The invention provides a sensing system (1000), e.g. for agricultural application, comprising a radiation generator (100), a sensing apparatus (200), and a control system (300) functionally coupled to the radiation generator (100) and the sensing apparatus (200), wherein the sensing system (1000) has one or more time-of-flight sensing modes of operation, wherein the generator (100) is configured to generate a pulse of radiation (111) in the one or more time-of-flight sensing modes of operation, and wherein the sensing apparatus (200) is configured to sense wavelength dependent spectral intensities of radiation received by the sensing apparatus (200) as a function of time in the one or more time-of-flight sensing modes, to provide a sensing system signal; wherein the sensing system signal is indicative of the wavelength dependent spectral intensity distribution of the received radiation as a function of time in the one or more time-of-flight sensing modes.

The technology disclosed relates to determining positional information of an object in a field of view. In particular, it relates to measuring, using a light sensitive sensor, one or more differences in an intensity of returning light that is (i) emitted from respective directionally oriented non-coplanar light sources of a plurality of directionally oriented light sources that have at least some overlapping fields of illumination and (ii) reflected from the target object as the target object moves through a region of space monitored by the light sensitive sensor, and recognizing signals in response to (i) positional information of the target object determined based on, a first position in space at a first time t0 and a second position in space at a second time t1 sensed using the measured one or more differences in the intensity of the returning light and (ii) a non-coplanar movement of the target object.

A ladar system and related method are disclosed where the system includes a ladar transmitter and a ladar receiver. The ladar transmitter transmits ladar pulses into a field of view, and the ladar receiver receives ladar pulse returns from objects in the field of view. The ladar receiver comprises a cross-receiver, the cross-receiver comprising a first 1D array of photodetector cells and a second 1D array of photodetector cells that are oriented differently relative to each other.

A transmitter for communication-less bistatic ranging includes a photon emitter configured to emit a plurality of photons at particular times in a pointing direction, and a processor configured to identify a particular sub-code of a plurality of sub-codes based on a dynamic state of the transmitter, each one of the plurality of sub-codes including a portion of a long optimal ranging code, generate a plurality of encoded pulse timings by dithering pulse timings from a nominal repetition frequency based on the particular sub-code, and control the photon emitter to emit the plurality of photons at the plurality of encoded pulse timings.

Aspects relate to techniques for joint communication-ranging (JCR) channel estimation. A first wireless communication device may transmit a sidelink message to a second wireless communication device and receive bistatic communication channel feedback from the second wireless communication device based on the sidelink message. The first wireless communication device may further transmit a ranging signal, such as a radar signal or lidar signal, and obtain a monostatic ranging channel estimate based on the received reflected ranging signals. The first wireless communication device may then associate and correlate the monostatic ranging channel estimate with the bistatic communication channel feedback to obtain joint communication-ranging (JCR) side information. The first wireless communication device may then transmit a sidelink transmission to the second wireless communication device using a transmit power and/or a beamforming parameter selected based on the JCR side information.

A lidar photosensor amplification circuit may include light sensors; amplifiers corresponding respectively to the light sensors, in a powered-on state, to amplify output signals of the respective light sensors as amplified outputs; and switches corresponding respectively to the amplifiers, where individual switches may be controlled to pass a respective amplified output in a closed state or disconnect the amplified output in an open state. The lidar photosensor amplification circuit may be controlled by a controller according to timing rules that conserve power supplied to photosensor amplification circuit, reduce heat produced by the light sensor board, and do not aggravate cross-talk between sensors. The timing rules include staging an amplifier for a staging time before the corresponding light sensor is to be read, closing a switch after the staging time has passed, and powering down the amplifier and opening the switch after a reading time passes.

An air data sensor can include an acoustic transmitter configured to output an acoustic signal into an airflow and a plurality of acoustic transducers configured to receive the acoustic signal output by the acoustic transducer. The air data sensor can also include a light source configured to output a light beam into the airflow, and a light receiver configured to receive scattered light from the light beam. The light source and the light receiver can be bistatic such that a measurement zone is formed away from the air data sensor.

LIDARs are often placed at the perimeter of a vehicle to detect objects close to the vehicle (e.g. pedestrians walking close to the vehicle bumper). An ongoing challenge is the interaction of these LIDARs with one another, specifically the interaction of their respective light emitters (e.g. Lasers). In one embodiment a perimeter LIDAR system comprises a ranging subassembly, a plurality of LIDARs and a shared light emitter, each mounted separate from one another on a vehicle. The ranging subassembly is configured to transmit an emitter time reference signal to the shared light emitter and transmits a detector time reference signal to each of the plurality of LIDARs, wherein these time reference signals are generated from a common clock signal. Each of the plurality of LIDARs is configured to receive light reflections from the share light emitter and to use the detector time reference signal to generate a set of time of flight signal. The ranging subassembly is further configured to receive the set of TOF signals from each LIDAR and use location estimates of the share light emitter relative to each of the LIDARs to generate a set of 3D locations using the sets of TOF signals.

A system for enhanced object detection and identification is disclosed. The system provides new capabilities in object detection and identification. The system can be used with a variety of vehicles, such as autonomous cars, human-driven motor vehicles, robots, drones, and aircraft and can detect objects in adverse operating conditions such as heavy rain, snow, or sun glare. Enhanced object detection can also be used to detect objects in the environment around a stationary object. Additionally, such systems can rapidly identify and classify objects based on the encoded information in the emitted or reflected signals from the materials.

Disclosed is a LiDAR window integrated optical filter that includes a window of a polymer material for absorbing a visible light band and transmitting a near-infrared band; and an upper reflective layer and a lower reflective layer formed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the window. The upper reflective layer and the lower reflective layer may be formed in a thin film including titanium dioxide (TiO.sub.2) and silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2).