WO2019050643A1 - Guide d'ondes partagé pour émetteur et récepteur lidar - Google Patents

Guide d'ondes partagé pour émetteur et récepteur lidar Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2019050643A1
WO2019050643A1 PCT/US2018/045104 US2018045104W WO2019050643A1 WO 2019050643 A1 WO2019050643 A1 WO 2019050643A1 US 2018045104 W US2018045104 W US 2018045104W WO 2019050643 A1 WO2019050643 A1 WO 2019050643A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
light
waveguide
aperture
lens
array
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2018/045104
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Pierre-Yves Droz
David Neil HUTCHISON
Ralph Hamilton SHEPARD
Original Assignee
Waymo Llc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Waymo Llc filed Critical Waymo Llc
Priority to JP2020512713A priority Critical patent/JP6935007B2/ja
Priority to CN201880057663.3A priority patent/CN111051915A/zh
Priority to EP18852999.4A priority patent/EP3676631A4/fr
Publication of WO2019050643A1 publication Critical patent/WO2019050643A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S17/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. lidar systems
    • G01S17/88—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S17/89—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications for mapping or imaging
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S7/00—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00
    • G01S7/48—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00 of systems according to group G01S17/00
    • G01S7/481—Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S7/00—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00
    • G01S7/48—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00 of systems according to group G01S17/00
    • G01S7/481—Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements
    • G01S7/4816—Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements of receivers alone

Definitions

  • Light detectors such as photodiodes, single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs), or other types of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) can be used to detect light that is imparted on their surfaces (e.g., by outputting an electrical signal, such as a voltage or a current, that indicates an intensity of the light).
  • Many types of such devices are fabricated out of semiconducting materials, such as silicon.
  • multiple light detectors can be arranged as an array. These arrays are sometimes referred to as silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) or multi-pixel photon counters (MPPCs).
  • a system in one example, includes a light source that emits a light beam.
  • the system also includes a waveguide that guides the emitted light beam toward an aperture.
  • the system also includes a lens that directs the light beam guided by the waveguide and transmitted through the aperture toward a scene. The lens further receives light propagating from the scene toward the lens. The lens focuses the received light into the aperture.
  • the waveguide guides the focused light transmitted through the aperture.
  • the system also includes a light detector. The waveguide transmits at least a portion of the focused light out of the waveguide toward the light detector.
  • a method in another example, involves emitting, via a light source, a light beam toward a waveguide. The method also involves guiding, inside the waveguide, the emitted light beam for transmission through an aperture. The method also involves directing, via a lens, the light beam transmitted through the aperture toward a scene. The method also involves focusing, via the lens, light propagating from the scene toward the aperture and into the waveguide. The method also involves guiding the focused light inside the aperture. The method also involves transmitting at least a portion of the focused light out of the waveguide toward an array of light detectors.
  • a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device includes a LIDAR transmitter that emits one or more light beams.
  • the LIDAR device also includes a waveguide that guides the one or more emitted light beams toward an aperture. The one or more guided light beams are transmitted out of the waveguide and through the aperture.
  • the LIDAR device also includes a lens that focuses the one or more light beams transmitted through the aperture toward a scene. The lens further receives light propagating from the scene toward the lens. The lens focuses at least a portion of the received light into the aperture.
  • the LIDAR device also includes a LIDAR receiver that includes an array of light detectors. The waveguide guides the at least portion of the focused light toward the array of light detectors.
  • a system comprises means for emitting, via a light source, a light beam toward a waveguide.
  • the system also comprises means for guiding, inside the waveguide, the emitted light beam for transmission through an aperture.
  • the system also comprises means for directing, via a lens, the light beam transmitted through the aperture toward a scene.
  • the system also comprises means for focusing, via the lens, light propagating from the scene toward the aperture and into the waveguide.
  • the system also comprises means for guiding the focused light inside the waveguide.
  • the system also comprises means for transmitting at least a portion of the focused light out of the waveguide toward an array of light detectors.
  • Figure 1A is an illustration of a system that includes an aperture, according to example embodiments.
  • Figure 1B is another illustration of the system of Figure 1A.
  • Figure 2A is a simplified block diagram of a LIDAR device, according to example embodiments.
  • Figure 2B illustrates a perspective view of the LIDAR device of Figure 2A.
  • Figure 3A is an illustration of a system that includes a waveguide, according to example embodiments.
  • Figure 3B illustrates a cross-section view of the system of Figure 3A.
  • Figure 3C illustrates a perspective view of the waveguide in the system of Figure 3A.
  • Figure 4A illustrates a cross-section view of a system that includes multiple waveguides, according to example embodiments.
  • Figure 4B illustrates another cross-section view of the system of Figure 4A.
  • Figure 4C illustrates yet another cross-section view of the system of Figure 4A.
  • Figure 5 illustrates a cross-section view of another system, according to example embodiments.
  • Figure 6 is a flowchart of a method, according to example embodiments.
  • any example embodiment or feature described herein is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or features.
  • the example embodiments described herein are not meant to be limiting. It will be readily understood that certain aspects of the disclosed implementations can be arranged and combined in a wide variety of different configurations. Furthermore, the particular arrangements shown in the figures should not be viewed as limiting. It should be understood that other implementations might include more or less of each element shown in a given figure. In addition, some of the illustrated elements may be combined or omitted. Similarly, an example implementation may include elements that are not illustrated in the figures.
  • Example implementations may relate to devices, systems, and methods that involve detecting light using one or more light detectors.
  • the light detectors may be a sensing component of a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device.
  • LIDAR light detection and ranging
  • One example system includes a lens.
  • the lens may be used to focus light from a scene. However, the lens may also focus background light not intended to be observed by the system (e.g., sunlight).
  • an opaque material e.g., selectively etched metal, a glass substrate partially covered by a mask, etc.
  • the opaque material could be shaped as a slab, a sheet, or various other shapes in a variety of embodiments.
  • an aperture may be defined. With this arrangement, a portion of, or the entirety of, the light focused by the lens could be selected for transmission through the aperture.
  • the system may include a waveguide having a first side (e.g., adjacent to the aperture, etc.) and a second side opposite to the first side.
  • the system may also include an array of light detectors (e.g., SPADs, etc.) disposed on or otherwise adjacent to a third side of the waveguide to detect light that propagates out of the waveguide through the third side.
  • the third side may extend from the first side to the second side along a guiding direction in which the waveguide guides propagation of light therein.
  • the system may include a mirror disposed along a propagation path of the guided light propagating inside the waveguide.
  • the mirror may be tilted toward the third side of the waveguide.
  • the mirror may reflect the guided light (or a portion thereof) toward a particular region of the third side adjacent to the array of light detectors, and the reflected light may then propagate through the particular region toward the array of light detectors.
  • the system may also include a light source (e.g., laser bar, etc.) disposed adjacent to the second side of the waveguide (e.g., the side opposite to the aperture-facing-end of the waveguide).
  • the light source may emit a light beam toward the second side of the waveguide.
  • the waveguide may then guide the emitted light beam (received at the second side) toward the first side (i.e., the side adjacent to the aperture).
  • the guided light beam may then be transmitted (at the first side) out of the waveguide and through the aperture toward the scene.
  • the system may thus illuminate the scene by directing the emitted light beam according to a transmit path that extends through the waveguide, aperture, and lens (in that order).
  • the system may also receive reflections of the emitted light beam from the illuminated scene according to a receive path that extends through the same lens, aperture, and waveguide (in that order).
  • the system could provide spatially aligned light transmit and receive paths (e.g., transmit/receive paths that are associated with same or similar respective fields-of-view of the scene) using the shared waveguide.
  • the example system may reduce (or prevent) optical scanning distortions associated with parallax. For instance, if the transmit and receive paths were instead to be spatially offset relative to one another (e.g., have different respective viewing or pointing directions, etc.), a scanned representation of the scene could be affected by optical distortions such as parallax.
  • FIG. 1A is an illustration of a system 100 that includes an aperture, according to example embodiments.
  • system 100 includes an array 110 of light detectors (exemplified by detectors 112 and 114), an aperture 122 defined within an opaque material 120, and a lens 130.
  • System 100 may measure light 102 reflected or scattered by an object 198 within a scene.
  • light 102 may also include light propagating directly from background sources (not shown) toward lens 130.
  • system 100 may be included in a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device.
  • the LIDAR device may be used for navigation of an autonomous vehicle.
  • system 100, or portions thereof may be contained within an area that is unexposed to exterior light other than through lens 130.
  • Array 110 includes an arrangement of light detectors, exemplified by detectors 112 and 114. In various embodiments, array 110 may have different shapes. As shown, array 110 has a rectangular shape. However, in other embodiments, array 110 may be circular or may have a different shape. The size of array 110 may be selected according to an expected cross- sectional area of light 110 diverging from aperture 122. For example, the size of array 110 may be based on the distance between array 110 and aperture 122, the distance between aperture 122 and lens 130, dimensions of aperture 122, optical characteristics of lens 130, among other factors. In some embodiments, array 110 may be movable. For example, the location of array 110 may be adjustable so as to be closer to, or further from, aperture 122. To that end, for instance, array 110 could be mounted on an electrical stage capable of translating in one, two, or three dimensions.
  • array 110 may provide one or more outputs to a computing device or logic circuitry.
  • a microprocessor-equipped computing device may receive electrical signals from array 110 which indicate an intensity of light 102 incident on array 110. The computing device may then use the electrical signals to determine information about object 198 (e.g., distance between object 198 and system 100, etc.).
