Reducing the number of false detections in a lidar system
AssigneeLuminar Technologies, Inc.
InventorsJoseph G. LaChapelle, Jason M. Eichenholz, Laurance S. Lingvay
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Abstract
A light source includes a laser configured to emit a ranging pulse including a sequence of fast pulses. A lidar system uses one or more properties of the sequence of fast pulses to determine a signature of the ranging pulse. A receiver includes a detector element configured to detect a light signal and a signature detection circuitry configured to determine whether the detected light signal corresponds to the signature of the emitted ranging pulse. The lidar system is configured to generate a pixel value based on the detected light signal if the detected light signal corresponds to the signature of the emitted ranging pulse.
Claims25
A lidar system comprising:
- a light source including a mode-locked laser that includes an optical pump, the light source configured to emit a ranging pulse including a pseudo-random sequence of fast pulses generated by the laser, wherein one or more properties of the sequence of the fast pulses within the ranging pulse defines a signature of the ranging pulse;
- a processor configured to modulate the optical pump to emit the ranging pulse and restart the optical pump for every ranging pulse emitted by the light source;
- and
- a receiver configured to detect light scattered by remote targets, the receiver comprising:
- a detector element configured to detect a light signal, and
- a signature detection circuitry configured to determine whether the detected light signal corresponds to the signature of the emitted ranging pulse;
- wherein the lidar system is configured to generate a pixel value based on the detected light signal if the detected light signal corresponds to the signature of the emitted ranging pulse.
A method comprising:
- emitting, using a mode-locked laser, a ranging pulse including a pseudo-random sequence of fast pulses, including modulating an optical pump to emit the ranging pulse and restarting the optical pump for every N ranging pulses emitted by the light source, wherein N≥2, wherein one or more properties of the sequence of the fast pulses within the ranging pulse defines a signature of the ranging pulse;
- detecting a light signal using a detector element;
- determining whether the detected light signal corresponds to the signature of the emitted ranging pulse;
- and
- in response to determining that the detected light signal corresponds to the signature of the emitted ranging pulse, generating a pixel value based on the detected light signal;
- otherwise, in response to determining that the detected light signal does not correspond to the signature of the emitted ranging pulse, discarding the detected light signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.