Variable Beam Spacing, Timing, and Power for Vehicle Sensors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019033430-A1
Application number	US-201816145909-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 28, 2018
Priority date	Mar 17, 2017
Publication date	Jan 31, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods that facilitate light detection and ranging operations. An example transmit block includes at least one substrate with a plurality of angled facets. The plurality of angled facets provides a corresponding plurality of elevation angles. A set of angle differences between adjacent elevation angles includes at least two different angle difference values. A plurality of light-emitter devices is configured to emit light into an environment along the plurality of elevation angles toward respective target locations so as to provide a desired resolution and/or a respective elevation angle. The present disclosure also relates to adjusting shot power and a shot schedule based on the desired resolution and/or a respective elevation angle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
determining a respective beam elevation angle for each light-emitter device of a plurality of light-emitter devices, wherein respective light-emitter devices are coupled to respective die attach locations disposed along a front edge of at least one substrate, and wherein a set of angle differences between beam elevation angles of adjacent light-emitter devices comprises a non-uniform beam elevation angle distribution; determining a desired shot schedule of the plurality of light-emitter devices based on the determined beam elevation angles; and causing the plurality of light-emitter devices to emit light pulses into an environment according to the desired shot schedule.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the respective beam elevation angle for each light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices is based on at least one of: a location or an orientation of the light-emitter device on the at least one substrate.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the desired shot schedule is further based on a comparison between the respective beam elevation angles and at least one value based on at least one of: real-time point cloud data or historic point cloud data.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired shot schedule comprises information indicative about which light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices is to be fired.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired shot schedule comprises information indicative about how long a given light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices is to be fired.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired shot schedule comprises information indicative about how long to wait before firing a given light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a region of interest in the environment, wherein determining the desired shot schedule comprises adjusting, based on the region of interest, at least one of:
i) which light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices is to be fired; ii) how long a given light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices is to be fired; or iii) how long to wait before firing a given light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices.

8 . A method comprising:
determining, based on an emission angle, an anticipated target range of light pulses emitted from at least one light-emitter device; determining a desired shot schedule of the at least one light-emitter device based on the determined anticipated target range; and causing the at least one light-emitter device to emit light pulses into an environment according to the desired shot schedule.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least one light-emitter device is coupled to a respective die attach location disposed along a front edge of at least one substrate, and wherein determining the anticipated target range of light pulses emitted from the at least one light-emitter device is based on at least one of: a location or an orientation of the at least one light-emitter device on the at least one substrate.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the desired shot schedule is further based on a comparison between the anticipated target range and at least one value based on at least one of: real-time point cloud data or historic point cloud data.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least one light-emitter device comprises a plurality of light-emitter devices, and wherein the desired shot schedule comprises information indicative about which light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices is to be fired.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the desired shot schedule comprises information indicative about how long the at least one light-emitter device is to be fired.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the desired shot schedule comprises information indicative about how long to wait before firing the at least one light-emitter device.

14 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining a region of interest in the environment, wherein determining the desired shot schedule comprises adjusting, based on the region of interest, at least one of:
i) which light-emitter device of a plurality of light-emitter devices is to be fired; ii) how long a given light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices is to be fired; or iii) how long to wait before firing a given light-emitter device of the plurality of light-emitter devices.

15 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining the emission angle based on an angle of a spinning mirror interacting with light pulses emitted from the at least one light-emitter device.

16 . A system comprising:
a plurality of light-emitter devices, wherein each light-emitter device is coupled to a respective die attach location and has a respective beam elevation angle, wherein the plurality of light-emitter devices is configured to emit light into an environment along the plurality of beam elevation angles toward respective target locations, and wherein a set of angle differences between beam elevation angles of adjacent light-emitter devices comprises at least two different angle difference values; a plurality of pulser circuits, wherein the plurality of pulser circuits includes a respective pulser circuit for each light-emitter device in the plurality of light-emitter devices; and a controller configured to control, for each given light-emitter device in the plurality of light-emitter devices, the respective pulser circuit for the given light-emitter device so as to emit light pulses according to a desired shot schedule, wherein the desired shot schedule is based on at least one of: a beam elevation angle of light pulses emitted from the given light-emitter device or an anticipated target range of light pulses emitted from the given light-emitter device.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein at least one respective angle difference between adjacent beam elevation angles below a horizontal plane is greater than respective angle differences between adjacent beam elevation angles above the horizontal plane.

18 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising a spinning mirror configured to interact with the light pulses emitted from the plurality of light-emitter devices.

19 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the respective die attach locations comprise respective angled facets of a plurality of angled facets disposed along a front edge of at least one substrate.

20 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of light-emitter devices are components of a light detection and ranging system of a vehicle.

Assignees

• Waymo Llc

Inventors

• Ingram Benjamin
• Droz Pierre-Yves
• Wachter Luke
• Mccloskey Scott
• Gassend Blaise
• Pennecot Gaetan

Classifications

• G01S17/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• G01S17/10

  using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves (determination of distance by phase measurements G01S17/32) · CPC title

• G01S7/4815 Primary

  using multiple transmitters · CPC title

• H01S5/4025

  Array arrangements, e.g. constituted by discrete laser diodes or laser bar (H01S5/42 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01S7/484

  Transmitters · CPC title