LIGHT DETECTION AND RANGE (LIDAR) DEVICE WITH SPAD AND APD SENSORS FOR AUTONOMOUS DRIVING VEHICLES

    公开(公告)号:US20200182982A1

    公开(公告)日:2020-06-11

    申请号:US16215175

    申请日:2018-12-10

    申请人: Baidu USA LLC

    IPC分类号: G01S7/486 G01S7/484 G01S17/93

    摘要: In one embodiment, a LIDAR device of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) includes a light emitter to emit a light beam towards a target, wherein at least a portion of the light beam is reflected from the target. The LIDAR device further includes an optical sensing unit including a first photodetector and a second photodetector. The first photodetector is a different type of photodetector from the second photodetector, where the optical sensing unit is to receive the portion of the light beam reflected from the target. When the optical sensing unit receives the portion of the light beam, the first photodetector generates a first optical sensor output signal and the second photodetector generates a second optical sensor output signal. The LIDAR device further includes a first circuitry portion to generate an intensity signal indicative of an intensity of the received portion of the light beam responsive to the first optical sensor output signal. The LIDAR device further includes a second circuitry portion to generate a time of flight (ToF) signal indicative of a ToF of the emitted light beam responsive to the second optical sensor output signal.

    LIDAR device with polygon-shape mirror and prism for autonomous driving vehicles

    公开(公告)号:US11604260B2

    公开(公告)日:2023-03-14

    申请号:US16195637

    申请日:2018-11-19

    申请人: Baidu USA LLC

    摘要: A two dimensional (2D) LIDAR scanning system that uses a combination of a rotating polygonal mirror and a rotatable prism to scan an area of an object. The polygonal mirror and prism are rotated in combination to generate a scanning pattern. A pulsed laser is directed to the polygonal mirror and the prism is held in a fixed position. The polygonal mirror is then incremented a plurality of times to generate a scan line of LIDAR data. The prism is then incremented and a next scan line, e.g., up or down from the first scan line, is generated. An avalanche photodiode (APD) can read the reflections of objects for each scan point. Object reflections can be directed to the APD using either a polarizing beam splitter with a quarter wave plate, or a 50-50 beam splitter.

    Light detection and range (LIDAR) device with SPAD and APD sensors for autonomous driving vehicles

    公开(公告)号:US11372090B2

    公开(公告)日:2022-06-28

    申请号:US16215175

    申请日:2018-12-10

    申请人: Baidu USA LLC

    摘要: In one embodiment, a LIDAR device of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) includes a light emitter to emit a light beam towards a target, wherein at least a portion of the light beam is reflected from the target. The LIDAR device further includes an optical sensing unit including a first photodetector and a second photodetector. The first photodetector is a different type of photodetector from the second photodetector, where the optical sensing unit is to receive the portion of the light beam reflected from the target. When the optical sensing unit receives the portion of the light beam, the first photodetector generates a first optical sensor output signal and the second photodetector generates a second optical sensor output signal. The LIDAR device further includes a first circuitry portion to generate an intensity signal indicative of an intensity of the received portion of the light beam responsive to the first optical sensor output signal. The LIDAR device further includes a second circuitry portion to generate a time of flight (ToF) signal indicative of a ToF of the emitted light beam responsive to the second optical sensor output signal.

    LIDAR 3D design using a polygon mirror

    公开(公告)号:US10928488B2

    公开(公告)日:2021-02-23

    申请号:US16219078

    申请日:2018-12-13

    申请人: Baidu USA LLC

    摘要: In one embodiment, a LIDAR device of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV) includes an array of light emitters to emit a number of light beams to sense a physical range associated with a target. The LIDAR device further includes a prism-shaped mirror assembly having a plurality of joining faces acting as reflective surfaces and a bottom base face. The rotatable platform is configured to rotate with respect to a vertical axis perpendicular to the bottom base face. The light emitters are configured to project the light beams onto the reflective surfaces of the mirror assembly, which are deflected towards the target. The mirror assembly rotates along with the rotatable platform while the array of light emitters remains steady. The LIDAR device further includes one or more light detectors to receive at least a portion of the light beams reflected from the target.

    Lidar peak detection using time-to-digital converter and multi-pixel photon counter for autonomous driving vehicles

    公开(公告)号:US11320520B2

    公开(公告)日:2022-05-03

    申请号:US16183483

    申请日:2018-11-07

    申请人: Baidu USA LLC

    摘要: A LIDAR scanning system uses a combination of a time-to-digital conversion (TDC) device and a multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) to determine the peak location (time) and magnitude of a reflection of a laser beam off of an object. A configurable trigger threshold of the TDC indicates that a sufficient number of MPPC pixels have triggered that the peak detection module should begin sampling and storing MPPC counts of triggered pixels. When the light received from the reflected laser beam falls below the trigger threshold of the TDC, the MPPC stops sampling the MPPC counts. The peak magnitude of the reflection of the laser beam is determined from the highest sample count of the MPPC. A time at which the peak magnitude occurred is determined as the midpoint of TDC trigger points. The peak magnitude MPPC count is correlated to an intensity value.