Patents Examined by James R Hulka
  • Patent number: 12146954
    Abstract: Embodiments describe a solid state electronic scanning LIDAR system that includes a scanning focal plane transmitting element and a scanning focal plane receiving element whose operations are synchronized so that the firing sequence of an emitter array in the transmitting element corresponds to a capturing sequence of a photosensor array in the receiving element. During operation, the emitter array can sequentially fire one or more light emitters into a scene and the reflected light can be received by a corresponding set of one or more photosensors through an aperture layer positioned in front of the photosensors. Each light emitter can correspond with an aperture in the aperture layer, and each aperture can correspond to a photosensor in the receiving element such that each light emitter corresponds with a specific photosensor in the receiving element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: Ouster, Inc.
    Inventors: Angus Pacala, Mark Frichtl
  • Patent number: 12146991
    Abstract: The noise calculation unit applies a statistical process for the measurement signal of the first number of data to calculate the noise value. The calculation threshold setting unit sets the calculation threshold based on the noise value. The period determination unit determines a period where a difference between the measurement signal and a moving average value calculated in a previous cycle exceeds the calculation threshold, to be the non-calculation period of the baseline. The moving average calculation unit is configured such that the measurement signal in a period excluding the non-calculation period is moving-averaged for each second number of data to calculate the moving average value. The first number of data and the second number of data are set independently.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shunsuke Kimura, Hidekazu Adachi
  • Patent number: 12146965
    Abstract: A depth camera assembly (DCA) includes a direct time of flight system for determining depth information for a local area. The DCA includes an illumination source, a camera, and a controller. The illumination source projects light (e.g., pulse of light) into the local area. The camera detects reflections of the projected light from objects in the local area. Using an internal gating selection procedure, the controller selects a gate window that is likely to be associated with reflection of a pulse of light from an object. The selected gate may be used for depth determination. The internal gating selection procedures may be achieved through external target location and selection or through internal self-selection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Augusto Ronchini Ximenes, Michael Hall
  • Patent number: 12140708
    Abstract: A method for optical sensing includes directing a series of optical pulses toward a target scene and imaging optical radiation that is reflected from the target scene onto an array of single-photon detectors, which output electrical pulses in response to photons that are incident thereon. The electrical pulses output by the single photon detectors are counted in multiple different gating intervals that are synchronized with each of the optical pulses, including at least first and second gating intervals at different, respective delays relative to the optical pulses, while the delays are swept over a sequence of different delay times during the series of the optical pulses. A time of flight of the optical pulses is computed by comparing respective first and second counts of the electrical pulses that were accumulated in the first and second gating intervals over the series of the optical pulses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Nadav Fine, Amir Nevet, Oz Barak
  • Patent number: 12140705
    Abstract: A sensor assembly includes a base and a sensor housing mounted to the base. The sensor housing is rotatable relative to the base about an axis. The sensor housing includes a top panel having an exterior surface. A plurality of fins are disposed on the exterior surface and are fixed relative to the sensor housing. The fins extend radially outward relative to the axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Rashaun Phinisee, Raghuraman Surineedi, Venkatesh Krishnan, Michael Robertson, Jr., Tyler D. Hamilton, Segundo Baldovino
  • Patent number: 12111426
    Abstract: There is provided a time of flight sensor including a light source, a first pixel, a second pixel and a processor. The first pixel generates a first output signal without receiving reflected light from an external object illuminated by the light source. The second pixel generates a second output signal by receiving the reflected light from the external object illuminated by the light source. The processor calculates deviation compensation and deviation correction associated with temperature variation according to the first output signal to accordingly calibrate a distance calculated according to the second output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Inventors: Tso-Sheng Tsai, Yueh-Lin Chung, Shin-Lin Wang
  • Patent number: 12111411
    Abstract: Example embodiments relate to methods and systems for automated generation of radar interference reduction training data for autonomous vehicles. In an example, a computing device causes a radar unit to transmit radar signals in an environment of a vehicle. The computing device may include a model trained based on a labeled interferer dataset that represents interferer signals generated by an emitter located remote from the vehicle. The interferer signals are based on one or more radar signal parameter models. The computing device may use the model to determine whether received electromagnetic energy corresponds to transmitted radar signals or an interferer signal. Based on determining that the electromagnetic energy corresponds to the transmitted radar signals, the computing device may generate a representation of the environment of the vehicle using the electromagnetic energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Alessandro Temil, Gary Clayton
  • Patent number: 12111423