  • some or all of the light detectors within array 110 may be interconnected with one another in parallel. To that end, for example, array 110 may be a SiPM or an MPPC, depending on the particular arrangement and type of the light detectors within array 110.
  • Light detectors 112, 114, etc. may include various types of light detectors.
  • detectors 112, 114, etc. include SPADs.
  • SPADs may employ avalanche breakdown within a reverse biased p-n junction (i.e., diode) to increase an output current for a given incident illumination on the SPAD. Further, SPADs may be able to generate multiple electron-hole pairs for a single incident photon.
  • light detectors 112, 114, etc. may include linear-mode avalanche photodiodes (APDs).
  • APDs or SPADs may be biased above an avalanche breakdown voltage. Such a biasing condition may create a positive feedback loop having a loop gain that is greater than one. Further, SPADs biased above the threshold avalanche breakdown voltage may be single photon sensitive.
  • light detectors 112, 114, etc. may include photoresistors, charge-coupled devices (CCDs), photovoltaic cells, and/or any other type of light detector.
  • array 110 may include more than one type of light detector across the array.
  • array 110 can be configured to detect multiple predefined wavelengths of light 102.
  • array 110 may comprise some SPADs that are sensitive to one range of wavelengths and other SPADs that are sensitive to a different range of wavelengths.
  • light detectors 110 may be sensitive to wavelengths between 400 nm and 1.6 ⁇ m (visible and/or infrared wavelengths). Further, light detectors 110 may have various sizes and shapes within a given embodiment or across various embodiments.
  • light detectors 112, 114, etc. may include SPADs that have package sizes that are 1%, .1%, or .01% of the area of array 110.
  • Opaque material 120 may block a portion of light 102 from the scene (e.g., background light) that is focused by the lens 130 from being transmitted to array 110.
  • opaque material 120 may be configured to block certain background light that could adversely affect the accuracy of a measurement performed by array 110.
  • opaque material 120 may block light in the wavelength range detectable by detectors 112, 114, etc.
  • opaque material 120 may block transmission by absorbing a portion of incident light.
  • opaque material 120 may block transmission by reflecting a portion of incident light.
  • opaque material 120 includes an etched metal, a polymer substrate, a biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BoPET) sheet, or a glass overlaid with an opaque mask, among other possibilities.
  • opaque material 120, and therefore aperture 122 may be positioned at or near a focal plane of lens 130.
  • Aperture 122 provides a port within opaque material 120 through which light 102 (or a portion thereof) may be transmitted.
  • Aperture 122 may be defined within opaque material 120 in a variety of ways.
  • opaque material 120 e.g., metal, etc.
  • opaque material 120 may be etched to define aperture 122.
  • opaque material 120 may be configured as a glass substrate overlaid with a mask, and the mask may include a gap that defines aperture 122 (e.g., via photolithography, etc.).
  • aperture 122 may be partially or wholly transparent, at least to wavelengths of light that are detectable by light detectors 112, 114, etc.
  • aperture 122 may be defined as a portion of the glass substrate not covered by the mask, such that aperture 122 is not completely hollow but rather made of glass.
  • aperture 122 may be nearly, but not entirely, transparent to one or more wavelengths of light 102 (e.g., glass substrates are typically not 100% transparent).
  • aperture 122 may be formed as a hollow region of opaque material 120.
  • aperture 122 may allow only a portion of the focused light to be transmitted to array 110.
  • aperture 122 may behave as an optical pinhole.
  • aperture 122 may have a cross-sectional area of between .02 mm 2 and .06 mm 2 (e.g., .04 mm 2 ).
  • aperture 122 may have a different cross-sectional area depending on various factors such as optical characteristics of lens 130, distance to array 110, noise rejection characteristics of the light detectors in array 110, etc.
  • the term“aperture” as used above with respect to aperture 122 may describe a recess or hole in an opaque material through which light may be transmitted, it is noted that the term“aperture” may include a broad array of optical features.
  • the term“aperture” may additionally encompass transparent or translucent structures defined within an opaque material through which light can be at least partially transmitted.
  • the term“aperture” may describe a structure that otherwise selectively limits the passage of light (e.g., through reflection or refraction), such as a mirror surrounded by an opaque material.
  • mirror arrays surrounded by an opaque material may be arranged to reflect light in a certain direction, thereby defining a reflective portion, which may be referred to as an“aperture”.
  • aperture 122 is shown to have a rectangular shape, it is noted that aperture 122 can have a different shape, such as a round shape, circular shape, elliptical shape, among others.
  • aperture 122 can alternatively have an irregular shape specifically designed to account for optical aberrations within system 100.
  • a keyhole shaped aperture may assist in accounting for parallax occurring between an emitter (e.g., light source that emits light 102) and a receiver (e.g., lens 130 and array 110). The parallax may occur if the emitter and the receiver are not located at the same position, for example.
  • Other irregular aperture shapes are also possible, such as specifically shaped apertures that correspond with particular objects expected to be within a particular scene or irregular apertures that select specific polarizations of light 102 (e.g., horizontal or vertical polarizations).
  • Lens 130 may focus light 102 from the scene onto the focal plane where aperture 122 is positioned. With this arrangement, the light intensity collected from the scene, at lens 130, may be focused to have a reduced cross-sectional area over which light 102 is projected (i.e., increasing the spatial power density of light 102).
  • lens 130 may include a converging lens, a biconvex lens, and/or a spherical lens, among other examples.
  • lens 130 can be implemented as a consecutive set of lenses positioned one after another (e.g., a biconvex lens that focuses light in a first direction and an additional biconvex lens that focuses light in a second direction). Other types of lenses and/or lens arrangements are also possible.
  • system 100 may include other optical elements (e.g., mirrors, etc.) positioned near lens 130 to aid in focusing light 102 incident on lens 130 onto opaque material 120.
  • Object 198 may be any object positioned within a scene surrounding system 100.
  • object 198 may be illuminated by a LIDAR transmitter that emits light (a portion of which may return as light 102).
  • object 198 may be or include pedestrians, other vehicles, obstacles (e.g., trees, debris, etc.), or road signs, among others.
  • light 102 may be reflected or scattered by object 198, focused by lens 130, transmitted through aperture 122 in opaque material 120, and measured by light detectors in array 110.
  • light 102 measured by array 110 may additionally or alternatively include light reflected or scattered off multiple objects, transmitted by a transmitter of another LIDAR device, ambient light, sunlight, among other possibilities.
  • the wavelength(s) of light 102 used to analyze object 198 may be selected based on the types of objects expected to be within a scene and their expected distance from lens 130. For example, if an object expected to be within the scene absorbs all incoming light of 500 nm wavelength, a wavelength other than 500 nm may be selected to illuminate object 198 and to be analyzed by system 100.
  • the wavelength of light 102 (e.g., if transmitted by a transmitter of a LIDAR device) may be associated with a source that generates light 102 (or a portion thereof).
  • light 102 may comprise light within a wavelength range that includes 900 nm (or other infrared and/or visible wavelength).
  • various types of light sources are possible for generating light 102 (e.g., an optical fiber amplifier, various types of lasers, a broadband source with a filter, etc.).
  • FIG. 1B is another illustration of system 100.
  • system 100 includes a filter 132 and a light emitter 140.
  • Filter 132 may include any optical filter configured to selectively transmit light within a predefined wavelength range.
  • filter 132 can be configured to selectively transmit light within a visible wavelength range, an infrared wavelength range, or any other wavelength range of the light signal emitted by emitter 140.
  • optical filter 132 may be configured to attenuate light of particular wavelengths or divert light of particular wavelengths away from the array 110.
  • optical filter 132 may attenuate or divert wavelengths of light 102 that are outside of the wavelength range emitted by emitter 140. Therefore, optical filter 132 may, at least partially, reduce ambient light or background light from adversely affecting measurements by array 110.
  • optical filter 132 may be located in various positions relative to array 110. As shown, optical filter 132 is located between lens 130 and opaque material 120. However, optical filter 132 may alternatively be located between lens 130 and object 198, between opaque material 120 and array 110, combined with array 110 (e.g., array 110 may have a surface screen that optical filter 132, or each of the light detectors in array 110 may individually be covered by a separate optical filter, etc.), combined with aperture 122 (e.g., aperture 122 may be transparent only to a particular wavelength range, etc.), or combined with lens 130 (e.g., surface screen disposed on lens 130, material of lens 130 transparent only to a particular wavelength range, etc.), among other possibilities.
  • array 110 may have a surface screen that optical filter 132, or each of the light detectors in array 110 may individually be covered by a separate optical filter, etc.
  • aperture 122 e.g., aperture 122 may be transparent only to a particular wavelength range, etc.
  • lens 130 e.g., surface screen disposed
  • light emitter 140 emits a light signal to be measured by array 110.
  • Emitter 140 may include a laser diode, fiber laser, a light-emitting diode, a laser bar, a nanostack diode bar, a filament, a LIDAR transmitter, or any other light source.
  • emitter 140 may emit light which is reflected or scattered by object 198 in the scene and ultimately measured (at least a portion thereof) by array 110.
  • emitter 140 may be implemented as a pulsed laser (as opposed to a continuous wave laser), allowing for increased peak power while maintaining an equivalent continuous power output.
  • the following is a mathematical illustration comparing the amount of background light that is received by lens 130 to the amount of signal light that is detected by the array 110.
  • the distance between object 198 and lens 130 is‘d’
  • the distance between lens 130 and opaque material 120 is‘f’
  • the distance between the opaque material 120 and the array 110 is‘x’.
