CN218412907U - Laser radar's scanning module and laser radar - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides a scanning module of a laser radar and the laser radar, which comprise a substrate, a micro-lens array and a driving unit, wherein the micro-lens array is arranged on one side of the substrate, the micro-lens array is not in contact with the substrate, and the driving unit is in transmission connection with the micro-lens array; one side of the substrate close to the micro-lens array is provided with N laser light sources and N detection units, each laser light source is respectively matched with different detection units, and N is more than or equal to 2; the micro lens array is provided with 2N micro lens units, each laser light source corresponds to one micro lens unit, and each detection unit corresponds to one micro lens unit; the driving unit is used for driving the micro lens array to translate relative to the substrate. The driving amplitude of the driving unit is small, the operation burden of the motor is small, the service life of the driving unit can be guaranteed, the service time of the driving unit is prolonged, and therefore the service time of the scanning module is prolonged.

Description

Laser radar's scanning module and laser radar

Technical Field

The application relates to the field of radars, in particular to a scanning module of a laser radar and the laser radar.

Background

With the rapid development of the automatic driving technology, sensors for sensing environmental information are more and more widely applied to automobiles, and the types of the sensors include a vision sensor, a distance sensor and the like, and specifically include an image sensor, an infrared night vision sensor, an ultrasonic radar, a millimeter wave radar, a laser radar and the like. The laser radar has the advantages of high resolution, small volume, light weight and the like, so that the laser radar can be rapidly developed in a vehicle-mounted sensor.

At present, mechanical laser radars are the more mature laser radars. The mechanical laser radar drives the mirror surface to rotate through the motor, and the light beam deflects through mirror surface reflection, so that an external object is scanned.

How to overcome the above problems becomes a problem that those skilled in the art pay attention to.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

An object of the present application is to provide a scanning module of a lidar and the lidar, so as to at least partially improve the above problems.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiments of the present application employ the following technical solutions:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a scanning module of a lidar, where the scanning module includes a substrate, a microlens array, and a driving unit, the microlens array is disposed on one side of the substrate, and the driving unit is in transmission connection with the microlens array;

one side of the substrate, which is close to the micro-lens array, is provided with N laser light sources and N detection units, each laser light source is respectively matched with different detection units, and N is greater than or equal to 2;

the micro lens array is provided with 2N micro lens units, each laser light source corresponds to one micro lens unit, and each detection unit corresponds to one micro lens unit;

the driving unit is used for driving the micro lens array to translate relative to the substrate.

Optionally, a distance between the detection unit and the matched laser light source is smaller than a preset distance threshold.

Optionally, a detection unit is arranged between any two adjacent laser light sources.

Optionally, a detection unit is arranged between two adjacent laser light sources in the transverse direction, two columns which are adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction are a laser light source column and a detection unit column respectively, the laser light source column includes the laser light sources which are arranged in the longitudinal direction, and the detection unit column includes the detection units which are arranged in the longitudinal direction.

Optionally, each laser unit and the corresponding detection unit form a matching group, and the matching groups are arranged longitudinally.

Optionally, the microlens array is not in contact with the substrate.

Optionally, the N laser light sources and the N detection units are disposed on the substrate by a semiconductor process mounting or a transfer mounting.

Optionally, the laser light source is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser or a photonic crystal surface emitting semiconductor laser, and the detection unit is a single photon avalanche diode or a silicon photomultiplier.

Optionally, the laser light source and the detection unit are used for connecting an external circuit, and the external circuit is used for controlling the laser light source to emit a laser signal, receiving a detection signal acquired by the detection unit, and completing target detection based on the detection signal.

Optionally, the external circuit is further configured to switch the working states and the rest states of the N laser light sources and the N detection units, and only one set of the matched laser light sources and detection units are in the working states at the same time.

Optionally, the driving unit and the microlens array are disposed in the same plane.

Optionally, the driving unit is a mems drive or a voice coil motor drive.

Optionally, the diameter of the microlens unit is within 1-3 mm.

