-
公开(公告)号:US11145778B2
公开(公告)日:2021-10-12
申请号:US16577035
申请日:2019-09-20
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Caner Onal , Pierre-Yves Droz , Nirav Dharia
IPC分类号: H01L31/107 , H01L31/0232 , G01S7/481 , H01L31/18 , H01L27/144
摘要: An optical system may include a substrate and a plurality of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) monolithically integrated with the substrate. Each SiPM may include a plurality of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). The optical system also includes an aperture array having a plurality of apertures. The plurality of SiPMs and the aperture array are aligned so as to define a plurality of receiver channels. Each receiver channel includes a respective SiPM of the plurality of SiPMs optically coupled to a respective aperture of the plurality of apertures.
-
公开(公告)号:US20210278257A1
公开(公告)日:2021-09-09
申请号:US16808314
申请日:2020-03-03
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Nirav Dharia , Giulia Guidi , Ralph Shepard , Vlad Cardei , Lucian Ion
摘要: A system may include a first sensor of a first type and a second sensor of a second different type and having a detector. A field of view of the second sensor may be formed by a plurality of regions of interest (ROIs) defined by the detector. Control circuitry of the system may be configured to perform operations including obtaining, from the first sensor, first sensor data representing an environment, and determining, based on the first sensor data, information associated with a feature of interest within the environment. The operations may also include determining, based on the information, a particular ROI that corresponds to an expected position of the feature at a later time, obtaining a plurality of ROI sensor data from the particular ROI instead of obtaining full-resolution sensor data, and analyzing the plurality of ROI sensor data to determine one or more attributes of the feature.
-
公开(公告)号:US20210152759A1
公开(公告)日:2021-05-20
申请号:US16689936
申请日:2019-11-20
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Nirav Dharia , Vlad Cardei
摘要: An example method includes using a plurality of switches corresponding to a plurality of capacitors to select a first set of capacitors for charging at a first time. Charging the first set of capacitors corresponds to sampling from a first set of adjacent light detectors. The method includes using the plurality of switches to select a second set of capacitors from the plurality of capacitors for discharging at a second time. The method includes using a sampling switch to sample an output of the second set of capacitors as they discharge. The output of the second set of capacitors corresponds to the first set of adjacent light detectors. The method includes determining, based on sampling the output of the second set of capacitors, a collective intensity of light received by the first set of adjacent light detectors.
-
公开(公告)号:US20230118504A1
公开(公告)日:2023-04-20
申请号:US18066004
申请日:2022-12-14
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Nirav Dharia , Jia Feng
IPC分类号: H04N25/713
摘要: A method includes obtaining, from an image sensor, one or more images that represent an object, and determining a speed of the object based on the one or more images. The method also includes determining that the speed of the object exceeds a threshold speed and, based on determining that the speed of the object exceeds the threshold speed, determining a region of interest (ROI) of the image sensor expected to represent the object. The method further includes causing the image sensor to generate one or more ROI images using the ROI.
-
公开(公告)号:US20220357186A1
公开(公告)日:2022-11-10
申请号:US17872244
申请日:2022-07-25
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Nirav Dharia , Giulia Guidi , Ralph Shepard , Vlad Cardei , Lucian Ion
摘要: A system may include a first sensor of a first type and a second sensor of a second different type and having a detector. A field of view of the second sensor may be formed by a plurality of regions of interest (ROIs) defined by the detector. Control circuitry of the system may be configured to perform operations including obtaining, from the first sensor, first sensor data representing an environment, and determining, based on the first sensor data, information associated with a feature of interest within the environment. The operations may also include determining, based on the information, a particular ROI that corresponds to an expected position of the feature at a later time, obtaining a plurality of ROI sensor data from the particular ROI instead of obtaining full-resolution sensor data, and analyzing the plurality of ROI sensor data to determine one or more attributes of the feature.
