Spinning Lidar With One or More Secondary Mirrors

Abstract

Example embodiments relate to spinning lidars utilizing one or more secondary mirrors. An example embodiment includes a lidar system that includes a rotatable portion. The rotatable portion includes one or more light sources and one or more one or more detectors. The rotatable portion is configured to rotate about a rotational axis such that the one or more light sources are operable to emit light within an azimuthal 360 degree field of view. The 360 degree field of view comprises a primary field of view that is less than 360 degrees. The lidar system also includes at least one secondary mirror configured to reflect light initially emitted by the one or more light sources in a direction away from the primary field of view so as to redirect the light into a secondary field of view.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.