CN116559834A

CN116559834A - Acousto-optic deflection transmitting module based on superlens, detecting device and electronic equipment

Info

Publication number: CN116559834A
Application number: CN202310822839.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 莫良华; 谷立民; 李佳鹏; 吕晨晋; 汪浩; 刘德胜; 陈艺章
Original assignee: Shenzhen Funeng Guangda Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Funeng Guangda Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-07-06
Filing date: 2023-07-06
Publication date: 2023-08-08
Anticipated expiration: 2043-07-06
Also published as: CN116559834B

Abstract

The application provides an acousto-optic deflection transmitting module based on a super lens, which comprises a light source module, an acousto-optic deflection module and a converging optical device. The light source module comprises one or more light emitting units and a first superlens. The light emitting unit is configured to emit a light beam. The first superlens is configured to collimate the light beam. The acousto-optic deflection module is configured to receive the collimated light beam and deflect the light beam in a first direction by a plurality of different preset deflection angles within a preset first deflection angle range according to an applied sound wave frequency. The converging optics are configured to converge the deflected light beam. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module further comprises a second superlens, wherein the second superlens is configured to further deflect the deflected and converged light beams along the first direction by a preset angle and shape the deflected and converged light beams so as to respectively form sensing light beams with different emergent directions corresponding to different deflection angles. The application also provides a detection device comprising the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module and electronic equipment.

Description

Acousto-optic deflection transmitting module based on superlens, detecting device and electronic equipment

Technical Field

The application belongs to the field of photoelectric detection, and particularly relates to an acousto-optic deflection transmitting module based on a superlens, a detecting device and electronic equipment.

Background

A Time of Flight (ToF) measurement principle calculates three-dimensional information such as a distance of an object from a Time of Flight of detected light reflected by the object in a measurement scene. The ToF measurement has the advantages of long sensing distance, high precision, low energy consumption and the like, and is widely applied to the fields of consumer electronics, intelligent driving, AR/VR and the like.

The detection device for ranging by using the ToF measurement principle has a limited angle of view, and a larger detection range needs to be obtained by continuously changing the emission direction of the detection light to scan. At present, one way to change the direction of light emission is to rotate the detection device by using a mechanical structure, however, this way often requires a plurality of discrete devices to be assembled into a mechanical rotation structure, the complexity of debugging and assembling the light path of emission/reception is high, the mechanical rotation structure is also easy to damage and misalign, and the appearance of the terminal equipment using the mechanical rotation structure is influenced by the larger size of the mechanical rotation structure. Another way to change the emission direction of the detection light is a mixed solid solution, mainly using a vibration component to drive an optical component to change the emission direction of the detection light. Although the cost and size of the hybrid solid state solution are significantly reduced relative to the mechanical rotation solution, the reliability of the system is still low, limiting the application scenarios of the detection device, since the vibrating components are also easily damaged.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the present application provides an acousto-optic deflection transmitting module based on a superlens, a detecting device and an electronic device, which can improve the problems of the prior art.

In a first aspect, the present application provides an acousto-optic deflection transmitting module configured to transmit a sensing beam for three-dimensional information detection based on a time-of-flight principle to a detection range. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module comprises:

a light source module, comprising:

one or more light emitting units configured to emit a light beam; a kind of electronic device with high-pressure air-conditioning system

A first superlens configured to collimate a light beam emitted from the light emitting unit;

an acousto-optic deflection module configured to receive the collimated light beam and deflect the light beam in a first direction by a plurality of different preset deflection angles within a preset first deflection angle range according to an applied sound wave frequency;

converging optics configured to converge the deflected light beam; a kind of electronic device with high-pressure air-conditioning system

The second superlens is configured to further deflect the deflected and converged light beams by a preset angle along the first direction and shape the deflected and converged light beams so as to respectively form sensing light beams with different emergent directions corresponding to different deflection angles.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a detection apparatus configured to detect three-dimensional information of an object located within a preset detection range. The detection device comprises a receiving module, a processing circuit and the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module. The receiving module is configured to sense the light signals from the detection range and output corresponding light sensing signals, and the processing circuit is configured to analyze and process the light sensing signals to obtain three-dimensional information of the object in the detection range.

In a third aspect, the present application provides an electronic device, including an application module and a detection apparatus as described above. The application module is configured to realize corresponding functions according to the detection result of the detection device.

The beneficial effects of this application:

compared with the deflection of the sensing light beam realized by a mechanical rotation scheme and a mixed solid state scheme, the continuous deflection of the sensing light beam in the preset deflection angle range is realized by the pure solid-state acousto-optic deflection module, the rotation and vibration of the components are not needed, and the sensing light beam has the advantages of better reliability and compact size.

Drawings

The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of functional modules of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram of an embodiment of the detection device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a statistical histogram obtained by the processing circuit shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a schematic light path diagram of an embodiment of the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a schematic light path diagram of another embodiment of the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a schematic optical path diagram of another embodiment of the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of the acousto-optic deflection module shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view of the structure of the superlens shown in fig. 4-6.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 10 is a signal timing diagram of the detection device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a detection device as an automotive lidar according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application are described in detail below, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below by referring to the drawings are exemplary only for the purpose of explaining the present application and are not to be construed as limiting the present application. In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or as implicitly indicating the number or order of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the described feature. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, unless explicitly specified or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically connected, electrically connected or communicated with each other; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communication between two elements or interaction relationship between the two elements. The specific meaning of the terms in this application will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as the case may be.

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different structures of the application. In order to simplify the disclosure of this application, only the components and settings of a particular example are described below. Of course, they are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present application. Furthermore, the use of reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples is repeated herein for the purpose of simplicity and clarity of presentation and is not in itself an indication of a particular relationship between the various embodiments and/or settings discussed. In addition, the various specific processes and materials provided in the following description of the present application are merely examples of implementing the technical solutions of the present application, but one of ordinary skill in the art should recognize that the technical solutions of the present application may also be implemented by other processes and/or other materials not described below.

Further, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present application. It will be appreciated, however, by one skilled in the art that the subject matter of the present application may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other structures, components, etc. In other instances, well-known structures or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the application.

