A vehicle and ladar sensor assembly system is proposed which makes use of forward mounted long range ladar sensors and short range ladar sensors mounted in auxiliary lamps to identify obstacles and to identify potential collisions with the vehicle. A low cost assembly is developed which can be easily mounted within a body panel cutout of a vehicle, and which connects to the vehicle electrical and computer systems through the vehicle wiring harness. The vehicle has a digital processor which interprets 3D data received from the ladar sensor assembly, and which is in control of the vehicle subsystems for steering, braking, acceleration, and suspension. The digital processor onboard the vehicle makes use of the 3D data and the vehicle control subsystems to avoid collisions and steer a best path.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for a systems and methods for intra-shot dynamic LIDAR detector gain. One example method my include emitting, by an optical ranging system at a first time, a first light pulse. The example method may also include increasing, after the first time, a sensitivity of a photodetector of the optical ranging system from a first sensitivity at the first time to a second sensitivity at a second time. The example method may also include decreasing the sensitivity of the photodetector of the optical ranging system from the second sensitivity at third time to the first sensitivity at a fourth time, wherein the fourth time is after the photodetector receives return light based on the first light pulse. The example method may also include emitting, by the optical ranging system at the fourth time, a second light pulse.

A distance measurement instrument and a method of operating a distance measurement instrument are disclosed. According to some embodiments, a transmit light signal is transmitted by a transmitter unit along a transmit path at an emission time and a return light signal is received by a receiver unit at a receive time along a receive path. The return light signal is converted to a return electrical signal. At least one of the transmit path and the receive path is deflected by a deflection module at a deflection angle relative to an optical axis of the instrument. A time-dependent attenuation function is selected based on information relative to the deflection angle and attenuation is applied by an attenuator to at least one of the return light signal and the return electrical signal according to the selected time-dependent function. A measured distance may be determined by a processor unit based on at least the emission time and the receive time.

In a TOF distance measurement employing light, the accuracy of distance measurement is improved without a significant increase in cost. A light source emits light to an object during an emission period. A sensor converts received reflected light (delay time τ) into an electrical signal during a plurality of signal accumulation periods, and accommodates the electrical signal. The signal accumulation period is set so that an accumulated signal amount varies depending on a distance to the object. The emission intensity of the light source is changed during the emission period so that the accumulated signal amount and the distance to the object has a nonlinear relationship.

In a TOF distance measurement employing light, the accuracy of distance measurement is improved without a significant increase in cost. A light source emits light to an object during an emission period. A sensor converts received reflected light (delay time τ) into an electrical signal during a plurality of signal accumulation periods, and accommodates the electrical signal. The signal accumulation period is set so that an accumulated signal amount varies depending on a distance to the object. The emission intensity of the light source is changed during the emission period so that the accumulated signal amount and the distance to the object has a nonlinear relationship.

Disclosed is a distance measurement device including a control section. The control section executes control so that an operating voltage for operating a light-receiving section is applied to the light-receiving section at a second time point. The second time point is later than a first time point by a predetermined time. The first time point is a time point at which a light-emitting section operates.

A distance sensor apparatus includes: a light receiving unit that receives reflected light from a subject, the light receiving unit including a light receiving element unit and a drive unit that supplies a drive voltage to the light receiving element unit, in which an application voltage to the light receiving element unit becomes larger than a breakdown voltage in a distance measurement period by the drive voltage, and the application voltage becomes larger with passage of time.

A distance sensor apparatus includes: a light receiving unit that receives reflected light from a subject, the light receiving unit including a light receiving element unit and a drive unit that supplies a drive voltage to the light receiving element unit, in which an application voltage to the light receiving element unit becomes larger than a breakdown voltage in a distance measurement period by the drive voltage, and the application voltage becomes larger with passage of time.

This document describes techniques and systems to increase the dynamic range of time-of-flight (ToF) lidar systems. The described lidar system adjusts, based on the energy of a first return pulse, the bias voltage of a photodetector for other return pulses of the object pixel. The bias voltage can be adjusted down for highly-reflective or close-range objects. Similarly, the bias voltage can be increased for low-reflectivity or long-range objects. The ability of the described lidar system to adjust the bias voltage of the photodetector for each object pixel increases the dynamic range of the lidar system without additional hardware or a complex readout. The increased dynamic range allows the described lidar system to maintain a long-range capability, while accurately measuring return-pulse intensity for detecting close-range or highly-reflective objects.

A Lidar system includes a light emitter and an array of photodetectors. The Lidar system includes a computer having a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to actuate the light emitter to output a series of shots. The instructions include instructions to provide a first bias voltage to the photodetectors for a first period of time after the light emitter emits a first subset of the series of shots. The instructions includes instructions to provide a second bias voltage to at least one of the photodetectors for a second period of time after the light emitter emits a second subset of the series of shots, the second bias voltage greater that the first bias voltage, the second subset of shots emitted after the first subset of the series of shots.