公开(公告)号：US20240085343A1

公开(公告)日：2024-03-14

申请号：US17930441

申请日：2022-09-08

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Ralph H. Shepard ,  Andy Wong ,  Chase Salsbury ,  Regan Klein

IPC: G01N21/95 ,  G01S17/89

CPC classification number: G01N21/95 ,  G01S17/89

Abstract: Example embodiments relate to temporally modulated light emission and defect detection in light detection and ranging (lidar) devices and cameras. An example embodiment includes a method. The method includes detecting, by a first detector via an optical component, a background signal corresponding to a surrounding environment. The method also includes illuminating, by a first light source, a first portion of the optical component with a first light signal. Additionally, the method includes detecting, by the first detector when one or more defects are present in a body of the first portion of the optical component or on a surface of the first portion of the optical component, the first light signal. Further, the method includes determining, by a computing device, when one or more defects are present in the body of the first portion of the optical component or on the surface of the first portion of the optical component.

公开(公告)号：US20230152429A1

公开(公告)日：2023-05-18

申请号：US17454885

申请日：2021-11-15

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Colin Braley ,  Po-Chao Huang ,  Chase Salsbury ,  Hanna Revinskaya

IPC: G01S7/4863 ,  H04N5/235 ,  H04N5/225 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S17/931

CPC classification number: G01S7/4863 ,  H04N5/2353 ,  H04N5/2258 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S17/931

Abstract: An example method includes receiving, from a light detector, information indicative of a light intensity of a field of view of an optical system. The optical system includes one or more optical components and a light detector configured to receive light from a field of view of an environment of the optical system by way of the one or more optical components. The optical system also includes an occlusion-detection camera configured to capture images of the one or more optical components. The example method also includes adjusting, based on the received information, at least one operating parameter of the occlusion-detection camera. The example method also includes causing the occlusion-detection camera to capture at least one image of the one or more optical components according to the at least one adjusted operating parameter.

公开(公告)号：US20220171059A1

公开(公告)日：2022-06-02

申请号：US17247181

申请日：2020-12-02

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Chase Salsbury

IPC: G01S17/58 ,  G01S7/481 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G01S7/484

Abstract: The subject matter of this specification can be implemented in, among other things, a system that includes a light source to produce a first beam, a diffraction optical element (DOE) to generate, based on the first beam configured to have a first phase information, one or more second beams. The system further includes a DOE control module to configure the DOE, for each of a plurality of times, into a respective one of a plurality of DOE configurations, and cause each of the one or more second beams to have a phase information that is different from a phase information of the first beam, wherein the phase information of each of the one or more second beams is determined by a time sequence of the plurality of DOE configurations.

公开(公告)号：US20240219538A1

公开(公告)日：2024-07-04

申请号：US18148619

申请日：2022-12-30

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Lucas Peeters ,  Chase Salsbury ,  Kanika Sachdev ,  Luke Wachter ,  Tadeusz Pudlik ,  Caner Onal ,  Logan Su

IPC: G01S7/497 ,  B08B1/00 ,  B08B3/02 ,  B08B5/02 ,  B08B7/04 ,  B08B13/00

CPC classification number: G01S7/497 ,  B08B1/005 ,  B08B3/02 ,  B08B5/02 ,  B08B7/04 ,  B08B13/00 ,  G01S2007/4977

Abstract: Example embodiments relate to using cleaning protocols to monitor defects associated with light detection and ranging (lidar) devices. An example embodiment includes a method. The method includes applying, using a cleaning device, a cleaning protocol to one or more optical components of a light detection and ranging (lidar) device. The method also includes emitting, from a light emitter of the lidar device, one or more light signals. Additionally, the method includes detecting, by a light detector of the lidar device, reflections of the one or more light signals. Further, the method includes determining, by a controller of the lidar device based on the detected reflections of the one or more light signals, that one or more defects are present within the one or more optical components or within the cleaning device.

公开(公告)号：US20230171503A1

公开(公告)日：2023-06-01

申请号：US17456861

申请日：2021-11-29

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Colin Braley ,  Chase Salsbury ,  Po-Chao Huang

IPC: H04N5/235 ,  H04N7/18 ,  G01S7/497 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S17/86

CPC classification number: H04N5/2353 ,  H04N7/18 ,  H04N5/2351 ,  G01S7/497 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G01S17/89 ,  G01S17/86 ,  G01S2007/4975

Abstract: Example embodiments relate to taking images at certain predetermined angles in order to have consistent exposure throughout the images. An example embodiment includes a method. The method includes determining, using a lidar device, light intensity information of a surrounding environment of the lidar device. The light intensity information includes a plurality of angles within a threshold range of light exposure. The method also includes determining rotation times associated with each of the angles within the threshold range of light exposure. Further, the method includes based on the rotation times associated with each of the angles within the threshold range of light exposure, determining a plurality of target image times. In addition, the method includes capturing, by a camera system, a plurality of images at the plurality of target image times.

公开(公告)号：US20230023043A1

公开(公告)日：2023-01-26

申请号：US17443163

申请日：2021-07-21

Applicant: Waymo LLC

Inventor： Chase Salsbury ,  Michael R. Matthews

IPC: G01S7/481 ,  G01S7/48 ,  G01S17/86 ,  G01S17/931 ,  G02B6/122 ,  G02B27/42

Abstract: The subject matter of this specification can be implemented in, among other things, systems and methods of optical sensing that utilize optimized processing of multiple sensing channels for efficient and reliable scanning of environments. The optical sensing includes multiple optical communication lines that include coupling portions configured to facilitate efficient collection of various received beams. The optical sensing system further includes multiple light detectors configured to process collected beams and produce data representative of a velocity of an object that generated the received beam and/or a distance to that object.