Abstract: The invention pertains to a system for characterizing surroundings of a vehicle, the system comprising: projection means (210) arranged for projecting a pattern of laser light towards said surroundings in a sequence of pulses; a detector (220) comprising a plurality of pixels, said detector (220) being configured for detecting light representing said pattern of laser light as reflected by said surroundings in synchronization with said sequence of pulses; and processing means (240) configured to calculate distances to objects (99) in said surroundings as a function of exposure values generated by said pixels in response to said detected light; wherein said detector (220) is further configured for detecting light forming a two-dimensional image of said surroundings at points in time that do not coincide with said sequence of pulses or at pixels that do not receive said light representing said pattern of laser light as reflected by said surroundings.

Abstract: A projector for a solid-state LIDAR system for determining distances to a scene is configured for illuminating the scene with a discrete spot pattern. The projector includes a laser array having a plurality of discrete solid-state laser light sources for simultaneously emitting a first laser beam, a mixing chamber configured for receiving and allowing propagation of each of the first laser beams until at least a portion of light rays of each first laser beam is overlapping with at least a portion of light rays of adjacent first laser beams, a reshaping optical system configured for receiving the overlapping light rays of the first laser beams and for generating a plurality of second laser beams such that each second laser beam includes light rays originating from multiple first laser beams, and a projector lens system for projecting the discrete spot pattern formed by the second laser beams towards the scene.

Abstract: A system for determining a distance to an object including a solid-state light source, a detector having a plurality of picture elements, and a processor to calculate the distance to the object as a function of exposure values generated by picture elements in response to the detected light. The picture elements generate exposure values by accumulating a first amount of electrical charge representative of reflected light during a first time window and a second electrical charge representative of reflected light during a second predetermined time window. The detecting occurs at the two charge storage wells; and the system interleaves the predetermined time windows with time windows during which the picture elements are used in a function different from the detecting and/or the picture elements include at least one further charge storage well to perform the function different from the detecting of the first and second amount of light.

Abstract: A system for determining a distance to an object including a solid-state light source, a detector having a plurality of picture elements, and a processor to calculate the distance to the object as a function of exposure values generated by picture elements in response to the detected light. The picture elements generate exposure values by accumulating a first amount of electrical charge representative of reflected light during a first time window and a second electrical charge representative of reflected light during a second predetermined time window. The detecting occurs at the two charge storage wells; and the system interleaves the predetermined time windows with time windows during which the picture elements are used in a function different from the detecting and/or the picture elements include at least one further charge storage well to perform the function different from the detecting of the first and second amount of light.

Abstract: The invention pertains to a system for characterizing surroundings of a vehicle, the system comprising: projection means (210) arranged for projecting a pattern of laser light towards said surroundings in a sequence of pulses; a detector (220) comprising a plurality of pixels, said detector (220) being configured for detecting light representing said pattern of laser light as reflected by said surroundings in synchronization with said sequence of pulses; and processing means (240) configured to calculate distances to objects (99) in said surroundings as a function of exposure values generated by said pixels in response to said detected light; wherein said detector (220) is further configured for detecting light forming a two-dimensional image of said surroundings at points in time that do not coincide with said sequence of pulses or at pixels that do not receive said light representing said pattern of laser light as reflected by said surroundings.