  • material 120 and aperture 122 may be positioned at the focal plane of lens 130 (i.e.,‘f’ may be equivalent to the focal length).
  • emitter 140 is located at a distance‘d’ from object 198.
  • object 198 is fully illuminated by sunlight at normal incidence, where the sunlight represents a background light source. Further, it is assumed that all the light that illuminates object 198 is scattered according to Lambert’s cosine law. In addition, it is assumed that all of the light (both background and signal) that reaches array 110 is fully detected by array 110.
  • the power of the signal, emitted by emitter 140, that reaches aperture 122, and thus array 110, can be calculated using the following:
  • P ⁇ represents the radiant flux (e.g., in W) of the optical signal emitted by emitter 140 that reaches array 110
  • P ⁇ represents the power (e.g., in W) transmitted by emitter 140
  • ⁇ represents the reflectivity of object 198 (e.g., taking into account Lambert’s Cosine Law)
  • a ⁇ represents the cross-sectional area of lens 130.
  • the background light that reaches lens 130 can be calculated as follows:
  • P ⁇ ⁇ represents the radiance (e.g., in of the background light (caused by
  • the factor of relates to the assumption of Lambertian scattering off of object 198 from normal incidence.
  • Aperture 122 reduces the amount of background light permitted to be transmitted to the array 110. To calculate the power of the background light that reaches array 110, after being transmitted through aperture 122, the area of aperture 122 is taken into account.
  • the cross- sectional area (A ) of aperture 122 can be calculated as follows:
  • lens 130 is a circular lens
  • the cross-sectional area of lens 130 can be calculated as follows:
  • the background power transmitted to array 110 through aperture 122 can be calculated as follows:
  • P ⁇ is the amount of radiance in the background signal after being reduced by lens 130 and aperture 122.
  • the quantity may be referred to as the“F number” of lens
  • a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of system 100 may be determined by comparing P ⁇ with P ⁇ .
  • the background power may be determined by comparing the background power .
  • aperture 122 may be significantly reduced with respect to the signal power due to the inclusion of aperture 122, particularly for apertures having small w and/or small h (numerator of formula
  • the SNR can be alternatively computed by comparing the shot noise against the signal power.
  • a detection area at array 110 may be larger than a cross-sectional area of aperture 122.
  • An increased detection area e.g., measured in m 2
  • a given light power e.g., measured in W
  • a reduced light intensity e.g., measured in ⁇
  • array 110 includes SPADs or other light detectors having high sensitivities.
  • SPADs derive their sensitivity from a large reverse-bias voltage that produces avalanche breakdown within a semiconductor. This avalanche breakdown can be triggered by the absorption of a single photon, for example. Once a SPAD absorbs a single photon and the avalanche breakdown begins, the SPAD cannot detect additional photons until the SPAD is quenched (e.g., by restoring the reverse-bias voltage). The time until the SPAD is quenched may be referred to as the recovery time.
  • the SPAD may begin to saturate, and the measurements by the SPAD may thus become less reliable.
  • the light detectors e.g., SPADs
  • the light detectors e.g., SPADs
  • the light measurements by each individual SPAD may have an increased accuracy.
  • FIG. 2A is a simplified block diagram of a LIDAR device 200, according to example embodiments.
  • LIDAR device 200 can be mounted to a vehicle and employed to map a surrounding environment (e.g., the scene including object 298, etc.) of the vehicle.
  • LIDAR device 200 includes a controller, 238, a laser emitter 240 that may be similar to emitter 140, and a noise limiting system 290 that may be similar to system 100, a rotating platform 294, and one or more actuators 296.
  • system 290 includes an array 210 of light detectors, an opaque material 220 with an aperture defined therein (not shown), and a lens 230, which can be similar, respectively, to array 110, opaque material 120, and lens 130.
  • LIDAR device 200 may alternatively include more or fewer components than those shown.
  • LIDAR device 200 may include an optical filter (e.g., filter 132).
  • system 290 can be implemented similarly to system 100 and/or any other noise limiting system described herein.
  • Device 200 may operate emitter 240 to emit light 202 toward a scene that includes object 298, which may be similar, respectively, to emitter 140, light 102, and object 198.
  • emitter 240 (and/or one or more other components of device 200) can be configured as a LIDAR transmitter of LIDAR device 200.
  • Device 200 may then detect reflections of light 202 from the scene to map or otherwise determine information about object 298.
  • array 210 (and/or one or more other components of system 290) can be configured as a LIDAR receiver of LIDAR device 200.
  • Controller 238 may be configured to control components of LIDAR device 200 and to analyze signals received from components of LIDAR device 200 (e.g., array 210 of light detectors). To that end, controller 238 may include one or more processors (e.g., a microprocessor, etc.) that execute instructions stored in a memory (not shown) of device 200 to operate device 200. Additionally or alternatively, controller 238 may include digital or analog circuitry wired to perform one or more of the various functions described herein.
  • processors e.g., a microprocessor, etc.
  • controller 238 may include digital or analog circuitry wired to perform one or more of the various functions described herein.
  • Rotating platform 294 may be configured to rotate about an axis to adjust a pointing direction of LIDAR 200 (e.g., direction of emitted light 202 relative to the environment, etc.).
  • rotating platform 294 can be formed from any solid material suitable for supporting one or more components of LIDAR 200.
  • system 290 and/or emitter 240
  • rotating platform 294 may be supported (directly or indirectly) by rotating platform 294 such that each of these components moves relative to the environment while remaining in a particular relative arrangement in response to rotation of rotating platform 294.
  • the mounted components could be rotated (simultaneously) about an axis so that LIDAR 200 may adjust its pointing direction while scanning the surrounding environment.
  • LIDAR 200 can be adjusted horizontally by actuating rotating platform 294 to different directions about the axis of rotation.
  • LIDAR 200 can be mounted on a vehicle, and rotating platform 294 can be rotated to scan regions of the surrounding environment at various directions from the vehicle.
  • actuators 296 may actuate rotating platform 294.
  • actuators 296 may include motors, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic pistons, and/or piezoelectric actuators, among other possibilities.
  • controller 238 could operate actuator(s) 296 to rotate rotating platform 294 in various ways so as to obtain information about the environment.
  • rotating platform 294 could be rotated in either direction about an axis.
  • rotating platform 294 may carry out complete revolutions about the axis such that LIDAR 200 scans a 360° field-of-view (FOV) of the environment.
  • rotating platform 294 can be rotated within a particular range (e.g., by repeatedly rotating from a first angular position about the axis to a second angular position and back to the first angular position, etc.) to scan a narrower FOV of the environment.
  • Other examples are possible.
  • rotating platform 294 could be rotated at various frequencies so as to cause LIDAR 200 to scan the environment at various refresh rates.
  • LIDAR 200 may be configured to have a refresh rate of 10 Hz.
  • actuator(s) 296 may rotate platform 294 for ten complete rotations per second.
  • Figure 2B illustrates a perspective view of LIDAR device 200. As shown, device 200 also includes a transmitter lens 231 that directs emitted light from emitter 240 toward the environment of device 200.
  • Figure 2B illustrates an example implementation of device 200 where emitter 240 and system 290 each have separate respective optical lenses 231 and 230.
  • device 200 can be alternatively configured to have a single shared lens for both emitter 240 and system 290.
  • a shared lens to both direct the emitted light and receive the incident light (e.g., light 202)
  • advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided.
  • device 200 can mitigate parallax associated with transmitting light (by emitter 240) from a different viewpoint than a viewpoint from which light 202 is received (by system 290).
  • light beams emitted by emitter 240 propagate from lens 231 along a pointing direction of LIDAR 200 toward an environment of LIDAR 200, and may then reflect off one or more objects in the environment as light 202.
  • LIDAR 200 may then receive reflected light 202 (e.g., through lens 230) and provide data pertaining to the one or more objects (e.g., distance between the one or more objects and the LIDAR 200, etc.).
  • rotating platform 294 mounts system 290 and emitter 240 in the particular relative arrangement shown.
  • the pointing directions of system 290 and emitter 240 may simultaneously change according to the particular relative arrangement shown.
  • LIDAR 200 can scan different regions of the surrounding environment according to different pointing directions of LIDAR 200 about axis 201.
  • device 200 and/or another computing system
  • axis 201 may be substantially vertical.
  • the pointing direction of device 200 can be adjusted horizontally by rotating system 290 (and emitter 240) about axis 201.
  • system 290 (and emitter 240) can be tilted (relative to axis 201) to adjust the vertical extents of the FOV of LIDAR 200.
  • LIDAR device 200 can be mounted on top of a vehicle.
  • system 290 (and emitter 240) can be tilted (e.g., toward the vehicle) to collect more data points from regions of the environment that are closer to a driving surface on which the vehicle is located than data points from regions of the environment that are above the vehicle.
  • Other mounting positions, tilting configurations, and/or applications of LIDAR device 200 are possible as well (e.g., on a different side of the vehicle, on a robotic device, or on any other mounting surface).
  • controller 238 may use timing information associated with a signal measured by array 210 to determine a location (e.g., distance from LIDAR device 200) of object 298.
  • controller 238 can monitor timings of output light pulses and compare those timings with timings of signal pulses measured by array 210. For instance, controller 238 can estimate a distance between device 200 and object 298 based on the speed of light and the time of travel of the light pulse (which can be calculated by comparing the timings).
  • emitter 240 may emit light pulses (e.g., light 202), and system 290 may detect reflections of the emitted light pulses.
