubes, semiconductor photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes, infrared and visible light multiplex detection devices, etc., for example. As shown in fig. 1, the data receiving module 109 may include a receiving algorithm, and may be configured to receive signals received by a plurality of detectors and perform a certain process, where the data processing module 110 may perform point cloud preprocessing and reporting, and so on. The communication interface 111 may establish a communication connection with other devices to transmit point cloud data collected by the lidar to the other devices, and so on, which will not be described in detail herein.

Among the main performance parameters of the lidar are wavelength, detection distance, field of view (FOV), range extreme, angular resolution, frame rate, point out rate, harness, security level, output parameters, ingress protection (ingress protection, IP) level, power, supply voltage, laser emission mode, and lifetime.

Wavelength of laser: the most common wavelengths for three-dimensional imaging lidar in the market today are 905nm and 1550nm. The laser radar with 1550nm wavelength can operate with higher power to improve the detection range, and meanwhile, the penetrating power to rain and fog is stronger, and the measurement accuracy is higher.

Security level: whether the safety level of the laser radar meets the requirement or not needs to consider the laser output power of a laser product with a specific wavelength in the complete working time, namely the safety of laser radiation is the result of the combined action of the wavelength, the output power and the laser radiation time.

Detection distance (or distance measurement range): in general, the higher the power of the laser, the farther the detectable distance. Further, the range of the lidar is related to the reflectivity of the target, and the higher the reflectivity of the target, the farther the distance is measured and the lower the reflectivity of the target, the closer the distance is measured. Therefore, in looking at the detection distance of the lidar, it is often necessary to know the detection distance when the measurement distance is what the target reflectivity is.

Field of view (FOV): the field angle of the lidar includes a horizontal field angle and a vertical field angle. For example, for a mechanically rotating lidar, its horizontal field of view is typically 360 degrees.

Angular resolution: including vertical resolution and horizontal resolution. It should be noted that, since the horizontal direction is driven by the motor, the horizontal resolution can reach higher precision, and can reach 0.01 degree generally. The vertical resolution is generally related to the geometry and arrangement of the emitters (i.e., lasers), and the smaller the spacing between two adjacent emitters, the smaller the vertical resolution, which is typically on the order of 0.1-1 degrees.

Frame rate (i.e., frame rate): one point cloud image represents one frame, and one scanning is completed by one circle of rotation of the motor corresponding to the inside of the laser radar. The frame rate represents the number of revolutions of the lidar motor per second, i.e., the number of scans completed by the lidar per second.

Point out rate (or referred to as sampling rate): the number of laser points (or laser pulses) emitted by the laser radar per second, that is, the number of times the laser radar per second performs effective acquisition, can be intuitively understood as the number of point clouds generated in one second. The point out rate of the lidar is generally from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of points per second, which can be calculated by the frame rate and the angular resolution, and will not be described in detail herein.

Wire harness: the multi-line laser radar is characterized in that a plurality of laser transmitters are distributed in the vertical direction, and a plurality of wire bundles are scanned through rotation of a motor. It can be appreciated that the more and denser the laser beams, the more fully the environment is described, and the further the algorithm requirements can be reduced. The usual harnesses for lidar are: 4-wire, 8-wire, 16-wire, 32-wire, 64-wire, etc., which are not described in detail herein.

Output parameters: the location, speed, direction, time stamp, and reflectivity of obstacles (e.g., vehicles, pedestrians, and buildings in a driving environment, etc.), and the like.

Service life is as follows: the service life of the mechanical rotary laser radar is generally thousands of hours; the service life of the solid-state lidar can be as long as 10 ten thousand hours.

Laser emission mode: common in the market include conventional mechanical rotary lidar and solid state lidar. The mechanical rotary laser radar adopts a mechanical rotary structure, and the mechanical rotation easily causes abrasion, so that the service life of the laser radar is limited. Solid state lidars, such as flash lidars, can cover the entire field of view with pulses at once, with light sources, then receive the relevant data using a time of flight (T0F) method and map out targets around the lidar, etc., and are not described in detail herein.

As mentioned above, with the increasing requirements of modern society for lidar, the performance of lidar is continuously improved, for example, the laser beam is increased, the ranging range is increased, the point output rate and the frame rate are increased, and the power consumption of lidar is increased, so that the temperature of lidar is increased. In addition, in order to meet the assembly requirement, the smaller and better the size and volume of the laser radar are required, so that the heat is more intensive when the laser radar works, and the overtemperature problem is more serious. For example, during driving, as the vehicle-mounted lidar continuously works, when the housing temperature of the lidar or the temperature of each device (such as the plurality of lasers, the scanner, the plurality of detectors, etc. in fig. 1) in the lidar is greater than a specified safety temperature range, the lidar often fails to work continuously, so that driving safety is seriously compromised, even serious traffic accidents are caused, and personal safety and property safety of a driver or a passenger are damaged.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a shell temperature drive test result of a laser radar according to an embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 2, during normal running of the vehicle, the higher the speed of the vehicle, the better the heat dissipation condition is due to the higher speed of the wind, so that the shell temperature of the laser radar can be stabilized within the safety range of 30 ℃. However, during low-speed driving or parking of the vehicle (for example, parking at a high-speed toll station or parking when waiting for a red light, etc.), the natural wind speed is reduced, the heat dissipation condition is deteriorated, the temperature of the shell of the laser radar is rapidly increased, as shown in fig. 2, and during parking, the temperature of the shell is even up to 115 ℃ and is seriously over-heated, so that great driving hidden danger is brought.

In summary, in order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, technical problems to be solved by the present invention are further analyzed and presented. In the prior art, the cooling technology of the lidar includes various technical solutions, and the following exemplary examples are listed as a common solution.

Scheme one: and cooling the laser radar through the liquid cooling device.

The liquid cooling device can comprise a heat dissipation module and a heat absorption module. The heat absorbing module may be engaged with and absorb heat from the lidar. The liquid cooling device can also comprise a circulating pipeline, and the heat absorbing module can be connected with the heat dissipating module through the circulating pipeline. The cooling liquid can circularly flow between the heat dissipation module and the heat absorption module through the circulating pipeline, so that heat is absorbed in the heat absorption module, and heat is dissipated in the heat dissipation module. Therefore, the liquid cooling device is applied to the laser radar, so that the laser radar can be effectively cooled, and the working temperature of the laser radar can be controlled. The liquid cooling heat dissipation mode is large in heat capacity and low in temperature rise, and is quieter than the fan heat dissipation mode.

