公开(公告)号：US10481605B1

公开(公告)日：2019-11-19

申请号：US16138427

申请日：2018-09-21

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： Tomi P. Maila ,  Vahid R. Ramezani ,  Benjamin Englard

IPC: B60W50/029 ,  G05D1/02 ,  G08G1/01 ,  G01C21/34

Abstract: Various software techniques for managing operation of autonomous vehicles based on sensor data are disclosed herein. A computing system may generate, based on a set of signals descriptive of a current state of an environment in which the autonomous vehicle is operating, a normal path plan separate from a safe path plan, or a hybrid path plan including a normal path plan and a safe path plan. In generating the safe path plan, the computing system may generate and concatenate a set of motion primitives. When a fault condition occurs, the computing device may transition from executing the normal path plan to executing the safe path plan to safely stop the autonomous vehicle.

公开(公告)号：US10451716B2

公开(公告)日：2019-10-22

申请号：US15958749

申请日：2018-04-20

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： John Hughes ,  Nicholas Ventola ,  Sean P. Hughes

IPC: G01S7/497 ,  G01D5/34 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G05D1/00 ,  G05D1/02 ,  G01S17/93 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/89

Abstract: A lidar system comprises a light source to emit pulses of light, a scanner, a receiver, and a controller. The scanner includes a rotatable polygon mirror with reflective surfaces, the reflective surfaces being angularly offset from one another along a periphery of the block. The scanner further includes a polygon mirror axle extending into the block, about which the block rotates, a rotary encoder having a rotational component with an axis of rotation aligned with the polygon mirror axle, the rotational component having one or more characteristics configured to cause the rotary encoder to return a signal, and a second mirror pivotable along an axis orthogonal to the polygon mirror axle. The controller is configured to determine a rotational parameter of the polygon mirror in response to the signal returned from the rotary encoder.

公开(公告)号：US10401481B2

公开(公告)日：2019-09-03

申请号：US15941677

申请日：2018-03-30

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： Scott R. Campbell ,  Matthew D. Weed ,  Lane A. Martin ,  Jason M. Eichenholz

IPC: G01S7/48 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S7/486 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/93 ,  G01S7/484

Abstract: A lidar system includes a light source configured to emit light, a scanner configured to scan a field of regard of the lidar system using (i) a first output beam that includes at least a portion of the emitted light and has a first amount of power and (ii) a second output beam that includes at least a portion of the emitted light and has a second amount of power different from the first amount of power, with an angular separation between the first output beam and the second output beam along a vertical dimension of the field of regard, and a receiver configured to detect light associated with the first output beam and light associated with the second output beam scattered by one or more remote targets.

公开(公告)号：US20190250254A1

公开(公告)日：2019-08-15

申请号：US16390923

申请日：2019-04-22

Applicant: Luminar Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Scott R. Campbell ,  Rodger W. Cleye ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Lane A. Martin ,  Matthew D. Weed

IPC: G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/87 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S7/486

CPC classification number: G01S7/4815 ,  G01S7/4817 ,  G01S7/4865 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/87

Abstract: A system includes a first lidar sensor and a second lidar sensor, where each lidar sensor includes a scanner configured to direct a set of pulses of light along a scan pattern and a receiver configured to detect scattered light from the set of light pulses. The scan patterns are at least partially overlapped in an overlap region. The system further includes an enclosure, where the first lidar sensor and the second lidar sensor are contained within the enclosure. Each scanner includes one or more mirrors, and each mirror is driven by a scan mechanism.

公开(公告)号：US10338199B1

公开(公告)日：2019-07-02

申请号：US16027944

申请日：2018-07-05

Applicant: Luminar Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： John E. McWhirter ,  Allen Gabriele

IPC: G01S7/48 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/58

Abstract: A transceiver for use in a lidar system includes an optical receiver and a transmitter. The optical receiver includes a circuit board including a detector, a cylindrical inner housing, a C-shaped outer housing that partially surrounds the inner housing, and a lens in the outer housing. The transmitter includes an optical fiber coupled to a light source and a collimator, and a pair of Risley prism rods for adjusting collimator alignment. The collimator and Risley rods sit in a groove formed by the inner housing and the outer housing. A lidar system using the transceiver and a transceiver assembly method are disclosed.

