Detector for determining a position of at least one object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12222197-B2
Application number	US-201917264416-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 31, 2019
Priority date	Jul 31, 2018
Publication date	Feb 11, 2025
Grant date	Feb 11, 2025

Abstract

Described herein is a detector for determining a position of at least one object. The detector includes:
at least one dichroic filter; at least one optical sensor; and at least one evaluation device. Also described herein are a method for determining a position of the at least one object and a method of using the detector.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A detector ( 110 ) for determining a position of at least one object ( 112 ), the detector ( 110 ) comprising:
at least one dichroic filter ( 130 ), wherein the dichroic filter ( 130 ) has a wavelength dependent and angle dependent transmission spectrum;
at least one optical sensor ( 114 ), wherein the optical sensor ( 114 ) has at least one light-sensitive area ( 116 ), wherein the optical sensor ( 114 ) is designed to generate at least one sensor signal in response to an illumination of its light-sensitive area ( 116 ) by the light beam ( 120 ) having passed through the dichroic filter ( 130 );
at least one transfer device ( 126 ), wherein the at least one transfer device is adapted to guide the light beam onto the optical sensor; and
at least one evaluation device ( 134 ) configured for determining a first sensor signal generated in response to illumination by the light beam ( 120 ) having at least one first wavelength and a second sensor signal generated in response to illumination by the light beam ( 120 ) having at least one second wavelength, wherein the evaluation device ( 134 ) is configured for determining at least one longitudinal coordinate z of the object by evaluating a combined signal Λ from the first and second sensor signals.

2. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the dichroic filter ( 130 ) has an angle dependency from 5 nm/30° up to 100 nm/30°.

3. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the detector ( 110 ) further comprises an illumination source ( 122 ) configured for illuminating the object ( 112 ) with at least one light beam having at least two different wavelengths.

4. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one transfer device ( 126 ) has at least one focal length in response to the at least one incident light beam ( 120 ) propagating from the object ( 112 ) to the detector ( 110 ).

5. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation device ( 134 ) is configured for using at least one predetermined relationship between the combined signal Λ and the longitudinal coordinate for determining the longitudinal coordinate.

6. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation device ( 134 ) is configured for deriving the combined signal Λ by one or more of dividing the first and second sensor signals, dividing multiples of the first and second sensor signals, dividing linear combinations of the first and second sensor signals.

7. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation device ( 134 ) is configured for determining a first radiant intensity of the first sensor signal and a second radiant intensity of the second sensor signal, wherein the evaluation device is configured for determining a ratio of the first radiant intensity and the second radiant intensity for deriving the combined signal Λ.

8. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the detector ( 110 ) comprises at least two optical sensors ( 114 ), wherein the optical sensors ( 114 ) are partial diodes of a bi-cell, a split electrode PSD, or quadrant diode.

9. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the detector ( 110 ) comprises at least two optical sensors ( 114 ), wherein the optical sensors ( 114 ) comprise at least one CMOS sensor.

10. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the detector ( 110 ) comprises at least two optical sensors ( 114 ), wherein each of the optical sensors ( 114 ) has at least one light-sensitive area ( 116 ), wherein each of the optical sensors ( 114 ) is designed to generate at least one sensor signal in response to an illumination of its respective light-sensitive area ( 116 ) by the light beam ( 120 ) having passed through the dichroic filter ( 130 ), wherein at least one of the optical sensors ( 114 ) is configured for generating a first depth-from-photon-ratio (DPR)-sensor signal and wherein at least one of the optical sensors ( 114 ) is configured for generating a second DPR-sensor signal, wherein the evaluation device ( 134 ) is configured for determining the longitudinal coordinate z DPR of the object by evaluating a combined DPR-signal Q from the first and second DPR-sensor signals.

11. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 10 , wherein the evaluation device ( 134 ) is configured for deriving the combined DPR-signal Q by

Q
⁡

(

z
o

)

=

∫

∫

A
1

⁢

E
⁡

(

x
,

y
;

z
o

)

⁢
d
⁢
x
⁢
d
⁢
y

∫

∫

A
2

⁢

E
⁡

(

x
,

y
;

z
o

)

⁢
d
⁢
x
⁢
d
⁢
y

wherein x and y are transversal coordinates, A 1 is a first area of the beam profile of the light beam ( 120 ) having passed through the dichroic filter ( 130 ) at a sensor position of the optical sensors ( 114 ), A 2 is a second area of the beam profile of the light beam ( 120 ) having passed through the dichroic filter ( 130 ) at the sensor position of the optical sensors ( 114 ), and E (x,y,z o ) denotes the beam profile given at the object distance z o ,
wherein A 1 and A 2 correspond to areas of the beam at the first and second wavelengths, respectively.

12. The detector ( 110 ) according to claim 11 , wherein the first DPR-sensor signal comprises i

Assignees

• Trinamix Gmbh

Inventors

• Deguen Celal Mohan
• Scherwath Bernd
• Send Robert
• Bruder Ingmar

Classifications

• G01S7/4802

  using analysis of echo signal for target characterisation; Target signature; Target cross-section · CPC title

• G01S7/4912

  Receivers · CPC title

• G06T7/521

  from laser ranging, e.g. using interferometry; from the projection of structured light · CPC title

• G01B2210/50

  Using chromatic effects to achieve wavelength-dependent depth resolution · CPC title

• G01B11/22

  for measuring depth · CPC title