Optionally, a heat dissipation module is disposed on the other side of the substrate away from the microlens array.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a lidar including an external circuit and the scanning module described above, where the external circuit is configured to control the scanning module to perform laser scanning.

Compared with the prior art, the scanning module of the laser radar and the laser radar comprise a substrate, a micro-lens array and a driving unit, wherein the micro-lens array is arranged on one side of the substrate, the micro-lens array is not in contact with the substrate, and the driving unit is in transmission connection with the micro-lens array; one side of the substrate close to the micro-lens array is provided with N laser light sources and N detection units, each laser light source is respectively matched with different detection units, and N is more than or equal to 2; the micro lens array is provided with 2N micro lens units, each laser light source corresponds to one micro lens unit, and each detection unit corresponds to one micro lens unit; the driving unit is used for driving the micro lens array to translate relative to the substrate. The driving amplitude of the driving unit is small, the operation burden of the motor is small, the service life of the driving unit can be guaranteed, the service time of the driving unit is prolonged, and therefore the service time of the scanning module is prolonged.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present application more comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other related drawings based on the drawings without inventive efforts.

Fig. 1 is a top view of a scan module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a scan module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic view of a scanning optical path according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a scan path diagram provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a point scanning arrangement of a scanning module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a point scanning arrangement of another scanning module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a line scanning arrangement of a scanning module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 is another scan path diagram provided in the embodiment of the present application.

In the figure: 101-a laser light source; 102-a detection unit; 103-a drive unit; 104-a microlens array; 1041-an exit end microlens unit; 1042 — a receiving-end microlens unit; 105-a substrate; 301-scan path.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present application, generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, can be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.

Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present application, presented in the accompanying drawings, is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed application, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the application. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, it need not be further defined and explained in subsequent figures. Meanwhile, in the description of the present application, the terms "first", "second", and the like are used only for distinguishing the description, and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

It is noted that, herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a … …" does not exclude the presence of another identical element in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the terms "upper", "lower", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings or orientations or positional relationships conventionally found in use of products of the application, and are used only for convenience in describing the present application and for simplification of description, but do not indicate or imply that the referred devices or elements must have a specific orientation, be constructed in a specific orientation, and be operated, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present application.

In the description of the present application, it is also to be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "disposed" and "connected" are to be interpreted broadly, e.g., as being either fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood in a specific case by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Some embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below and the features of the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.

In order to overcome the defects that the motor of the mechanical laser radar is not durable enough and is easy to damage, the resolution ratio is low, the size is large and the like, the embodiment of the application provides a scanning module of the laser radar. Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2, fig. 1 is a top view of a scan module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 2 is a side view of the scan module according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the scanning module includes a substrate 105, a microlens array 104, and a driving unit 103, wherein the microlens array 104 is disposed on one side of the substrate 105, and the driving unit 103 is in transmission connection with the microlens array 104.

Optionally, the microlens array 104 is not in contact with the substrate 105.

The side of the substrate 105 close to the microlens array 104 is provided with N laser light sources 101 and N detection units 102, each laser light source is respectively matched with a different detection unit 102, and N is greater than or equal to 2.

Alternatively, N may take the value 32.

The microlens array 104 is provided with 2N microlens units, each laser light source 101 corresponds to one microlens unit, and each detection unit 102 corresponds to one microlens unit.

As shown in fig. 2, the microlens unit corresponding to the laser light source 101 is an emitting-end microlens unit 1041, and the microlens unit corresponding to the detecting unit 102 is a receiving-end microlens unit 1042. Each microlens unit corresponds to the laser light source 101 and the detection unit 102 on the underlying substrate 105, and the microlens unit may be a glass microlens or a plastic microlens.

The driving unit 103 is used for driving the microlens array 104 to translate relative to the substrate 105.