  • Device 200 (or another computer system that processes data from device 200) can then generate a three- dimensional (3D) representation of the scanned environment based on a comparison of one or more characteristics (e.g., timing, pulse length, light intensity, etc.) of the emitted light pulses and the detected reflections thereof.
  • controller 238 may be configured to account for parallax (e.g., due to laser emitter 240 and lens 230 not being located at the same location in space). By accounting for the parallax, controller 238 can improve accuracy of the comparison between the timing of the output light pulses and the timing of the signal pulses measured by the array 210.
  • controller 238 could modulate light 202 emitted by emitter 240.
  • controller 238 could change the projection (e.g., pointing) direction of emitter 240 (e.g., by actuating a mechanical stage, such as platform 294 for instance, that mounts emitter 240).
  • controller 238 could modulate the timing, the power, or the wavelength of light 202 emitted by emitter 240.
  • controller 238 may also control other operational aspects of device 200, such as adding or removing filters (e.g., filter 132) along a path of propagation of light 202, adjusting relative positions of various components of device 200 (e.g., array 210, opaque material 220 (and an aperture therein), lens 230, etc.), among other possibilities.
  • filters e.g., filter 132
  • controller 238 may also control other operational aspects of device 200, such as adding or removing filters (e.g., filter 132) along a path of propagation of light 202, adjusting relative positions of various components of device 200 (e.g., array 210, opaque material 220 (and an aperture therein), lens 230, etc.), among other possibilities.
  • controller 238 could also adjust an aperture (not shown) within material 220.
  • the aperture may be selectable from a number of apertures defined within the opaque material.
  • a MEMS mirror could be located between lens 230 and opaque material 220 and may be adjustable by controller 238 to direct the focused light from lens 230 to one of the multiple apertures.
  • the various apertures may have different shapes and sizes.
  • the aperture may be defined by an iris (or other type of diaphragm). The iris may be expanded or contracted by controller 238, for example, to control the size or shape of the aperture.
  • LIDAR device 200 can modify a configuration of system 290 to obtain additional or different information about object 298 and/or the scene.
  • controller 238 may select a larger aperture in response to a determination that background noise received by system from the scene is currently relatively low (e.g., during night-time).
  • the larger aperture may allow system 290 to detect a portion of light 202 that would otherwise be focused by lens 230 outside the aperture.
  • controller 238 may select a different aperture position to intercept the portion of light 202.
  • controller 238 could adjust the distance (e.g., distance‘x’ shown in Figure 1B) between an aperture and light detector array 210.
  • the cross-sectional area of a detection region in array 210 (i.e., cross-sectional area of light 202 at array 210) can be adjusted as well.
  • the detection region of array 110 is indicated by shading on array 110.
  • the extent to which the configuration of system 290 can be modified may depend on various factors such as a size of LIDAR device 200 or system 290, among other factors.
  • a size of array 110 may depend on an extent of divergence of light 102 from a location of aperture 122 to a location of array 110 (e.g., distance‘x’ shown in Figure 1B).
  • the maximum vertical and horizontal extents of array 110 may depend on the physical space available for accommodating system 100 within a LIDAR device.
  • an available range of values for distance‘x’ (shown in Figure 1B) between array 110 and aperture 122 may also be limited by physical limitations of a LIDAR device where system 100 is employed.
  • example implementations are described herein for space-efficient noise limiting systems that increase a detection area in which light detectors can intercept light from the scene and reduce background noise.
  • the scanned representation of object 298 may be susceptible to parallax associated with the spatial offset between the transmit path of light 202 emitted by emitter 240 and the receive path of reflected light 202 incident on lens 230.
  • emitter 240 is shown to be physically separate from system 290, device 200 may alternatively include emitter 240 within system 290 such that the LIDAR transmit and receive paths of LIDAR 200 are co-aligned (e.g., both paths propagate through lens 230) to reduce or prevent the effects of such parallax.
  • the various functional blocks shown for the components of device 200 can be redistributed, rearranged, combined, and/or separated in various ways different than the arrangement shown.
  • Figure 3A is an illustration of a system 300 that includes a waveguide 360, according to example embodiments.
  • Figure 3B illustrates a cross-section view of system 300.
  • system 300 can be used with device 200 instead of or in addition to system 290.
  • system 300 may measure light 302 reflected or scattered by an object 398 within a scene similarly to, respectively, system 100, light 102, and object 198.
  • system 300 includes a light detector array 310, an opaque material 320, an aperture 322, a lens 330, and a light source 340, which may be similar, respectively, to array 110, material 120, aperture 122, lens 130, and light emitter 140.
  • aperture 322 is shown to have a different shape (elliptical) than a shape of aperture 122 (rectangular). However, as noted above, other aperture shapes are possible as well.
  • system 300 includes waveguide 360 (e.g., optical waveguide, etc.) arranged to receive light 302 (or a portion thereof) focused by lens 330, transmitted through aperture 322, and projected onto (e.g., shaded region) a side 360a of waveguide 360.
  • waveguide 360 is also arranged to receive one or more light beams 304 emitted by light source 340 and projected onto a side 360b (opposite to side 360a) of waveguide 360.
  • Waveguide 360 can be formed from a glass substrate (e.g., glass plate, etc.), a photoresist material (e.g., SU-8, etc.), or any other material at least partially transparent to one or more wavelengths of light 302 and/or light beam(s) 304. Further, in some examples, waveguide 360 may be formed from a material that has a different index of refraction than materials surrounding waveguide 360. Thus, waveguide 360 may guide light propagating therein via internal reflection (e.g., total internal reflection, frustrated total internal reflection, etc.) at one or more edges, sides, walls, etc., of waveguide 360.
  • internal reflection e.g., total internal reflection, frustrated total internal reflection, etc.
  • Figure 3C illustrates a perspective view of waveguide 360.
  • waveguide 360 may include a first lengthwise portion extending from side 360b to a location of edge 360g, and a second lengthwise portion extending from the first lengthwise portion to side 360a.
  • a first cross-sectional area of the first lengthwise portion may be less than a second cross-sectional area of the second lengthwise portion.
  • edge 360g of waveguide 360 may be defined at the location between the first and the second lengthwise portions due to the difference between the first and second cross-sectional areas.
  • system 300 also includes a mirror 350 disposed on edge 360g of waveguide 360.
  • Mirror 350 may include any reflective material that has reflectivity characteristics suitable for reflecting (at least partially) wavelengths of light 302 guided in waveguide 360.
  • a non-exhaustive list of example reflective materials includes gold, aluminum, other metal or metal oxide, synthetic polymers, hybrid pigments (e.g., fibrous clays and dyes, etc.), among other examples.
  • Mirror 350 may be tilted (e.g., as compared to an orientation of side 360a) at an offset angle 390 toward side 360c of waveguide 360.
  • mirror 350 is positioned along a path of at least a portion of guided light 302 propagating inside waveguide 360 (received at side 360a and guided toward side 360b).
  • mirror 350 may be disposed on edge 360g of waveguide 360.
  • edge 360g can be formed to have offset or tilting angle 390 between side 360c and edge 360g that is different than an angle (e.g., 90o) between side 360c and side 360a (or 360b).
  • Mirror 350 can then be disposed on edge 360g (e.g., via chemical vapor deposition, sputtering, mechanical coupling, or any other deposition process). However, in other embodiments, mirror 350 can be alternatively disposed inside waveguide 360 (e.g., between sides 360a and 360b). In one implementation, the offset or tilting angle 390 of mirror 350 is 45o. However, other offset angles are possible.
  • waveguide 360 may be proximally positioned and/or in contact with opaque material 320 such that light 302 transmitted through aperture 322 is received by receiving side 360a (e.g., input end) of waveguide 360. Waveguide 360 may then guide at least a portion of received light 302, via total internal reflection or frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) for instance, inside waveguide 360 toward side 360b opposite to side 360a.
  • waveguide 360 may extend vertically between sides 360c and 360d. Sides 360c and 360d may each extend from side 360a to 360b (e.g., along a guiding direction of waveguide 360).
  • side 360c may correspond to an interface between a relatively high index of refraction medium (e.g., photoresist, epoxy, etc.) of waveguide 360 and a relatively lower index of refraction medium (e.g., air, vacuum, optical adhesive, glass, etc.) adjacent to side 360c (and/or one or more other sides of waveguide 360).
  • a relatively high index of refraction medium e.g., photoresist, epoxy, etc.
  • a relatively lower index of refraction medium e.g., air, vacuum, optical adhesive, glass, etc.
  • waveguide 360 may control divergence of guided light therein vertically via internal reflection at sides 360c and 360d, for example.
  • waveguide 360 may extend horizontally between side 360e (shown in Figure 3A) and side 360f (shown in Figure 3C) to control divergence of the guided light horizontally, for example.
  • At least a portion of light 302 may reach tilted edge 360g.
  • Mirror 350 e.g., disposed on edge 360g
  • offset or tilting angle 390 can be selected such that reflected light 302a from mirror 350 propagates toward a particular region of side 360c at greater than the critical angle.
  • reflected light 302a may be (at least partially) transmitted through side 360c rather than reflected (e.g., via total internal reflection etc.) back into waveguide 360.
  • light detector array 310 can be positioned adjacent to the particular region of side 360c (through which reflected light 302a is transmitted out of waveguide 360) to receive reflected light 302a.
  • light detector array 310 can be aligned (as shown in Figures 3A and 3B) with the guiding direction of waveguide 360 (e.g., adjacent to side 360c) to intercept and detect reflected light 302a propagating out of side 360c.
