Systems that enable observing celestial bodies during daylight or in under cloudy conditions.

Methods and systems for controlling tintable windows based on cloud detection.

A system comprising a display and an ambient light sensing module, the ambient light sensing module being located beneath the display. The display comprises an array of light emitting diodes and a first polarizer located above the display. The sensing module comprises a first sensor and a second sensor, a second polarizer being located above the second sensor.

A vehicle window with an anisotropic light sensor, has a first glass layer and a second glass layer, wherein an arrangement of light-sensitive elements is arranged, substantially parallel to the first glass layer, between the first glass layer and the second glass layer, wherein the pane furthermore has an aperture such that light can shine through the second glass layer and the aperture onto at least one of the light-sensitive elements, wherein, depending on the direction of incident light, the sensor provides a signal that is indicative of the direction, wherein the arrangement of light-sensitive elements has a camera chip and wherein the arrangement of light-sensitive elements is arranged on a flexible film.

A device includes a scattering structure and a collection structure. The scattering structure is arranged to concurrently scatter incident electromagnetic radiation along a first scattering axis and along a second scattering axis. The first scattering axis and the second scattering axis are non-orthogonal. The collection structure includes a first input port aligned with the first scattering axis and a second input port aligned with the second scattering axis. A method includes scattering electromagnetic radiation along a first scattering axis to create first scattered electromagnetic radiation and along a second scattering axis to create second scattered electromagnetic radiation. The first scattering axis and the second scattering axis are non-orthogonal. The first scattered electromagnetic radiation is detected to yield first detected radiation and the second scattered electromagnetic radiation is detected to yield second detected radiation. The first detected radiation is phase aligned with the second detected radiation.

The present invention provides a light sensor with dark current elimination. A dark current from a covered photodiode and a sensed current from a photodiode are respectively transformed to a dark voltage and a sensed voltage by a controlled integration circuit. A reverse capacitor receives the dark voltage and the sensed voltage to cancel out for each other, and outputs a corrected sensing voltage.

Provided is an apparatus for measuring a light beam profile, comprising three rotary disks fixed on three positions of a rotary shaft connected to a motor at regular intervals, respectively while shifted by 120 degrees each other in a rotational direction, each rotary disk having three deformed holes with knife edges and six deformed holes defining light-passing openings and a photodetector arranged outside a set of the three rotary disks in a transmission direction of the light beam to receive the light beam passing through the three rotary disks.

A detector (110, 1110, 2110) for determining a position of at least one object (112) is proposed. The detector (110, 1110, 2110) comprises: at least one transfer device (128, 1128), wherein the transfer device (128, 1128) has at least one focal length in response to at least one incident light beam (116, 1116) propagating from the object (112, 1112) to the detector (110, 1110, 2110); at least two optical sensors (113, 1118, 1120), wherein each optical sensor (113, 1118, 1120) has at least one light sensitive area (121, 1122, 1124), wherein each optical sensor (113, 1118, 1120) is designed to generate at least one sensor signal in response to an illumination of its respective light-sensitive area by the light beam (116, 1116), at least one evaluation device (132, 1132) being configured for determining at least one longitudinal coordinate z of the object (112, 1112) by evaluating a quotient signal Q from the sensor signals. The detector is adapted to determine the longitudinal coordinate z of the object in at least one measurement range independent from the object size in an object plane.

The present disclosure provides an optical imager and a method for imaging electromagnetic radiation. In one aspect, the optical imager includes an object array substantially located at an object plane, a first catadioptric element configured to substantially collimate, at a central plane, electromagnetic radiation emanating from the object array, a second catadioptric element configured to image the substantially collimated electromagnetic radiation from the central plane onto an image plane, and a detecting element substantially located at the image plane. The first catadioptric element includes at least one refractive surface and at least one reflective surface, and the second catadioptric element includes at least one refractive surface and at least one reflective surface.

The present invention is directed to electrical circuits and methods. According to a specific embodiment, the present invention provides a voltage compensation mechanism for one or more single-phone avalanche diodes (SPADs). A reference voltage is generated based at least on an operating voltage of the SPADs. The reference voltage is coupled to a charge pump that generates a compensation voltage for the diodes. There are other embodiments as well.