Rotating compact light ranging system

A light ranging system comprising:

• a stationary enclosure having an optically transparent window and a base;
• a hollow shaft disposed within the enclosure;
• a bearing system coupled to the hollow shaft;
• a first circuit board assembly disposed within the enclosure and parallel with a first plane perpendicular to the hollow shaft, the first circuit board assembly including a stator assembly comprising a plurality of evenly spaced stator elements arranged annularly about the shaft on a surface of the first circuit board assembly;
• a second circuit board assembly disposed within the enclosure parallel to the first plane and rotationally coupled to the shaft by the bearing system, wherein the second circuit board assembly includes a rotor assembly comprising a plurality of evenly spaced rotor elements arranged annularly about the shaft on a surface of the second circuit board assembly such that the plurality of rotor elements are aligned with and spaced apart from the plurality of stator elements;
• a light ranging device coupled to rotate with the second circuit board assembly within the stationary enclosure, the light ranging device including a light source configured to transmit light pulses through the window to objects in a surrounding environment, and detector circuitry configured to detect reflected portions of the light pulses received through the window that are reflected from the objects in the surrounding environment and to compute ranging data based on the reflected portion of the light pulses;
• and
• a stator driver circuit disposed on either the second or the first circuit board assemblies and configured to provide a drive signal to the plurality of stator elements, thereby imparting an electromagnetic force on the plurality of rotor elements to drive a rotation of the second circuit board assembly and the light ranging device about the shaft.

A light ranging system comprising:

• a shaft having a longitudinal axis;
• a first circuit board assembly that includes a stator assembly comprising a plurality of stator elements arranged about the shaft on a surface of the first circuit board assembly;
• a second circuit board assembly rotationally coupled to the shaft and spaced apart from and in an opposing relationship with the first circuit board assembly, wherein the second circuit board assembly includes a rotor assembly comprising a plurality of rotor elements arranged about the shaft on a surface of the second circuit board assembly such that the plurality of rotor elements are aligned with and spaced apart from the plurality of stator elements;
• a stator driver circuit disposed on either the second or the first circuit board assemblies and configured to provide a drive signal to the plurality of stator elements, thereby imparting an electromagnetic force on the plurality of rotor elements to drive a rotation of the second circuit board assembly about the longitudinal axis of the shaft;
• and
• a light ranging device mechanically coupled to the second circuit board assembly such that the light ranging device rotates with the second circuit board assembly.

A light ranging system comprising:

• a shaft having a rotational axis;
• a first circuit board assembly arranged perpendicular to the rotational axis, wherein the first circuit board assembly includes a plurality of stator elements arranged about the shaft on a surface of the first circuit board assembly;
• a second circuit board assembly rotationally coupled to the shaft and spaced apart from and parallel to the first circuit board assembly, wherein the second circuit board assembly includes a plurality of rotor elements arranged about the shaft on a surface of the second circuit board assembly such that the plurality of rotor elements are aligned with and spaced apart from the plurality of stator elements;
• a stator driver circuit electrically coupled to the plurality of stator elements to provide a drive signal to the plurality of stator elements, thereby imparting an electromagnetic force on the plurality of rotor elements to drive a rotation of the second circuit board assembly about the longitudinal axis of the shaft;
• and
• a time-of-flight light ranging device mechanically coupled to the second circuit board assembly such that the light ranging device rotates with the second circuit board assembly, the time-of-flight light ranging device including a plurality of light emitters and a plurality of light sensors, wherein the plurality of light emitters emit precisely timed pulses into a field external to the light ranging system and reflections of the pulses off an object in the field back to the light ranging device are detected by the plurality of light sensors such that an elapsed time between emission and detection can be used to compute a distance to the object.