Luminar Technologies, Inc.

Luminar, LLC

Luminar Holdco, LLC

Matthew D Weed

Jason M Eichenholz

Scott R Campbell

Lane A Martin

Austin K Russell

Joseph G LaChapelle

Rodger W Cleye

Alain Villeneuve

David Welford

Martin A Jaspan

Liam J McGregor

Istvan Peter Burbank

Jason Paul Wojack

John McWhirter

Dmytro Trofymov

Richmond Hicks

Stephen D Gaalema

Philip Smith

Melvin L Stauffer

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 along a second scan axis to produce the high-resolution scan pattern, where the high-resolution scan pattern includes locally retraced scan lines.

Lidar system with locally retraced scan lines

In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a light source configured to emit pulses of light. The emitted pulses of light include one or more series of standard-resolution pulses alternating with one or more series of high-resolution pulses. Each series of the standard-resolution pulses includes multiple pulses having a standard pulse period, and each series of the high-resolution pulses includes multiple pulses having a high-resolution pulse period. The standard pulse period is greater than or equal to a round-trip time associated with a maximum range of the lidar system, and the high-resolution pulse period is less than the standard pulse period. The lidar system also includes a scanner configured to scan at least a portion of the emitted pulses of light across a field of regard.

Lidar system with adjustable pulse period

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.

Lidar system with polygon mirror

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.

Adjusting receiver characteristics in view of weather conditions

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.

Lidar system with high-resolution scan pattern

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.

Scan patterns for lidar systems

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.

Camera-gated lidar system

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.

Lidar system with spatial light modulator

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.

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.

Pulse timing based on angle of view

A lidar system includes a light source, a scanner, and a receiver and is configured to detect remote targets located up to Rmeters away. The receiver includes a detector with a field of view larger than the light-source field of view. The scanner causes the detector field of view to move relative to the instantaneous light-source field of view along the scan direction, so that (i) when a pulse of light is emitted, the instantaneous light-source field of view is approximately centered within the detector field of view, and (ii) when a scattered pulse of light returns from a target located Rmeters away, the instantaneous light-source field of view is located near an edge of the field of view of the detector and is contained within the field of view of the detector.

Sizing the field of view of a detector to improve operation of a lidar system

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.

Adjustable scan patterns for lidar system

A lidar system operating in a vehicle comprising a first eye configured to scan a first field of regard and a second eye configured to scan a second field of regard. Each of the first eye and the second eye includes a respective optical element configured to output a beam of light, a respective scan mirror configured to scan the beam of light along a vertical dimension of the respective field of regard, and a respective receiver configured to detect scattered light from the beam of light. The field of regard of the lidar system includes the first field of regard and the second field of regard, combined along a horizontal dimension of the first field of regard and the second field of regard.

Growing community of inventors

Winter Park, FL, United States of America

Matthew D Weed