The disadvantage of this scheme one:

as described above, although the addition of the liquid cooling device can reduce the temperature of the lidar to some extent, the liquid cooling device includes many components (such as the heat dissipation module, the heat absorption module, and the circulation line described above), and is large in size, so that the liquid cooling device is more convenient to be mounted on a vehicle, increases production cost, and consumes a large amount of energy. Meanwhile, although the temperature of the laser radar is reduced by adopting a liquid cooling external auxiliary mode, the laser radar is always in high-load operation, the power consumption of the laser radar is not reduced, the service life of the laser radar is seriously damaged over time, and the driving safety cannot be effectively ensured.

Scheme II: the self-adaptive technology of the laser radar reduces the power consumption of the laser radar, thereby realizing cooling.

The existing laser radar adaptive technology is mainly an adaptive technology for post-sensing application, and the adaptive technology is actually a scanning technology. It will be appreciated that since the targets all enter the field of view from the point cloud boundary, and the perception algorithm is more concerned about the targets and field of view boundaries within the field of view. Therefore, the self-adaptive technology in the second scheme can self-adaptively adjust the increase of the lighting in the region of interest (region of interest, ROI) and the boundary region so as to lead the point cloud to be dense, and reduce the lighting in the region without the target so as to lead the point cloud to be sparse. Therefore, the power consumption of the laser radar can be reduced to a certain extent, so that the temperature of the laser radar can be reduced.

The disadvantage of this scheme two:

as described above, this solution solves the adaptive scanning of the target or the target area that may occur in the field of view of the lidar by two points, and does not involve the gauge and reliability of each device in the lidar, i.e. the overtemperature situation of the lidar during actual operation is not considered. Therefore, under the condition that the temperature of the laser radar is high, the scheme II does not refer to the temperature of the laser radar to carry out self-adaptive adjustment further so as to reduce the power consumption. The laser radar still has a great degree of overtemperature risk, so that driving safety cannot be ensured, and even serious traffic accidents are caused.

In summary, the solution in the prior art firstly reduces the temperature of the laser radar to a certain extent by adding the liquid cooling device, but also brings the problems of increasing the volume and the cost; and in the second scheme, although the power consumption of the laser radar can be reduced at an individual moment by adaptively adjusting the ROI, the adaptive adjustment is specific to the ROI, and the actual overtemperature condition is not considered, so that the temperature of the laser radar cannot be quickly and effectively reduced when the temperature is high. Therefore, the prior art does not really solve the overtemperature problem faced by the laser radar well, and the temperature of the laser radar cannot be reduced. Therefore, in order to solve the problem that the current cooling technology of the laser radar does not meet the actual service requirement, the technical problem to be actually solved by the application comprises the following aspects: based on the existing laser radar and sensor technology, through each operating parameter of self-adaptation adjustment laser radar under different temperature conditions, realize reducing the temperature of shell and each device of laser radar effectively fast, avoid the overtemperature risk, guarantee driving safety.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a functional block diagram of an intelligent vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application. The lidar system and the corresponding adjustment method provided in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to the intelligent vehicle 200 as shown in fig. 3, and in one embodiment, the intelligent vehicle 200 may be configured in a fully or partially autonomous driving mode. While the intelligent vehicle 200 is in the autonomous mode, the intelligent vehicle 200 may be placed to operate without interaction with a person.

The intelligent vehicle 200 may include various subsystems such as a travel system 202, a sensing system 204, a control system 206, one or more peripheral devices 208, as well as a power supply 210, a computer system 212, and a user interface 216. Alternatively, intelligent vehicle 200 may include more or fewer subsystems, and each subsystem may include multiple elements. In addition, each of the subsystems and elements of the intelligent vehicle 200 may be interconnected by wires or wirelessly.

The travel system 202 may include components that provide powered movement of the intelligent vehicle 200. In one embodiment, the travel system 202 may include an engine 218, an energy source 219, a transmission 220, and wheels 221. The engine 218 may be an internal combustion engine, an electric motor, an air compression engine, or other type of engine combination, such as a hybrid engine of a gasoline engine and an electric motor, or a hybrid engine of an internal combustion engine and an air compression engine. The engine 218 may convert the energy source 219 into mechanical energy.

Examples of energy sources 219 include gasoline, diesel, other petroleum-based fuels, propane, other compressed gas-based fuels, ethanol, solar panels, batteries, and other sources of electricity. The energy source 219 may also provide energy to other systems of the intelligent vehicle 200.

The transmission 220 may transmit mechanical power from the engine 218 to the wheels 221. The transmission 220 may include a gearbox, a differential, and a drive shaft. In one embodiment, the transmission 220 may also include other devices, such as a clutch. Wherein the drive shaft may comprise one or more axles that may be coupled to one or more wheels 221.

The sensing system 204 may include a number of sensors that may be used to gather environmental information about the surroundings of the intelligent vehicle 200 (e.g., may include terrain, roads, motor vehicles, non-motor vehicles, pedestrians, roadblocks, traffic signs, traffic lights, animals, buildings, vegetation, etc. around the intelligent vehicle 200). As shown in fig. 3, the sensing system 204 may include a positioning system 222 (which may be a global positioning system (global positioning system, GPS) system, or a beidou system or other positioning system), an inertial measurement unit (inertial measurement unit, IMU) 224, a lidar system 226, a laser rangefinder 228, a camera 230, and a computer vision system 232, among others. Alternatively, in some possible embodiments, the lidar system 226 may include a lidar and a plurality of temperature sensors. The lidar may include, among other things, one or more lasers, a scanner, one or more detectors, a control chip, an optical system, and a housing (see, for example, the lidar shown in fig. 1 above). The temperature sensors can monitor the temperatures of the devices in real time, so that the laser radar can adjust one or more working parameters (such as frame rate, point outlet rate, ranging range and the like) based on the temperature change of each device, thereby controlling the temperatures of the devices in the laser radar to be in a safe range, ensuring the normal operation of the laser radar and further ensuring the driving safety. Optionally, a speed sensor may be further included in the lidar system 226, which may monitor the running speed of the intelligent vehicle 200 in real time, so that the lidar may adjust one or more operating parameters of the intelligent vehicle 200 based on the temperature change of each device and the running speed of the intelligent vehicle 200, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited in detail. Optionally, in some possible embodiments, the sensor system 204 may further include millimeter wave radar (not shown in fig. 3) or the like, which may be used to sense objects within the ambient environment of the intelligent vehicle 200, as the present embodiments are not specifically limited.

Positioning system 222 may be used to estimate the geographic location of intelligent vehicle 200. The IMU 224 is used to sense the position and orientation changes of the intelligent vehicle 200 based on inertial acceleration. In one embodiment, the IMU 224 may be a combination of an accelerometer and a gyroscope.

Lidar system 226 may utilize radio signals to sense objects within the ambient environment of intelligent vehicle 200. In some possible embodiments, lidar system 226 may also be used to sense the speed and/or direction of travel of the vehicle around intelligent vehicle 200, and so forth. The lidar system 226 may be used to collect point cloud data of the surrounding environment, among other things, and will not be described in detail herein.