  • system 300 can provide a space-efficient implementation of a system that includes a large detection area (compared to the size of aperture 322) for intercepting the portion of focused light 302 transmitted through aperture 322.
  • waveguide 360 may also receive emitted light beams 304 from transmitter 340 at side 360b of waveguide 360. Waveguide 360 may then guide light beams 304, inside waveguide 360, toward side 360a (opposite to side 360b). For instance, waveguide 360 may guide light beams 304 through the (horizontally narrower) first lengthwise portion of waveguide 360 that includes side 360b, and then through the (horizontally wider) second lengthwise portion of waveguide 360 that includes side 360a. The guided light beams may then exit waveguide 360 through side 360a and through aperture 322 toward lens 330. Lens 330 may then direct the emitted light beams propagating out of waveguide 360 toward the scene that includes object 398, for example.
  • the emitted light beams directed by lens 330 toward the scene may then reflect off one or more objects in the scene (e.g., object 398) and return to lens 330 (e.g., as part of light 302 from the scene).
  • Lens 330 may then focus incident light 302 (including the reflections of the emitted light beams) through aperture 322 and into waveguide 360 (at side 360a).
  • waveguide 360 may then guide at least a portion of the received light (including reflections of the emitted light beams) toward mirror 350, and mirror 350 may then reflect the focused light incident thereon (e.g., including reflections of the emitted light beams) toward array 310 for detection.
  • system 300 can be used with LIDAR device 200, in addition to or instead of transmitter 240 and system 290.
  • system 300 emits light beams 304 from a same location (e.g., aperture 322) as the location at which system 300 receives focused light 302 (e.g., aperture 322).
  • a LIDAR device that employs system 300 could generate a representation of the scanned scene (e.g., data point cloud, etc.) that is less susceptible to errors related to parallax, for example.
  • transmitter 240 may emit light 202 from a different position and/or in a different direction (e.g., point-of-view, etc.) than the position and/or direction at which system 290 (e.g., lens 230, array 210, etc.) receives the reflections of emitted light 202.
  • controller 238 may be configured to adjust the data from system 290 to account for parallax and/or other optical errors associated with the location mismatch between transmitter 240 and array 210. In some scenarios, this adjustment process may be computationally expensive, and the adjusted data may still include some errors associated with parallax.
  • system 300 the transmit path of emitted light 304 and the receive path of focused light 302 may be co-aligned (e.g., both paths are from the point-of-view of aperture 322).
  • system 300 may be less susceptible to the effects of parallax described above for LIDAR device 200.
  • information about the scanned scene can be computed (e.g., via controller 238) using LIDAR data from system 300 more accurately and/or efficiently (e.g., fewer and/or simpler adjustments that account for parallax) as compared to the computations associated with processing LIDAR data from system 290.
  • system 300 may include fewer or more components than those shown, and one or more of the components shown could be physically combined or divided into separate components.
  • light detector array 310 can be alternatively disposed (e.g., molded, etc.) on side 360c.
  • array 310 can be replaced by a single light detector rather than a plurality of light detectors.
  • a distance between waveguide 360 and aperture 322 can vary.
  • waveguide 360 can be disposed along (e.g., in contact with, etc.) opaque material 320.
  • side 360a may be substantially coplanar with or proximal to aperture 322.
  • waveguide 360 can receive and guide light 302 prior to divergence of light 302 transmitted through aperture 302.
  • waveguide 360 can be alternatively positioned at a distance (e.g., gap, etc.) from opaque material 320 (and aperture 322).
  • an optical adhesive can be used to couple opaque material 320 with waveguide 360.
  • the arrangement of aperture 322 (and/or side 360a) relative to lens 330 can vary.
  • system 300 could optionally include an actuator that moves lens 330, opaque material 320, and/or waveguide 360 to achieve a particular optical configuration while scanning the scene. More generally, optical characteristics (e.g., focus configuration, etc.) of system 300 can be different than the configuration shown, and/or can be adjusted depending on various applications of system 300.
  • aperture 322 (and/or side 360a) can be disposed along the focal plane of lens 330.
  • aperture 322 (and/or side 360a) can be disposed parallel to the focal plane of lens 330 but at a different distance to lens 330 than the distance between the focal plane and lens 330.
  • focused light 302 may continue converging (after transmission through aperture 322) inside waveguide 360 before beginning to diverge toward side 360b, or may begin diverging prior to arrival at aperture 322 (and/or side 360a).
  • aperture 322 (and/or side 360a) can be arranged at an offset orientation relative to the focal plane of lens 330.
  • system 300 can rotate (e.g., via an actuator) opaque material 320 (and/or waveguide 360) to adjust the entry angle of light 302 into waveguide 360.
  • a controller e.g., controller 238, can further control optical characteristics of system 300 depending on various factors such as lens characteristics of lens 330, environment of system 300 (e.g., to reduce noise / interference arriving from a particular region of the scanned scene, etc.), among other factors.
  • opaque material 320 can be omitted and side 360a can be alternatively positioned along or parallel to the focal plane of lens 330.
  • side 360a may function as an aperture.
  • the light detectors in array 310 can be alternatively implemented as separate physical structures coupled (e.g., disposed on or molded to, etc.) to waveguide 360.
  • light detector array 310 can be alternatively or additionally positioned adjacent to one or more other sides of waveguide 360 (e.g., sides 360d, 360e, 360f, etc.). With this arrangement, for instance, light propagating out of waveguide 360 can be detected over a greater detection area than the detection area (of array 310) shown.
  • waveguide 360 can alternatively have a cylindrical shape or any other shape. For instance, a cylindrical optical fiber can be formed to have a first lengthwise portion that has a smaller cross-sectional area than a second lengthwise portion of the optical fiber (similarly to the different cross-sectional areas of waveguide 360 between sides 360a and 360b).
  • waveguide 360 can be implemented as a rigid structure (e.g., slab waveguide) or as a flexible structure (e.g., optical fiber).
  • waveguide 360 can be alternatively configured as a waveguide diffuser that diffuses light 302 (or a portion thereof) transmitted through aperture 322 toward a detection area that can have various shapes or positions, as opposed to a flat surface (e.g., shaded region shown in Figure 1A) orthogonal to a direction of propagation of diverging light 102.
  • waveguide 360 can alternatively be implemented as a waveguide that has a substantially uniform cross-sectional area lengthwise.
  • mirror 350 could be (at least partially) embedded within waveguide 360 (e.g., rectangular slab waveguide, etc.).
  • waveguide 360 e.g., rectangular slab waveguide, etc.
  • mirror 350 may include a partially or selectively reflective surface (e.g., half mirror, dichroic mirror, etc.).
  • the partially or selectively reflective surface could be configured to transmit at least a portion of guided light 304 (received at side 360b and guided inside waveguide 360) through mirror 350 toward side 360a, and to reflect at least a portion of guided light 302 (received at side 360a and guided inside waveguide 360) toward array 310, for example.
  • Figure 4A illustrates a cross-section view of a system 400 that includes multiple waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466, according to example embodiments.
  • Figure 4A shows an x-y-z axis, in which the z-axis is pointing out of the page.
  • System 400 may be similar to systems 100, 290, and/or 300, and can be used with device 200 instead of or in addition to system 290 and transmitter 240.
  • the side of waveguide 460 along the surface of the page may be similar to side 360d of waveguide 360.
  • system 400 includes an opaque material 420 and a lens 430, which may be similar, respectively, to opaque material 320 and lens 330; a transmitter 440 that includes one or more light sources similar to light source 340; a plurality of apertures 422, 424, 426, 428, each of which may be similar to aperture 322; an optical element 434; a plurality of mirrors 450, 452, 454, 456, 466, each of which may be similar to mirror 350; and a plurality of waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466, each of which may be similar to waveguide 360.
  • a transmitter 440 that includes one or more light sources similar to light source 340; a plurality of apertures 422, 424, 426, 428, each of which may be similar to aperture 322; an optical element 434; a plurality of mirrors 450, 452, 454, 456, 466, each of which may be similar to mirror 350; and a plurality of waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466, each of which
  • transmitter 440 may be configured to emit light beams 404, which may be similar to emitted light beam(s) 304.
  • transmitter 440 may include one or more light sources (e.g., laser bars, LEDs, diode lasers, etc.).
  • portions of light emitted by a single light source of transmitter 440 may propagate, respectively, toward waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466.
  • each of light portions 404a, 404b, 404c, 404d could be transmitted toward a respective waveguide of waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466.
  • a single light source can be used to drive four different transmit channels of system 400.
  • a given light source in transmitter 440 can be used to drive fewer or more than four transmit channels.
  • transmitter 440 may include a first light source that provides light portions 404a, 404b, and a second light source that provides light portions 404c, 404d.
  • transmitter 440 may include a particular light source for driving a particular transmit channel.
  • a first light source may emit light portion 404a
  • a second light source may emit light portion 404b
  • a third light source may provide light portion 404c
  • a fourth light source may emit light portion 404d.
  • transmitter 440 may transmit light 404 into a single given waveguide (e.g., having a wide input end), and the given waveguide can split light 404 into light portions 404a, 404b, 404c, 404d (e.g., the given waveguide may have multiple narrower output ends) that are directed out of the given waveguide into a respective waveguide of waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466.
  • the given waveguide may include waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466 as output branches of the given waveguide.
  • emitted light beams 404a, 404b, 404c, 404d may then propagate along separate transmit paths toward an environment of system 400.
  • light portion 404a could be transmitted through a first side of waveguide 460 (e.g., similar to side 360b of waveguide 360).