It is to be understood that the translation is to change the angle between each laser light source 101 or detection unit 102 and the corresponding microlens unit without changing the vertical distance of the microlens array 104 relative to the substrate 105. The microlens array 104 is translated relative to the substrate 105 by the control of the drive unit 103. After translation, the exit-end microlens unit 1041 changes the exit angle of the emitted light beam, so as to change the scanning angle of the laser radar.

Optionally, the driving unit 103 includes a driving motor and a connecting member, and the driving motor is in driving connection with the microlens array 104 through the connecting member. The driving motor may vibrate the microlens array 104 in two dimensions, thereby causing the laser radar's emitted light to perform a spot scan in object space. In order to ensure that the laser emitted by the laser light source 101 can be emitted through the corresponding exit end microlens unit 1041, the range of the included angle between the exit end microlens unit 1041 and the laser light source 101 is not too large, and it is required to ensure that the included angle between the exit end microlens unit 1041 and the laser light source 101 is identified and protected within a preset angle range, that is, the driving amplitude of the driving unit 103 is required to be small, the operation burden of the motor is small, the service life of the driving unit 103 can be ensured, the service time of the driving unit 103 is prolonged, and therefore the service life of the scanning module is ensured.

It should be noted that, because each laser light source 101 is provided with the corresponding exit-end microlens unit 1041, even in the case of a small translation distance, the scanning range can be changed more significantly, thereby achieving the overall scanning of the target object.

To sum up, the scanning module provided by the embodiment of the present application includes a substrate, a micro lens array and a driving unit, wherein the micro lens array is disposed on one side of the substrate, the micro lens array is not in contact with the substrate, and the driving unit is in transmission connection with the micro lens array; one side of the substrate close to the micro-lens array is provided with N laser light sources and N detection units, each laser light source is respectively matched with different detection units, and N is more than or equal to 2; the micro lens array is provided with 2N micro lens units, each laser light source corresponds to one micro lens unit, and each detection unit corresponds to one micro lens unit; the driving unit is used for driving the micro-lens array to translate relative to the substrate. The driving amplitude of the driving unit is small, the operation burden of the motor is small, the service life of the driving unit can be guaranteed, the service time of the driving unit is prolonged, and therefore the service time of the scanning module is prolonged.

Optionally, the laser light source 101 employs a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) or a photonic crystal surface-emitting semiconductor laser (PCSEL), and the detection unit 102 employs a Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SAPD) or a Silicon photomultiplier (SIPM).

Alternatively, the N laser light sources 101 and the N detection units 102 are disposed on the substrate 105 by a semiconductor process mounting or a transfer mounting.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic view of a scanning optical path according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 3, in the present embodiment, the laser light source 101 is shaped and collimated by the emitting-end microlens unit 1041, then emitted to the object space, and after the emitted light illuminates the target surface, the signal light reflected from the target surface passes through the receiving-end microlens unit 1042 and is converged on the detection unit 102. It should be understood that the outgoing light and the signal light are nearly coincident, so in order to ensure that the detection unit 102 can acquire the signal light, the distance between the detection unit 102 and the matched laser light source 101 needs to be smaller than a preset distance threshold.

It should be understood that when the distance is too large, the detection unit 102 will not be able to receive the detection signal generated by the laser light source 101. Each laser light source 101 has a detection unit 102 adjacent to each other, that is, the laser light sources 101 and the N detection units 102 are arranged at intervals in space, and each laser light source 101 and each detection unit 102 corresponds to an independent microlens unit, thereby realizing one-to-one transmission and reception in space.

Optionally, the laser light source 101 and the detection unit 102 are configured to be connected to an external circuit, and the external circuit is configured to control the laser light source 101 to emit a laser signal, receive a detection signal acquired by the detection unit 102, and complete target detection based on the detection signal.

Optionally, the external circuit is further configured to switch the working state and the rest state of the N laser light sources 101 and the N detection units 102, and only one set of the matched laser light sources 101 and detection units 102 is in the working state at the same time.

