Abstract: The invention generally relates to sonar devices that integrate forward-looking sensors with down-looking echosounders, side scanning sonar, or both. The invention provides a sonar system that includes a forward-looking sonar device that operates in an integrated fashion with one or more other sonar devices so that a boater can have a reliable navigation tool while also using sonar for finding fish and other features on the seafloor. The forward-looking sonar can include a transducer array that takes a three-dimensional acoustic reading of the objects and seafloor ahead. The electronics that process the acoustic data can also process data from down-looking sonar, side-scanning sonar, or both and can integrate the information to present an expansive display in the boat, revealing the contents and the floor of the sea in front of, around, and under the boat.

Abstract: Provided are a sonar system and transducer assembly for producing a 3D image of an underwater environment. The sonar system may include a housing mountable to a watercraft having a transmit transducer that may transmit sonar pulses into the water. The system may include at least one sidescan transducer array in the housing that receives first and second sonar returns with first and second transducer elements and converts the first and second returns into first and second sonar return data. A sonar signal processor may then generate a 3D mesh data using the first and second sonar return data and at least a predetermined distance between the transducer elements. An associated method of using the sonar system is also provided.

Abstract: Doppler correction of phase-encoded LIDAR includes a code indicating a sequence of phases for a phase-encoded signal, and determining a first Fourier transform of the signal. A laser optical signal is used as a reference and modulated based on the code to produce a transmitted phase-encoded optical signal. A returned optical signal is received in response. The returned optical signal is mixed with the reference. The mixed optical signals are detected to produce an electrical signal. A cross spectrum is determined between in-phase and quadrature components of the electrical signal. A Doppler shift is based on a peak in the cross spectrum. A device is operated based on the Doppler shift. Sometimes a second Fourier transform of the electrical signal and the Doppler frequency shift produce a corrected Fourier transform and then a cross correlation. A range is determined based on a peak in the cross correlation.

Abstract: An optoelectronic measuring device having scanning functionality having a pulsed radiation source for generating a measuring beam from light pulses at a light pulse emission rate, an optoelectronic detector for detecting light pulses reflected from a target object, a control and analysis unit designed for measuring a distance value from a respective scanning point of the target object according to the time-of-flight principle, based on a number n>=1 of light pulses, wherein the control and analysis unit is designed to automatically set the number (n) depending on a target-object-related measured value determined by the measuring device in real time.

Abstract: An underwater active sonar system and method for measuring instrument velocity with respect to a boundary surface is disclosed. The system includes an acoustic transducer configured to transmit and receive a plurality of acoustic beams in different directions. The system also includes a processor configured to detect a boundary surface within each beam; iteratively filter received acoustic signals backscattered from the transmitted beams with an adaptive filter and associated bandwidth that is successively decreased for each iteration; and measure instrument velocity with respect to the boundary surface.

Abstract: Disclosed is a system including: a beam projector module comprising a light source and an optical device configured to diffuse light output from the light source to reduce an intensity of the light; an image sensor configured to receive reflected light formed by the light reflected from an object; and a signal processing device configured to measure a distance from the object by analyzing a characteristic of the reflected light, wherein the signal processing device operates the beam projector module in an eye-safety mode when the characteristic of the reflected light corresponds to a crack characteristic.

Abstract: A time-of-flight light detection system includes: a plurality of circuits arranged sequentially along a signal path that comprises a plurality of signal channels, the plurality of circuits including a first circuit and a second circuit arranged downstream from the first circuit; a reference signal source configured to generate a plurality of reference signals, where each of the plurality of signal channels at the first circuit receives at least one of the plurality of reference signals; and an evaluation circuit coupled to the plurality of signal channels to receive a processed reference signal from the signal path, the evaluation circuit further configured to compare the processed reference signal to a first expected result to generate a first comparison result.

Abstract: LIDAR systems, and methods of measuring a scene are disclosed. A laser source emits one or more optical beams. A scanning optical system scans the optical beams over a scene and captures reflections from the scene. A measurement subsystem independently measures the reflections from N subpixels within each scene pixel, where N is an integer greater than 1, and combines the measurements of the reflections from the N subpixels to determine range and/or range rate for the pixel.

Abstract: Methods and systems for performing three-dimensional (3-D) LIDAR measurements with multiple illumination beams scanned over a 3-D environment are described herein. In one aspect, illumination light from each LIDAR measurement channel is emitted to the surrounding environment in a different direction by a beam scanning device. The beam scanning device also directs each amount of return measurement light onto a corresponding photodetector. In some embodiments, a beam scanning device includes a scanning mirror rotated in an oscillatory manner about an axis of rotation by an actuator in accordance with command signals generated by a master controller. In some embodiments, the light source and photodetector associated with each LIDAR measurement channel are moved in two dimensions relative to beam shaping optics employed to collimate light emitted from the light source. The relative motion causes the illumination beams to sweep over a range of the 3-D environment under measurement.

Abstract: An interferometric synthetic aperture acoustic imager is disclosed. Specifically, an acoustic imaging system includes an acoustic transmitter, an acoustic receiver array, a signal processing system, a navigation data system, and a meteorological data system. The acoustic transmitter and the acoustic receiver array are mounted on transceiver array. The navigation data system includes a Position and Orientation System for Land Vehicles system which receives data from two Global Positioning System antennas, an inertial measurement unit, and a wheel encoder mounted on a vehicle wheel. The system also includes meteorological data system that records temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. The meteorological data may be used to adjust the received acoustic data based on atmospheric conditions.