The laser rangefinder 228 may utilize a laser to sense objects in the environment in which the intelligent vehicle 200 is located. In some possible embodiments, the laser rangefinder 228 may include one or more laser sources, one or more laser scanners, and one or more detectors, among other system components.

The camera 230 may be used to capture a plurality of images of the ambient environment of the intelligent vehicle 200. In some possible embodiments, the camera 230 may be a still camera or a video camera.

The computer vision system 232 may be operable to process and analyze images captured by the camera 230 to identify objects and/or features in the environment surrounding the intelligent vehicle 200. The objects and/or features may include terrain, motor vehicles, non-motor vehicles, pedestrians, buildings, traffic signals, road boundaries, obstacles, and the like. The computer vision system 232 may use object recognition algorithms, in-motion restoration structure (structure from motion, SFM) algorithms, video tracking, and other computer vision techniques.

The control system 206 is configured to control the operation of the intelligent vehicle 200 and its components. The control system 206 may include various elements including a throttle 235, a brake unit 236, and a steering system 234.

The throttle 235 is used to control the operating speed of the engine 218 and thus the speed of the intelligent vehicle 200.

The brake unit 236 is used to control the intelligent vehicle 200 to slow down. The brake unit 236 may use friction to slow the wheel 221. In other embodiments, the brake unit 236 may convert the kinetic energy of the wheels 221 into electrical current. The brake unit 236 may take other forms to slow the rotational speed of the wheels 221 to control the speed of the intelligent vehicle 200.

The steering system 234 is operable to adjust the heading of the intelligent vehicle 200.

Of course, in one example, control system 206 may additionally or alternatively include components other than those shown and described. Or some of the components shown above may be eliminated.

The intelligent vehicle 200 interacts with external sensors, other vehicles, other computer systems, or users through peripheral devices 208. Peripheral devices 208 may include a wireless communication system 246, a vehicle computer 248, a microphone 250, and/or a speaker 252. In some embodiments, the wireless communication system 246 may also upload the point cloud data collected by the lidar system 226 during the driving process of the intelligent vehicle 200 to a server or a computing device, so as to draw a high-precision 3D environment map formed by the point cloud data, which is not limited in particular in the embodiments of the present application.

The server may be one server, a server cluster formed by a plurality of servers, or a cloud computing service center, etc., which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application. The computing device may be an intelligent wearable device, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, or a server with a display screen, etc., which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In some embodiments, the peripheral device 208 provides a means for a user of the intelligent vehicle 200 to interact with the user interface 216. For example, the vehicle computer 248 may provide information to a user of the intelligent vehicle 200. The user interface 216 may also operate the vehicle computer 248 to receive user input. The vehicle computer 248 may be operated by a touch screen. In other cases, the peripheral device 208 may provide a means for the intelligent vehicle 200 to communicate with other devices located within the vehicle. For example, microphone 250 may receive audio (e.g., voice commands or other audio inputs) from a user of intelligent vehicle 200. Similarly, speaker 252 may output audio to a user of intelligent vehicle 200.

The wireless communication system 246 may communicate wirelessly with one or more devices directly or via a communication network. For example, the wireless communication system 246 may use third generation mobile communication network (3rd generation mobile networks,3G) cellular communications, such as code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), global system for mobile communications (global system for mobile communications, GSM)/general packet radio service (general packet radio service, GPRS), or fourth generation mobile communication network (4th generation mobile networks,4G) cellular communications, such as long term evolution technology (long term evolution, LTE). Or third generation mobile communication network (5th generation mobile networks,5G) cellular communication. The wireless communication system 246 may also communicate with a wireless local area network (wireless local area network, WLAN) using wireless-fidelity (WIFI). In some embodiments, wireless communication system 246 may communicate directly with devices using an infrared link, bluetooth, or the like. Other wireless protocols, such as: various vehicle communication systems, for example, wireless communication system 246 may include one or more dedicated short-range communication (dedicated short range communications, DSRC) devices, which may include public and/or private data communications between vehicles and/or roadside stations.

The power supply 210 may provide power to various components of the intelligent vehicle 200. In one embodiment, the power source 210 may be a rechargeable lithium ion or lead acid battery. One or more battery packs of such batteries may be configured as a power source to provide power to the various components of the intelligent vehicle 200. In some embodiments, the power source 210 and the energy source 219 may be implemented together, such as in some all-electric vehicles.

Some or all of the functions of the intelligent vehicle 200 are controlled by the computer system 212. The computer system 212 may include at least one processor 213, the processor 213 executing instructions 215 stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium such as memory 214. The computer system 212 may also be a plurality of computing devices that control individual components or subsystems of the intelligent vehicle 200 in a distributed manner.

The processor 213 may be any conventional processor, such as a commercially available central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU). Alternatively, the processor may be a special purpose device such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other hardware-based processor. Although FIG. 3 functionally illustrates a processor, memory, and other elements of computer system 212 in the same block, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the processor or memory may in fact comprise multiple processors or memories that are not stored within the same physical housing. For example, the memory may be a hard disk drive or other storage medium located in a different housing than the computer system 212. Thus, references to a processor or memory will be understood to include references to a collection of processors or memories that may or may not operate in parallel. Rather than using a single processor to perform the steps described herein, for example, some components in the sensing system 204 may each have their own processor that performs only calculations related to component-specific functions.

In various aspects described herein, the processor 213 may be located remotely from the vehicle and in wireless communication with the vehicle. In other aspects, some of the processes described herein are performed on a processor disposed within the vehicle and others are performed by a remote processor.

In some embodiments, the memory 214 may contain instructions 215 (e.g., program logic), the instructions 215 being executable by the processor 213 to perform various functions of the intelligent vehicle 200, including those described above. The memory 214 may also contain additional instructions, including instructions to send data to, receive data from, interact with, and/or control one or more of the travel system 202, the sensing system 204, the control system 206, and the peripherals 208.

In addition to instructions 215, memory 214 may store data, such as a large amount of sensor data collected by sensor system 204 during travel, such as image data captured by camera 230 within sensor system 204 and point cloud data collected by lidar system 226, among others. In some possible embodiments, the memory 214 may further store a plurality of temperature thresholds for adjusting the operating parameters according to the temperature variation, a plurality of set values of each of a plurality of operating parameters matched with the plurality of temperature thresholds (for example, one of the temperature thresholds of the housing is 80 ℃, then the temperature threshold corresponds to adjusting the frame rate to 20F/s), and so on, which is not particularly limited by the embodiment of the present application. In some possible embodiments, the memory 214 may also store, for example, road maps, route information, vehicle location, direction, speed, and other such vehicle data, as well as other information, and the like. Such information may be used by the wireless communication system 246 or the computer system 212, etc. in the intelligent vehicle 200 during travel of the intelligent vehicle 200.