Embodiments of the present application provide an acousto-optic deflection transmitting module configured to transmit a sensing beam for three-dimensional information detection based on a time-of-flight principle to a detection range. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module comprises a light source module, an acousto-optic deflection module and a converging optical device. The light source module includes one or more light emitting units and a first superlens. The light emitting unit is configured to emit a light beam. The first superlens is configured to collimate a light beam emitted by the light emitting unit. The acousto-optic deflection module is configured to receive the collimated light beam and deflect the light beam in a first direction by a plurality of different preset deflection angles within a preset first deflection angle range according to an applied sound wave frequency. The converging optics are configured to converge the deflected light beam. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module further comprises a second superlens, wherein the second superlens is configured to deflect the deflected and converged light beams along the first direction by a preset angle and shape the deflected and converged light beams so as to respectively form sensing light beams with different emergent directions corresponding to different deflection angles.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the second superlens expands a divergence angle of the passing beam along a second direction to form the sensing beam in a long strip shape, and defines a direction in which the sensing beam has a maximum size as a length direction thereof, and the length direction of the formed sensing beam is parallel to the second direction, and the second direction is disposed perpendicular to the first direction.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the first direction is a horizontal direction and the second direction is a vertical direction; or the first direction is a vertical direction, and the second direction is a horizontal direction.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the second superlens expands the divergence angle of the passing beam along the first direction, so that the sensing beams respectively formed along different deflection angles have overlapping regions with each other along the first direction in regions where far fields are respectively irradiated.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the second superlens is formed with a plurality of light modulation parts sequentially arranged along the first direction, the light beams deflected by the acousto-optic deflection module by each preset deflection angle are respectively converged to one light modulation part by the converging optical device, and the light beam irradiated to each light modulation part is further deflected by the corresponding preset deflection angle along the first direction after being modulated and then emitted to form the sensing light beam.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the light modulation part is in a strip shape, and a length direction of the light modulation part is perpendicular to the first direction.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the light source module further includes beam reduction optics configured to reduce the light beam collimated by the first superlens to a predetermined size before transmitting to the acousto-optic deflection module.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the light source module further comprises a linear polarizer disposed on the optical path of the light beam before entering the acousto-optic deflection module, configured to convert the light beam into linearly polarized light having a preset polarization state before entering the acousto-optic deflection module.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the light source module further includes a polarization beam splitter, a polarization direction adjusting member and a light guiding member, the polarization beam splitter is disposed on an optical path before the light beam enters the acousto-optic deflection module, the polarization beam splitter splits the passing light beam into a first polarized light beam and a second polarized light beam, the first polarized light beam has a first polarization direction, the second polarized light beam has a second polarization direction different from the first polarization direction, the light guiding member is configured to guide a propagation direction of the first polarized light beam or the second polarized light beam or both the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam, so that the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam are incident to the acousto-optic deflection module along different optical paths, respectively, and the polarization direction adjusting member is configured to change the polarization direction of the first polarized light beam or the second polarized light beam so that both enter the acousto-optic deflection module in the same preset polarization direction.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the time when the decomposed first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam reach the acousto-optic deflection module respectively has a preset time difference.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the first polarized light beam propagates to the acousto-optic deflection module through the polarizing beam splitter along a main optical axis along which a light beam enters the polarizing beam splitter in an incident direction, and the polarization direction adjusting element is disposed on the main optical axis and configured to change a first polarization direction of the first polarized light beam into the second polarization direction.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the second polarized light beam propagates to the acousto-optic deflection module along a bypass light path deviating from a main optical axis where the incident direction of the light beam is when the light beam is incident on the polarization beam splitter after passing through the polarization beam splitter, and the polarization direction adjusting element is disposed on the bypass light path and configured to change the second polarization direction of the second polarized light beam to the first polarization direction.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the polarization direction adjusting member comprises a liquid crystal layer configured to change the polarization direction of the passing light beam by adjusting the orientation of liquid crystal molecules within the liquid crystal layer.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the second polarized light beam enters the acousto-optic deflection module along a direction parallel to the first polarized light beam after being guided by the light guide member, and incident points of the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam on the acousto-optic deflection module are located in a preset incident area on the acousto-optic deflection module.

The embodiment of the application also provides a detection device, which comprises the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module, a receiving module and a processing circuit. The detection device further comprises a receiving module and a processing module, wherein the receiving module is configured to sense the light signals from the detection range and output corresponding light sensing signals, and the processing module is configured to analyze and process the light sensing signals so as to detect the distance in the detection range.

The embodiment of the application also provides electronic equipment, which comprises the detection device. The electronic equipment realizes corresponding functions according to the three-dimensional information obtained by the detection device. The electronic device is, for example: cell phones, automobiles, robots, access control/monitoring systems, intelligent door locks, unmanned aerial vehicles, etc. The three-dimensional information is, for example: proximity information, depth information, distance information, coordinate information, and the like of an object within the detection range. The three-dimensional information may be used in fields such as 3D modeling, face recognition, automatic driving, machine vision, monitoring, unmanned aerial vehicle control, augmented Reality (Augmented Reality, AR)/Virtual Reality (VR), instant positioning and map construction (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, SLAM), object proximity determination, etc., which are not limited in this application.

The detection device can be, for example, a laser radar and can be used for obtaining three-dimensional information of an object in a detection range. The laser radar is applied to the fields of intelligent driving vehicles, intelligent driving aircrafts, 3D printing, VR, AR, service robots and the like. Taking an intelligent driving vehicle as an example, a laser radar is arranged in the intelligent driving vehicle, and the laser radar can scan the surrounding environment by rapidly and repeatedly emitting laser beams so as to obtain point cloud data reflecting the morphology, the position and the movement condition of one or more objects in the surrounding environment. Specifically, the lidar emits a laser beam to the surrounding environment, receives an echo beam of the laser beam reflected by each object in the surrounding environment, and determines distance/depth information of each object by calculating a time delay (i.e., time of flight) between the emission time of the laser beam and the return time of the echo beam. Meanwhile, the laser radar can also determine angle information describing the orientation of the detection range of the laser beam, combine the distance/depth information of each object with the angle information of the laser beam to generate a three-dimensional map comprising each object in the scanned surrounding environment, and guide the intelligent driving of the unmanned vehicle by using the three-dimensional map.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the detection device applied to the electronic apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a functional module of a detection apparatus applied to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram of a detection device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the electronic device 1 comprises a detection means 10. The detection device 10 may detect the object 2 within a detection range to obtain three-dimensional information of the object 2, where the detection range may be defined as a three-dimensional space range in which the detection device 10 can effectively detect three-dimensional information, and may also be referred to as a field angle of the detection device 10. Such as, but not limited to, one or more of proximity information of the object 2, depth information of the surface of the object 2, distance information of the object 2, and spatial coordinate information of the object 2.

The electronic device 1 may include an application module 20, where the application module 20 is configured to perform a preset operation or implement a corresponding function according to a detection result of the detection apparatus 10, for example, but not limited to: whether the object 2 appears in a detection range preset in front of the electronic equipment 1 can be judged according to the proximity information of the object 2; or, the movement of the electronic equipment 1 can be controlled to avoid the obstacle according to the distance information of the object 2; alternatively, 3D modeling, face recognition, machine vision, etc. may be implemented based on depth information of the surface of the object 2. The electronic device 1 may further comprise a storage medium 30, which storage medium 30 may provide support for storage requirements of the electronic device 1 and/or the detection means 10 during operation. The electronic device 1 may further comprise a processor 40 which may provide support for data processing requirements of the electronic device 1 and/or the detection means 10 during operation.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the detection device 10 may be, for example, a dtofe measurement device that performs three-dimensional information sensing based on the direct time of flight (direct Time of Flight, dtofe) principle. The dTOF measuring device can emit a sensing light beam in a detection range and receive the sensing light beam reflected by an object 2 in the detection range, the time difference between the emitting time and the receiving time of the reflected sensing light beam is called as the flight time t of the sensing light beam, and three-dimensional information of the object 2 can be obtained by calculating half the passing distance of the sensing light beam in the flight time tWherein c is the speed of light.

Alternatively, in other embodiments, the detection device 10 may be an iToF measurement device that performs three-dimensional information sensing based on an indirect time-of-flight (indirect Time of Flight, iToF) measurement principle. The iToF measuring device obtains three-dimensional information of the object 2 by comparing the phase difference of the sensing beam when emitted and when received back by reflection.