  • waveguide 460 may guide light beam(s) 404a in a lengthwise direction of waveguide 460 and out of waveguide 460 at a second opposite side (e.g., similar to side 360a) of waveguide 460.
  • the light beams transmitted out of waveguide 460 may then propagate through aperture 422 and lens 430 toward a scene.
  • light portion 404a may define a first transmit channel (e.g., LIDAR transmit channel, etc.) of system 400 associated with the transmit path described above.
  • light beam(s) 404b could define a second transmit channel associated with a transmit path of light beam(s) 404b extending through waveguide 462, aperture 424, and lens 430 in that order;
  • light beam(s) 404c could define a third transmit channel associated with a transmit path of light beam(s) 404c extending through waveguide 464, aperture 426, and lens 430 in that order;
  • light beam(s) 404d could define a fourth transmit channel associated with a transmit path of light beam(s) 404d extending through waveguide 466, aperture 428, and lens 430 in that order.
  • transmitter 440 can be operated to emit a pattern of light beams (e.g., plurality of adjacent light beams, grid pattern of light beams, etc.) associated with multiple transmit channels toward a scene.
  • Lens 430 may also focus light 402 (propagating toward lens 430 from the environment) onto opaque material 420 similarly to, respectively, lens 330, light 302, and opaque material 320 of system 300, for example.
  • opaque material 420 may define multiple apertures 422, 424, 426, 428 that are respectively aligned with (e.g., adjacent to) waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466.
  • system 400 may include multiple receive channels by capturing respective portions of focused light 402 projected at the respective positions of apertures 422, 424, 426, 428 (e.g., along the focal plane of lens 430, etc.).
  • a first portion of focused light 402 transmitted through aperture 422 may be guided by waveguide 460 toward mirror 450, similarly to, respectively, light 302, aperture 322, waveguide 360, and mirror 350 of system 300.
  • the guided first portion may then be reflected by mirror 450 toward a first light detector associated with a first receive channel.
  • a second portion of light 402 transmitted through aperture 424, waveguide 462, and mirror 452 could be detected by a second light detector associated with a second receive channel;
  • a third portion of light 402 transmitted through aperture 426, waveguide 464, and mirror 454 could be detected by a third light detector associated with a third receive channel;
  • a fourth portion of light 402 transmitted through aperture 428, waveguide 466, and mirror 456 could be detected by a fourth light detector associated with a fourth receive channel.
  • system 400 can obtain a one-dimensional (1D) image (e.g., horizontal arrangement of pixels or LIDAR data points, etc.) of the scene. For instance, a first pixel or data point in the 1D image could be based on data from the first receive channel associated with aperture 422, and a second pixel (horizontally) adjacent to the first pixel in the 1D image could be based on data from the second receive channel associated with aperture 424. Additionally, with this arrangement, each transmit channel may be associated with a transmit path that is co-aligned (through a respective aperture) with a receive path associated with a corresponding receive channel. Thus, like system 300, system 400 can mitigate the effects of parallax by providing pairs of co-aligned transmit/receive channels defined by the locations of apertures 422, 424, 426, 428.
  • 1D one-dimensional
  • waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466 are shown to be in a horizontal (e.g., along x-y plane) arrangement, in some examples, system 400 may include waveguides in a different arrangement.
  • the waveguides can alternatively or additionally be arranged vertically (e.g., along y-z plane) to obtain a vertical 1D image (or line of LIDAR data points) representation of the scene.
  • the waveguides can alternatively be arranged both horizontally and vertically (e.g., as a two-dimensional grid) to obtain a two- dimensional (2D) image (or 2D grid of LIDAR data points) of the scene.
  • Optical element 434 may be interposed between transmitter 440 and waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466, and may be configured to redirect, focus, collimate, and/or otherwise adjust optical characteristics of light beams 404.
  • optical element 434 may comprise any combination of optical elements, such as lenses, mirrors, beam collimators, light filters, etc.
  • optical element 434 may comprise a cylindrical lens, and/or other optical element configured to (at least partially) collimate and/or direct light beams 404 (as light portions 404a, 404b, 404c, 404d) toward waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466.
  • a relatively larger amount of energy from emitted light portion 404a may be directed into waveguide 460 than if optical element 434 was not interposed between transmitter 440 and waveguide 460.
  • emitted light portion 404a may be directed into waveguide 460 according to a particular angle of entry (e.g., less than the critical angle of waveguide 460, etc.) that is suitable for light beam(s) 404a to be guided inside waveguide 460 (e.g., via total internal reflection, etc.).
  • optical element 434 can be configured to collimate and/or direct light beams 404b, 404c, 404d, for transmission, respectively, into waveguides 462, 464, 466.
  • optical element 434 can be implemented as a single optical element interposed between transmitter 440 and waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466.
  • optical element 434 may include an optical fiber that that is arranged as a cylindrical lens to at least partially collimate light beams 404a, 404b, 404c, 404d.
  • optical element 434 can be alternatively implemented as multiple physically separate optical elements (e.g., multiple cylindrical lenses).
  • each waveguide of waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466 may have a different length from a respective input end adjacent to opaque material 420 and a respective output end where a tilted mirror (e.g., one of mirrors 450, 452, 454, 456) is located.
  • a tilted mirror e.g., one of mirrors 450, 452, 454, 456
  • light detectors of each receive channel can be placed adjacent to respective output ends of waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466 in a space-efficient manner.
  • Figure 4B illustrates another cross section view of system 400, in which the z- axis is also pointing out of the page.
  • one or more of the components of system 400 shown in Figure 4B may be positioned above or below (e.g., along z-axis) one or more of the components shown in Figure 4A.
  • system 400 also includes a support structure 470 that mounts a plurality of receivers 410, 412, 414, 418.
  • each of receivers 410, 412, 414, and 416 may include one or more light detectors similar to the light detectors in any of arrays 110, 210, and/or 310.
  • each of receivers 410, 412, 414, 416 may include a respective array of light detectors that are connected in parallel to one another (e.g., SiPM, MPCC, etc.).
  • each receiver may alternatively include a single light detector.
  • receivers 410, 412, 414, 416 may be arranged to intercept and detect reflected light (e.g., similar to reflected light 302a of system 300) that is reflected, respectively, at mirrors 450, 452, 454, 456.
  • receiver 410 may be located along a propagation path of light reflected by mirror 450
  • receiver 412 may be located along a propagation path of light reflected by mirror 452
  • receiver 414 may be located along a propagation path of light reflected by mirror 454
  • receiver 416 may be located along a propagation path of light reflected by mirror 456.
  • receivers 410, 412, 414, 416 may be positioned to overlap, respectively, mirrors 450, 452, 454, 456 in the direction of the z-axis.
  • Support structure 470 may include a printed circuit board (PCB) that mounts groups of one or more light detectors, where each group may be surrounded by light shield(s) 472.
  • a first group of light detector(s) may define a first receive channel associated with receiver 410;
  • a second adjacent group may define a second receive channel associated with receiver 412;
  • a third adjacent group may define a third receive channel associated with receiver 414;
  • a fourth group may define a fourth receive channel associated with receiver 416.
  • structure 470 may include a different type of solid material that has material characteristics suitable for supporting receivers 410, 412, 414, 416.
  • Light shield(s) 472 may comprise one or more light absorbing materials (e.g., black carbon, black chrome, black plastic, etc.) arranged around receivers 410, 412, 414, 416 to. To that end, for example, light shield(s) 472 could prevent (or reduce) light from external sources (e.g., ambient light, etc.) from reaching receivers 410, 412, 414, 416. Alternatively or additionally, in some examples, light shield(s) 472 can prevent or reduce cross-talk between receive channels associated with the receivers of system 400. To that end, light shield(s) 472 may be configured to optically separate receivers 410, 412, 414, 416, etc., from one another.
  • light shield(s) 472 may be configured to optically separate receivers 410, 412, 414, 416, etc., from one another.
  • light shield(s) 472 may be shaped in a honeycomb structure configuration, where each cell of the honeycomb structure shields light detectors of a first receiver (e.g., receiver 410) from light propagating toward light detectors in a second adjacent receiver (e.g., receiver 412).
  • system 400 may allow space-efficient placement of multiple arrays of light detectors (e.g., along a surface of structure 470) that are each aligned with a respective waveguide in system 400.
  • other shapes and/or arrangements of light shield(s) 472 e.g., rectangular-shaped cells, other shapes of cells, etc. are possible as well.
  • FIG. 4C illustrates yet another cross-section view of system 400.
  • the y-axis is pointing out of the page.
  • waveguide 460 includes sides 460a and 460b which may be similar, respectively, to sides 360a and 360b of waveguide 360.
  • system 400 also includes a light filter 432, a plurality of substrates 474, 476478, 480, a plurality of optical adhesives 482, 484, 486, and an optical element 488.
  • Light filter 432 may be similar to light filter 132.
  • light filter 432 may include one or more devices configured to attenuate particular wavelengths of light 402.
  • filter 432 may be configured to attenuate wavelengths outside a wavelength range of light emitted by transmitter 440. By doing so, for instance, filter 432 may prevent or reduce an amount of ambient / background light reaching receiver 410 (thereby improving the accuracy of measurements obtained using receiver 410), in line with the description of light filter 132.
  • substrate 474 (and filter 434) may extend horizontally (through the page; along the y-axis) to similarly attenuate light propagating toward waveguides 462, 464, and 466 (shown in Figure 4A).
  • filter 432 is disposed on a given side of substrate 474 (opposite to the side adjacent to opaque material 420).
