The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Jul. 01, 2025

Filed:

Aug. 15, 2022
Applicant:

Velodyne Lidar Usa, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);

Inventor:

Kiran K. Gunnam, Santa Clara, CA (US);

Assignee:

Velodyne Lidar USA, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01S 7/48 (2006.01); G01S 7/484 (2006.01); G01S 7/486 (2020.01); G01S 17/10 (2020.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01S 7/4868 (2013.01); G01S 7/484 (2013.01); G01S 17/10 (2013.01);
Abstract

Methods and systems for controlling illumination power of a LIDAR based, three dimensional imaging system based on discrete illumination power tiers are described herein. In one aspect, the illumination intensity of a pulsed beam of illumination light emitted from a LIDAR system is varied in accordance with a set of illumination power tiers based on the difference between a desired and a measured return pulse. In a further aspect, the illumination power tier is selected based on whether an intensity difference exceeds one of a sequence of predetermined, tiered threshold values. In this manner, the intensity of measured return pulses is maintained within a linear range of the analog to digital converter for objects detected over a wide range of distances from the LIDAR system and a wide range of environmental conditions in the optical path between the LIDAR system and the detected object.


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