In the following examples of the present application, the detection device 10 is mainly described as a dtofmeasurement device.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 2, the detecting device 10 includes an acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12, a receiving module 14, and a processing circuit 15. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 is configured to transmit a sensing beam to the detection range to detect three-dimensional information of the object 2 within the detection range, wherein a part of the sensing beam is reflected by the object 2 and returns, and the reflected sensing beam carries the three-dimensional information of the object 2, and a part of the reflected sensing beam can be sensed by the receiving module 14 to obtain the three-dimensional information of the object 2. The receiving module 14 is configured to sense the optical signal from the detection range and output a corresponding optical sensing signal, and by analyzing the optical sensing signal, three-dimensional information detection of the object 2 in the detection range can be realized. It is understood that the optical signal sensed by the receiving module 14 may be a photon, for example, a photon including a sensing beam reflected by the object 2 in the detection range and a photon of ambient light in the detection range. The processing circuit 15 is configured to analyze and process the light sensing signal to obtain a time when the sensing beam is sensed by the receiving module 14, and to obtain three-dimensional information of the object 2 according to a time difference between an emission time of the sensing beam and a reflected sensed time.

The processing circuit 15 may be provided on the detection device 10. Alternatively, in other embodiments, all or part of the functional units of the processing circuit 15 may be provided on the electronic device 1.

Alternatively, the sensing beam may be a laser pulse having a preset frequency. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 is configured to periodically transmit the laser pulse as a sensing beam at a preset frequency within one detection frame.

Alternatively, the sensing beam is, for example, visible light, infrared light, or near infrared light, with wavelengths ranging, for example, from 390 nanometers (nm) to 780 nm, from 700 nm to 1400 nm, from 800 nm to 1000 nm, from 900nm to 1600nm.

Referring to fig. 2 and fig. 3 together, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a statistical histogram obtained by the processing circuit 15 shown in fig. 2. Optionally, in some embodiments, the processing circuit 15 may include a timing unit 152, a statistics unit 154, a time-of-flight acquisition unit 156, and a three-dimensional information acquisition unit 158.

The timing unit 152 is configured to determine a time of receipt of the optical signal sensed by the receiving module 14. The detection device 10 sends out multiple sensing beams through the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 in the detection process, the timing unit 152 starts timing when the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 transmits the sensing beams each time to record the receiving time of the optical signal sensed by the receiving module 14 between two adjacent sensing beam transmissions, during which the receiving module 14 outputs a corresponding optical sensing signal each time when receiving one optical signal, and the timing unit 152 records the receiving time of the sensed optical signal according to the optical sensing signal output by the receiving module 14 and counts in the time bin corresponding to the receiving time to form a corresponding optical signal count. The time bin is the minimum time unit Δt for the timing unit 152 to record the time of the generation of the photo-sensing signal, and can reflect the accuracy of time recording of the photo-sensing signal by the timing unit 152, and the finer the time bin, the higher the accuracy of recording time. Alternatively, the timing unit 152 may implement a timing function through a Time-to-Digital Converter, TDC) 1522. The TDC1522 may be connected to the corresponding photosensitive pixel 142 and configured to record a receiving time of the sensed light signal according to the light sensing signal generated by the corresponding photosensitive pixel 142. For example, the TDC1522 is triggered synchronously to start timing each time the sensing beam is emitted, and then stops timing in response to the photo-sensing signal generated by the corresponding photo-sensing pixel 142, and takes the counted time period as the reception time of the corresponding photo-signal of the excitation photo-sensing signal.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the timing unit 152 may include a count memory 1524, where the count memory 1524 has a count memory space allocated according to a time bin, and the TDC1522 adds one to the count memory space of the corresponding time bin every time the receiving time of the optical signal is recorded.

The statistics unit 154 is configured to count the optical signal counts accumulated in each time bin, so as to obtain a statistical histogram that can reflect the distribution of the number of optical signals sensed by the receiving module 14 over time. As shown in fig. 3, the abscissa of the statistical histogram represents the time stamp of each corresponding time bin, and the ordinate of the statistical histogram represents the light signal count value accumulated in each corresponding time bin. Optionally, the statistics unit 154 may include a histogram circuit 1544 (see fig. 2), the histogram circuit 1544 being configured to count the light signal counts within each time bin to generate a statistical histogram. It should be understood that the statistics unit 154 performs a statistical analysis on the counts of the optical signals corresponding to the accumulated counts during the multiple emission of the sensing beam in one detection frame, so that the counts have a mathematical statistical significance, and the emission times of the sensing beam in one detection frame may be up to hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions.

During the sensing process, a large number of photons of ambient light are also sensed by the receiving module 14 to generate corresponding counts of the optical signals. The probability that photons of these ambient light are sensed leaving counts within each time bin tends to be the same, constituting Noise floors (Noise levels) within the detection range, which are measured at relatively high average levels in scenes of higher ambient light intensity and relatively low average levels in scenes of lower ambient light. On the basis, the sensing light beam reflected from the object 2 is sensed and the corresponding generated optical signal count is superposed on the noise back, so that the optical signal count in the time bin corresponding to the sensing time of the sensing light beam is obviously higher than the optical signal count of other time bins, and further a protruding signal peak is formed. It will be appreciated that the count value of the signal peak may be affected by factors such as the optical power of the sensing beam, the reflectivity of the object 2, the detection range of the detection device 10, and the like, and the width of the signal peak may be affected by factors such as the pulse width of the emitted sensing beam, the time jitter of the photoelectric conversion element of the receiving module 14 and the TDC1522, and the like. Thus, the time-of-flight acquisition unit 156 can obtain the time-of-flight of the relevant sensing beam reflected back by the object 2 from the time difference between the time stamp t1 of the time bin corresponding to the peak value of the signal peak and the emission time t0 of the relevant sensing beam generating the signal peak. The three-dimensional information acquisition unit 158 may be configured to obtain three-dimensional information between the object 2 reflecting the sensing beam and the detection device 10 from the time of flight of the sensing beam determined by the statistical histogram, for example: the distance between the object 2 and the detection device 10 in the detection range.

It should be understood that the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 and the receiving module 14 are disposed adjacent to each other side by side, the light emitting surface of the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 and the light entering surface of the receiving module 14 face the same side of the detecting device 10, and the distance between the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 and the receiving module 14 may be, for example, 2 millimeters (mm) to 20mm. Because the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 and the receiving module 14 are relatively close, the transmitting path of the sensing beam from the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 to the object 2 and the return path from the object 2 to the receiving module 14 after reflection are not completely equal, but are far greater than the distance between the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 and the receiving module 14, which can be regarded as approximate equal. Thereby, the distance between the object 2 and the detection device 10 can be calculated from the product of half the time of flight t of the sensing beam reflected back by the object 2 and the speed of light c.

