A laser printing system includes a laser configured to produce a beam of light modulated according to image data input to the laser printing system, a photoreceptor drum including a photoconductive layer disposed along an outer peripheral surface of the photoreceptor drum, and a non-mechanical beam steerer configured for receiving the modulated light beam from the laser and steering the light beam in a scanning motion back and forth across the photoconductive layer of the photoreceptor drum. The laser printing system also includes a printer controller configured to structure the image data input to the laser printing system, and control an amount of electrical current flowing through portions of the non-mechanical beam steerer to change an effective index of refraction of the non-mechanical beam steerer and steer the modulated light beam in the scanning motion.

A method of lidar scanning over a rotational range provides a dense scanning pattern over the entire rotational range without the need for complex control of components. The method comprises rotating an angled scanning mirror at a first angular velocity about an axis of rotation; rotating a first diffractive or refractive optical element at a second angular velocity about the axis of rotation; controlling a stationary laser source to emit light along an emission beam path that passes through the first diffractive optical element before being incident upon the scanning mirror in order to reflect said light onto a scanning beam path; and detecting light reflected from external objects present in the scanning beam path.

A measurement instrument is disclosed. The measurement instrument comprises a front lens assembly, a distance measurement module and a deflection module. The front lens assembly comprises an optical path along an instrument optical axis and the distance measurement module is configured to transmit and receive optical radiation along a measurement path. The deflection module is arranged between the distance measurement module and the front lens assembly to deflect the measurement path across the instrument optical axis.

The present invention discloses a detection device for discriminating between different materials, and a method for doing so. The device comprises an optical system having at least one optical focussing element and a receiving element. The receiving element is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, typically in the millimeter wave band, and the optical system being arranged to focus incident energy from a scene onto the receiving element. The optical system comprises a prism element having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being opposite the second surface. At least a portion of the first surface is positioned at an angle to the second surface. The angle varies between a minimum at a first position on the first surface and a maximum at a second position on the first surface.

Provided is an optical measurement device configured so that a high-accuracy three-dimensional image can be obtained. An emission angle of a ray of light is changed in such a manner that the rotation frequencies of two motors configured to rotatably drive a first optical path changing unit and a second optical path changing unit is controlled. The ray of light is emitted to a front three-dimensional region, and reflected light is obtained. Then, calculation is made by a computer, and in this manner, three-dimensional data on a measurement target object is obtained. The amount (vibration amount) of axial backlash or play of a rotary mechanism, such as a motor shaft, along which the ray of light is emitted is measured in real time, and such a backlash or play amount is subtracted from a three-dimensional image obtained by the computer. Consequently, a high-accuracy three-dimensional image is obtained.

A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system includes a first optical source to generate a first optical beam, a first collimating lens to collimate the first optical beam, a first prism wedge of a first prism wedge pair to redirect the first optical beam, and a first focusing lens to focus the first optical beam on a front surface of a second prism wedge of the first prism wedge pair, the second prism wedge to direct the first optical beam toward an output lens.

An optical scanner may include one or more acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) configured to deflect an optical beam along one or more scanning directions, where a deflection angle of the optical beam from the one or more AODs is controllable by one or more drive signals applied to the one or more AODs. The scanner may further include a dispersion compensator, where dispersion by the dispersion compensator at least partly compensates for dispersion by the one or more AODs to provide that the deflection angle of the optical beam at a particular configuration of the one or more drive signals is constant within a first tolerance for wavelengths of the optical beam within a wavelength range, and where at least one of the dispersion of the dispersion compensator or a transmittance of the dispersion compensator is independent of a polarization of the optical beam within a second tolerance.

A laser radar apparatus in the present disclosure includes: a scanner 60 capable of beam scanning at a first angular speed; a measurable wind distance calculator monitor 30 to calculate and to monitor a measurable wind distance based on wind measurement data obtained through beam scanning by the scanner; an optical axis angular correction amount deriver 40 to derive an optical axis angular correction amount being able to obtain the largest distance of the measurable wind distance, based on a first angular speed and the wind measurement data obtained through beam scanning at a second angular speed lower than the first angular speed, when decrease of the measurable wind distance is detected by the measurable wind distance calculator monitor; and an optical axis corrector 8 to correct an optical axis angular deviation between transmitted light and reception light, based on the optical axis angular correction amount.

An imaging system includes a first risley sensor pointed along a first axis and a second risley sensor pointed along a second axis, the second axis intersecting the first axis, the second risley sensor has at least a wide field of view and a narrow field of view. A controller is operably connected to the second risley sensor and configured to select one of the wide field of view and the narrow field of view for image data acquired by the second risley sensor. Vehicles including the imaging system and imaging methods are also described.

A measurement instrument is disclosed. The measurement instrument comprises a front lens assembly, a distance measurement module and a deflection module. The front lens assembly comprises an optical path along an instrument optical axis and the distance measurement module is configured to transmit and receive optical radiation along a measurement path. The deflection module is arranged between the distance measurement module and the front lens assembly to deflect the measurement path across the instrument optical axis.