A scanning system includes a plurality of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, each LiDAR sensor of the plurality of LiDAR sensors being configured to generate a point cloud based on interactions of emitted light with a surrounding environment, and a processor configured to split a full 360° rotation of each LiDAR sensor into a plurality of slices including a first slice and a second slice, to generate a coherent fused point cloud by fusing together portions of point clouds of the plurality of LiDAR sensors corresponding to the first slice, and fusing together portions of point clouds of the plurality of LiDAR sensors corresponding to the second slice, to determine an action for the scanning system to take in response to the generation of the coherent fused point cloud, and to cause the scanning system to implement the action.

A scanning system includes a plurality of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, each LiDAR sensor of the plurality of LiDAR sensors being configured to generate a point cloud based on interactions of emitted light with a surrounding environment, and a processor configured to split a full 360° rotation of each LiDAR sensor into a plurality of slices including a first slice and a second slice, to generate a coherent fused point cloud by fusing together portions of point clouds of the plurality of LiDAR sensors corresponding to the first slice, and fusing together portions of point clouds of the plurality of LiDAR sensors corresponding to the second slice, to determine an action for the scanning system to take in response to the generation of the coherent fused point cloud, and to cause the scanning system to implement the action.

Techniques, systems, architectures, and methods for amplifying the time difference between events detected on a focal plane array, allowing greater resolution than that afforded by a reference clock are herein disclosed.

Techniques, systems, architectures, and methods for amplifying the time difference between events detected on a focal plane array, allowing greater resolution than that afforded by a reference clock are herein disclosed.

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.

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.

A distance-measuring apparatus includes a precision calculation section that calculates a precision for each pixel, the precision based on a relation among the amounts of the electric charges stored at a plurality of timings that respectively delay by certain phases from a timing of the emission of the measuring light, wherein the precision is outputted from the distance-measuring apparatus.

A LIDAR device includes an input node, an output node, and a sample-and-convert circuit. The input node receives a photodetector signal, and the output node generates an output signal indicating a light intensity value of the photodetector signal. The sample-and-convert circuit includes a number of detection channels coupled in parallel between the input node and the output node. In some aspects, each of the detection channels may be configured to sample a value of the photodetector signal during the sample mode and to hold the sampled value during the convert mode using a single capacitor.

A LIDAR device includes an input node, an output node, and a sample-and-convert circuit. The input node receives a photodetector signal, and the output node generates an output signal indicating a light intensity value of the photodetector signal. The sample-and-convert circuit includes a number of detection channels coupled in parallel between the input node and the output node. In some aspects, each of the detection channels may be configured to sample a value of the photodetector signal during the sample mode and to hold the sampled value during the convert mode using a single capacitor.

A system and method for measuring three-dimensional (3D) coordinate values of an environment is provided. The method including moving a 2D scanner through the environment. A 2D map of the environment is generated using the 2D scanner. A path is defined through the environment using the 2D scanner. 3D scan locations along the path are defined using the 2D scanner. The 2D scanner is operably coupled to a mobile base unit. The mobile base unit is moved along the path based at least in part on the 2D map and the defined path. 3D coordinate values are measured at the 3D scan locations with a 3D scanner, the 3D scanner being coupled to the mobile base unit.