The receive module 14 may include a photosensor 140 and receive optics 144. The receiving optics 144 is disposed on the light-in side of the photosensor 140 and is configured to propagate an optical signal from a detection range to the photosensor 140 for sensing. For example, in some embodiments, the receiving optics 144 includes a receiving lens (not shown). Alternatively, the receiving lens may include one lens or a plurality of lenses. The photosensor 140 is configured to sense optical signals propagating from the detection range via the receiving optics 144 and output corresponding photo-sensing signals.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the receiving module 14 may further include a peripheral circuit (not shown) formed by one or more of a signal amplifier, an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), and the like, and the peripheral circuit may be partially or fully integrated in the photosensor 140.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the photosensor 140 includes a single photosensitive pixel 142 or includes a plurality of photosensitive pixels 142 to form a photosensitive pixel array, for example. The detection range of the detection device 10 may include a plurality of detection areas respectively located at different positions. Optionally, the photosensitive pixels 142 of the photosensor 140 have corresponding detection areas in a detection range, and optical signals returned from the detection areas propagate to the corresponding photosensitive pixels 142 via the receiving optics 144 for sensing. That is, the detection area corresponding to the photosensitive pixel 142 can be regarded as a spatial range covered by the angle of view of the photosensitive pixel 142 formed by the receiving optical device 144. It will be appreciated that the optical signal returned from the detection zone comprises a sensing beam projected to the detection zone and reflected back by the object 2 located within the detection zone, as well as photons of ambient light from the detection zone.

Alternatively, one of the photosensitive pixels 142 may include a single photoelectric conversion device or include a plurality of photoelectric conversion devices. The photoelectric conversion device is configured to sense a received optical signal and convert the received optical signal into a corresponding electrical signal to be output as the photo-sensing signal. Such as single photon avalanche diodes (Single Photon Avalanche Diode, SPADs), avalanche photodiodes (Avalanche Photon Diode, APDs), silicon photomultiplier tubes (Silicon Photomultiplier, sipms) arranged in parallel by a plurality of SPADs, and/or other suitable photoelectric conversion elements.

As shown in fig. 2, in some embodiments, the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 includes a light source module 122, an acousto-optic deflection module 124, and a secondary deflection module 126. The light source module 122 is configured to emit a light beam, and the acousto-optic deflection module 124 is configured to deflect the light beam within a preset first deflection angle range according to the applied acoustic wave frequencyThe secondary deflection module 126 is configured to deflect the light beam emitted from the light source module 122 along the first direction by a plurality of different preset deflection angles, and the secondary deflection module 124 is configured to deflect the light beam deflected by the acousto-optic deflection module 124 within a preset second deflection angle range +. >The inner edge further deflects a preset angle along the first direction so as to respectively form sensing light beams with different emergent directions corresponding to different deflection angles. It should be understood that the first direction herein refers to a deflection direction of the light beam, which is different from the emission direction of the light beam, and the deflection direction of the light beam may be understood as a direction to which a trend is changed when the emission direction of the light beam is changed.

As shown in fig. 4, in some embodiments, the light source module 122 includes one or more light emitting units 1220 and a first superlens 1222. The light emitting unit 1220 is configured to emit a light beam, and the first superlens 1222 is disposed at an light emitting side of the light emitting unit 1220 and configured to collimate the light beam emitted from the light emitting unit 1220. Alternatively, the light emitting unit 1220 may be a light emitting structure in the form of a vertical cavity surface emitting Laser (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser, VCSEL for short), a vertical cavity surface emitting Laser (VCSEL for short), an edge emitting Laser (Edge Emitting Laser, EEL), a light emitting Diode (Light Emitting Diode, LED), a Laser Diode (LD), a fiber Laser, or the like. The edge emitting laser may be a Fabry Perot (FP) laser, a distributed feedback (Distribute Feedback, DFB) laser, an Electro-absorption modulated laser (Electro-absorption Modulated, EML), or the like, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the light source module 122 is configured to emit a bar-shaped light beam, where the bar-shaped light beam may be understood as a light beam having a shape with a size in a certain predetermined direction that is significantly larger than that of other directions, and a direction having a maximum size may be defined as a length direction of the bar-shaped light beam for convenience of description. For example, the shape of the strip beam may be an elongated square, that is, the spot shape of the strip beam irradiated on the projection surface is an elongated square, the elongated square has a pair of long sides and a pair of short sides, and the extension direction of the long sides is the length direction of the strip beam. It should be understood that the shape of the strip beam is not limited to an elongated square, and may be, for example, an elongated strip with both ends having circular arc shapes. If the acousto-optic deflection module 124 deflects the passing light beam along the first direction, the length direction of the strip-shaped light beam emitted by the light source module 122 is parallel to a second direction, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction. Optionally, the first direction is a horizontal direction, and the second direction is a vertical direction; alternatively, the first direction is a vertical direction, and the second direction is a horizontal direction.

Alternatively, the plurality of light emitting units 1220 on the light source module 122 may be arranged in a long stripe array, and the respective emitted light beams are modulated by the first superlens 1222 to form stripe light beams that are collimated and propagated along the optical axis. It should be understood that a superlens (Metalens), also referred to as a supersurface lens or a superstructure lens, in the present application is a structural array formed by arranging a large number of structural units of sub-wavelength dimensions on a two-dimensional plane, and modulation of the optical characteristics such as amplitude, phase, wavelength, polarization state of a passing light beam is achieved by design of the shape, size of the structural units and macroscopic ordering of the two-dimensional array. Since the superlens is a planar optical device and is relatively thin, the light beam passing through the superlens does not cause problems such as spherical aberration.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the light source module 122 may further include beam shrinking optics 1223, which may be used to narrow the cross-sectional dimension of the light beam, i.e., the dimension of the light beam in a cross-section perpendicular to the direction of light beam propagation. The beam shrinking optics 1223 may be disposed in the optical path of the light beam before entering the acousto-optic deflection module 124, and configured to shrink the light beam collimated by the first superlens 1222 to a predetermined size before transmitting the light beam to the acousto-optic deflection module 124. Since the incident area of the acousto-optic deflection module 124 for receiving the light beam has a certain size, in order to allow the light beam incident on the acousto-optic deflection module 124 to enter from the incident area, it is necessary to modulate the light beam to a size matching the incident area before transmitting to the acousto-optic deflection module 124. It should be understood that, in other embodiments, the beam shrinking optics 1223 may be omitted if the collimated light beam emitted by the light emitting unit 1220 has a size that meets the requirements of the incident acousto-optic deflection module 124.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the light source module 122 may further include a linear polarizer 1221. The linear polarizer 1221 is disposed on the optical path of the light beam before entering the acousto-optic deflection module 124, and is configured to convert the light beam into linearly polarized light having a predetermined polarization state before entering the acousto-optic deflection module 124. It should be understood that in other embodiments, the linear polarizer 1221 may be omitted if other optical elements can convert the light beam to linearly polarized light in a predetermined deflection state before the light beam is transmitted to the acousto-optic deflection module 124.

In the embodiment of fig. 4, the beam reduction optics 1223 are disposed between the first superlens 1222 and the linear polarizer 1221. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the arrangement order of the beam shrinking optical device 1223 and the linear polarizer on the optical path may be interchanged, so long as both are disposed in the optical path before the light beam enters the acousto-optic deflection module 124, which is not specifically limited in this application.

Optionally, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5 and 6, the light source module 122 may further include a polarization beam splitter 1224, a polarization direction adjusting member 1226, and a light guiding member 1228. The polarization beam splitter 1224 is disposed on the optical path before the light beam enters the acousto-optic deflection module 124, and splits the passing light beam into a first polarized light beam and a second polarized light beam, wherein the first polarized light beam has a first polarization direction, and the second polarized light beam has a second polarization direction. The second polarization direction is different from the first polarization direction, for example: the first polarization direction and the second polarization direction are mutually orthogonal. The light guide 1228 is configured to direct the direction of propagation of the first polarized light beam or the second polarized light beam or both the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam such that the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam are incident to the acousto-optic deflection module 124 along different light paths, respectively. The polarization direction adjuster 1226 is configured to change the polarization direction of the first polarized light beam or the second polarized light beam such that both enter the acousto-optic deflection module 124 with the same preset polarization direction.