公开(公告)号：US10324170B1

公开(公告)日：2019-06-18

申请号：US15974153

申请日：2018-05-08

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： John P. Engberg, Jr. ,  Christopher A. Engberg ,  John G. Hughes ,  Sean P. Hughes

IPC: G01C3/08 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S7/486 ,  G02B26/10 ,  G02B26/08 ,  G01S7/484

Abstract: A lidar system includes a light source configured to produce a first and second beams of light, receivers to configured to detect light from the first and second beams of light and scattered by one or more remote targets, and a scanner including a first scan mirror configured to pivot along a first-mirror pivot axis to scan the first beam of light along a first direction, a second scan mirror configured to pivot along a second-mirror pivot axis to scan the second beam of light along the first direction, and a polygon with multiple reflective surfaces configured to rotate about a polygon-mirror rotation axis to scan the first and second beams of light along a second direction.

公开(公告)号：US20190176841A1

公开(公告)日：2019-06-13

申请号：US16176549

申请日：2018-10-31

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： Benjamin Englard ,  Eric C. Danziger

IPC: B60W50/06 ,  G05D1/00 ,  G05D1/02 ,  B60W30/18 ,  G06N3/08

Abstract: A method for controlling a vehicle based on sensor data having variable sensor parameter settings includes receiving sensor data generated by a vehicle sensor while the sensor is configured with a first sensor parameter setting. The method also includes receiving an indicator specifying the first sensor parameter setting, and selecting, based on the received indicator, one of a plurality of neural networks of a perception component, each neural network having been trained using training data corresponding to a different sensor parameter setting. The method also includes generating signals descriptive of a current state of the environment using the selected neural network and based on the received sensor data. The method further includes generating driving decisions based on the signals descriptive of the current state of the environment, and causing one or more operational subsystems of the vehicle to maneuver the vehicle in accordance with the generated driving decisions.

公开(公告)号：US20190154803A1

公开(公告)日：2019-05-23

申请号：US16046584

申请日：2018-07-26

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： Jason M. Eichenholz

IPC: G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/93 ,  G01S17/89

Abstract: A vehicle includes a body with multiple interior and exterior surfaces and a lidar system including a set of one or more sensor units. Each sensor unit includes a light source configured to emit light, a scanner configured to direct the emitted light to scan a field of regard of the sensor unit according to a scan pattern, a receiver configured to detect the light scattered by one or more remote targets, and a housing enclosing the light source, the scanner, and the receiver. The housing of each sensor unit is embedded in one of the interior or exterior surfaces, so that a first portion of the housing projects out of the body and a second portion of the housing is inside the body.

公开(公告)号：US20190154802A1

公开(公告)日：2019-05-23

申请号：US15965288

申请日：2018-04-27

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： Scott R. Campbell ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Matthew D. Weed ,  Lane A. Martin

IPC: G01S7/481 ,  G02B26/10

Abstract: A lidar system includes one or more light sources configured to generate a first and second beams of light, a scanner configured to synchronously scan a field of regard of the lidar system using the two beams, and a receiver configured to detect light of the two beams scattered by one or more remote targets. The scanner includes a rotatable polygon mirror having a block having a first wall, a second wall, and reflective surfaces extending between the first and second walls, the reflective surfaces being angularly offset from one another along a periphery of the block; a polygon mirror axle extending into the block, about which the block rotates; optical elements configured to direct the first and second beams of light respectively to two adjacent reflective surfaces of the rotatable polygon mirror; and a second mirror pivotable along an axis orthogonal to the polygon mirror axle.

公开(公告)号：US10267918B2

公开(公告)日：2019-04-23

申请号：US16017650

申请日：2018-06-25

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Stephen D. Gaalema ,  Austin K. Russell

IPC: G01S17/89 ,  G01S7/48 ,  G01J1/44 ,  G01S17/93 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S7/497 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S7/486 ,  G01S7/484 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/87 ,  G01S7/00 ,  G01S7/487 ,  H01L31/09

Abstract: A scanning system includes a light source configured to emit light as a series of one or more light pulses, a scanner configured to direct the one or more light pulses towards a remote target, and a receiver configured to detect light scattered by the remote target. The receiver includes a light detector element disposed on an ASIC that includes multiple comparators disposed in parallel with one another, and corresponding time-to-digital converters (TDCs) coupled to the comparator. Each of the comparators processes a received electrical signal from the light detector element to produce a digital edge signal when the amplitude of the received electrical signal reaches a particular threshold. A corresponding TDC outputs a time delay value associated with a time at which the received electrical signal reaches the particular threshold.