公开(公告)号：US20220291353A1

公开(公告)日：2022-09-15

申请号：US17752954

申请日：2022-05-25

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

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

IPC: G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/08 ,  G01S7/4865 ,  G01S7/48 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G02B26/10

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit pulses of light and a scanner configured to scan at least a portion of the emitted pulses of light along a scan pattern contained within an adjustable field of regard. The scanner includes a first scanning mirror configured to scan the portion of the emitted pulses of light substantially parallel to a first scan axis to produce multiple scan lines of the scan pattern. The scanner also includes a second scanning mirror configured to distribute the scan lines along a second scan axis, where the scan lines are distributed within the adjustable field of regard according to an adjustable second-axis scan profile that includes a minimum scan angle along the second scan axis, a maximum scan angle along the second scan axis, and a scan-line distribution.

公开(公告)号：US11442150B2

公开(公告)日：2022-09-13

申请号：US16788762

申请日：2020-02-12

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

Inventor： Joseph G. LaChapelle ,  Philip W. Smith ,  Matthew D. Weed ,  Jason M. Eichenholz

IPC: G01S7/48 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S7/4863

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit a pulse of light and a scanner configured to direct the emitted pulse of light into a field of regard of the lidar system. The lidar system also includes a receiver configured to receive a portion of the emitted pulse of light scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system. The receiver includes a digital micromirror device (DMD) that includes a two-dimensional array of electrically addressable micromirrors, where a portion of the micromirrors are configured to be set to an active-on state to direct the received pulse of light to a detector array. The detector array includes a two-dimensional array of detector elements, where the detector array is configured to detect the received pulse of light and produce an electrical signal corresponding to the received pulse of light.

公开(公告)号：US11415677B2

公开(公告)日：2022-08-16

申请号：US16389362

申请日：2019-04-19

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

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

IPC: G01S7/484 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S7/497 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/931

Abstract: To compensate for the uneven distribution of data points around the periphery of a vehicle in a lidar system, a light source transmits light pulses at a variable pulse rate according to the orientation of the light pulses with respect to the lidar system. A controller may communicate with a scanner in the lidar system that provides the orientations of the light pulses to the controller. The controller may then provide a control signal to the light source adjusting the pulse rate based on the orientations of the light pulses. For example, the pulse rate may be slower near the front of the lidar system and faster near the periphery. In another example, the pulse rate may be faster near the front of the lidar system and slower near the periphery.

公开(公告)号：US11415675B2

公开(公告)日：2022-08-16

申请号：US16155207

申请日：2018-10-09

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

Inventor： Austin K. Russell ,  Matthew D. Weed ,  Liam J. McGregor ,  Jason M. Eichenholz

IPC: G01S7/481 ,  G01S7/48 ,  G01S7/4861 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S7/4865 ,  G01S7/484 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/26 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G01S7/486

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit pulses of light and a scanner configured to scan at least a portion of the emitted pulses of light across a field of regard. The field of regard contains all or part of a target located a distance from the lidar system that is less than or equal to a maximum range of the lidar system, and one or more of the emitted pulses of light are scattered by the target. The lidar system also includes a receiver configured to detect at least a portion of the pulses of light scattered by the target. The lidar system further includes a processor configured to determine the distance from the lidar system to the target based at least in part on a round-trip time of flight for an emitted pulse of light.

公开(公告)号：US11353559B2

公开(公告)日：2022-06-07

申请号：US16155243

申请日：2018-10-09

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

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

IPC: G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/08 ,  G01S7/4865 ,  G01S7/48 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G02B26/10 ,  G01S17/10

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit pulses of light and a scanner configured to scan at least a portion of the emitted pulses of light along a scan pattern contained within an adjustable field of regard. The scanner includes a first scanning mirror configured to scan the portion of the emitted pulses of light substantially parallel to a first scan axis to produce multiple scan lines of the scan pattern, where each scan line is oriented substantially parallel to the first scan axis. The scanner also includes a second scanning mirror configured to distribute the scan lines along a second scan axis that is substantially orthogonal to the first scan axis, where the scan lines are distributed within the adjustable field of regard according to an adjustable second-axis scan profile.