When one laser light source 101 emits light, only one adjacent and matched detection unit 102 is turned on, other detection units are all in a turned-off state, and the laser light source 101 and the detection unit 102 are sequentially turned on in sequence, so that one-to-one emission and reception in time are realized. The laser light source 101 and the detection unit 102 are spatially and temporally spaced to have addressable characteristics, so that the problem of crosstalk between the detection units in the laser radar scanning process can be solved.

As shown in fig. 1, in a possible implementation manner, the driving unit 103 and the microlens array 104 are disposed in the same plane, and the driving unit 103 is a mems driver or a voice coil motor driver.

A semi-solid scanning mode is adopted by a Micro electro mechanical System (mems for short), and the semi-solid scanning mode driven by the mems enables the driving unit 103 to be small in size, high in stability, long in service life and convenient for mass production.

The microlens array 104 is translated relative to the substrate 105 by the control of the drive unit 103. After the translation, the exit-end microlens unit 1041 changes the exit angle of the emitted light beam to achieve the purpose of changing the scanning angle of the laser radar, and similarly, after the exit light illuminates the target surface, the signal light reflected from the target surface passes through the receiving-end microlens unit 1042 and is converged on the detection unit 102 again.

A module 8*8 may be arranged on the substrate 105, where there are 32 laser light sources 101 and 32 detection units 102. The driving unit 103 can control the micro-lens array 104 to perform two-dimensional vibration on a plane, the 32 beams of emergent light of the corresponding laser radar can perform two-dimensional point scanning on the object plane, and the signal light reflected by the scanning is received by the 32 corresponding detecting units 102 to form a point cloud image. The number of the laser light sources 101 and the number of the detection units 102 determine the signal-to-noise ratio and the detection distance of the laser radar, and similarly, under the condition that the number of the emission units and the number of the detection units are not changed, the signal-to-noise ratio and the detection distance of the laser radar can be dynamically controlled by controlling the number of the laser light sources 101 and the number of the detection units 102.

By controlling the switch number of the laser light sources 101 and the detection unit 102, the signal-to-noise ratio and the detection distance of the laser radar can be dynamically controlled in real time, and the detection resolution is improved. By setting the number of the laser light sources 101 and the number of the detection units 102, the signal-to-noise ratio and the detection distance of the laser radar can be accurately controlled, and the cost can be effectively controlled.

In a possible implementation manner, in order to ensure that the code scanning module can have the characteristic of miniaturization (small volume), the diameter of the microlens unit can be limited within 1-3 mm.

In a possible implementation manner, in order to avoid the overheating loss of the laser with respect to the laser 101 and the detection unit 102, please refer to the following.

A heat dissipation module is disposed on the other side of the substrate 105 away from the microlens array 104.

The heat dissipation module can be a rotary semiconductor Cooler (Thermo Electric Cooler, abbreviated as TEC). The heat dissipation module can dissipate heat of the whole substrate 105, so that the laser radar scanning module is further integrated.

It should be noted that, in the scanning apparatus of the laser radar provided in the embodiment of the present application, the driving unit 103 is disposed at the same plane as the microlens array 104, and the bottom surface of the substrate 105 has a space for heat dissipation and can be mounted with a heat dissipation module.

Optionally, the whole scanning module is planar and modularized, so that heat dissipation is facilitated, the size of the laser radar is effectively reduced, and the whole laser radar is convenient to install and adjust; the laser light source 101, the detection unit 102 and the micro-lens array 104 of the scanning module are integrated, so that the space utilization rate in the laser radar is improved.

It should be understood that the substrate 105 is provided with a plurality of laser light sources 101 and a detection unit 102, and as to how to select the scanning path, the embodiment of the present application also provides a possible implementation manner, please refer to fig. 4, and fig. 4 is a diagram of the scanning path provided by the embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4, the scanning path 301 of the microlens array 104 relative to the substrate 105 may be a zigzag, and the point cloud image scanned by the scanning path 301 shown in fig. 4 is a square or rectangular image.