A user interface 216 for providing information to or receiving information from a user of the intelligent vehicle 200. Optionally, the user interface 216 may include one or more input/output devices within the set of peripheral devices 208, such as a wireless communication system 246, a vehicle computer 248, a microphone 250, and a speaker 252.

Alternatively, one or more of these components may be installed separately from or associated with intelligent vehicle 200. For example, the memory 214 may exist partially or completely separate from the intelligent vehicle 200. The above components may be communicatively coupled together in a wired and/or wireless manner.

In summary, the intelligent vehicle 200 may be a car, a truck, a motorcycle, a bus, a ship, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a robot, an airplane, a helicopter, a mower, a recreational vehicle, a casino vehicle, construction equipment, an electric car, a golf car, a train, a trolley, etc., which is not particularly limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It will be appreciated that the functional block diagram of the intelligent vehicle in fig. 3 is merely an exemplary implementation of an embodiment of the present application, which includes, but is not limited to, the above structures.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a lidar system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4, the lidar system 300 may be applied to the intelligent vehicle 200 shown in fig. 3, and the lidar system 300 may be the lidar system 226 shown in fig. 3, which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 4, the lidar system 300 may include a sensor system 301 and a lidar 302. Wherein the sensor system 301 may include M temperature sensors, M being an integer greater than or equal to 1. The lidar 302 may include N devices, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. Alternatively, the N devices may include one or more of a laser, a detector, an optical system, a scanner, a control chip, and a housing. Optionally, the control chip may include a data processing module as shown in fig. 1, and may be used to perform preprocessing on the point cloud.

The M temperature sensors may be disposed around the N devices to monitor temperatures of the N devices in real time. It should be noted that, because the temperatures of different positions of the device are different, especially the temperature difference of each position of the device with larger volume is larger, and the temperature of one position is lower, other positions may be seriously over-heated, which affects the operation of the device. As such, optionally, one or more first temperatures corresponding to one or more locations of a device may be monitored by one or more temperature sensors. The lidar may then determine a second temperature (i.e., a temperature that is actually referenced) for the device based on one or more first temperatures of the device, which may be the highest temperature of the one or more first temperatures. For example, 3 temperature sensors are arranged around the control chip, the monitored first temperatures are 90 ℃, 95 ℃ and 105 ℃, then 105 ℃ can be used as the second temperature of the control chip, and then overtemperature judgment can be performed according to the second temperature, so that safety is improved. Alternatively, in some possible embodiments, the corresponding second temperature may be calculated according to the first temperature of one or more different positions of the device through fitting or the like, and the embodiment of the application is not limited in particular. For example, taking the control chip as an example, the first temperature is 90 ℃, 95 ℃ and 105 ℃, the temperature actually reached by the control chip can be 112 ℃ (i.e. the second temperature) through fitting calculation, and then the overtemperature judgment can be performed according to the second temperature, so that the safety is improved. Alternatively, the temperature may be a junction temperature, such as the junction temperature of the control chip in lidar 302 described above (junction temperature is the highest temperature of the actual semiconductor chip in the electronic device, typically higher than the housing temperature).

The lidar 302 may respectively adjust one or more operating parameters of one or more of the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule. Alternatively, the N devices may each correspond to K device temperature thresholds, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The preset adjustment rule may include adjusting one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices to a value that matches any one of the K device temperature thresholds when the second temperature of the any one of the N devices reaches the any one of the K device temperature thresholds. Optionally, one or more devices of the N devices that perform the adjustment may be a device associated with the any one of the super-temperature devices (may include the super-temperature device itself), and one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more devices may also be an operating parameter associated with the any one of the super-temperature devices. Optionally, the one or more operating parameters may include one or more of frame rate, point out rate, ranging range, angular resolution, FOV, ROI, and point cloud resolution, and may further include other possible operating parameters such as laser beam, which are not particularly limited in the embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that the value of K corresponding to each device may be different, for example, the N devices may be 4 devices including a laser, a detector, a housing, and a control chip, where the laser may correspond to 3 device temperature thresholds including 90 ℃, 95 ℃, and 100 ℃, the detector may correspond to 3 device temperature thresholds including 90 ℃, 95 ℃, and 100 ℃, the housing may correspond to 4 device temperature thresholds including 80 ℃, 90 ℃, 100 ℃, and 105 ℃, the control chip may correspond to 5 device temperature thresholds including 100 ℃, 105 ℃, 110 ℃, 115 ℃, and 120 ℃, and so on, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited in this respect.

Optionally, K set values corresponding to the one or more working parameters may be set in advance; the K device temperature thresholds may correspond to the K set values one-to-one. Thus, if the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the jth device temperature threshold of the K device temperature thresholds, one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices may be adjusted to a jth set value corresponding to the jth device temperature threshold; further, if the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the j+1th device temperature threshold of the K device temperature thresholds, one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more N devices may be adjusted to a j+1th set value corresponding to the j+1th device temperature threshold. It should be noted that, the jth device temperature threshold is smaller than the jth+1th device temperature threshold, and the jth set value is larger than the jth+1th set value; j is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to K. In this way, under the condition that the temperature of each device in the laser radar 302 continuously rises, the set value of the working parameter can be adaptively and continuously adjusted (for example, the frame rate of the laser radar 302 is continuously reduced, the range of the laser radar 302 is shortened, etc.), so as to reduce the power consumption of the laser radar 302, thereby reducing the temperature of each device in the laser radar 302 and ensuring the normal operation and driving safety of the laser radar 302. It is understood that the K set points may be different from the K values in the K device temperature thresholds. The correspondence may be as shown in tables 1 and 2 below.

TABLE 1

TABLE 2

It should be understood that the foregoing tables 1 and 2 are merely illustrative, and the adjustable operating parameters include, but are not limited to, the frame rate and the ranging range described above, and the setting values of the respective operating parameters and the device temperature thresholds of the respective devices may be increased or decreased according to actual requirements, which is not particularly limited in the embodiments of the present application. Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an adaptive adjustment flow according to an embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 5, after the laser radar system 300 is started, the laser radar 302 may first start operating at a default setting, such as the frame rate of 25F/s and the ranging range of 200m shown in tables 1 and 2 above. After the lidar system 300 is started, a plurality of sensors therein begin to monitor the temperature of each of the devices in real time.

