公开(公告)号：US20170299721A1

公开(公告)日：2017-10-19

申请号：US15470735

申请日：2017-03-27

Applicant: Luminar Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Austin K. Russell ,  Scott R. Campbell ,  Alain Villeneuve ,  Rodger W. Cleye ,  Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Matthew D. Weed ,  Lane A. Martin

IPC: G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S7/486 ,  G01S7/48 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/93

CPC classification number: G01S17/06 ,  G01S7/4804 ,  G01S7/4811 ,  G01S7/4814 ,  G01S7/4815 ,  G01S7/4816 ,  G01S7/4817 ,  G01S7/4818 ,  G01S7/483 ,  G01S7/484 ,  G01S7/4861 ,  G01S7/4863 ,  G01S7/4865 ,  G01S17/00 ,  G01S17/02 ,  G01S17/08 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/32 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/88 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S17/936 ,  H01S3/0007 ,  H01S3/0078 ,  H01S3/0085 ,  H01S3/06733 ,  H01S3/0675 ,  H01S3/06754 ,  H01S3/06758 ,  H01S3/08086 ,  H01S3/094003 ,  H01S3/094042 ,  H01S3/094076 ,  H01S3/0941 ,  H01S3/10023 ,  H01S3/1106 ,  H01S3/1608 ,  H01S3/2383 ,  H01S5/0057 ,  H01S5/0085 ,  H01S5/4012 ,  H01S5/4087 ,  H01S2301/02

Abstract: A lidar system with a light source to emit a pulse of light into a field of view and a receiver to detect a return pulse of light which is reflected or scattered by a target in the field of view. The receiver may include an avalanche photodiode to generate an electrical-current pulse corresponding to the return pulse and a transimpedance amplifier to produce a voltage pulse that corresponds to the electrical-current pulse. A voltage amplifier may amplify the voltage pulse and a comparator may produce an edge signal when the amplified voltage pulse exceeds a threshold. A time-to-digital converter may determine a time interval based on an emission time of the pulse of light and based on the edge signal. A processor may determine a distance to the target using the time interval.

公开(公告)号：US11940565B2

公开(公告)日：2024-03-26

申请号：US16794500

申请日：2020-02-19

Applicant: Luminar Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Alex Michael Sincore

IPC: G01S7/4865 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S7/484 ,  G01S7/497 ,  G01S17/02 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/89

CPC classification number: G01S7/4865 ,  G01S7/4814 ,  G01S7/4818 ,  G01S7/484 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S7/4816 ,  G01S7/4817 ,  G01S7/497 ,  G01S17/02

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit (i) local-oscillator light and (ii) pulses of light, where each emitted pulse of light is coherent with a corresponding portion of the local-oscillator light. The lidar system also includes a receiver configured to detect the local-oscillator light and a received pulse of light, the received pulse of light including light from one of the emitted pulses of light that is scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system. The local-oscillator light and the received pulse of light are coherently mixed together at the receiver. The lidar system further includes a processor configured to determine the distance to the target based at least in part on a time-of-arrival for the received pulse of light.

公开(公告)号：US11874401B2

公开(公告)日：2024-01-16

申请号：US16378315

申请日：2019-04-08

Applicant: Luminar Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Matthew D. Weed ,  Scott R. Campbell ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Austin K. Russell ,  Lane A. Martin

IPC: G01C3/08 ,  G01S7/484 ,  G01W1/02 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S7/00 ,  G01S7/497 ,  G01W1/14 ,  G01S17/95 ,  G01S7/486 ,  G01S17/931

CPC classification number: G01S7/484 ,  G01S7/003 ,  G01S7/497 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01W1/02 ,  G01W1/14 ,  G01S7/4868 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G01S17/95 ,  G01S2007/4975 ,  Y02A90/10

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method for dynamically varying receiver characteristics in a lidar system includes emitting light pulses by a light source in a lidar system. The method further includes detecting, by a receiver in the lidar system, light from one of the light pulses scattered by one or more remote targets to identify a return light pulse. The method also includes determining an atmospheric condition at or near a geolocation of a vehicle that includes the lidar system. The method further includes providing a control signal to the receiver adjusting one or more characteristics of the receiver to compensate for attenuation or distortion of the return light pulses associated with the atmospheric condition.

公开(公告)号：US20210088657A1

公开(公告)日：2021-03-25

申请号：US17101146

申请日：2020-11-23

Applicant: Luminar Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Lawrence Shah ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Alex Michael Sincore ,  Cheng Zhu

IPC: G01S17/00

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit an optical signal. The light source includes a seed laser diode configured to produce a seed optical signal and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) configured to amplify the seed optical signal to produce an amplified seed optical signal, where the emitted optical signal includes the amplified seed optical signal. The light source further includes an electronic driver configured to supply electrical current to the seed laser diode and electrical current to the SOA. The lidar system also includes a receiver configured to detect a portion of the emitted optical signal scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system. The lidar system further includes a processor configured to determine the distance from the lidar system to the target.