  • filter 432 may be alternatively disposed on the side of substrate 474 adjacent to opaque material 420, or at any other location in system 400 along a propagation path of light 402 (i.e., prior to detection of the light at receiver 410).
  • substrate 474 can be formed from a material that has light filtering characteristics of filter 432.
  • filter 432 can be omitted from system 400 (i.e., the functions of filter 432 can be performed by substrate 474).
  • filter 432 can be implemented as multiple (e.g., smaller) filters that are each disposed between substrate 474 and a respective one of the receivers.
  • a first filter can be used to attenuate light propagating toward receiver 410, and a second separate filter can be used to attenuate light propagating toward receiver 412, etc.
  • each filter can be disposed in (or adjacent to) each of cells 410, 412, 414, 416, etc. of the honeycomb structure of light shield 472.
  • Substrates 474, 476, 478, 480 can be formed from any transparent material configured to transmit at least some wavelengths of light (e.g., wavelengths of emitted light 404, etc.) through the respective substrates.
  • substrates 474, 476, 478, 480 may include glass wafers.
  • Optical adhesives 482, 484, 486 may be formed from any adhesive material that mechanically attaches at least one component of system 400 to at least one other component of system 400.
  • optical adhesives 482, 484, and/or 486 can be disposed between two particular components in a liquid form that cures to a solid form to attach the two particular components to one another.
  • Example optical adhesives may include photopolymers or other polymers that can transform from a clear, colorless, liquid form into a solid form (e.g., in response to exposure to ultraviolet light or other energy source).
  • adhesive 482 may be disposed between substrates 476 and 478, and to couple substrate 476 with substrate 478. Additionally, as shown, adhesive 482 surrounds one or more sides of waveguide 460. To that end, in some examples, adhesive 482 may have a lower index of refraction than the material of waveguide 460. In these examples, the difference between the indexes of refraction at walls, sides, etc., of waveguide 460 adjacent to adhesive 460 cause guided light inside the waveguide to internally reflect back into the waveguide at the interface(s) between waveguide 460 and adhesive 482. Additionally, adhesive 482 may be configured to surround one or more sides of other waveguides (e.g., 462, 464, 466) of system 400.
  • other waveguides e.g., 462, 464, 466
  • waveguides 462, 464, 466 may be disposed, similarly to waveguide 460, on substrate 476.
  • adhesive 482 may also support the waveguides in a particular relative arrangement (e.g., horizontally in the x-y plane).
  • adhesive 484 is disposed between opaque material 420 and the waveguides sandwiched between substrates 476 and 478, and adhesive 486 is disposed between substrate 480 and substrates 476, 478.
  • the waveguides of system 400 can be disposed on substrate 476, then adhesive 482 can be disposed on substrate 476 and around one or more sides of the waveguides to support and/or maintain the waveguides in the particular relative arrangement, and then substrate 478 can be disposed on adhesive 482.
  • the assembly of components between (and including) substrates 476 and 478 may together provide a“chip” assembly of the waveguides.
  • the chip can then be diced near a first side of substrates 476, 478 (the side adjacent to opaque material 420) and a second opposite side of substrates 476, 478 (the side adjacent to substrate 480) without cutting through any of the “sandwiched” waveguides between substrate 470, 472 (e.g., to reduce a likelihood of damage and/or modification of optical characteristics of the waveguides).
  • Adhesive 484 can then be used to attach opaque material 420 to the diced chip (e.g., by mechanically coupling opaque material 420 with substrates 476, 478, and optical adhesive 482). Additionally, adhesive 484 can be formed from a similar material as adhesive 482 (e.g., same index of refraction, etc.). Thus, light propagating through the aperture may continue propagating toward waveguide 460 in a substantially uniform optical medium (e.g., adhesives 482, 484), thereby reducing or preventing optical distortions associated with reflection or refraction of the light prior to entry into waveguide 460.
  • a substantially uniform optical medium e.g., adhesives 482, 484
  • adhesive 484 may also extend through the aperture, and thus couple (e.g., attach) substrate 474 to substrates 476, 478.
  • adhesives 482, 484 may extend through the aperture defined by opaque material 424 as well.
  • adhesive 486 can be used to attach substrate 480 to substrates 476, 478 and adhesive 482 at an opposite end of the chip assembly adjacent to side 460b.
  • light portion 404a emitted by transmitter 440 could similarly propagate into side 360b, through the gap between substrate 480 and waveguide 460, in a substantially uniform optical medium (e.g., uniform index of refraction) defined by adhesives 482 and 486 (e.g., having similar material characteristics).
  • system 400 can include the sandwiched waveguide arrangement without the gap between the edge of substrates 476, 478 and the waveguides.
  • the waveguide sandwich arrangement can be formed by dicing substrates 476, 478 and the waveguides.
  • the waveguides can be formed from a material having a sufficient hardness to mitigate damage due to the dicing.
  • the diced sides of the waveguides can optionally be polished after the dicing to improve a smoothness of the diced sides.
  • Optical element 488 may include any combination of devices (disposed between mirror 450 and receiver 410) configured to modify optical characteristics of light 402a reflected by mirror 450 toward receiver 410.
  • optical element 488 may include a mixing rod or homogenizer configured to distribute the energy density of light 402a prior to reaching receiver 410. This can be useful when light 402a reflected by mirror 450 has a non-uniform energy distribution.
  • the light detectors in receiver 410 may include single photon detectors (e.g., avalanche photodiodes, etc.) that are associated with a“quenching” recovery time period after detection of a photon.
  • optical element 486 Distributing the energy of light 402a using optical element 486 may reduce the likelihood of a second photon reaching the same light detector during the “quenching” recovery time period because the second photon may be directed toward a different light detector in receiver 410.
  • optical element 488 may alternatively or additionally include other types of optical elements, such as lenses, filters, etc.
  • waveguides 462, 464, 466 can be disposed on substrate 476 similarly to waveguide 460 (e.g., arranged horizontally in the x-y plane). Further, in some examples, system 400 may include additional (or fewer) waveguides in the same horizontal plane (e.g., disposed on substrate 476, etc.). Further, referring back to Figure 4B, these additional waveguides can similarly be aligned respective cells of the honeycomb-shaped light shield structure 472 shown in Figure 4B.
  • system 400 may include waveguides mounted along a different horizontal plane (e.g., disposed on substrate 478, etc.) than the plane in which waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466 are located.
  • the waveguides in the different horizontal plane could be aligned with additional receivers of system 400.
  • the additional receivers for instance, may be disposed within respective cells of the honeycomb- shaped light shield(s) 472 shown in Figure 4B.
  • opaque material 420 may include additional apertures aligned with these additional waveguides.
  • system 400 can image additional regions of the focal plane of lens 430 to provide a two-dimensional (2D) scanned image (or 2D grid of LIDAR data points) based on detecting respective portions of focused light 402 (using separate receive channels) that are projected onto opaque material 420.
  • the entire assembly of system 400 can be rotated or moved to generate the 2D scanned image of the scene.
  • opaque material 420 may define a grid of apertures along the focal plane of lens 430, and each aperture in the grid may detect light from a particular portion of the FOV of lens 430.
  • opaque material 420 may comprise four rows of 64 apertures, where each row of horizontally adjacent apertures (e.g., arranged along y-axis) is separated by a vertical offset (e.g., along z-axis) from another row of apertures.
  • system 400 may include a different number of transmit/receive channels, and/or a different arrangement of the apertures defined by opaque material 420.
  • system 400 can be rotated about an axis while scanning a surrounding environment using the multiple transmit and receive channels.
  • system 400 can be mounted on a rotating platform, similar to platform 294, that rotates about an axis (e.g., using actuator 296, etc.) while system 400 is transmitting light pulses and detecting reflections thereof (via apertures 422, 424, 426, 428, etc.).
  • a controller e.g., controller 238, or other computer system can receive LIDAR data collected using the co-aligned transmit / receive channels of system 400, and then process the LIDAR data to generate a 3D representation of the environment of system 400.
  • system 400 can be employed in a vehicle, and the 3D representation may be used to facilitate various operations of the vehicle (e.g., detect and/or identify objects around the vehicle, facilitate autonomous navigation of the vehicle in the environment, display the 3D representation to a user of the vehicle via a display, etc.).
  • various sizes, shapes, and positions e.g., distance between adjacent waveguides, etc.
  • Figures 4A-4C for the various components of system 400 are not necessarily to scale but are illustrated as shown only for convenience in description.
  • Figure 5 illustrates a cross-section view of another system 500, according to example embodiments.
  • System 500 may be similar to systems 100, 290, 300, and/or system 400, for example.
  • Figure 5 shows an x-y-z axis, where the y-axis is pointing out of the page.
  • the cross-section view of system 500 shown in Figure 5 may be similar to the cross-section view of system 400 shown in Figure 4C.
  • system 500 includes a receiver 510, an opaque material 520, a light filter 532, an optical element 534, a transmitter 540, a mirror 550, a waveguide 560 having sides 560a and 560b, a support structure 570, one or more light shields 572, substrates 574, 576, 578, and optical adhesives 582, 584, and optical element 588 which may be similar, respectively, to receiver 410, opaque material 420, light filter 432, optical element 434, transmitter 440, mirror 450, waveguide 460, sides 460a and 460b, support structure 470, light shield(s) 472, substrates 474, 476, 478, optical adhesives 482, 484, and optical element 588 of system 400.
