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US 2020/0264286 A1Published application
Method and Apparatus for an Adaptive Ladar Receiver
AssigneeAeye, Inc.
InventorsLuis Carlos Dussan, Allan Steinhardt, David Cook
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are various embodiments of an adaptive ladar receiver and associated method whereby the active pixels in a photodetector array used for reception of ladar pulse returns can be adaptively controlled based at least in part on where the ladar pulses were targeted. Additional embodiments disclose improved imaging optics for use by the receiver and further adaptive control techniques for selecting which pixels of the photodetector array are used for sensing incident light.
Claims24
A ladar system comprising:
- an array comprising a plurality of photodetectors;
- amplifier circuitry comprising a plurality of amplifiers, wherein each amplifier is (1) connected to a corresponding photodetector of the array to amplify a signal detected by its corresponding photodetector and (2) transitionable between a quiescent state and an active state;
- a circuit configured to:
- process a shot list, wherein the shot list identifies a plurality of range points for targeting by ladar pulse shots over time;
- based on the processed shot list, (1) selectively control which of the amplifiers are transitioned from the quiescent state to the active state and which of the amplifiers are transitioned from the active state to the quiescent state over time and (2) select a plurality of different subsets of the photodetectors for read out over time;
- process the amplified signals from the active state amplifiers corresponding to photodetectors that are included in the selected subsets;
- and
- compute range information for the range points targeted by the ladar pulse shots
5 more elements
A method comprising:
- processing a shot list, wherein the shot list comprises data about a plurality of ladar pulse shots for targeting a plurality of range points in a field of view;
- identifying a ladar pulse shot from the shot list;
- scanning a ladar transmitter to target a range point in the field of view corresponding to the identified ladar pulse shot;
- transmitting a ladar pulse toward the targeted range point in accordance with the identified ladar pulse shot via the scanning ladar transmitter;
- controlling a ladar receiver to detect a reflection of the transmitted ladar pulse, wherein the ladar receiver comprises (1) a plurality of photodetectors that serve as pixels for a photodetector array and (2) a plurality of amplifiers for amplifying signals detected by the photodetectors, wherein the controlling step comprises:
- selecting an amplifier from among the amplifiers based on the identified ladar pulse shot;
- transitioning the selected amplifier from a quiescent state to an active state;
- selecting a photodetector from among the photodetectors based on the identified ladar pulse shot;
- detecting a signal via the selected photodetector;
- and
- amplifying the detected signal via the selected amplifier in the active state;
- processing the amplified signal to determine range information for the range point targeted by the identified ladar pulse shot;
- and
- repeating the method steps for a plurality of different ladar pulse shots on the shot list over a plurality of frames so that the ladar transmitter scans according to a dynamic scan pattern that varies as a function of the range points targeted by the shot list, and wherein the targeted range points for the ladar pulse shots of the shot list vary from frame to frame.
11 more elements
A ladar system comprising:
- a ladar transmitter;
- a ladar receiver, wherein the ladar receiver comprises (1) a plurality of photodetectors that serve as pixels for a photodetector array and (2) a plurality of amplifiers for amplifying signals detected by the photodetectors;
- and
- a circuit;
- wherein the circuit is configured to (1) process a shot list, wherein the shot list comprises data about a plurality of ladar pulse shots for targeting a plurality of range points in a field of view, and (2) identify a ladar pulse shot from the shot list;
- wherein the ladar transmitter is configured to (1) scan to target a range point in the field of view corresponding to the identified ladar pulse shot, and (2) transmit a ladar pulse toward the targeted range point in accordance with the identified ladar pulse shot via the scanning ladar transmitter;
- wherein the circuit is further configured to control the ladar receiver to detect a reflection of the transmitted ladar pulse, wherein the control includes (1) a command to select an amplifier from among the amplifiers based on the identified ladar pulse shot and which causes the selected amplifier to transition from a quiescent state to an active state and (2) a command to select a photodetector from among the photodetectors based on the identified ladar pulse shot according to a spatial relationship between the pixels of the photodetector array and locations of the targeted range points in the field of view;
- wherein the selected photodetector is configured to detect a signal in response to incident light thereon;
- and
- wherein the selected amplifier in the active state is configured to amplify the detected signal;
- wherein the circuit is further configured to process the amplified signal to determine range information for the range point targeted by the identified ladar pulse shot;
- and
- wherein the ladar transmitter, ladar receiver, and circuit are further configured to repeat their operations for a plurality of different ladar pulse shots on the shot list over a plurality of frames so that the ladar transmitter scans according to a dynamic scan pattern that varies as a function of the range points targeted by the shot list, and wherein the targeted range points for the ladar pulse shots of the shot list vary from frame to frame.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.