Retroreflectors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12164124-B2
Application number	US-202117153770-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 20, 2021
Priority date	Sep 20, 2016
Publication date	Dec 10, 2024
Grant date	Dec 10, 2024

Abstract

A retroreflector system including an outer body panel coupled to a vehicle, wherein the outer body panel is configured to allow a radar signal originating from an external radar device to pass through the outer body panel. The retroreflector system also includes a plurality of retroreflectors embedded in the vehicle, where the plurality of retroreflectors is configured to reflect the signal to the external signal source as a reflected signal, and where the plurality of retroreflectors is configured to have a peak reflectivity for a radar wavelength range or a light detection and ranging (lidar) wavelength range.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including:
sending, from a signal source, a signal to an external target, wherein the signal comprises a radar signal or a lidar signal;
receiving, from the external target, a reflected signal, wherein the reflected signal is reflected by one or more retroreflectors of the external target, wherein the reflected signal comprises information added via signal modulation by the one or more retroreflectors, and wherein the one or more retroreflectors are configured to have a peak reflectivity at a radar wavelength range or a lidar wavelength range;
determining, based at least in part on the reflected signal, the added information about the external target.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the reflected signal includes data that is added to the signal by one or more retroreflectors of the external target, wherein determining the added information comprises analyzing the added data in the reflected signal.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein determining the added information comprises determining a pattern of the one or more retroreflectors.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein the pattern comprises a barcode pattern.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein determining the added information further comprises:
searching a database of vehicles based on the pattern; and
retrieving information from the database of vehicles, wherein the information identifies the external target.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein determining the added information further comprises:
determining that the pattern represents text; and
determining the added information based on the text comprising optical character recognition.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein the operations further include:
determining a position and an orientation of the external target; and
comparing the pattern to an expected pattern identifying the external target.

8. A system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed on or across the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
cause a signal source to emit a signal to an external object; and
determine added information about the external object based on a reflected signal, wherein the reflected signal is reflected by one or more retroreflectors of the external object, wherein the reflected signal comprises information added via signal modulation by the one or more retroreflectors, and wherein the one or more retroreflectors are configured to have a peak reflectivity at a radar wavelength range or a lidar wavelength range.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the reflected signal includes data that is added to the signal by one or more retroreflectors of the external object, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, to determine the added information, further cause the one or processors to analyze the added data information in the reflected signal.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, to determine the added information, further cause the one or processors to determine a pattern of the one or more retroreflectors.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the pattern comprises a barcode pattern.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, to determine the added information, further cause the one or processors to:
search a database of vehicles based on the pattern; and
retrieve information from the database of vehicles, wherein the information identifies the external target.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, to determine the added information, further cause the one or processors to:
determine that the pattern represents text; and
determine the added information based on the text using optical character recognition.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the memory further comprises instructions that further cause the one or processors to:
determine a position and an orientation of the external target; and
compare the pattern to an expected pattern identifying the external target.

15. A method, comprising:
causing a signal source to emit a signal to an external object, wherein the signal comprises a radar signal or a lidar signal;
receiving a reflected signal, wherein the reflected signal is reflected by one or more retroreflectors of the external object, wherein the reflected signal comprises information added via signal modulation by the one or more retroreflectors, and wherein the one or more retroreflectors are configured to have a peak reflectivity at a radar wavelength range or a lidar wavelength range; and
determining, based at least in part on the reflected signal, the added information about the external object.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:
the reflected signal comprises text or a bit pattern encoded in the reflected signal; and
said determining the added information about the external object is performed based, at least in part, on the text or bit pattern encoded in the reflected signal.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein:
the reflected signal comprises a barcode pattern encoded in the reflected signal; and
said determining the added information about the external object is performed based, at least in part, on the barcode pattern encoded in the reflected signal.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein:
the reflected signal comprises a pattern encoded in the reflected signal; and
said determining the added information about the external object comprises:
searching a database of vehicles based on the pattern; and
retrieving information from the database of vehicles, wherein the information identifies the external target.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein:
the reflected signal comprises a pattern encoded in the reflected signal; and
said determining the added information about the external object comprises:
determining that the pattern represents text; and
determining the added information based on the text comprising optical character recognition.

20. The method of claim 15 ,
wherein the reflected signal comprises a pattern encoded in the reflected signal, and
wherein the method further comprises:
determining a position and an orientation of the external target comprising the pattern; and
comparing the pattern to an expected pattern identifying the external target.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Aikin Randol W
• Northcott Malcolm J
• Potter Daniel E
• Last Matthew E

Classifications

• G01S17/06

  Systems determining position data of a target · CPC title

• G01S7/4811

  common to transmitter and receiver · CPC title

• G05D1/247

  using signals provided by artificial sources external to the vehicle, e.g. navigation beacons · CPC title

• G01S2013/9329

  cooperating with reflectors or transponders · CPC title

• G01S17/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title