Dynamic illumination allocation in highway driving

A method for detecting objects in a path of a vehicle using LIDAR, the method comprising:

• controlling at least one light source in a manner enabling light flux of light from at least one light source to vary over a scanning cycle of a field of view;
• controlling at least one deflector to deflect light from the at least one light source in order to scan the field of view, wherein the field of view is dividable into a central region generally corresponding to the highway on which the vehicle is traveling, a right peripheral region generally corresponding to an area right of the highway, and a left peripheral region generally corresponding to an area left of the highway;
• obtaining input that the vehicle is in a mode corresponding to highway travel;
• and
• in response to the input that the vehicle is in a mode corresponding to highway travel, coordinating the control of the at least one light source with the control of the at least one light deflector such that during scanning of the field of view that encompasses the central region, the right peripheral region, and the left peripheral region, light projected toward at least one field of view pixel associated with the central region is of a higher light intensity than a light intensity of light projected to the right peripheral region and to the left peripheral region.

A vehicle, comprising:

• a vehicle body;
• at least one processor located within the vehicle body and configured to:
• control at least one light source in a manner enabling light flux of light from at least one light source to vary over a scanning cycle of a field of view;
• control at least one deflector to deflect light from the at least one light source in order to scan the field of view, wherein the field of view is dividable into a central region generally corresponding to the highway on which the vehicle is traveling, a right peripheral region generally corresponding to an area right of the highway, and a left peripheral region generally corresponding to an area left of the highway;
• obtain input that the vehicle is in a mode corresponding to highway travel;
• and
• in response to the input that the vehicle is in a mode corresponding to highway travel, coordinate the control of the at least one light source with the control of the at least one light deflector such that during scanning of the field of view that encompasses the central region, the right peripheral region, and the left peripheral region, light projected toward at least one field of view pixel associated with the central region is of a higher light intensity than a light intensity of light projected to the right peripheral region and to the left peripheral region.

A vehicle, comprising:

• a vehicle body;
• at least one processor located within the vehicle body and configured to:
• control at least one light source in a manner enabling light flux of light from at least one light source to vary over a scanning cycle of a field of view;
• control at least one deflector to deflect light from the at least one light source in order to scan the field of view, wherein the field of view is dividable into a central region generally corresponding to the highway on which the vehicle is traveling, a right peripheral region generally corresponding to an area right of the highway, and a left peripheral region generally corresponding to an area left of the highway;
• obtain input that the vehicle is in a mode corresponding to highway travel;
• and
• in response to the input that the vehicle is in a mode corresponding to highway travel, coordinate the control of the at least one light source with the control of the at least one light deflector such that during scanning of the field of view that encompasses the central region, the right peripheral region, and the left peripheral region, light projected toward at least one field of view pixel associated with the central region is of a higher light intensity than a light intensity of light projected to the right peripheral region and to the left peripheral region, wherein a higher number of pulses are projected toward at least one field of view pixel associated with the central region than projected to the right peripheral region and to the left peripheral region;
• and
• wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
• determine an existence of an object in the central region at a distance greater than detection distances associated with the right peripheral region and the left peripheral region;
• and
• control the at least light source such that a detection distance in the central region is at least two times greater than the detection distances in the right peripheral region and in the left peripheral region.