The methods and systems disclosed herein improve upon previous 3D imaging techniques by making use of a longer illumination pulse to obtain the same or nearly the same range resolution as can be achieved by using a much shorter, conventional laser pulse. For example, a longer illumination pulse can be produced by one or more Q-switched lasers that produce, for example, 5, 10, 20 ns or longer pulses. In some instances, the laser pulse can be longer than the modulation waveform of a MIS-type imaging system and still produce a repeatable response function. The light pulse generation technologies required to achieve longer pulse lengths can be significantly less expensive and less complex than known technologies presently used to generate shorter illumination pulse lengths. Lower-cost, lower-complexity light pulse sources may facilitate lower-cost, commercial 3D camera products.

The methods and systems disclosed herein improve upon previous 3D imaging techniques by making use of a longer illumination pulse to obtain the same or nearly the same range resolution as can be achieved by using a much shorter, conventional laser pulse. For example, a longer illumination pulse can be produced by one or more Q-switched lasers that produce, for example, 5, 10, 20 ns or longer pulses. In some instances, the laser pulse can be longer than the modulation waveform of a MIS-type imaging system and still produce a repeatable response function. The light pulse generation technologies required to achieve longer pulse lengths can be significantly less expensive and less complex than known technologies presently used to generate shorter illumination pulse lengths. Lower-cost, lower-complexity light pulse sources may facilitate lower-cost, commercial 3D camera products.

A ladar system and related method are disclosed where the system includes a ladar transmitter and a ladar receiver. The ladar transmitter transmits ladar pulses into a field of view, and the ladar receiver receives ladar pulse returns from objects in the field of view. The ladar receiver comprises a cross-receiver, the cross-receiver comprising a first 1D array of photodetector cells and a second 1D array of photodetector cells that are oriented differently relative to each other.

A ladar system and related method are disclosed where the system includes a ladar transmitter and a ladar receiver. The ladar transmitter transmits ladar pulses into a field of view, and the ladar receiver receives ladar pulse returns from objects in the field of view. The ladar receiver comprises a cross-receiver, the cross-receiver comprising a first 1D array of photodetector cells and a second 1D array of photodetector cells that are oriented differently relative to each other.

Provided are a bandpass filter having a high light transmittance in a transmission band and a wide wavelength range showing a high transmittance in the transmission band, and a sensor. The bandpass filter is a bandpass filter including a reflective member A and a reflective member B, in which a difference between a reflection center wavelength of the reflective member A and a reflection center wavelength of the reflective member B is larger than a sum of a half width at half maximum of a reflection band of the reflective member A and a half width at half maximum of a reflection band of the reflective member B; the reflective member A has a first cholesteric liquid crystal layer and a second cholesteric liquid crystal layer, and birefringence Δn1 of the first cholesteric liquid crystal layer is larger than birefringence Δn2 of the second cholesteric liquid crystal layer; and the reflective member B has a third cholesteric liquid crystal layer and a fourth cholesteric liquid crystal layer, and birefringence Δn3 of the third cholesteric liquid crystal layer is larger than birefringence Δn4 of the fourth cholesteric liquid crystal layer.

An optical instrument for determining the distance to a target. The instrument includes a light source for emitting a pulsed light beam and a lens responsive to the light beam and projecting the light beam on the target. The instrument also includes an imaging lens responsive to a reflected beam from the projected light beam on the target and a TOF sensor including a photodetector array having an array of detector elements, where each detector element includes an FET switch and a capacitor for storing charge, and where the imaging lens focusing an image of the projected light beam on a group of the detector elements in the array. Processing electronics control the light source and processing of the image of the projected beam on the array, where the processing electronics determine a time from when the light beam is emitted and the image of the projected beam is created.

Aspects for an on-chip or integrated continuous-wave Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) are described herein. The aspects may include one or more laser light sources configured to generate one or more light beams and multiple light engines configured to respectively receive the light beams. The light frequency is modulated in a predefined pattern. A light transmitter of each light engine may be configured to receive a first portion of one of the light beams and transmit the first portion of the light beam at a predetermined angle. A light receiver of each light engine may be configured to receive the first portion of the light beam reflected from an object and transmit the reflected first portion of the light beam to a balanced detector. The balanced detector may be configured to detect a beat between the reflected first portion of the light beam with a second portion of the light beam.

A micro-pulse LiDAR and a method for detecting water vapor, temperature, and pressure of the atmosphere are provided. The micro-pulse LiDAR includes a first transmitter, a second transmitter, a third transmitter, an optical path transmission module, a water vapor channel detection module, a pressure channel detection module, a temperature channel detection module, a multi-channel data accumulator, a processing device, and a pulse generator. The method for detecting the water vapor, the temperature, and the pressure of the atmosphere comprises: chopping, via the processing device, multi-wavelength continuous lasers emitted by the transmitters to obtain multi-wavelength pulsed lasers; transmitting the multi-wavelength pulsed lasers according to established optical paths, and comprehensively detecting the water vapor, the temperature, and the pressure of the atmosphere, so that the three parameters can be input conditions for each other in an inversion process, which improves an iteration speed and inversion accuracy.

Disclosed herein is a method of connection of home appliance to a network, a network-connection system for home appliances, and an apparatus related to a network-connection setting for home appliances. The network connection method of home appliance includes operations in which a terminal device receives an input of an authentication key of an access point (AP) apparatus and the terminal device or the AP apparatus verifies and authenticates the authentication key; a home appliance is set to be in a state of communicating with the terminal device; the home appliance is interconnected to the terminal device and the terminal device transmits an identification number and the certificated authentication key of the AP apparatus to the home appliance; and the home appliance is connected to the AP apparatus based on the identification number and the authentication key of the AP apparatus.

Disclosed herein is a method of connection of home appliance to a network, a network-connection system for home appliances, and an apparatus related to a network-connection setting for home appliances. The network connection method of home appliance includes operations in which a terminal device receives an input of an authentication key of an access point (AP) apparatus and the terminal device or the AP apparatus verifies and authenticates the authentication key; a home appliance is set to be in a state of communicating with the terminal device; the home appliance is interconnected to the terminal device and the terminal device transmits an identification number and the certificated authentication key of the AP apparatus to the home appliance; and the home appliance is connected to the AP apparatus based on the identification number and the authentication key of the AP apparatus.