Sensor for flashing light detection

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a processor, electrical current signals from at least one photodiode sensor of an array of photodiode sensors positioned on an autonomous vehicle, each photodiode sensor in the array of photodiode sensors oriented in a different direction with respect to at least one other photodiode sensor, and the electrical current signals from the at least one photodiode sensor generated in response to detecting a flashing light in a surrounding environment of the autonomous vehicle;
• receiving, by an image sensor configured to capture high-resolution and reduced-resolution images at a first frequency, reduced-resolution images of the surrounding environment, wherein the reduced-resolution images comprise lower resolution than the high-resolution image;
• determining a general location of a source of the flashing light relative to the autonomous vehicle based on the electrical current signals from at least one photodiode sensor in the array of photodiode sensors;
• determining a flash frequency of the flashing light
• sending a reconfiguration command to cause the image sensor to capture the reduced-resolution images at a second frequency that is at least twice the flash frequency;
• determining a further localized location of the source of the flashing light relative to the autonomous vehicle based on the reduced-resolution images from the image sensor, or a combination of the reduced-resolution images from the image sensor and the electrical current signals from at least one photodiode sensor in the array of photodiode sensors;
• and
• generating a command to maneuver the autonomous vehicle based on the location of the source relative to the autonomous vehicle.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions, the functions comprising:

• receiving, at a processor, electrical current signals from at least one photodiode sensor of an array of photodiode sensors positioned on an autonomous vehicle, each photodiode sensor in the array of photodiode sensors oriented in a different direction with respect at least one other photodiode sensor, and the electrical current signals from the at least one photodiode sensor generated in response to detecting a flashing light in a surrounding environment of the autonomous vehicle;
• receiving, by an image sensor configured to capture high-resolution and reduced resolution images of the surrounding environment of the autonomous vehicle at a first frequency wherein the reduced-resolution images comprises lower resolution than the high-resolution images;
• determining a general location of a source of the flashing light relative to the autonomous vehicle based on the electrical current signals from at least one photodiode sensor in the array of photodiode sensors;
• determining a flash frequency of the flashing light
• sending a reconfiguration command to cause the image sensor to capture the reduced-resolution images at a second frequency that is at least twice the flash frequency;
• and
• determining a location of a source of the flashing light relative to the autonomous vehicle based at least on the electrical current signals from the at least one photodiode sensor in the array of photodiode sensors, the reduced-resolution images form the camera image sensor, or a combination thereof;
• and
• generating a command to maneuver the autonomous vehicle based on the location of the source relative to the autonomous vehicle.