Specifically, for example, the polarizing beam splitter 1224 may be a polarizing prism formed by combining two calcite rectangular prisms along an inclined plane, for example: the first polarized light beam propagates to the acousto-optic deflection module 124 through the combined interface of the polarizing beam splitter 1224 along the main optical axis where the light beam is incident, the second polarized light beam is reflected by the combined interface of the polarizing beam splitter 1224 to deviate from the main optical axis where the light beam is incident, and then propagates to the acousto-optic deflection module 124 through the light guide 1228 along the side branch optical path deviating from the main optical axis. It should be noted that, the main optical axis herein refers to the directions in which different optical devices in the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 are aligned with each other along the respective optical axes, which can be understood as the propagation directions of the light beam emitted by the light emitting unit 1220 after being collimated and passing through the optical devices, for example: the direction of the zero-order beam after the beam passes through the acousto-optic deflection module 124.

It should be understood that, in other embodiments, the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam obtained by decomposing the light beam by the polarizing beam splitter 1224 may not propagate along the main optical axis where the incident direction of the light beam is located, but may propagate along different optical paths to the acousto-optic deflection module 124 after being guided by the light guide 1228.

Optionally, the polarization direction adjusting member 1226 includes a liquid crystal layer, and the polarization direction of the passing light beam may be changed by adjusting the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer. As shown in fig. 5, the polarization direction adjusting member 1226 may be disposed on a principal optical axis along a direction in which the light beam is incident on the polarization beam splitter 1224, and configured to change a first polarization direction of the first polarized light beam to a second polarization direction. Alternatively, as shown in fig. 6, the polarization direction adjuster 1226 may be disposed on the bypass optical path and configured to change the second polarization direction of the second polarized light beam to the first polarization direction.

As shown in fig. 5, the light guide 1228 is, for example, a plurality of reflective optical elements, and guides the second polarized light beam into the acousto-optic deflection module 124 in a direction parallel to the first polarized light beam by a plurality of reflections. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the light guide 1228 may be an optical fiber.

Optionally, by reasonably setting a first optical path through which the first polarized light beam passes on the main optical axis and a second optical path through which the second polarized light beam passes on the side branch optical path, the time when the decomposed first polarized light beam and second polarized light beam respectively reach the acousto-optic deflection module 124 may have a preset time difference. The time difference between the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam, which are obtained by decomposing the same light beam emitted from the corresponding light emitting unit 1220, reaching the acousto-optic deflection module 124, respectively, may be equal to the emission period of the sensing light beam pulse periodically emitted from the acousto-optic deflection emitting module 12, that is, the time interval between two sensing light beam pulses sequentially emitted. Thus, the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 can obtain two sensing beam pulses emitted by the corresponding light emitting unit 1220.

It should be understood that, by arranging the polarization beam splitter 1224, the corresponding polarization direction adjusting member 1226 and the corresponding light guiding member 1228 in the optical path of the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12, not only can the light beam emitted by the light emitting unit 1220 meet the polarization state requirement of the incident acousto-optic deflection module 124, but also the separated second polarized light beam can be fully utilized for detection, so as to improve the utilization efficiency of the light emitting power of the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12.

As shown in fig. 7, in some embodiments, the acousto-optic deflection module 124 includes an acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 and an acoustic wave generator 1242. The acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 has a predetermined light incident surface 1244, a predetermined light emergent surface 1246 and a predetermined sound wave incident surface 1248. The sound wave generator 1242 is disposed on the sound wave incident surface 1248 and configured to generate sound waves propagating in a predetermined direction in the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241. The light beam emitted by the light source module 122 enters the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 from the light incident surface 1244 along a preset incident angle, the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 deflects the propagation direction of the light beam under the action of the sound wave, and the deflected light beam is emitted from the light emergent surface 1246.

The incident angle may be defined as an angle between an incident direction of the light beam and a normal direction of the light incident surface 1244. Optionally, in some embodiments, the material of the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 is tellurium dioxideThe range of the incidence angle is 2-10 degrees, and the propagation direction of the sound wave in the tellurium dioxide crystal and the lattice direction [1, 0 ] of the tellurium dioxide crystal]With a preset off-axis angle +.>(not shown).

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the acoustic wave generator 1242 may be a piezoelectric transducer that generates ultrasonic waves to propagate into the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 to deflect the propagation direction of the light beam passing through the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 along a preset incident angle.

It should be appreciated that the propagation of the acoustic wave within the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 causes a change in the refractive index within the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241, and that by properly configuring the parameters, an anomalous Bragg diffraction of the incident beam within the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 occurs, and the propagation direction of the diffracted beam is deflected by an angle of deflection as compared to the propagation direction of the incident beamFrequency of sound wave- >The relation is: />Wherein->For the exit angle of the diffracted beam, representing the propagation direction of the diffracted beam, +.>For the angle of incidence of the incident light beam, representing the propagation direction of the incident light beam, +.>For the wavelength of the incident and diffracted light beams, +.>Representing refractive index of acousto-optic interaction medium 1241, < ->For being at an angle +.>The relevant function value is recorded as->The reasonable configuration parameters comprise the wavelength, the polarization state of the incident light beam,Incidence angle, propagation direction, frequency of sound waves, propagation direction, etc. Thus, the deflection angle of the light beam passing through the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 can be controlled by changing the frequency of the sound wave applied to the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 when the frequency of the sound wave is changed to +.>When the deflection angle of the light beam is changed correspondingly, namely the scanning angle is +>。

The above-mentioned deflection angleAnd scan angle->All refer to angles in the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241, and in practical application, angles outside the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 are used, and as known from the refraction law, the angles outside the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 need to be multiplied by corresponding refractive index factors. Furthermore, since the acoustic wave takes time to propagate, the acoustic wave is at a frequency of +. >Just start changing to +.>At the same time, acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 has only the acoustic wave frequencies in the region next to acoustic wave generator 1242 from +.>Switch to->The deflection angle of the light beam is from +.>Become->In the sound and lightThe frequency of the sound wave and the deflection angle of the light beam in the rest of the interaction medium 1241 have not changed, and if the sound wave propagates through the entire region of the light beam passing through in the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241, that is, the width of the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241, the required time is called the sound wave transit time, the sound wave frequency in the whole acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 is approximately equal after the transit time>Become->The deflection angle of the light beam is completely converted into + ->Thus, when the frequency of the sound wave is adjusted to change the deflection angle of the light beam, the deflection time required for the light beam to complete one deflection is +.>It can be considered equal to the transit time of the sound wave, deflection time +.>The calculation of (2) satisfies the following relation:wherein->For the width of acousto-optic interaction medium 1241, < ->For being at an angle +.>The relevant function value is recorded as->。

