Adaptive control of Ladar shot selection using spatial index of prior Ladar return data

An adaptive ladar system comprising:

• a ladar transmitter configured to transmit a plurality of ladar pulse shots into a coordinate space toward a plurality of range points;
• a ladar receiver configured to receive incident light and detect ladar returns based on the received incident light;
• a memory configured to store data about a plurality of ladar returns from prior ladar pulse shots in a spatial index, the spatial index associating the ladar return data with a plurality of locations in the coordinate space;
• and
• a processor configured to adapt a shot selection for the ladar transmitter based on an analysis of the ladar return data in the spatial index associated with locations within a defined vicinity of an identified location in the coordinate space, wherein the adapted shot selection includes a new ladar pulse shot that targets a defined range point in the coordinate space;
• wherein the ladar transmitter is further configured to transmit the new ladar pulse shot toward the defined range point;
• wherein the processor is further configured to compute a static scene intensity map based on the analysis;
• and
• wherein the adaptive shot selection comprises a reduction in a number of ladar shots that are targeted toward elements of the static scene intensity map.

An adaptive ladar system comprising:

• a ladar transmitter configured to transmit a plurality of ladar pulse shots into a coordinate space toward a plurality of range points;
• a ladar receiver configured to receive incident light and detect ladar returns based on the received incident light;
• a memory configured to store data about a plurality of ladar returns from prior ladar pulse shots in a spatial index, the spatial index associating the ladar return data with a plurality of locations in the coordinate space;
• and
• a processor configured to adapt a shot selection for the ladar transmitter based on an analysis of the ladar return data in the spatial index associated with locations within a defined vicinity of an identified location in the coordinate space, wherein the adapted shot selection includes a new ladar pulse shot that targets a defined range point in the coordinate space;
• wherein the ladar transmitter is further configured to transmit the new ladar pulse shot toward the defined range point;
• and
• wherein the ladar transmitter and the processor are configured to generate a rolling ladar frame based on a rolling shutter technique.

An adaptive ladar system comprising:

• a ladar transmitter configured to transmit a plurality of ladar pulse shots into a coordinate space toward a plurality of range points;
• a ladar receiver configured to receive incident light and detect ladar returns based on the received incident light;
• a memory configured to store data about a plurality of ladar returns from prior ladar pulse shots in a spatial index, the spatial index associating the ladar return data with a plurality of locations in the coordinate space;
• and
• a processor configured to adapt a shot selection for the ladar transmitter based on an analysis of the ladar return data in the spatial index associated with locations within a defined vicinity of an identified location in the coordinate space, wherein the adapted shot selection includes a new ladar pulse shot that targets a defined range point in the coordinate space;
• wherein the ladar transmitter is further configured to transmit the new ladar pulse shot toward the defined range point;
• wherein the adapted shot selection comprises an adapted shot location for the new ladar pulse shot;
• and
• wherein the processor is further configured to (1) compute optical flow data for a plurality of ladar frames, and (2) use the spatial index to interpolate intensity data with respect to the computed optical flow data to build a static object intensity map for a scene.

An adaptive ladar system comprising:

• a ladar transmitter configured to transmit a plurality of ladar pulse shots into a coordinate space toward a plurality of range points;
• a ladar receiver configured to receive incident light and detect ladar returns based on the received incident light;
• a memory configured to store data about a plurality of ladar returns from prior ladar pulse shots in a spatial index, the spatial index associating the ladar return data with a plurality of locations in the coordinate space;
• and
• a processor configured to adapt a shot selection for the ladar transmitter based on an analysis of the ladar return data in the spatial index associated with locations within a defined vicinity of an identified location in the coordinate space, wherein the adapted shot selection includes a new ladar pulse shot that targets a defined range point in the coordinate space;
• wherein the ladar transmitter is further configured to transmit the new ladar pulse shot toward the defined range point
• wherein the adapted shot selection comprises an adapted shot time for the new ladar pulse shot;
• and
• wherein the processor is further configured to (1) compute optical flow data for a plurality of ladar frames, and (2) use the spatial index to interpolate intensity data with respect to the computed optical flow data to build a static object intensity map for a scene.

A method for adaptively controlling a ladar system that interrogates a coordinate space with a plurality of ladar pulse shots, the method comprising:

• spatially indexing ladar return data for a plurality of prior ladar pulse shots by location in the coordinate space;
• adapting a shot selection for the ladar system based on a look up and analysis of spatially indexed ladar return data for locations in the coordinate space that are within a defined vicinity around a targeted location in the coordinate space;
• transmitting ladar pulse shots toward targeted locations in the coordinate space based on the adapted shot selection;
• and
• adding synthetic ladar return data to a plurality of range points in a ladar frame based on the analysis, and wherein the adapted shot selection comprises an elimination of a plurality of ladar shots that were targeted toward range points corresponding to the added synthetic ladar return data.

An adaptive ladar system comprising:

• a ladar transmitter configured to transmit a plurality of ladar pulse shots into a coordinate space toward a plurality of range points;
• a memory that spatially indexes ladar return data for prior ladar pulse shots by location in the coordinate space;
• and
• a processor configured to compute a static scene intensity map based on a look up and analysis of spatially indexed ladar return data stored in the memory for locations in the coordinate space that are within a defined vicinity around locations in the coordinate space classified as being static objects.