G01S17/10

LIGHT RECEIVING DEVICE, DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICE, AND LIGHT RECEIVING CIRCUIT

Provided are a light receiving device, a light receiving circuit, and a distance measuring device capable of minimizing dead time.

A light receiving device according to the present disclosure may include: a light receiving circuit including a light receiving element; a power supply circuit configured to supply a power supply potential to the light receiving circuit; and a control circuit configured to control the power supply potential supplied by the power supply circuit on the basis of a signal output from the light receiving circuit in a reaction with a photon.

MOTOR
20230046753 · 2023-02-16 ·

An embodiment can provide a motor comprising: a shaft; a rotor coupled to the shaft; a stator disposed between the shaft and the rotor; a bearing disposed between the shaft and the stator; and a base plate, wherein: the rotor includes a yoke coupled to the shaft; the base plate includes a body, a first partition protruding from the body, and a second partition extending from the first partition; the first partition is disposed between the bearing and the stator; a portion of the second partition is disposed to be overlapped with the first partition; and the first partition is in contact with the lateral surface of an outer ring of the bearing and the second partition is in contact with the one surface of the outer ring of the bearing.

MOTOR
20230046753 · 2023-02-16 ·

An embodiment can provide a motor comprising: a shaft; a rotor coupled to the shaft; a stator disposed between the shaft and the rotor; a bearing disposed between the shaft and the stator; and a base plate, wherein: the rotor includes a yoke coupled to the shaft; the base plate includes a body, a first partition protruding from the body, and a second partition extending from the first partition; the first partition is disposed between the bearing and the stator; a portion of the second partition is disposed to be overlapped with the first partition; and the first partition is in contact with the lateral surface of an outer ring of the bearing and the second partition is in contact with the one surface of the outer ring of the bearing.

PHOTODIODE INTEGRATED WITH CIRCUIT

A sensor chip includes a sensor pixel. The sensor pixel includes an avalanche photodetector. A circuit is adjacent to the avalanche photodetector. The circuit is coupled to the avalanche photodetector. An isolation structure at least partially encloses the circuit and is between the avalanche photodetector and the circuit.

SCOUT PULSING
20230051395 · 2023-02-16 ·

Disclosed herein are system and method embodiments to implement a scout pulse LiDAR. An embodiment operates by emitting a leading sequence of two or more discrete pulses with a constant timing offset and large intensity ratio. These leading pulses are each called a ‘scout pulse’ because they scout ahead of the primary pulse to detect high intensity targets, which would otherwise saturate the detector. In the simplest configuration, there are only two pulses, one primary pulse (lagging, high power/intensity) and one scout pulse (leading, low power/intensity). In more complex configurations, there may be any number of multiple scout pulses, each with a unique time delay and intensity. In any configuration, the signals are emitted in order of ascending intensity, with the lowest intensity signal in front (first), and the highest intensity signal in the back (last) within the pulse train.

COAXIAL LIDAR SYSTEM USING A DIFFRACTIVE WAVEGUIDE
20230047931 · 2023-02-16 · ·

A coaxial lidar system includes one or more emitter channels and one or more sensor channels that share an optical module. A diffractive waveguide can be used to redirect received light from the shared optical module to the sensor channels.

NON-UNIFORMITY CORRECTION OF PHOTODETECTOR ARRAYS

Methods and apparatus for nonuniformity correction (NUC) for a sensor having an avalanche photodiode (APD) array and an integrated circuit. The sensor can include anode bias control module, a passive mode module, and an active mode module. DC photocurrent from the APD array can be measured and used for controlling an anode reverse bias voltage to each element in the APD to achieve a nonuniformity correction level less than a selected threshold.

Dual lens receive path for LiDAR system
11579300 · 2023-02-14 · ·

A dual lens assembly positioned along an optical receive path within a LiDAR system is provided. The dual lens assembly is constructed to reduce a numerical aperture of a returned light pulse and reduce a walk-off error associated with one or more mirrors of the LiDAR system.

Background light resilient flash lidar

LIDAR systems are less accurate in the presence of background light which can saturate the sensors in the LIDAR system. The embodiments herein describe a LIDAR system with a shutter synchronized to a laser source. During a first time period, the laser source is synched with the shutter so that the reflections are received when the shutter is in the process of changing between on and off states, during which time a function of the shutter (e.g., a phase retardation or opacity) monotonically changes so that reflections received at different times have different time-dependent characteristics (e.g., different polarizations). To mitigate the effects of background light, during a second time period, the laser source is synched with the shutter so that the background light is measured (in the absence of the reflections) which can be used to remove the effects of the background light from a range measurement.

Solid state pulse steering in lidar systems
11579258 · 2023-02-14 · ·

LiDAR system and methods discussed herein use a dispersion element or optic that has a refraction gradient that causes a light pulse to be redirected to a particular angle based on its wavelength. The dispersion element can be used to control a scanning path for light pulses being projected as part of the LiDAR's field of view. The dispersion element enables redirection of light pulses without requiring the physical movement of a medium such as mirror or other reflective surface, and in effect further enables at least portion of the LiDAR's field of view to be managed through solid state control. The solid state control can be performed by selectively adjusting the wavelength of the light pulses to control their projection along the scanning path.