    Abstract: An electronic apparatus capable of determining a distance to an object based on reflected light provided by a reflection of a pulsed light on the object includes an input terminal configured to receive a signal of intensity of reception light. Processing circuitry determines a measurement range capable of specifying a peak of the reception light based on the intensity of the reception light, detects the reflected light by specifying the peak of the reception light within the measurement range, determines, based on the measurement range, a duration from when the pulsed light is emitted until when the reflected light is received, and determines a distance from the electronic apparatus to the object according to the duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Hidenori Okuni, Tuan Thanh Ta, Satoshi Kondo, Akihide Sai
  • Patent number: 12105221
    Abstract: An optical scanner having high utilization efficiency of light is provided. A reflector with actuator includes a reflector having reflection regions formed on both surfaces thereof, first supporting parts supporting the reflector from both sides in a plane direction and defining a first rotary axis of the reflector, a first magnetic element installed on one surface of the reflector at a position displaced from the first rotary axis, and a first magnetic actuator configured to move the first magnetic element in a direction that rotates the reflector around the first rotary axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: PIONEER CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shogo Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 12105223
    Abstract: An optoelectronic sensor for the detection of objects in a monitored zone is provided that has a light transmitter for transmitting a light beam, a light receiver for generating a received signal from the light beam remitted by the objects in the monitored zone, a control and evaluation unit for the detection of information on the objects with reference to the received signal, a base unit, a scanning unit movable with respect to the base unit for the periodic scanning of the monitored zone, and a drive having a hollow shaft for moving the scanning unit, wherein the scanning unit comprises a first data transmission unit and the base unit comprises a second data transmission unit to exchange data wirelessly between the base unit and the scanning unit through the hollow shaft, The first data transmission unit and the second data transmission unit are configured as microwave units for the data exchange by means of microwave signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: SICK AG
    Inventors: Michael Kerp, Markus Mössner
  • Patent number: 12099145
    Abstract: In various embodiments, described herein are systems and methods for ambient light suppression on a photodetector of a LiDAR device. The LiDAR device can be configured to scan laser pulses in such a manner that reflected laser pulses are incident on one column of macro-pixels at a time in a macro-pixel array on the photodetector, where only that column is turned on, and the rest of the columns are turned off. The LiDAR device can further be configured to scan at different angles such that laser pulses from a same portion of a target object can be incident on the turned-on column multiple times to increase the resolution of a LiDAR image. Further, outputs from multiple SPADs in a max-pixel are concatenated to form a multi-level digital signal, and a threshold can be used for discarding or registering the multi-level digital signal for further noise reduction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Assignee: Liturex (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd.
    Inventor: Yunpeng Song
  • Patent number: 12092767
    Abstract: A method of a sensing device, comprising steps of emitting, by a light source of the sensing device, a light pulse in each of n cycles; measuring, by a single photon avalanche diodes array of the sensing device, a time-of-flight value with a resolution of m in each of the n cycles to generate n raw data frames based on a reflected light of the light pulse; performing, by a pre-processing circuit of the sensing device, a pre-processing operation to n raw data frames to generate k pre-processed data frames, wherein m, n and k are natural numbers, and k is smaller than n; and generating, by post-processor of the sensing device, a histogram according to the k pre-processed data frames and analyzing the histogram to output a depth result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Chin Yin, Shang-Fu Yeh, Calvin Yi-Ping Chao, Chih-Lin Lee, Meng-Hsiu Wu
  • Patent number: 12088352
    Abstract: A method and system for identifying entangled photons includes generating a plurality of sets of four entangled photons, wherein a first pair of photons in each of the plurality of sets of four entangled photons are time correlated indicating that a second pair of photons in a same one of each of the plurality of sets of four entangled photons are time correlated. A coincidence time of a first pair of photons of each of the plurality of sets of four entangled photons is determined and coincidence times are recorded as a first quantum data set. A coincidence time of a second pair of photons of each of the plurality of sets of four entangled photons determined and coincidence times is recorded as a second quantum data set such that the first quantum data set and the second quantum data set comprise at least some correlated coincidence times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: Qubit Moving and Storage, LLC
    Inventors: Gary Vacon, Kristin A. Rauschenbach
  • Patent number: 12072419
    Abstract: The disclosed technology provides solutions for generating synthetic 3D environments, In some aspects, the disclosed technology includes a process of synthetic environment generation that includes steps for collecting sensor data corresponding with a three-dimensional (3D) space, generating a 3D mesh based on the sensor data, and generating one or more synthetic 3D objects based on the 3D mesh and the sensor data. In some aspects, the process can further include steps for generating a 3D synthetic environment comprising the one or more synthetic 3D objects, wherein the 3D synthetic environment is generated based on the 3D mesh. Systems and machine-readable media are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: GM Cruise Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Benjamin Goldstein, Gen Nishida, Eileen Bai