-
公开(公告)号:US20220210363A1
公开(公告)日:2022-06-30
申请号:US17655411
申请日:2022-03-18
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Lucian Ion , Nirav Dharia , Vlad Cardei
IPC分类号: H04N5/372
摘要: An apparatus includes an image sensor having a plurality of pixels that form regions of interest (ROIs), analog-to-digital converter (ADC) banks, and multiplexers. Each respective multiplexer is electrically connected to (i) a corresponding ADC bank and (ii) a corresponding subset of the ROIs. The apparatus also includes control circuitry configured to obtain a full-resolution image of an environment by electrically connecting, by way of the multiplexers, each respective ADC bank to the associated respective ROI. The control circuitry is also configured to select a particular ROI based on the full-resolution image and obtain a plurality of ROI images of the particular ROI by (i) electrically connecting, to the particular ROI, a first ADC bank associated with the particular ROI and a second ADC bank associated with another ROI and (ii) digitizing pixels of the particular ROI by way of parallel operation of the first and second ADC banks.
-
公开(公告)号:US11346924B2
公开(公告)日:2022-05-31
申请号:US16707127
申请日:2019-12-09
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Caner Onal , Nirav Dharia
IPC分类号: G01S17/88 , G01S7/4863 , H01L31/0232 , H01L31/107 , H01L27/144
摘要: The present disclosure relates to devices, light detection and ranging (lidar) systems, and vehicles involving solid-state, single photon detectors. An example device includes a substrate defining a primary plane and a plurality of photodetector cells disposed along the primary plane. The plurality of photodetector cells includes at least one large-area cell and at least one small-area cell. The large-area cell has a first area and the small-area cell has a second area and the first area is greater than the second area. The device also includes read out circuitry coupled to the plurality of photodetector cells. The read out circuitry is configured to provide an output signal based on incident light detected by the plurality of photodetector cells.
-
公开(公告)号:US20210091251A1
公开(公告)日:2021-03-25
申请号:US16577035
申请日:2019-09-20
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Caner Onal , Pierre-Yves Droz , Nirav Dharia
IPC分类号: H01L31/107 , H01L31/0232 , H01L27/144 , H01L31/18 , G01S7/481
摘要: An optical system may include a substrate and a plurality of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) monolithically integrated with the substrate. Each SiPM may include a plurality of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). The optical system also includes an aperture array having a plurality of apertures. The plurality of SiPMs and the aperture array are aligned so as to define a plurality of receiver channels. Each receiver channel includes a respective SiPM of the plurality of SiPMs optically coupled to a respective aperture of the plurality of apertures.
-
公开(公告)号:US20230022201A1
公开(公告)日:2023-01-26
申请号:US17937900
申请日:2022-10-04
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Andy Wong , Nirav Dharia
摘要: The present disclosure relates to systems, vehicles, and methods for detecting optical defects in an optical path of a camera system. An example system may include an image sensor configured to provide images of a field of view via an optical path that extends through an optical window. The system also includes at least one phase-detection device and a controller. The controller is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory so as to carry out various operations, including receiving, from the image sensor, first pixel information indicative of an image of the field of view. The operations additionally include receiving, from the at least one phase-detection device, second pixel information indicative of a portion of the field of view. The operations yet further include determining, based on the first pixel information and the second pixel information, at least one optical defect associated with the optical path.
-
公开(公告)号:US20220210305A1
公开(公告)日:2022-06-30
申请号:US17550255
申请日:2021-12-14
申请人: Waymo LLC
发明人: Jia Feng , Damien Kelly , Ignacio Garcia Dorado , Xiaoying He , Benjamin Frevert , Nirav Dharia
摘要: Described examples relate to an apparatus comprising a first sensor configured to scan an area of interest during a first time period and a second sensor configured to capture a plurality of images of a field of view. The apparatus may include at least one controller configured to receive the plurality of images captured by the second sensor, compare the timestamp information associated with at least one image of the plurality of images to at least one time period of the first time period, and select a base image from the plurality of images based on the comparison.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-