As described above, for example, when it is monitored that the second temperature of the scanner exceeds its corresponding first device temperature threshold (90℃.), then lidar 302 may adjust the frame rate corresponding to the scanner down to 20F/s (the first set point) to decrease the scanner temperature. For another example, when it is detected that the second temperature of the enclosure exceeds its corresponding first device temperature threshold (80 ℃), then lidar 302 may adjust the scanner corresponding frame rate down to 20F/s to reduce the enclosure temperature. It will be appreciated that there may be a correlation between different operating parameters, for example, the output rate may be calculated from the frame rate and the angular resolution, and the frame rate may be reduced, while the output rate may be reduced with the angular resolution. Thus, adjusting the frame rate of the scanner also corresponds to adjusting the spot rate of the laser at the same time. For another example, when scanning detection is performed on only the target or the region where the target may appear in the field of view by the ROI technique, the shining of the laser in the non-target region is greatly reduced, the point cloud is sparse, that is, the point-out rate of the whole laser is reduced, and so on. Optionally, as described above, in the case of adjusting the frame rate corresponding to the scanner to 20F/s, the ranging range corresponding to the laser may also be adjusted to 150m (the first set value) at the same time, so as to greatly reduce the power consumption of the laser radar 302, thereby reducing the shell temperature more quickly and effectively, avoiding the damage to the laser radar 302 caused by the continuous high temperature, and so on. For another example, after the frame rate and range are adjusted down, the housing temperature may still be increasing, and when the second temperature of the housing is detected to exceed its corresponding second device temperature threshold (90℃.), then lidar 302 may further adjust the frame rate down to 15F/s (the second set point). Alternatively, as described above, the ranging range corresponding to the laser may be adjusted down to 100m (the second set value) again, and so on, which will not be described herein. It will be appreciated that, as described above, the devices in the lidar 302 are often related to each other and affect each other, for example, in the case of the above-mentioned reduction of the frame rate and the point out rate, the number of signals received by the detector will also be reduced, so that the workload of the detector will be reduced, the temperature of the detector will also be reduced, and further, the workload of performing the point cloud processing in the control chip will also be reduced, thereby resulting in a reduction in the temperature of the control chip. Thus, for example, when it is monitored that the second temperature of the control chip exceeds its corresponding first device temperature threshold (100 ℃), then the lidar 302 may adjust the frame rate corresponding to the scanner down to 20F/s, thereby reducing the workload of data processing in the control chip to reduce the temperature of the control chip. For another example, when the second temperature of the control chip is monitored to exceed the corresponding first device temperature threshold (100 ℃), that is, it may be considered that when the temperature of the processor is too high, the frequency of the processor may be first selected to be reduced to achieve cooling, and meanwhile, it may be understood that, because the frequency of the processor is reduced, the workload of data processing will also be reduced, so although the temperatures of devices such as a laser and a scanner are not too high, the point output rate of the laser and the frame rate of the scanner may also be adjusted down, and so on, the embodiment of the present application is not limited in this way. Therefore, the temperature of the laser radar 302 during working can be effectively and comprehensively ensured to be within a safe range through the adjustment of one or more working parameters.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 5, when the second temperature of any device in the lidar 302 exceeds the highest device temperature threshold (for example, the kth device temperature threshold), and the current one or more working parameters are the minimum set values (for example, the kth set values), the lidar 302 may be controlled to stop working (i.e., downtime shown in fig. 5), and further an abnormal warning may be reported to the intelligent vehicle, where the abnormal warning may include enabling a user or a tester to timely grasp the abnormal overtemperature condition of the current lidar 302, so as to ensure driving safety. For example, as shown in table 1 above, if the current frame rate has been adjusted down to the minimum set point of 5F/s, but the shell temperature still continues to rise, even if the temperature exceeds the maximum device temperature threshold of 110 ℃, the operation of the laser radar 302 can be directly controlled to stop, so as to protect the internal devices of the laser radar 302, avoid the overtemperature damage of the devices, and prolong the service life of the laser radar 302. Alternatively, as described above, if the current frame rate has been adjusted down to the minimum set value of 5F/s, but the shell temperature is still maintained at about 105 ℃ for a long time (for example, 1 minute, 2 minutes, or 5 minutes, etc.), and cannot be decreased, the lidar 302 may be directly controlled to stop working at this time, so as to avoid the damage of the device due to long-time high temperature, etc., which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application. Optionally, after the laser radar 302 is down, the temperature sensors in the sensor system 301 may still continuously monitor the temperatures of the devices in the laser radar 302, so that when the temperatures of the devices are restored to a certain temperature range (for example, the first device temperature threshold or the second device temperature threshold, or other possible temperature ranges, which is not limited in particular in the embodiment of the present application), the laser radar 302 may be restarted to start working, thereby ensuring the safety of automatic driving.

Further, the lidar 302 may detect the driving environment of the intelligent vehicle 200 based on the adjusted N devices, and so on, which will not be described in detail herein.

Referring to the lidar shown in fig. 1, it should be noted that there are two main components affecting the overall power consumption of the lidar, including the lighting frequency (i.e., the lasing frequency) of the laser at the transmitting end, the power, and the data processing portion at the receiving end. Therefore, as described above, when the temperature of each device is higher, the embodiment of the application can adaptively adjust working parameters such as frame rate, point outlet rate, ranging range, FOV and the like, and in fact, directly reduces the lighting frequency and power of the laser, reduces the density of point cloud data acquisition, thereby indirectly reducing the workload of data processing at the receiving end, effectively reducing the overall power consumption of the laser radar, and finally realizing the control of the temperature of each device in the laser radar within a safety range (or referred to as a specification range) and guaranteeing the driving safety.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another lidar system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the sensor system 301 may further include a speed sensor 3014, and the laser radar 302 may further include a laser 3021, a control chip 3022, a scanner 3023, and so on, which may be specifically referred to the laser radar shown in fig. 1 and will not be described herein. Alternatively, the control chip 3022 may include a laser control module and a scanner control module, the laser control module may be connected to one or more lasers 3021, and the scanner control module may be connected to the scanner 3023. Wherein the laser control module may control the emission frequency and/or the emission power of the one or more lasers based on one or more of the above-described point-out rate, ranging range, and ROI; wherein the scanner control module may control the scan rate and/or scan angle of the scanner based on one or more of the frame rate, angular resolution, and FOV operating parameters described above, and the like. Therefore, the laser and the scanner can be controlled in real time based on the temperature change of each device and the numerical adjustment of corresponding working parameters through the laser control module and the scanner control module in the control chip, and the normal operation of the laser radar under various temperature conditions is ensured.