Abstract: An optical triangulation sensor for distance measurement is described herein. In accordance with one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a light source for the generation of structured light, an optical reception device, at least one attachment element and a carrier with a first groove on a lateral surface of the carrier, wherein the light source and/or optical reception device is at least partially arranged in the first groove and is held in place on the carrier by the attachment element.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, and devices for fault detection in a Lidar system. A fault detection system obtains incoming Lidar data output by a Lidar system during operation of an AV system. The incoming Lidar data includes one or more data points corresponding to a fault detection target on an exterior of a vehicle of the AV system. The fault detection system accesses historical Lidar data that is based on data previously output by the Lidar system. The historical Lidar data corresponds to the fault detection target. The fault detection system performs a comparison of the incoming Lidar data with the historical Lidar data to identify any differences between the two sets of data. The fault detection system detects a fault condition occurring at the Lidar system based on the comparison.

Abstract: Disclosed is an indoor SLAM method based on three-dimension (3D) lidar and ultra-wide band (UWB). Firstly, a UWB positioning system is deployed in an indoor area, then a robot carrying 3D lidar sensors explores the indoor area, and finally, a SLAM algorithm integrating lidar data and UWB data is used to generate a map of the explored area. The method specifically includes the following steps: determining a relative pose transformation between the 3D laser SLAM coordinate system and the UWB positioning coordinate system; using UWB data to provide initial value for inter-frame matching of laser odometer; using UWB data to add constraints to SLAM back-end pose graph; and performing loop detection based on curvature feature coding. This application breaks through the limitation of lighting conditions of indoor areas, eliminates the accumulated errors of SLAM, and constructs a high-quality indoor map.

Abstract: The present invention concerns a method and apparatus for the modulation of an acoustic field for providing tactile sensations. A method of creating haptic feedback using ultrasound is provided. The method comprises the steps of generating a plurality of ultrasound waves with a common focal point using a phased array of ultrasound transducers, the common focal point being a haptic feedback point, and modulating the generation of the ultrasound waves using a waveform selected to produce little or no audible sound at the haptic feedback point.

Abstract: Rotatable mirror assemblies and light detection and ranging systems containing rotatable mirror assemblies are described herein. An example rotatable mirror assembly may include (1) a housing having a top end, a bottom end, and a longitudinal axis intersecting the top and bottom ends, and (2) a set of reflective surfaces, where each reflective surface in the set is coupled to the top end of the housing and the bottom end of the housing such that each reflective surface possesses limited freedom of movement with respect to the housing.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a control device, and a control method, a program, and a mobile body that enable efficient search for surrounding information when it is in an own position indefinite state. When it is in an own position indefinite state, on the basis of an own position, obstacle position information around oneself, and information of a surface sensing possible range of a surface sensing unit including a stereo camera for determining the own position, information of a surface-sensed area of an obstacle is recorded, and a search route is planned on the basis of the information of the surface-sensed area of the obstacle. The present technology can be applied to a multi-legged robot, a flying body, and an in-vehicle system that autonomously move according to a mounted computer.

Abstract: A system comprises a particle sensor assembly, which includes a light source that transmits a light beam into an external interrogation air region; a set of receive optics that provides a receive channel, the receive optics configured to collect a scattered portion of the light beam from a particle in the interrogation air region; and an optical detector that receives the collected scattered portion. The optical detector measures a signal intensity as a function of time from the scattered portion, with the signal intensity indicating a particle size and a signal duration indicating motion of the particle through the interrogation air region. A processor is in communication with the optical detector and is operative to determine a transit time of the particle through the interrogation air region based on the signal duration, and compute an airspeed based on parameters comprising the transit time and a size of the light beam.

Abstract: A laser system is provided. The laser system comprises: a seed laser configured to produce a sequence of seed light pulses, wherein the sequence of seed light pulses are produced with variable time intervals in a sweep cycle; a pump laser configured to produce pump light having variable amplitude in the sweep cycle; and a control unit configured to generate a command to the pump laser to synchronize the pump light with the sequence of seed light pulses.

Abstract: A seismic node for collecting seismic data, the seismic node including a base configured to define a chamber having an open face; a main electronic board having a processor, the main electronic board being placed inside the chamber; a battery pack configured to supply electrical power to the main electronic board and placed inside the chamber; and a digital cover that attaches to the open side of the base to seal the chamber, and a sensor device located inside the chamber and attached to a wall of the base to form a digital field unit, or an analog cover that attaches to the open side of the base to seal the chamber, and an analog sensor electrically attached to the analog cover to form an analog field unit.

Abstract: A marine sonar display device comprises a display, a memory element, and a processing element. The display displays sonar images. The memory element stores sonar data. The processing element is configured to transmit a transmit electronic signal to a frequency steered sonar element which transmits an array of sonar beams into a body of water, each sonar beam transmitted in a different angular direction, receive a receive electronic signal from the frequency steered sonar element, the receive electronic signal including a plurality of frequency components, calculate an array of sonar data slices, one sonar data slice for each frequency component, generate an array of sonar image slices, one sonar image slice for each sonar data slice, and control the display to visually present the array of sonar image slices in near real time and a historical sequence of at least one sonar image slice.