The wave vectors of the diffracted, incident, and acoustic waves within the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 need to satisfy momentum matchingThe condition can only form a stable coherent diffraction beam in the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241, the incidence angle of the beam for generating abnormal Bragg diffraction can change along with the change of the sound wave frequency, however, in practical application, the incidence angle of the beam of the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 is kept unchanged, the momentum matching condition is not established any more along with the change of the sound wave frequency, the farther the momentum matching condition is deviated, the more the diffraction efficiency is reduced, and the sound wave frequency range capable of effectively completing abnormal Bragg diffraction is called Bragg bandwidth. Optionally, in some embodiments, the wavelength of the sensing beam is 905nm, the material of the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241 is tellurium dioxide crystal, the bragg bandwidth of the corresponding acousto-optic deflection module 124 is about 30 megahertz (MHz), the scanning angle is about 40 milliradians (mrad), i.e. about 2.3 degrees, and the deflection time required for completing one beam deflection is about 30 megahertz (MHz) About 10 μs>The accuracy of the variation of the acoustic wave frequency is about 30 kilohertz (KHz), and the corresponding accuracy of the variation of the scan angle is about 0.04mrad. Realizing acousto-optic deflection in tellurium dioxide crystal by utilizing anomalous Bragg diffraction requires that the incident light beam has a dextrorotation e light component, alternatively, if the incident light beam is linear polarization e light, the diffracted light beam emitted after the acousto-optic deflection is linear polarization o light; if the incident light beam is right circularly polarized light, the diffracted light beam emitted after acousto-optic deflection is left circularly polarized light. The utilization of the outgoing diffracted beam is determined by the ellipticity of the eigenmode dextrorotatory e-light of the incident beam, which is determined by the wavelength of the incident light, the angle of incidence and the material properties of the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241.

The acousto-optic deflection module 124 can deflect the passing light beam with high precision, but the angle range of the deflected light beam is too small, so that the secondary deflection module 126 can be arranged on the light emitting side of the acousto-optic deflection module 124 to deflect the light beam deflected by the acousto-optic deflection module 124 further along the first direction, so as to meet the requirement of high-angle and high-precision scanning. It should be appreciated that the secondary deflection module 126 deflects the light beam over a wide range of angles, at least to meet the application requirements of a wide angle scan scene.

As shown in fig. 4-6, in some embodiments, the secondary deflection module 126 may include a second superlens 1260 configured to deflect the beam deflected by the acousto-optic deflection module 124 over a predetermined second range of deflection anglesThe inner edge further deflects a preset angle along the first direction and shapes the sensing light beams so as to respectively form sensing light beams with different emergent directions corresponding to different deflection angles. The second superlens 1260 has a plurality of light modulating portions sequentially arranged along the beam deflection direction, and the light beams transmitted through the light modulating portions are deflected by different preset deflection angles and then emitted. The light modulation part is long-strip-shaped, and the length direction of the light modulation part is perpendicular to the first direction. As shown in fig. 8, the second superlens 1260 includes an incident side 1260a and an emergent side 1260b disposed opposite to each other, and each light modulating portion has an incident area and an emergent area disposed corresponding to each other on the incident side 1260a and the emergent side 1260b, respectively. After the light beam enters the second superlens 1260 from the light incident region of one light modulation part, the light beam is modulated and emitted from the light emitting region corresponding to the same light modulation part at a preset deflection angle. Thus, the light beams after the primary deflection by the acousto-optic deflection module 124 are respectively irradiated to the light incident regions of the corresponding light modulation portions on the second superlens 1260 according to different deflection angles, and are modulated and emitted from the light emitting regions of the corresponding light modulation portions at a preset deflection angle.

The second superlens 1260 may shape the beam while further deflecting the beam, such as, but not limited to, expanding the divergence angle of the passing beam in the first direction, expanding the divergence angle of the passing beam in the second direction, or expanding the divergence angle of the passing beam in both the first and second directions. Since the first direction is the deflection direction of the acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the second superlens 1260 for changing the emission angle of the light beam, the expansion of the divergence angle of the light beam along the first direction by the second superlens 1260 can make the sensing light beams respectively formed along different deflection angles have overlapping areas along the first direction between the areas respectively irradiated by far fields, so as to fill the angle gap between the adjacent angles of deflection of the light beam by the second superlens 1260. Also, since the acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the second superlens 1260 deflect the light beam along the first direction, the second superlens 1260 expands the divergence angle of the light beam along the second direction, so that the emitted light beam forms an elongated sensing light beam with its own length direction parallel to the second direction. Thus, the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 can complete the scanning of the two-dimensional area defined by the first direction and the second direction by only performing one-dimensional deflection on the strip-shaped sensing light beam along the first direction.

For convenience in describing the scanning manner of the elongated sensing beam, the propagation direction of the undeflected zero-order beam after passing through the acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the second superlens 1260 may be a Y axis, the horizontal direction may be an X axis, the vertical direction may be a Z axis, and an orthogonal rectangular coordinate system may be established, so that the horizontal plane may be an XOY plane, and the vertical plane may be a YOZ plane. As shown in fig. 9, in some embodiments, the first direction is a horizontal direction, that is, the elongated sensing beam emitted by the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 deflects along the horizontal direction where the X axis is located, and the second direction is a vertical direction, that is, the length direction of the elongated sensing beam emitted after being expanded by the second superlens 1260 is parallel to the vertical direction where the Z axis is located. The process of deflecting the elongated sensing beam along the X-axis by the acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the second superlens 1260 can realize two-dimensional scanning in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. It should be appreciated that the coordinate system described above may also be established in fig. 4-6 to facilitate description of the propagation of the light beam in the optical path.

It should be appreciated that in other embodiments, the first direction may be a vertical direction and the second direction may be a horizontal direction. That is, the elongated sensing beam emitted by the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 deflects along the vertical direction along the Z axis, the length direction of the elongated sensing beam is parallel to the horizontal direction along the Y axis, and the elongated sensing beam can realize two-dimensional scanning along the vertical direction and the horizontal direction during the deflection along the Z axis under the action of the acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the second superlens 1260.

Specifically, in some embodiments, if the second superlens 1260 deflects the second range of angles of the light beam in the first directionAt + -30 deg., i.e. 60 deg. total, the divergence angle of the beam in the second direction is extended to 25 deg., deflection of the emitted elongated sensing beam in the first direction may achieve a detection range +.>Is a two-dimensional scan of (2). Correspondingly, if the acousto-optic deflection module 124 deflects the first deflection angle range of the light beam along the first direction +.>When the deflection precision is 2.3 ° and 0.1 °, the beam deflected by the acousto-optic deflection module 124 has 23 different deflection angles, and can be configured to respectively irradiate 23 light modulation portions correspondingly disposed on the second superlens 1260, and the deflected beam after being modulated by each light modulation portion covers->I.e., the beam spreads through the second superlens 1260 by 2.6 deg. in the first direction and 25 deg. in the second direction.