Alternatively, the speed sensor 3014 may monitor the travel speed of the intelligent vehicle 200 in real time. Correspondingly, the running speed can also correspond to K speed thresholds, and the value of K can be different from K corresponding to the device temperature threshold and the set value of the working parameter. It will be appreciated that the smaller the vehicle speed, the smaller the wind speed and the worse the heat dissipation conditions, so when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the travel speed is less than any one of the K speed thresholds, the laser radar 302 may adjust one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices to a value that matches the any one device temperature threshold and the any one speed threshold. For example, when the shell temperature is greater than 80 ℃ and the vehicle speed is less than 50km/h, the laser radar may down-regulate the frame rate to 20F/s, etc., which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the application. Optionally, when it is detected that the running speed of the intelligent vehicle 200 is 0 (i.e., the intelligent vehicle 200 is in a parking state), and the parking time is greater than a set threshold (for example, 10 minutes or 30 minutes, etc.), the laser radar 302 may further reduce the frame rate, the point out rate, the ranging range, etc., or directly control the laser radar to stop working (i.e., crash), so as to reduce the power consumption of the laser radar to the greatest extent and control the temperature of the laser radar within the safety range under the condition of ensuring the driving safety and meeting the automatic driving requirement.

Accordingly, as described above, in order to protect the devices from being damaged due to the continuous high temperature, when one or more working parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the running speed is less than the minimum value of the K speed thresholds (i.e., the heat dissipation condition is poor, and basically cannot be reduced), the laser radar 302 may be controlled to stop working, and report an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle 200, and so on, which will not be described herein. Optionally, after the laser radar 302 stops working, the speed sensor 3014 may continuously monitor the running speed of the intelligent vehicle 200, and when it is monitored that the running speed gradually returns to a certain speed range and the temperature of each device returns to a certain temperature range, the laser radar may be restarted to start working, so as to ensure the safety of automatic driving.

Optionally, a temperature sensor within the sensor system 301 may also be used to monitor the ambient temperature of the intelligent vehicle 200. Correspondingly, the environmental temperature can also correspond to K environmental temperature thresholds, and the value of K can be different from K corresponding to the speed threshold, the device temperature threshold and the set value of the working parameter. It will be appreciated that in general, the higher the ambient temperature, the higher the temperature of the lidar. As such, when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the ambient temperature is greater than any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds, then lidar 302 may adjust the one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices to a value that matches the any one device temperature threshold and the any one ambient temperature threshold. For example, when the case temperature is greater than 80 ℃ and the ambient temperature is greater than 60 ℃, the laser radar may down-regulate the frame rate to 20F/s, etc., and the embodiment of the application is not particularly limited. For example, when the shell temperature is higher than 80 ℃ and the ambient temperature is higher than 60 ℃ (i.e. when the temperature reduction condition is poor), the frame rate can be adjusted downwards more greatly, for example, the frame rate can be adjusted to 10F/s directly, so that the temperature of the laser radar can be reduced more rapidly, and the driving safety can be ensured.

Accordingly, as described above, in order to protect the devices from being damaged due to the continuous high temperature, when one or more working parameters of any one of the N devices is the minimum value of the K set values, and the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the environment is greater than the maximum value of the K environment temperature thresholds (i.e. the heat dissipation condition is poor, and the temperature cannot be basically reduced), the laser radar 302 may be controlled to stop working, and report an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle 200, and so on, which will not be described herein.

Optionally, as described above, the device temperature, the travel speed, and the ambient temperature may also be referenced simultaneously to adaptively adjust the operating parameters. For example, when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds, and the driving speed is less than any one of the K speed thresholds, and the ambient temperature is greater than any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds, then the lidar 302 may adjust one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices to a value that matches the any one of the device temperature thresholds, the any one of the speed thresholds, and the any one of the ambient temperature thresholds, and so on, which is not particularly limited by the present application. For example, when the case temperature is more than 80 ℃, and the traveling speed is less than 50km/s, and the ambient temperature is more than 60 ℃, the laser radar may down-regulate the frame rate to 20F/s, etc., which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

It will be appreciated that the device temperature, the running speed and the ambient temperature are related to each other and are influenced by each other, so that when the ambient temperature exceeds a certain ambient temperature threshold, or when the running speed is less than a certain speed threshold, but the device temperature has not reached a minimum device temperature threshold, the operating parameters may be adjusted, so that the device is prevented from being overheated more quickly and effectively in advance, and the embodiment of the application is not limited in particular.

Correspondingly, as described above, when one or more working parameters of any one of the N devices is the minimum value of the K set values, and the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the running speed is less than the minimum value of the K speed thresholds, and the ambient temperature is greater than the maximum value of the K ambient temperature thresholds (i.e., under the extremely severe heat dissipation condition), the laser radar 302 may be directly down and report an abnormal alarm to the intelligent vehicle, thereby avoiding damage to each device in the laser radar in a state of continuous high temperature, prolonging the service life of the laser radar, and ensuring driving safety.

Referring to fig. 7a, fig. 7a is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7a, the application scenario may include a multi-lane road surface, and an intelligent vehicle 200 (illustrated as a car in fig. 7 a), a vehicle 1 (illustrated as a bus in fig. 7 a), a vehicle 2 (illustrated as a car in fig. 7 a), and a vehicle 3 (illustrated as a car in fig. 7 a) that are traveling. The intelligent vehicle 200 may be the intelligent vehicle 200 shown in fig. 3, and the laser radar system may be mounted thereon, for example, the laser radar system 300 shown in fig. 4 or 6. Referring to fig. 7b, fig. 7b is a schematic diagram of another application scenario provided in the embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7b, the application scenario may also include the intelligent vehicle 200 loaded with the lidar system, which is not described herein. As shown in fig. 7b, the intelligent vehicle 200 may be in a parked state before the sidewalk. As shown in fig. 7a and 7b above, the intelligent vehicle 200 may be in an autonomous driving mode, and during its driving or parking, the lidar system within the intelligent vehicle 200 may detect the driving environment, such as the current road conditions, the contour, speed, etc. of the preceding vehicle 1 and vehicle 3. In addition, in the detection process, the lidar system in the intelligent vehicle 200 may also adaptively adjust specific values of one or more working parameters according to temperature changes of various devices in the lidar, etc., and may specifically refer to the description of the corresponding embodiments of fig. 4 or fig. 6, which is not repeated herein. Therefore, the temperature of each device in the laser radar can be effectively controlled within a safe range, and the normal operation and driving safety of the laser radar are ensured. Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a shell temperature drive test result of another laser radar according to an embodiment of the application. As shown in fig. 8, taking typical 32-line rotary mirror laser radar and frame rate adjustment as an example, under the conditions of an ambient temperature of 25 ℃, a vehicle speed of 60km/s and a frame rate of 25F/s, the heat dissipation condition is good due to a large wind speed during the running of the vehicle, and the shell temperature of the laser radar is within 30 ℃. However, when the vehicle is stopped, the heat radiation condition deteriorates due to a rapid decrease in wind speed, and the shell temperature of the lidar is increased, so that the frame rate of the lidar can be adaptively adjusted according to the increased shell temperature. For example, the frame rate adjustment procedure may be: the frame rate of the laser radar can be adaptively adjusted according to the continuously-reduced shell temperature by gradually increasing the temperature from 25F/s to 20F/s to 15F/s to 10F/s to 5F/s and gradually reducing the shell temperature after the heat dissipation condition is changed. For example, the frame rate adjustment procedure may be: 5F/s, 10F/s, 5F/s, 20F/s and 25F/s. In summary, the laser radar system provided by the embodiment of the application can effectively control the balance between the temperature of the vehicle-mounted laser radar and the working parameters such as the frame rate and the like under the condition of ensuring the basic requirement of automatic driving, greatly improves the reliability and the temperature adaptability of the laser radar, and basically has no influence on automatic driving in the whole adjustment process.