It should be noted that there are various arrangements of the laser light source 101 and the detection unit 102, and the corresponding scanning mode may be a point scanning or a line scanning.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 6 and fig. 7, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a dot scanning arrangement of a scanning module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 6 is a point scanning arrangement of another scanning module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 7 is a line scanning arrangement of a scanning module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

It should be further noted that the scanning module provided in the embodiment of the present application may also have other scanning paths. Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a diagram of another scan path according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

With continued reference to fig. 1 and fig. 7, in a possible implementation manner, a detection unit 102 is disposed between any two adjacent laser light sources 101.

With reference to fig. 5, in a possible implementation manner, a detection unit 102 is disposed between two adjacent laser light sources 101 in the transverse direction, two columns adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction are a laser light source column and a detection unit column, respectively, the laser light source column includes the laser light sources 101 arranged in the longitudinal direction, and the detection unit column includes the detection units 102 arranged in the longitudinal direction.

With continued reference to fig. 6, in one possible implementation, each laser light source 101 and the corresponding detection unit 102 form a matching group, and the matching groups are arranged longitudinally. It should be understood that the arrangement order of the laser light source 101 and the detection unit 102 in the matching group is not limited, and the detection unit 102 may be located on the left side or the right side of the laser light source 101, where the left and right sides are determined with respect to the longitudinal direction.

The embodiment of the application further provides a laser radar, which comprises an external circuit and the scanning module, wherein the external circuit is used for controlling the scanning module to perform laser scanning.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement and the like made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the present application is not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrative embodiments, and that the present application may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the application being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. Any reference sign in a claim should not be construed as limiting the claim concerned.

Claims (15)

1. The scanning module of the laser radar is characterized by comprising a substrate, a micro-lens array and a driving unit, wherein the micro-lens array is arranged on one side of the substrate, and the driving unit is in transmission connection with the micro-lens array;

one side of the substrate, which is close to the micro-lens array, is provided with N laser light sources and N detection units, each laser light source is respectively matched with different detection units, and N is greater than or equal to 2;

the micro lens array is provided with 2N micro lens units, each laser light source corresponds to one micro lens unit, and each detection unit corresponds to one micro lens unit;

the driving unit is used for driving the micro lens array to translate relative to the substrate.

2. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein a distance between the detection unit and the matched laser light source is less than a predetermined distance threshold.

3. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein a detection unit is disposed between any two adjacent laser light sources.

4. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein a detection unit is disposed between two adjacent laser light sources in the transverse direction, any two adjacent columns in the longitudinal direction are a laser light source column and a detection unit column, respectively, the laser light source column comprises the laser light sources arranged in the longitudinal direction, and the detection unit column comprises the detection units arranged in the longitudinal direction.

5. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein each laser unit and the corresponding detection unit form a matched set, and the matched set is arranged longitudinally.

6. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein the microlens array is not in contact with the substrate.

7. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein the N laser light sources and the N detection units are disposed on the substrate by a semiconductor process mounting or a transfer mounting.

8. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein the laser source is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser or a photonic crystal surface emitting semiconductor laser, and the detection unit is a single photon avalanche diode or a silicon photomultiplier.

9. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein the laser light source and the detection unit are configured to be connected to an external circuit, and the external circuit is configured to control the laser light source to emit a laser signal, receive a detection signal collected by the detection unit, and complete target detection based on the detection signal.

10. The lidar module of claim 9, wherein the external circuit is further configured to switch the N laser light sources and the N detection units between an active state and a rest state, wherein only one set of the matched laser light sources and detection units is active at a time.

11. The lidar module of claim 1, wherein the driving unit is disposed in the same plane as the microlens array.

12. The lidar module of claim 11, wherein the drive unit is a mems drive or a voice coil motor drive.

13. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein the diameter of the microlens element is within 1-3 mm.

14. The lidar scanning module of claim 1, wherein a heat sink module is disposed on an opposite side of the substrate from the microlens array.

15. Lidar comprising an external circuit and a scanning module according to any of claims 1-14, wherein the external circuit is configured to control the scanning module to perform a laser scan.

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