The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

Joseph Hollmann

Zachary R Hoffman

A method of lidar imaging pulses a scene with laser pulse sequences from a laser light source. Reflected light from the scene is measured for each laser pulse to form a sequence of time resolved light signals. Adjoining time bins in the time resolved light signals are combined to form super time bins. A three dimensional image of the scene is created from distances determined based on maximum intensity super time bins. One or more objects are located within the image. For each object, the time resolved light signals are combined to form a single object time resolved light signal from which to determine distance to the object.

Convolved augmented range lidar nominal area

Convolved augmented range LIDAR nominal area

A system and method of LIDAR imaging to overcome scattering effects pulses a scene with light pulse sequences from a light source. Reflected light from the scene is measured for each light pulse to form a sequence of time-resolved signals. Time-resolved contrast is calculated for each location in a scene. A three-dimensional map or image of the scene is created from the time-resolved contrasts. The three-dimensional map is then utilized to affect operation of a vehicle.

Time-resolved contrast imaging for lidar

Time-resolved contrast imaging for LIDAR

A method of lidar processing pulses a scene with laser pulse sequences from a laser light source. Reflected light from the target scene passes through receiver optics and is defocused to cover a light sensing surface of a photo detector array. The photo detector array contains multiple photon detector elements connected in parallel where each photon detector element is configured to generate corresponding photon pulse output signals based on sensing photons in the received reflected light, and each photon detector element is characterized by a non-responsive dead time period immediately after sensing a photon. The photon pulse output signals are combined to form a common real time output signal, which is converted to a digital time resolved histogram. Multiple digital time resolved histograms produced in response to multiple light pulses directed at a scanning location are combined to form a composite time resolved histogram for the scanning location.

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Watertown, MA, United States of America

Joseph Hollmann