On the one hand, in consideration of the safety of the laser radar system and the driving vehicle, and in the case that the quality of each device has uncertainty, a certain margin may be left when the device temperature threshold, the speed threshold and the environmental temperature threshold are set in the embodiment of the present application. For example, in a normal case, the highest temperature supported by the laser radar housing is about 100 ℃, the corresponding first device temperature threshold value can be set to be lower 80 ℃, and the corresponding highest device temperature threshold value can be set to be 105 ℃, so that the temperature of the laser radar housing is more strictly and effectively ensured not to exceed the safety range, and the safety and driving safety of the laser radar system are ensured.

On the other hand, considering that the measurement accuracy of the laser radar is very important in an automatic driving scene, in order to ensure the accuracy and the safety of automatic driving, especially in a specific scene with high requirements on the measurement accuracy, such as high-speed driving or complex road conditions, the embodiment of the application can allow the laser radar to perform overtemperature work in a certain time. Taking the above table 1 as an example, when the temperature of the housing exceeds 80 ℃, the lidar can still perform the overtemperature operation for a certain time at a frame rate of 25F/s in order to ensure the measurement accuracy, and if the temperature of the housing exceeds 80 ℃ for a long time, or even exceeds 90 ℃, the frame rate is adjusted down to 20F/s again, and so on. For example, still taking table 1 as an example, when the temperature of the shell exceeds 105 ℃, the laser radar can still perform the overtemperature operation for a certain time at the frame rate of 10F/s, and if the temperature of the shell exceeds 105 ℃ for a long time or exceeds 110 ℃, the frame rate is adjusted down or directly down, etc., so the embodiment of the application is not limited in particular. In summary, a user or a tester may flexibly set the device temperature threshold, the speed threshold, and the environmental temperature threshold according to actual situations through a software application, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In addition, the embodiment of the application can also support a manual configuration mode, when any device in the laser radar is overtemperature, the laser radar can send overtemperature information to the intelligent vehicle, and at the moment, a user or a tester can manually set working parameters such as a frame rate, a point outlet rate, a ranging range and the like according to the current overtemperature condition. Wherein the manual mode may have a higher priority than the automatic mode.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various types of lidar products, including, but not limited to, mechanical rotary mirror lidars, semi-solid state microelectromechanical system (microelectro mechanical system, MEMS) lidars, all-solid state flash lidars, and the like. In addition, the method for adaptively adjusting the working parameters according to the temperature and the like provided by the embodiment of the application can be popularized and applied to other sensors, such as radar (radar) and the like, and the embodiment of the application is not particularly limited.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a flowchart of an adjustment method according to an embodiment of the application, and the adjustment method can be applied to a lidar system (e.g., the lidar system 300 described in fig. 4 and 6). The lidar system may include a lidar and sensor system; the laser radar comprises N devices, the sensor system comprises M temperature sensors, and N and M are integers which are larger than or equal to 1. Alternatively, the method may be applied to the application scenario described in fig. 7a or fig. 7b, and the method may include the following steps S901 to S904.

In step S901, one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices are monitored by the M temperature sensors.

Step S902, determining, by the lidar, a second temperature of the N devices based on the one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices.

Step S903, respectively adjusting, by the lidar, one or more working parameters of each of one or more of the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule; the preset adjustment rule comprises that when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds, one or more working parameters of one or more devices of the N devices are adjusted to a value matched with the any one device temperature threshold; k is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

And step S904, detecting the driving environment of the intelligent vehicle through the laser radar and the N adjusted devices.

Alternatively, step S901 to step S904 may be specifically referred to the description of the corresponding embodiment of fig. 4 and 6 described above.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

The embodiment of the present invention also provides a computer readable storage medium, where the computer readable storage medium may store a program, where the program when executed by a processor causes the processor to perform some or all of the steps described in any one of the above method embodiments.

The embodiment of the present invention also provides a computer program, where the computer program includes instructions, when the computer program is executed by a multi-core processor, enable the processor to perform some or all of the steps described in any one of the above method embodiments.

In the foregoing embodiments, the descriptions of the embodiments are emphasized, and for parts of one embodiment that are not described in detail, reference may be made to the related descriptions of other embodiments.

It should be noted that, for simplicity of description, the foregoing method embodiments are all described as a series of acts, but it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by the order of acts described, as some steps may be performed in other orders or concurrently in accordance with the present invention. Further, those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and that the acts and modules referred to are not necessarily required for the present invention.

In the several embodiments provided by the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, such as the above-described division of units, merely a division of logic functions, and there may be additional manners of dividing in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, or may be in electrical or other forms.

The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed over a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in software functional units.

The integrated units described above, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as stand-alone products, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in essence or a part contributing to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server or a network device, etc., in particular may be a processor in the computer device) to perform all or part of the steps of the above-mentioned method of the various embodiments of the present invention. Wherein the aforementioned storage medium may comprise: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a magnetic disk, a compact disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Double Data Rate (DDR), a flash memory (flash), or a random access memory (random access memory, RAM) or the like.