公开(公告)号：US20210356600A1

公开(公告)日：2021-11-18

申请号：US17318506

申请日：2021-05-12

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

Inventor： Istvan Peter Burbank ,  Matthew D. Weed ,  Jason Paul Wojack ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Dmytro Trofymov

IPC: G01S17/931 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S17/10 ,  B60W60/00

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit pulses of light and a scanner configured to scan the emitted pulses of light along a high-resolution scan pattern located within a field of regard of the lidar system. The scanner includes one or more scan mirrors configured to (i) scan the emitted pulses of light along a first scan axis to produce multiple scan lines of the high-resolution scan pattern, where each scan line is associated with multiple pixels, each pixel corresponding to one of the emitted pulses of light and (ii) distribute the scan lines of the high-resolution scan pattern along a second scan axis. The high-resolution scan pattern includes one or more of: interlaced scan lines and interlaced pixels.

公开(公告)号：US20230333247A1

公开(公告)日：2023-10-19

申请号：US18101824

申请日：2023-01-26

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

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

IPC: G01S17/08 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G02B26/10 ,  G02B26/12 ,  H01L27/146 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G02B5/09 ,  G02B7/182 ,  G02B27/09 ,  G02B27/10 ,  G02B27/30 ,  H01L25/16

CPC classification number: G01S17/08 ,  G01S7/4817 ,  G02B26/101 ,  G02B26/125 ,  G01S7/4813 ,  H01L27/14647 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G02B5/09 ,  G02B7/1821 ,  G02B27/0955 ,  G02B27/0977 ,  G02B26/105 ,  G02B26/123 ,  G02B27/1086 ,  G02B27/30 ,  H01L25/167 ,  H01L27/14643 ,  H01L27/14694 ,  G01S17/87

Abstract: A lidar system includes one or more light sources configured to generate a first beam of light and a second beam of light, a scanner configured to scan the first and second beams of light across a field of regard of the lidar system, and a receiver configured to detect the first beam of light and the second beam of light scattered by one or more remote targets. The scanner includes a rotatable polygon mirror that includes multiple reflective surfaces angularly offset from one another along a periphery of the polygon mirror, the reflective surfaces configured to reflect the first and second beams of light to produce a series of scan lines as the polygon mirror rotates. The scanner also includes a pivotable scan mirror configured to (i) reflect the first and second beams of light and (ii) pivot to distribute the scan lines across the field of regard.

公开(公告)号：US11609329B2

公开(公告)日：2023-03-21

申请号：US16817989

申请日：2020-03-13

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

Inventor： Richmond Hicks ,  Matthew D. Weed ,  Jason M. Eichenholz

IPC: G01S17/18 ,  H04N5/232 ,  G02B26/10 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/89

Abstract: A machine vision system comprises a camera configured to generate one or more images of a field of regard of the camera, a lidar system, and a processor. The lidar system includes a laser configured to emit light, where the emitted light is directed toward a region within the field of regard of the camera and a receiver configured to detect light returned from the emitted light. The processor is configured to receive an indication of a location based on the returned light and determine, based on the one or more images generated by the camera, whether the indication of the location is associated with a spurious return.

公开(公告)号：US11194048B1

公开(公告)日：2021-12-07

申请号：US17318506

申请日：2021-05-12

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

Inventor： Istvan Peter Burbank ,  Matthew D. Weed ,  Jason Paul Wojack ,  Jason M. Eichenholz ,  Dmytro Trofymov

IPC: G01S17/931 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S17/10 ,  B60W60/00 ,  B60W30/09 ,  G01S7/481 ,  B60W30/14

Abstract: In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit pulses of light and a scanner configured to scan the emitted pulses of light along a high-resolution scan pattern located within a field of regard of the lidar system. The scanner includes one or more scan mirrors configured to (i) scan the emitted pulses of light along a first scan axis to produce multiple scan lines of the high-resolution scan pattern, where each scan line is associated with multiple pixels, each pixel corresponding to one of the emitted pulses of light and (ii) distribute the scan lines of the high-resolution scan pattern along a second scan axis. The high-resolution scan pattern includes one or more of: interlaced scan lines and interlaced pixels.

公开(公告)号：US11686821B2

公开(公告)日：2023-06-27

申请号：US16390923

申请日：2019-04-22

Applicant: Luminar, LLC

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

IPC: G01C3/08 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/87 ,  G01S7/487 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G01S7/4865

CPC classification number: G01S7/4815 ,  G01S7/487 ,  G01S7/4817 ,  G01S7/4865 ,  G01S17/10 ,  G01S17/42 ,  G01S17/87 ,  G01S17/931

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.