As shown in fig. 4-6, in some embodiments, the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 may further include converging optics 123 configured to converge the light beam. The converging optics 123 may be disposed between the acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the second superlens 1260 for converging the beam deflected by the acousto-optic deflection module 124. As described above, the light incident side 1260a of the second superlens 1260 has light incident areas corresponding to different light modulating portions, the light beam deflected by the acousto-optic deflection module 124 by a predetermined angle needs to be incident into the corresponding light incident area to be deflected further according to a predetermined angle, and if the divergence angle of the light beam deflected by the acousto-optic deflection module 124 is too large, a part of the light beam will exceed the corresponding light incident area and cannot be effectively utilized when the light beam irradiates the light incident side 1260a of the second superlens 1260, resulting in waste of optical power. Thus, the converging optical device 123 can converge the light beams with the deflection angles after exiting from the acousto-optic deflection module 124 to the corresponding light entrance regions on the light entrance side 1260a of the second superlens 1260, so as to improve the utilization rate of the light beams. Alternatively, the converging function of the converging optical device 123 for the light beam may be implemented by a lens or a lens group including a plurality of lenses, or may be implemented by a superlens, which is not particularly limited in this application. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, if the divergence angle of the light beam exiting the acousto-optic deflection module 124 is small or the distance between the acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the second superlens 1260 is small, the light beams with different deflection angles can be all irradiated in the corresponding light entrance region of the light entrance side 1260a of the second superlens 1260, and the converging optical device 123 may be omitted.

As shown in fig. 2, the detecting device 10 further includes a control circuit 18, where the control circuit 18 is configured to control the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 to emit a sensing beam to scan the detection range, and control the receiving module 14 to cooperate with the scanning of the sensing beam to sense the beam returned from the detection range. Optionally, in some embodiments, the control circuit 18 may include a light source control unit 182, an acousto-optic deflection control unit 184, and a sensing control unit 188.

The light source control unit 182 is configured to control the light emitting unit 1220 to periodically emit the sensing beam pulse at a preset frequency. As described above, in order to make the time-dependent single photon counting method used for dtif measurement have a mathematical statistical significance, the light source control unit 182 controls the corresponding light emitting unit 1220 to emit a plurality of sensing beam pulses at a preset frequency within one detection frame, such as: the period of time between the emission instants of adjacent two sensing beam pulses may be defined as one emission period or one emission cycle of said sensing beam pulses, several tens, several hundreds, several thousands, several tens of thousands, even millions.

The sensing control unit 188 is configured to control the photosensitive pixels 142 to perform sensing at a sensing period corresponding to an emission period of the associated light emitting unit 1220 to count in response to the light signal returned from the detection range. Since the light emitting unit 1220 periodically emits the sensing beam pulse at a preset frequency, the corresponding photosensitive pixel 142 periodically performs sensing at the same preset frequency as the emission period under the control of the sensing control unit 188. Optionally, the sensing control unit 188 may also control a portion of the photosensitive pixels 142 thereof to cooperate with the receiving optical device 144 to correspondingly sense the optical signals returned from the preset different directions.

The acousto-optic deflection control unit 184 is configured to control the acousto-optic deflection module 124 within a corresponding first deflection angle rangeThe passing light beam is deflected by a preset deflection angle. As previously described, the acousto-optic deflection control unit 184 can control the deflection angle of the passing beam by the acousto-optic deflection module 124 by adjusting the frequency of the acoustic wave applied to the acousto-optic interaction medium 1241. The acousto-optic deflection module 124 changes the deflection time required by the primary beam deflection angle +.>About 10 microseconds. It should be understood that for each beam deflection angle, the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 needs to send out a plurality of sensing beam pulses to detect the distance information in the direction irradiated by the beam deflection angle, and the corresponding photosensitive pixels 142 on the receiving module 14 work synchronously to sense the optical signals returned from the direction. The number of sensing beam pulses emitted by the acousto-optic deflection emitting module 12 along different beam deflection angles may be different, for example, the number of sensing beam pulses emitted along the direction may be set according to the distance detection furthest value to be satisfied by the detecting device 10 in the direction irradiated by each beam deflection angle, and similarly, the number of sensing periods in a detection frame may be set according to the distance detection furthest value to be satisfied by the receiving module 14 for sensing the direction light signal by the photosensitive pixel 142 configured for sensing the direction light signal.

In use, pass throughThe acousto-optic deflection control unit 184 controls the acousto-optic deflection module 124 in a corresponding first deflection angle rangeThe interior is provided with a preset acousto-optic deflection precision +.>The beam is deflected. The light source control unit 182 controls the light emitting unit 1220 to periodically emit a sensing beam pulse toward a direction corresponding to the beam deflection angle by a preset frequency and number of times, corresponding to each preset deflection angle of the beam, and the sensing control unit 188 controls the corresponding photosensitive pixel 142 to synchronously sense the light signal returned from the direction corresponding to the beam deflection angle to perform three-dimensional detection of the direction corresponding to the beam deflection angle.

Compared with the deflection of the sensing light beam realized through a mechanical rotation scheme and a mixed solid state scheme, the sensing light beam is quasi-continuously deflected within the preset deflection angle range through the pure solid-state acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the second superlens 1260, and the sensing light beam has the beneficial effects of better reliability and compact size without depending on rotation and vibration of components.

Referring to fig. 2 and fig. 10 together, in some embodiments, the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 periodically transmits laser pulses as sensing beams according to a preset frequency, and the laser pulses are projected to the detection range by transmitting optical devices such as the acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the secondary deflection module 126, that is, the sensing beams may be periodic pulse beams with a preset frequency. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 may transmit a plurality of laser pulses in one detection frame, and a time period between two adjacent laser pulse transmitting moments may be defined as a transmitting period of the laser pulses. The corresponding photosensitive pixel 142 configured to sense the detection region irradiated with the laser pulse has a sensing period corresponding to the emission period. For example, the corresponding photosensitive pixels 142 periodically perform sensing at the same preset frequency as the emission period, the sensing period having a start time and an end time coincident with the emission period. The photosensitive pixel 142 starts sensing photons returned from the detection range at the same time as each laser pulse is emitted, and the timing unit 152 determines the receiving time of the optical signal sensed by the photosensitive pixel 142 according to the optical sensing signal generated by the corresponding photosensitive pixel 142 sensing the photons. The statistics unit 154 counts the light signal receiving time determined by the timing unit 152 in a plurality of sensing periods of one detection frame in a corresponding time bin to generate a corresponding statistical histogram. The length of the sensing period is at least greater than the time of flight required for photons to traverse the distance detection furthest value to be met by the corresponding detection region to ensure that photons reflected back from the distance detection furthest value can be sensed and counted. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the length of the sensing period may be set correspondingly according to the distance required by the detection area to detect the furthest value. For example, the sensing period length of the photosensitive pixel 142 is in positive correlation with the distance detection furthest value to be satisfied by the corresponding detected detection region, and for the detection region with a larger distance detection furthest value, the sensing period of the photosensitive pixel 142 for performing the corresponding detection is longer; for a detection region where the distance detection furthest value is smaller, the sensing period of the photosensitive pixel 142 where the corresponding detection is performed is shorter.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, all or a portion of the functional elements of the control circuitry 18 and/or processing circuitry 15 may be firmware that is solidified within the storage medium 30 or computer software code that is stored within the storage medium 30 and executed by the corresponding one or more processors 40 to control the relevant components to implement the corresponding functions. Such as, but not limited to, an application processor (Application Processor, AP), a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), a microcontroller (Micro Controller Unit, MCU), etc. The storage medium 30 includes, but is not limited to, flash Memory (Flash Memory), charged erasable programmable read-only storage medium (Electrically Erasable Programmable read only Memory, EEPROM), programmable read-only storage medium (Programmable read only Memory, PROM), hard disk, and the like.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the processor 40 and/or the storage medium 30 may be disposed within the detection device 10, such as: is integrated on the same circuit board as the acousto-optic deflection transmitting module 12 or the receiving module 14. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the processor 40 and/or the storage medium 30 may be located elsewhere in the electronic device 1, such as: on the main circuit board of the electronic device 1.

