Lidar resonator with dynamic force equilibrium

A method comprising:

• mechanically coupling a voice coil and an optical module to a first tine of a spring fork mechanism and a counterweight to a second tine of the spring fork mechanism wherein the spring fork mechanism has a resonant frequency;
• inducing, by the voice coil, an alternating magnetic force between the optical module and the counterweight to sustain a resonance of the spring fork mechanism at the resonant frequency;
• transmitting, by the optical module, a first light pulse at a first angle in response to a first position of the first tine and a second light pulse at a second angle in response to a second position of the first tine;
• generating a depth map in response to a reflection of the first light pulse received by the optical module at the first position and a reflection of the second light pulse received by the optical module at the second position;
• and
• controlling a vehicle in response to the depth map.

A vehicle comprising:

• a lidar including a spring fork mechanism having a first tine with a first stiffness and a second tine with the first stiffness, wherein the spring fork mechanism is configured to resonate at a resonant frequency, an optical module, mounted to the first tine, for transmitting a light pulse and receiving a reflection of the light pulse, a voice coil, mounted to the first tine, for generating an alternating magnetic field at the resonant frequency, and a counterweight, mounted to the second tine, having a mass and center of gravity equal to a mass and center of gravity of the optical module and the voice coil;
• a signal source for coupling an alternating current signal at the resonant frequency to the voice coil such that the voice coil is operative to generate an alternating magnetic force at the resonant frequency between the voice coil and the counterweight;
• a processor for generating a depth map in response to a transmission time of the light pulse and a detection time of the reflection of the light pulse;
• a memory for storing the depth map;
• and
• a vehicle controller for controlling the vehicle in response to an assisted driving algorithm and the depth map.