The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present invention, and not for limiting the same; although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

A lidar system, the lidar system comprising a lidar and a sensor system; the laser radar comprises N devices, the sensor system comprises M temperature sensors, and N and M are integers which are larger than or equal to 1;

the M temperature sensors are used for monitoring one or more first temperatures of the N devices respectively;

the laser radar is used for determining second temperatures of the N devices based on one or more first temperatures of the N devices respectively;

the laser radar is further used for adjusting one or more working parameters of one or more devices of the N devices respectively based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule; the preset adjustment rule comprises that when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds, one or more working parameters of one or more devices of the N devices are adjusted to a value matched with the any one device temperature threshold; k is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

The laser radar is also used for detecting the driving environment of the intelligent vehicle through the adjusted N devices.
The system of claim 1, wherein the N devices comprise one or more of a laser, a detector, an optical system, a scanner, a control chip, and a housing; the M temperature sensors are specifically used for:

monitoring one or more first temperatures corresponding to one or more positions of an ith device in the N devices through one or more temperature sensors in the M temperature sensors, wherein the second temperature is the highest temperature in the one or more first temperatures; i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N.
The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more operating parameters include one or more of a frame rate, an out-point rate, a range of range, an angular resolution, an angle of view FOV, and a region of interest ROI; one or more devices of the N devices are devices associated with the any one device; the one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices are operating parameters associated with the any one device.
A system according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the one or more operating parameters each correspond to K settings; the K device temperature thresholds are in one-to-one correspondence with the K set values; the laser radar is specifically used for:

if the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the jth device temperature threshold value of the K device temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more N devices to a jth set value corresponding to the jth device temperature threshold value;

if the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the j+1th device temperature threshold value of the K device temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more N devices to a j+1th set value corresponding to the j+1th device temperature threshold value; wherein the jth device temperature threshold is less than the jth+1 device temperature threshold, the jth set point being greater than the jth+1 set point; j is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to K.
The system of claim 3, wherein the control chip comprises a laser control module and a scanner control module; the laser control module is connected with one or more lasers, and the scanner control module is connected with the scanner;

The laser control module is used for controlling the emission frequency and/or the emission power of the one or more lasers based on the point-out rate, the ranging range and one or more working parameters in the ROI;

the scanner control module is configured to control a scan rate and/or a scan angle of the scanner based on the frame rate, the angular resolution, and one or more operating parameters in the FOV.
A system according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the sensor system further comprises a speed sensor;

the speed sensor is used for monitoring the running speed of the intelligent vehicle; the running speed corresponds to K speed thresholds;

the laser radar is specifically used for:

when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the running speed is less than any one of the K speed thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices to a value matching the any one device temperature threshold and the any one speed threshold.
A system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein,

the M temperature sensors are also used for monitoring the ambient temperature of the intelligent vehicle; the ambient temperature corresponds to K ambient temperature thresholds;

the laser radar is specifically used for:

when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the ambient temperature is greater than any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices to a value that matches the any one of the device temperature thresholds and the any one of the ambient temperature thresholds.
The system of claim 6, wherein the lidar is further configured to:

if the N devices and the running speed meet the target conditions, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operation parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the travel speed is less than a minimum value of the K speed thresholds.
The system of claim 7, wherein the lidar is further configured to:

if the N devices and the environmental temperature meet the target conditions, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operating parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and a second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the ambient temperature is greater than a maximum value of the K ambient temperature thresholds.
An adjustment method, characterized by being applied to an intelligent vehicle, the intelligent vehicle comprising a lidar system; the laser radar system comprises a laser radar and a sensor system; the laser radar comprises N devices, the sensor system comprises M temperature sensors, and N and M are integers which are larger than or equal to 1; the method comprises the following steps:

monitoring, by the M temperature sensors, one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices;

determining, by the lidar, a second temperature of the N devices based on the one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices;

Respectively adjusting one or more working parameters of one or more devices in the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule through the laser radar; the preset adjustment rule comprises that when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds, one or more working parameters of one or more devices of the N devices are adjusted to a value matched with the any one device temperature threshold; k is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

and detecting the driving environment of the intelligent vehicle through the N adjusted devices by the laser radar.
The method of claim 1, wherein the N devices comprise one or more of a laser, a detector, an optical method, a scanner, a control chip, and a housing; the monitoring, by the M temperature sensors, one or more first temperatures of each of the N devices includes:

monitoring one or more first temperatures corresponding to one or more positions of an ith device in the N devices through one or more temperature sensors in the M temperature sensors, wherein the second temperature is the highest temperature in the one or more first temperatures; i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N.
The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more operating parameters include one or more of frame rate, point-out rate, range, angular resolution, field angle FOV, and region of interest ROI; one or more devices of the N devices are devices associated with the any one device; the one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices are operating parameters associated with the any one device.
The method of any one of claims 10-12, wherein the one or more operating parameters each correspond to K settings; the K device temperature thresholds are in one-to-one correspondence with the K set values; the adjusting, by the lidar, one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices of the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule, includes:

if the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the jth device temperature threshold value of the K device temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more N devices to a jth set value corresponding to the jth device temperature threshold value;

If the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than the j+1th device temperature threshold value of the K device temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more N devices to a j+1th set value corresponding to the j+1th device temperature threshold value; wherein the jth device temperature threshold is less than the jth+1 device temperature threshold, the jth set point being greater than the jth+1 set point; j is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to K.
The method of claim 12, wherein the control chip comprises a laser control module and a scanner control module; the laser control module is connected with one or more lasers, and the scanner control module is connected with the scanner; the method further comprises the steps of:

controlling, by the laser control module, a transmit frequency and/or transmit power of the one or more lasers based on the point-out rate, the ranging range, and one or more operating parameters in the ROI;

the scan rate and/or scan angle of the scanner is controlled by the scanner control module based on one or more operating parameters in the frame rate, the angular resolution, and the FOV.
The method according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein the sensor method further comprises a speed sensor; the method further comprises the steps of:

monitoring the running speed of the intelligent vehicle through the speed sensor; the running speed corresponds to K speed thresholds;

the adjusting, by the lidar, one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices of the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule, includes:

when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the running speed is less than any one of the K speed thresholds, adjusting one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices to a value matching the any one device temperature threshold and the any one speed threshold.
The method according to any one of claims 10-12, characterized in that the method further comprises:

monitoring the ambient temperature of the intelligent vehicle through the M temperature sensors; the ambient temperature corresponds to K ambient temperature thresholds;

The adjusting, by the lidar, one or more working parameters of each of the one or more devices of the N devices based on the second temperatures of the N devices and a preset adjustment rule, includes:

when the second temperature of any one of the N devices reaches any one of the K device temperature thresholds and the ambient temperature is greater than any one of the K ambient temperature thresholds, adjusting one or more operating parameters of each of the one or more of the N devices to a value that matches the any one of the device temperature thresholds and the any one of the ambient temperature thresholds.
The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

if the N devices and the running speed meet target conditions through the laser radar, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operation parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and the second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the travel speed is less than a minimum value of the K speed thresholds.
The method of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:

if the N devices and the environmental temperature meet target conditions through the laser radar, controlling the laser radar to stop working, and reporting an abnormal warning to the intelligent vehicle; the target condition includes that one or more operating parameters of any one of the N devices is a minimum value of the K set values, and a second temperature of any one of the N devices is greater than a maximum value of the K device temperature thresholds, and the ambient temperature is greater than a maximum value of the K ambient temperature thresholds.
An intelligent vehicle comprising a lidar system according to any of claims 1 to 9.
A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium stores a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any of the preceding claims 10-18.
A computer program, characterized in that the computer readable program comprises instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to any of the preceding claims 10-18.