Optionally, in some embodiments, some or all of the functional units of the control circuit 18 and/or the processing circuit 15 may also be implemented in hardware, for example by any one or a combination of the following technologies: discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing logic functions on data signals, application specific integrated circuits having suitable combinational logic gates, programmable Gate Arrays (PGAs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and the like. It will be appreciated that the hardware described above for implementing the functions of the control circuit 18 and/or the processing circuit 15 may be provided within the detection device 10. The hardware described above for implementing the functions of the control circuit 18 and/or the processing circuit 15 may also be provided in other locations of the electronic device 1, such as: is provided on a main circuit board of the electronic device 1.

As shown in fig. 11, in some embodiments, the detection device 10 is, for example, a laser radar, and the electronic device 1 is, for example, an automobile. The laser radar can be arranged at a plurality of different positions on the automobile to detect the distance information of objects in the peripheral range of the automobile and realize driving control according to the distance information.

Compared with a laser radar which adopts a mechanical rotation mode and a mixed solid-state mode to realize the scanning of sensing light beams, the laser radar provided by the application adopts the acousto-optic deflection module 124 and the secondary deflection module 126 which are all solid-state to realize the deflection scanning of the sensing light beams, has higher reliability and more compact structure because rotation or vibration components are not needed, is easier to pass through strict vehicle specification requirements, and has less influence on the appearance of an automobile.

It should be noted that, the technical solution to be protected in the present application may only satisfy one of the embodiments described above or simultaneously satisfy the embodiments described above, that is, the embodiment formed by combining one or more embodiments described above also belongs to the protection scope of the present application.

In the description of the present specification, reference to the terms "one embodiment," "certain embodiments," "illustrative embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples," etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

It is to be understood that portions of embodiments of the present application may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. In the above-described embodiments, the plurality of functional units may be implemented in software or firmware stored in a storage medium and executed by a suitable instruction execution system. For example, if implemented in hardware, as in another embodiment, may be implemented using any one or combination of the following techniques, as is well known in the art: discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing logic functions on data signals, application specific integrated circuits having suitable combinational logic gates, programmable Gate Arrays (PGAs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and the like.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present application is not intended to be limiting, but is intended to cover any and all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and principles of the present application.

Claims

1. An acousto-optic deflection transmitting module based on a superlens, configured to transmit a sensing beam for three-dimensional information detection based on a time-of-flight principle to a detection range, comprising:

a light source module, comprising:

2. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module according to claim 1, wherein the second superlens expands a divergence angle of the passing beam along a second direction to form the sensing beam in a long stripe shape, a direction in which the sensing beam has a maximum size is defined as a length direction thereof, the length direction of the sensing beam is formed to be parallel to the second direction, and the second direction is disposed perpendicular to the first direction.

3. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module according to claim 2, wherein the first direction is a horizontal direction and the second direction is a vertical direction; or alternatively

The first direction is a vertical direction, and the second direction is a horizontal direction.

4. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module according to claim 1, wherein the second superlens expands a divergence angle of the passing light beam in the first direction so that the respective sensing light beams respectively formed along different deflection angles have overlapping regions with each other in the first direction in regions where far fields are respectively irradiated.

5. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of light modulation parts are formed on the second superlens, the light beams deflected by the acousto-optic deflection module at each preset deflection angle are respectively converged to one of the light modulation parts by the converging optical device, and the light beams irradiated to each light modulation part are further deflected by the corresponding preset deflection angle along the first direction after being modulated and then transmitted to form the sensing light beams.

6. The acousto-optic deflection transmission module set according to claim 5, wherein said light modulation section is elongated, and a longitudinal direction of said light modulation section itself is perpendicular to said first direction.

7. The acousto-optic deflection transmission module according to claim 1, wherein the light source module further includes beam reduction optics configured to reduce the beam collimated by the first superlens to a predetermined size before transmitting to the acousto-optic deflection module.

8. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module according to claim 1 wherein said light source module further includes a linear polarizer disposed in the optical path of the light beam prior to entering said acousto-optic deflection module and configured to convert the light beam to linearly polarized light having a predetermined polarization state prior to entering said acousto-optic deflection module.

9. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module according to claim 1, wherein the light source module further includes a polarization beam splitter, a polarization direction adjusting member, and a light guiding member, the polarization beam splitter being disposed on an optical path before the light beam enters the acousto-optic deflection module, the polarization beam splitter splitting the passing light beam into a first polarized light beam and a second polarized light beam, the first polarized light beam having a first polarization direction, the second polarized light beam having a second polarization direction different from the first polarization direction, the light guiding member being configured to guide a propagation direction of the first polarized light beam or the second polarized light beam or both the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam so that the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam are incident to the acousto-optic deflection module along different optical paths, respectively, the polarization direction adjusting member being configured to change the polarization direction of the first polarized light beam or the second polarized light beam so that both enter the acousto-optic deflection module in the same preset polarization direction.

10. The acousto-optic deflection transmitting module according to claim 9, wherein the time when the decomposed first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam reach the acousto-optic deflection module respectively has a preset time difference.

11. The acousto-optic deflection transmission module according to claim 9, wherein the first polarized light beam propagates to the acousto-optic deflection module through the polarization beam splitter along a main optical axis along which a direction of incidence of the light beam is located when the light beam is incident on the polarization beam splitter, and the polarization direction adjusting member is disposed on the main optical axis and configured to change a first polarization direction of the first polarized light beam to the second polarization direction.

12. The acousto-optic deflection transmission module according to claim 9, wherein the second polarized light beam propagates to the acousto-optic deflection module through the polarization beam splitter along a bypass optical path deviating from a main optical axis where the incident direction of the light beam is when the light beam is incident on the polarization beam splitter, and the polarization direction adjusting member is disposed on the bypass optical path and configured to change the second polarization direction of the second polarized light beam to the first polarization direction.

13. An acousto-optic deflection transmission module according to claim 9, 11 or 12, wherein said polarization direction adjustment member includes a liquid crystal layer configured to change the polarization direction of the passing light beam by adjusting the orientation of liquid crystal molecules within said liquid crystal layer.

14. The acousto-optic deflection transmission module according to claim 9, wherein the second polarized light beam enters the acousto-optic deflection module along a direction parallel to the first polarized light beam after being guided by the light guide member, and incidence points of the first polarized light beam and the second polarized light beam on the acousto-optic deflection module are located in a preset incidence area on the acousto-optic deflection module.

15. A detection device, configured to detect three-dimensional information of an object located within a preset detection range, comprising an acousto-optic deflection transmitting module according to any one of claims 1-14, and further comprising a receiving module configured to sense an optical signal from the detection range and output a corresponding light sensing signal, and a processing module configured to analyze and process the light sensing signal to obtain three-dimensional information of the object within the detection range.

16. An electronic device comprising the detection apparatus as claimed in claim 15, further comprising an application module configured to implement a corresponding function according to the detection result of the detection apparatus.