The present invention relates to a tracker and a surveying apparatus comprising the tracker, which improve the reliability of tracking a target. The tracker comprises a first imaging region having a plurality of pixels for taking a first image of a scene including the target; a second imaging region having a plurality of pixels for taking a second image of a scene including the target; a control unit to receive a timing signal indicating a time duration during which an illumination illuminating the target in the scene is switched on and off, control the first imaging region to take the first image of the scene when the timing signal indicates that the illumination unit is switched on, and control the second imaging region to take the second image when the illumination is switched off; and a read out unit configured to read out the first image from the first imaging region and the second image from the second imaging region and to obtain a difference image.

A LIDAR noise removal apparatus and a LIDAR noise removal method thereof are provided. The apparatus includes a LIDAR detection information processor that processes LIDAR detection information received from a LIDAR of a vehicle. A sun position acquirer acquires an azimuth angle and elevation angle of the sun relative to a traveling direction of the vehicle. An ROI selector selects an ROI corresponding to the sun from a front image of the vehicle based on the azimuth angle and elevation angle and compares a brightness of the selected ROI with a threshold value. A noise region selector selects a noise region corresponding to the ROI from the LIDAR detection information based on the azimuth angle and elevation angle when the brightness of the ROI exceeds the threshold value, and a noise remover removes noise points in the selected noise region.

A light receiving device of the present disclosure includes a light receiving unit that has a plurality of photon counting type light receiving elements arranged, the plurality of photon counting type light receiving elements receiving light from an object, an addition unit configured to add values of the plurality of light receiving elements at a predetermined time to use a resultant as a pixel value, and a logarithmic transformation processing unit configured to transform the pixel value into a logarithmic value or an approximate value thereof to use a resultant as logarithmic representation data, in which reflected pulsed light, from a subject, based on the photon counting type light receiving elements receiving light from the object from a light source unit is received.

A time of flight (TOF) measurement method and apparatus are provided, including a controller, a time to digital converter, a pulse transmitter, and a pulse receiver. The controller is configured to control, in a working period according to a predetermined transmit rule, the pulse transmitter to sequentially send M transmit pulses. The pulse receiver is configured to receive N feedback pulses in the working period. The time to digital converter is configured to obtain time of flight information corresponding to the N feedback pulses. The controller is further configured to obtain a target time of flight based on the time of flight information corresponding to the N feedback pulses, and obtain a target distance based on the target time of flight.

A method may include obtaining sensor data from one or more LiDAR units and determining a point-cloud corresponding to the sensor data obtained from each respective LiDAR unit. The method may include aggregating the point-clouds as an aggregated point-cloud and generating an initial proposal for a two-dimensional ground model made of multiple grid blocks. The method may include filtering out unrelated raw data points from each grid block of the plurality of grid blocks to generate a filtered point-cloud matrix. The method may include identifying one or more surface-points and one or more object-points included in the filtered point-cloud matrix and generating an array of extracted objects based on the object-points.

Example embodiments relate to controlling detection time in photodetectors. An example embodiment includes a device. The device includes a substrate. The device also includes a photodetector coupled to the substrate. The photodetector is arranged to detect light emitted from a light source that irradiates a top surface of the device. A depth of the substrate is at most 100 times a diffusion length of a minority carrier within the substrate so as to mitigate dark current arising from minority carriers photoexcited in the substrate based on the light emitted from the light source.

Described herein are systems and methods that detect an electromagnetic signal in a constant interference environment. In one embodiment, the electromagnetic signal is a light signal. A constant interference detector may detect false signal “hits” generated by constant interference, such as bright light saturation, from valid signals. The constant interference detector determines if there is constant interference for a time period that is greater than a time period of the valid signal. In one embodiment, if a received signal exceeds a programmable threshold value for a programmable period of time, when compared to previously stored ambient light, a control signal is generated to inform the next higher network layer of a sudden change in ambient light. This control signal can be used to either discard the present return or process the signal in a different way. A constant interference detector may be a component of a LIDAR system.

A single photon counting sensor array includes one or more emitters configured to emit a plurality of pulses of energy, and a detector array comprising a plurality of pixels. Each pixel includes one or more detectors, a plurality of which are configured to receive reflected pulses of energy that were emitted by the one or more emitters. A mask material is positioned to cover some but not all of the detectors of the plurality of pixels to yield blocked pixels and unblocked pixels so that each blocked pixel is prevented from detecting the reflected pulses of energy and therefore only detects intrinsic noise.

A LIDAR system includes a transmitting device for light; a receiving device for light, including a first and a second photon detector; and an evaluation device that is configured for determining a time period between the emission of light with the aid of the transmitting device and the incidence at the receiving device of the light reflected on an object. The transmitting device is configured for emitting a superimposition of horizontally and vertically polarized light; the first photon detector is configured for detecting only horizontally polarized light, and the second photon detector is configured for detecting only vertically polarized light; in addition, the evaluation device is configured for determining the time period, based on light that is incident on both photon detectors within a predetermined interval.

A position recognizing device according to one embodiments of the present disclosure includes a ranging point acquiring section, a region determining section, and a ranging point excluding section. The ranging point acquiring section is configured to acquire ranging point information in which distances to ranging points are associated with each of electromagnetic wave applying directions. The region determining section is configured to determine whether an object region that represents a region encompassed by joining ranging points that are in close proximity to one another exists at a position closer than a specific ranging point representing a certain ranging point among the ranging points. The ranging point excluding section is configured to define the ranging point in front of which the object region exists as a false image point at which no object actually exists and exclude the false image point from the ranging point information.