公开(公告)号：US20210055390A1

公开(公告)日：2021-02-25

申请号：US16794500

申请日：2020-02-19

Applicant: Luminar Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Alex Michael Sincore

IPC: G01S7/4865 ,  G01S17/89

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit (i) local-oscillator light and (ii) pulses of light, where each emitted pulse of light is coherent with a corresponding portion of the local-oscillator light. The lidar system also includes a receiver configured to detect the local-oscillator light and a received pulse of light, the received pulse of light including light from one of the emitted pulses of light that is scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system. The local-oscillator light and the received pulse of light are coherently mixed together at the receiver. The lidar system further includes a processor configured to determine the distance to the target based at least in part on a time-of-arrival for the received pulse of light.

公开(公告)号：US20210055387A1

公开(公告)日：2021-02-25

申请号：US16794366

申请日：2020-02-19

Applicant: Luminar Technologies, Inc.

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Alex Michael Sincore

IPC: G01S7/484 ,  G01S7/4865 ,  G01S7/481

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit (i) local-oscillator light and (ii) pulses of light, where each emitted pulse of light is coherent with a corresponding portion of the local-oscillator light. The light source includes a seed laser configured to produce seed light and the local-oscillator light. The light source also includes a pulsed optical amplifier configured to amplify temporal portions of the seed light to produce the emitted pulses of light, where each amplified temporal portion of the seed light corresponds to one of the emitted pulses of light. The lidar system also includes a receiver configured to detect the local-oscillator light and a received pulse of light, the received pulse of light including light from one of the emitted pulses of light that is scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system.

公开(公告)号：US10663564B2

公开(公告)日：2020-05-26

申请号：US15983545

申请日：2018-05-18

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle

IPC: G01S7/48 ,  G01S7/484 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G05D1/00 ,  G01S7/4865 ,  G05D1/02 ,  G01S17/931

Abstract: A lidar system includes a lighting module configured to (i) select a wavelength from among a plurality of wavelength values, for a particular time period, and (ii) emit light at the selected wavelength. The lighting module emits light at different wavelengths during at least two adjacent periods of time. The lidar system further includes a scanner configured to direct the pulse of light to illuminate a respective region within a field of regard of the lidar system and a receiver module configured to (i) receive a light signal and (ii) determine whether the received light signal includes the light emitted by the lighting module and scattered by a remote target, based at least in part on the wavelength selected by the lighting module.

公开(公告)号：US10241198B2

公开(公告)日：2019-03-26

申请号：US15828195

申请日：2017-11-30

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Rodger W. Cleye ,  Scott R. Campbell ,  Jason M. Eichenholz

IPC: G01C3/08 ,  G01S7/497 ,  G05D1/02 ,  G01S7/486 ,  G01S17/89

Abstract: A method for calibrating lidar systems operating in vehicles includes detecting a triggering event, causing the lidar system to not emit light during a calibration period, determining an amount of noise measured by the lidar system during the calibration period, generating a noise level metric based on the amount of noise detected during the calibration period, and adjusting subsequent readings of the lidar system using the noise level metric. The adjusting includes measuring energy levels of return light pulses emitted from the lidar system and scattered by targets and offsetting the measured energy levels by the noise level metric.

公开(公告)号：US20180299534A1

公开(公告)日：2018-10-18

申请号：US15954427

申请日：2018-04-16

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Jason M. Eichenholz

IPC: G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S17/93 ,  H04N5/232 ,  G06K9/00 ,  G06K9/62

Abstract: A system includes a lidar, a camera, and a controller communicatively coupled to the camera and the lidar. The lidar includes a laser configured to emit pulses of light, a scanner configured to direct the emitted pulses in accordance with a scan pattern, and a receiver configured to detect the emitted pulse of light scattered by one or more remote targets to collect a set of lidar pixels of a scan frame, in a sequence defined by the scan pattern. The camera has a field of regard that at least partially overlaps the field of regard of the lidar. The controller is configured to cause the camera to capture images while the receiver of the lidar module collects the complete set of lidar pixels of the scan frame, and align lidar pixels with corresponding pixels in the captured images.

公开(公告)号：US20180284277A1

公开(公告)日：2018-10-04

申请号：US15843652

申请日：2017-12-15

Applicant: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES,INC.

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Laurance S. Lingvay

IPC: G01S17/10 ,  G01S7/484

CPC classification number: G01S17/102 ,  G01S7/4812 ,  G01S7/4814 ,  G01S7/4816 ,  G01S7/4817 ,  G01S7/484 ,  G01S7/4865 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/36 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/87 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S17/936

Abstract: A light source includes a laser configured to emit a ranging pulse including a sequence of fast pulses. A lidar system uses one or more properties of the sequence of fast pulses to determine a signature of the ranging pulse. A receiver includes a detector element configured to detect a light signal and a signature detection circuitry configured to determine whether the detected light signal corresponds to the signature of the emitted ranging pulse. The lidar system is configured to generate a pixel value based on the detected light signal if the detected light signal corresponds to the signature of the emitted ranging pulse.