  • Patent number: 12066549
    Abstract: Disclosed are a same-path and synchronous detection system and a same-path and synchronous detection method for atmosphere data. The detection system includes an emission unit, a receiving unit and a data processing unit, where the emission unit includes multiple sets of laser devices, which are used for emitting the laser of different wavelengths in a synchronous and same-path manner; the receiving unit includes a receiving telescope, which is symmetrically provided with a plurality of pupils, to receive an echo signal after the laser of different wavelengths interacts with the atmosphere; and the data processing unit is configured to calculate atmosphere data parameters through the echo signal. The synchronous and same-path detection for a plurality of atmosphere data parameters may be implemented in the present disclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2024
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: Hefel Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Inventors: Chenbo Xie, Yalin Hu, Hui Zhou, Hao Yang, Liangliang Cheng, Wenyue Zhu, Yingjian Wang
  • Patent number: 12066574
    Abstract: Optical systems and methods for object detection and location. One example of an optical system includes a laser radar optical source positioned to emit a pulsed laser beam, a MEMS MMA positioned to scan the beam in a linear scan over a first area of a scene, a laser radar detector positioned to receive and integrate a reflection of the beam, a read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) configured to provide a first read-out signal based on the integrated reflection, and a controller configured to receive the first read-out signal, determine a range to the first area based on a time of flight of the pulsed laser beam, and identify a presence of an object within the scene based on a signal level of the first read-out signal, the first signal level corresponding to a reflectivity of a portion of the object within the first area of the scene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Gerald P. Uyeno, Sean D. Keller, Benn H. Gleason
  • Patent number: 12066547
    Abstract: A method of measuring a distance between a vehicle and one or more objects, includes generating a modulation signal; generating a modulated light emitting diode (LED) transmission signal, via a vehicle LED driver assembly; transmitting a plurality of light beams based at least in part on the generated modulated LED transmission signal; capturing a reflection of the plurality of light beams off the one or more objects, utilizing one or more lens assemblies and a camera, the camera including an array of pixel sensors and being positioned on the vehicle; communicating a series of measurements representing the captured plurality of light beam reflections; calculating, utilizing the time-of-flight sensor module, time of flight measurements between the vehicle LED light assembly and the one or more objects and calculating distances, utilizing a depth processor module, between the vehicle LED light assembly and the one or more objects based on the time-of-flight measurements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2024
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: Wireless Photonics, LLC
    Inventors: Bahram Jalali, Alexandra Jalali, Mehdi Hatamian, Ahmadreza Rofougaran
  • Patent number: 12066536
    Abstract: A light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system according to the present disclosure comprises an optical circulator and one or more photodetectors (PDs). The optical circulator is to transmit the target return signal to the one or more PDs, where the one or more PDs are to mix the target return signal with a local oscillator (LO) signal to generate a signal to extract information of the target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: Aeva, Inc.
    Inventors: Gautam Prabhakar, Behsan Behzadi, Oguzhan Avci, Keith Gagne, Kevin Pollock, Pierre Hicks, Mina Rezk
  • Patent number: 12066573
    Abstract: An optoelectronic sensor for detecting an object in a monitored zone having at least one light source for transmitting transmitted light, a light receiver having a reception optics arranged upstream for generating received signals from light beams remitted at the object, and a control and evaluation unit for acquiring information on the object from the received signals has a beam splitter arrangement arranged downstream of the light source for splitting the transmitted light into a plurality of transmitted light beams separated from one another, wherein the beam splitter arrangement includes a plurality of switchable beam splitters for splitting the transmitted light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: SICK AG
    Inventor: Siegfried Ringwald
  • Patent number: 12061256
    Abstract: In an example, a method is described. The method includes causing one or more sensors arranged on an aircraft to acquire, over a window of time, first data associated with a first object that is within an environment of the aircraft, where the one or more sensors include one or more of a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor, a radar sensor, or a camera, causing an array of microphones arranged on the aircraft to acquire, over approximately the same window of time as the first data is acquired, first acoustic data associated with the first object, and training a machine learning model by using the first acoustic data as an input value to the machine learning model and by using an azimuth, a range, an elevation, and a type of the first object identified from the first data as ground truth output labels for the machine learning model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2024
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Tyler C. Staudinger, Nick S. Evans