# US 2019/0171003 A1 · Hybrid lidar system

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- Number: US 2019/0171003 A1
- Document ID: US20190171003A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/832,014
- Filed: 2017-12-05
- Published: 2019-06-06
- Earliest claimed: 2017-12-05
- Assignees: Goodrich Corporation
- Applicants: Goodrich Corporation
- Inventors: Scott W. Ramsey; Jonathan C. Jarok; James B. Johnson
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190171003A1

## CPC

- G02B 26/0883: {the refracting element being a prism}
- G01S 7/4816: {of receivers alone}
- G01S 7/4817: {relating to scanning}
- G01S 7/4865: Time delay measurement, e.g. time-of-flight measurement, time of arrival measurement or determining the exact position of a peak (peak detection in noise, signal conditioning G01S7/487)
- G01S 17/10: using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves (determination of distance by phase measurements G01S17/32)
- G01S 17/42: Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates (indirect measurement G01S17/46)
- G02B 26/108: {having one or more prisms as scanning elements}
- G06T 7/30: Determination of transform parameters for the alignment of images, i.e. image registration
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL

## Abstract

A hybrid LIDAR system 100 includes a flash-based LIDAR detector array. A broad laser emitter is operatively connected to the LIDAR detector array for flash-based LIDAR sensing. A first beam steering mechanism is operatively connected with the broad laser emitter for scanning a scene with a broad beam from the broad laser emitter. A second beam steering mechanism is operatively connected with the LIDAR detector array for directing returns of the broad beam from the scene to the LIDAR detector array.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A hybrid LIDAR system comprising:
a flash-based LIDAR detector array;
a broad laser emitter operatively connected to the LIDAR detector array for flash-based LIDAR sensing;
a first beam steering mechanism operatively connected with the broad laser emitter for scanning a scene with a broad beam from the broad laser emitter; and
a second beam steering mechanism operatively connected with the LIDAR detector array for directing returns of the broad beam from the scene to the LIDAR detector array.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the first beam steering mechanism includes a first rotating prism, wherein the second beam steering mechanism includes a second rotating prism that is co-aligned with the first rotating prism.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the first beam steering mechanism includes a first Risley prism pair for steering the beam from the broad laser emitter over a conical field of regard, and wherein the second beam steering mechanism includes a second Risley prism pair that is co-aligned with the first Risley prism pair for directing returns of the broad beam from the seen to the LIDAR detector array.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a position measuring system operatively connected to at least one of the first beam steering mechanism and/or the second beam steering mechanism for generating positional data to associate with returns of the broad beam detected by the LIDAR detector array.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising an alignment controller operatively connected to the first beam steering mechanism and to the second beam steering mechanism to maintain alignment of the LIDAR detector array and the broad laser emitter.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a LIDAR controller operatively connected to the LIDAR detector array and to the broad laser emitter for controlling LIDAR actuation.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising an inertial navigation system (INS) operatively connected to the LIDAR detector array for generating geo-location data to associate with returns of the broad beam.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a real-time computer operatively connected to the LIDAR detector for alignment of metadata with received LIDAR data.

### Claim 9

A hybrid LIDAR system comprising:
a platform;
a flash-based LIDAR detector array mounted to the platform;
a broad laser emitter mounted to the platform and operatively connected to the LIDAR detector array for flash-based LIDAR sensing;
a first Risley prism pair mounted to the platform and optically coupled to the broad laser emitter for scanning a scene with a broad beam from the broad laser emitter;
a second Risley prism pair mounted to the platform and optically coupled to the LIDAR detector array for directing returns of the broad beam from the scene to the LIDAR detector array;
at least one controller operatively connected to the first and second Risley prism pairs to maintain alignment of the LIDAR detector array and the broad laser emitter and to control LIDAR actuation;
at least one sensor subsystem operatively connected to the platform for generating metadata associated with returns of the broad beam detected by the LIDAR detector array; and
a real-time computer operatively connected to the at least one sensor subsystem and to the LIDAR detector array to associate metadata from the at least one sensor subsystem with LIDAR data from the LIDAR detector array.

### Claim 10

A method of generating LIDAR data comprising:
directing a laser beam from a wide beam laser emitter through a first beam steering mechanism to scan a scene;
directing returns of the laser beam from the scene with a second beam steering mechanism to a LIDAR detector array;
generating time of flight data for returns of the laser beam for a plurality of detector points in the LIDAR detector array for each pulse of the laser beam; and
associating positional data with the time of flight data to generate LIDAR data.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method as recited in claim 10, wherein directing a laser beam includes steering the laser beam with the beam steering mechanism over a conical field of regard.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising detecting positional data regarding the first and second beam steering mechanisms.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the first beam steering mechanism includes a first Risley prism pair, and wherein the second beam steering mechanism includes a second Risley prism pair that is co-aligned with the first Risley prism pair, and wherein detecting positional data includes detecting prism positions for at least one prism in the first and second Risley prism pairs.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising controlling the first and second beam steering mechanisms to maintain alignment of the LIDAR detector array and the broad laser emitter.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising controlling LIDAR actuation with a LIDAR controller operatively connected to the LIDAR detector array and to the broad laser emitter.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising associating geo-location data with the LIDAR data to generate a raw 3-d point cloud with all metadata required for geo-registration of detected LIDAR points.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising obtaining the geo-location data from an inertial navigation system (INS) operatively connected to the LIDAR detector array.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising associating metadata with the LIDAR data using a real-time computer operatively connected to the LIDAR detector.