  • received light 502, reflected light 502a, emitted light 504, and emitted light portion 504a may be similar, respectively, to received light 402, reflected light 502a, emitted light 504, and emit light portion 50
  • optical element 534 may include a cylindrical lens (e.g., optical fiber) that extends through the page (along the y-axis) to at least partially collimate and/or direct respective portions of light beam 504 into one or more other waveguides (not shown) of system 500.
  • system 500 also includes a support structure 590, an adhesive 592, and an adhesive 594.
  • Support structure 590 may be formed from similar materials as support structure 570 (e.g., PCB, solid platform, etc.). Further, as shown, structure 590 can be configured as a platform that mounts transmitter 540. For example, structure 590 can be implemented as a PCB on which one or more light sources (e.g., laser bar, etc.) of transmitter 540 are mounted. In this example, structure 590 could optionally include wiring or other circuitry for transmitting power and signals that operate transmitter 540 to emit light beams 504.
  • structure 590 could optionally include wiring or other circuitry for transmitting power and signals that operate transmitter 540 to emit light beams 504.
  • structure 570 may similarly include wiring and/or circuitry for transmitting power and/or communicating signals with receiver 510 to operate receiver 510 for detecting light 502a reflected the by mirror 550 (and propagating out of waveguide 560) toward receiver 510.
  • Adhesives 592, 594 can be formed from any adhesive material suitable for attaching or otherwise coupling at least two components of system 500 to one another.
  • adhesive materials which can be used in adhesives 574, 576, 578, 582, 592, and/or 594) includes non-reactive adhesives, reactive adhesives, solvent- based adhesives (e.g., dissolved polymers, etc.), polymer dispersion adhesives (e.g., polyvinyl acetate, etc.), pressure-sensitive adhesives, contact adhesives (e.g., rubber, polycholoroprene, elastomers, etc.), hot adhesives (e.g., thermoplastics, ethylene-vinyl acetates, etc.), multi- component adhesives (e.g., thermosetting polymers, polyester resin– polyurethane resin, polypols– polyurethane resin, acrylic polymers– polyurethane resins, etc.), one-part adhesives,
  • adhesives 592, 594 may comprise optical adhesive materials (e.g., materials that are transparent to at least some wavelengths of light 504) similarly to the materials described for optical adhesives 482, 484, 486.
  • adhesives 592, 594 may comprise adhesive materials that are opaque and/or otherwise attenuate or prevent at least some wavelengths of light incident thereon.
  • adhesives 592, 594 e.g., opaque adhesives, etc.
  • system 500 may present an alternative arrangement of one or more of the components (e.g., transmitter 440, optical element 434, etc.) in system 400.
  • components e.g., transmitter 440, optical element 434, etc.
  • the“sandwiched” waveguide chip assembly of system 400 includes one or more waveguides disposed between substrates 476, 478.
  • substrates 476 and 478 may define the vertical ends of a chip, for example.
  • the waveguides of system 400 may be disposed between substrates 474, 480.
  • substrate 474 (or filter 532) and substrate 480 may define the horizontal ends of the chip.
  • optical element 434 and transmitter 440 are disposed outside the chip (i.e., outside the region between substrates 474, 476, 478, 480).
  • transmitter 540 (and/or optical element 534) of system 500 could be optically coupled to waveguide 560 in a different manner.
  • optical element 534 and/or transmitter 540 could be alternatively disposed inside the chip assembly of system 500.
  • optical element 534 may be disposed on a same surface of substrate 576 that also supports waveguide 560 (e.g., adjacent to side 560b of waveguide 560).
  • optical element 534 could be disposed on a different surface inside the chip assembly.
  • optical element 534 could be mounted on the same surface of structure 590 on which transmitter 540 is mounted.
  • optical element 534 could be mounted on and/or attached to side 560b.
  • substrate 578 could alternatively extend further horizontally (e.g., along x-axis) to overlap the location of element 534 (e.g., structure 590 could be narrower horizontally, etc.
  • optical element 578 could be alternatively disposed on a surface of substrate 578.
  • optical element 534 could alternatively be disposed on another support structure (not shown) inside the chip assembly. Other examples are possible.
  • transmitter 540 of system 500 could also be included inside the chip assembly.
  • adhesive 594 may couple (e.g., attach, stick, etc.) transmitter 540 and/or structure 590 to substrate 576 in a location adjacent to optical element 534 and/or waveguide 560.
  • adhesive 592 may couple or attach structure 590 (and/or transmitter 540) to substrate 578.
  • substrate 576 may define a bottom side of the chip assembly of system 500
  • substrates 578, adhesive 592, and structure 590 may together define a top side of the chip assembly.
  • transmitter 540, optical element 534, and waveguide 560 may be disposed inside the chip assembly of system 500 (e.g., between the top and bottom sides defined by substrates 576, 578, structure 590, etc.).
  • system 500 By disposing transmitter 540 and optical element 534 inside the chip assembly, for instance system 500 could shield and/or prevent damage to these optical components due to the environment of system 500. Additionally, for instance, the chip assembly of system 500 could support and/or maintain transmitter 540, optical element 534, and waveguide 560 in a particular relative arrangement with respect to one another. By doing so, for instance, system 500 may be less susceptible to calibration and/or misalignment errors that could otherwise occur if the particular relative arrangement of these components is inadvertently changed (e.g., if one of these components is moved differently than the other components).
  • system 500 may also include a lens, multiple waveguides, and/or one or more other components similar to any of the components of systems 100, 290, 300, 400, and/or device 200.
  • system 500 may include multiple waveguides disposed on substrate 576 in a horizontal arrangement (along x-y plane), similarly to waveguides 460, 462, 464, 466 of system 400.
  • system 500 may include more, fewer, or different components than those shown.
  • system 500 could connect substrates 578, 576, and structure 590 to one another using one or more other components instead of or in addition to adhesives 592, 594 (e.g., bolts, screws, connectors, etc.). Other examples are possible.
  • Figure 6 is a flowchart of a method 600, according to example embodiments.
  • Method 600 presents an embodiment of a method that could be used with any of systems 100, 300, 400, 500, and/or device 200, for example.
  • Method 600 may include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 602-612. Although the blocks are illustrated in a sequential order, these blocks may in some instances be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein. Also, the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.
  • each block may represent a module, a segment, a portion of a manufacturing or operation process, or a portion of program code, which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process.
  • the program code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, for example, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive.
  • the computer readable medium may include a non-transitory computer readable medium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores data for short periods of time like register memory, processor cache and Random Access Memory (RAM).
  • the computer readable medium may also include non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long term storage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example.
  • the computer readable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storage systems.
  • the computer readable medium may be considered a computer readable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device.
  • each block in Figure 6 may represent circuitry that is wired to perform the specific logical functions in the process.
  • method 600 involves emitting, via a light source, a light beam toward a waveguide.
  • method 600 involves guiding, inside the waveguide, the emitted light beam for transmission through an aperture.
  • light source 340 may emit light beam 304 toward side 360b of waveguide 360.
  • Waveguide 360 may then guide light beam 304 inside waveguide 360 toward side 360a that is adjacent to aperture 322.
  • the guided light beam 304 may then exit waveguide 360 at side 360a and propagate through aperture 322 toward lens 330.
  • method 600 involves directing, via a lens, the light beam transmitted through the aperture toward a scene.
  • method 600 involves focusing, via the lens, light propagating from the scene toward the aperture and into the waveguide.
  • the light propagating from the scene may include light reflected by an object in the scene.
  • lens 330 (at block 606) may direct emitted light 304 toward the scene including object 398. Object 398 may then reflect at least a portion of the emitted light incident thereon back toward lens 330. Lens 330 (at block 608) could then focus the reflected portion of the emitted light as part of focused light 302 (shown in Figure 3B).
  • method 600 involves guiding the focused light inside the waveguide.
  • method 600 involves transmitting at least a portion of the focused light out of the waveguide toward an array of light detectors.
  • waveguide 360 may guide focused light 302, transmitted through aperture 322 and received at side 360a, toward side 360b.
  • the guided focused light (or a portion thereof) may arrive at tilted mirror 350, and may then be reflected (e.g., as reflected light 302a) by mirror 350 toward array 310.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Optical Radar Systems And Details Thereof (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un système illustratif qui comprend une source de lumière qui émet un faisceau de lumière. Le système comprend également un guide d'ondes qui guide le faisceau de lumière émis vers une ouverture. Le système comprend également une lentille qui dirige le faisceau de lumière, guidé par le guide d'ondes et transmis à travers l'ouverture, vers une scène. La lentille reçoit également la lumière se propageant à partir de la scène vers la lentille. La lentille focalise la lumière reçue dans l'ouverture. Le guide d'ondes guide également la lumière focalisée transmise à travers l'ouverture. Le système comprend également un détecteur de lumière. Le guide d'ondes transmet au moins une partie de la lumière focalisée hors du guide d'ondes et vers le détecteur de lumière.
PCT/US2018/045104 2017-09-05 2018-08-03 Guide d'ondes partagé pour émetteur et récepteur lidar WO2019050643A1 (fr)

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JP2020512713A JP6935007B2 (ja) 2017-09-05 2018-08-03 Ｌｉｄａｒ送光器および受光器の共有導波路
CN201880057663.3A CN111051915A (zh) 2017-09-05 2018-08-03 Lidar传送器和接收器的共享波导
EP18852999.4A EP3676631A4 (fr) 2017-09-05 2018-08-03 Guide d'ondes partagé pour émetteur et récepteur lidar

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CN111051915A (zh) 2020-04-21
EP3676631A1 (fr) 2020-07-08

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