• 专利附录
  • 专利说明
  • 权利要求
  • 类似技术
  • 同族专利
  • 引用文献
  • 法律状态
  • 优先权
    • 专利摘要:
      IMPROVED LASER TELEMETER SENSOR.The specification describes a pulsed flight time laser rangefinder system used to obtain vehicle classification information. The sensor determines a distance range for portions of a vehicle that travels within a sensor detection zone. A scanning mechanism made of a four-faceted cube, having reflective surfaces, is used to collimate and direct the laser towards traveling vehicles. A data processing system processes the respective distance ranges and angle range data to determine the vehicle's three-dimensional shape.
    公开号:BR112014005878A2
    申请号:R112014005878-4
    申请日:2012-09-13
    公开日:2020-10-27
    发明作者:Keith Fowler；Nan-Ming Lai
    申请人:Osi Optoelectronics, Inc.；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    [001] [001] This specification is based on Provisional Patent Application No. US 61 / 534,148, filed on September 13, 2011 and entitled "IMPROVED LASER RANGEFINDER SENSOR". The above specification is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIELD
    [002] [002] The present specification refers generally to object sensors, and in particular to improved laser rangefinder sensors useful in accurately and faithfully feeling, detecting and / or classifying vehicles while allowing the triggering of traffic cameras, import, export, or other regulatory application cameras. FUNDAMENTALS
    [003] [003] A conventional optoelectronic sensor uses a time-of-flight laser rangefinder system to measure the normal distance from a road surface from a fixed point above the road surface and then measure the distance to a vehicle that passes or stops under the sensor. Due to the high repetition rate of the pulsed beam, traditional systems are able to develop a longitudinal profile of the vehicle using several consecutive interval measurements as the vehicle moves under the sensor. Some conventional systems may also be able to determine vehicle speed and use this information to develop a vehicle profile.
    [004] [004] Conventionally, the sensor receives a portion of the reflected energy from any area or an object located within the area, such as a vehicle. The returned pulse energy is then provided as an input to a receiver to determine a flight change time for emitted and received pulses, which can be caused by the presence of an object within the area. The sensor is also provided with several features useful in providing results that indicate the speed, census, size or shape of one or more objects in the area. For example, a typical sensor is provided with a component to receive an input from the means of determining flight time and to provide an output indicating whether the object meets one of a plurality of classification criteria (for example, it is the object car, truck or motorcycle).
    [005] [005] These sensors are being used as non-invasive solutions to monitor and analyze traffic across a wide range of applications, including toll collection, traffic flow analysis, bridge / tunnel clearance verification, as well as control and surveillance traffic. These applications have highly dynamic operating environments that require very accurate sensor detection and monitoring capabilities. Conventional systems are still unable to accurately measure and monitor high-speed traffic flow through a location with sufficiently high scan rates to allow vehicle identification and classification, particularly during inclement weather.
    [006] [006] Thus, there is a need for a sensor system with improved range accuracy and resolution at high scan rates. There is also a need for a sensor system that reduces resulting false measurements due to adverse weather conditions. SUMMARY
    [007] [007] The present specification discloses a pulsed flight time measurement sensor comprising laser means for providing vehicle classification information. More specifically, the present specification describes a pulsed flight time measurement sensor comprising laser means for determining a distance range from the sensor for portions of a vehicle in which the vehicle travels within a sensor detection zone . The present specification also discloses respective corresponding data range outputs with a sensor angle for each distance range data output. In addition, scanning means for scanning at least one beam through the vehicle is provided, which in one embodiment is a four-faceted cube, having reflective surfaces, which is used as a scanning mirror. In addition, processing means are also provided for processing the respective distance range data and angle range data to determine the three-dimensional shape of the vehicle.
    [008] [008] In one embodiment, the present specification is a system for determining the three-dimensional shape of a vehicle, the system comprising: a distance sensor comprising a laser transmitter and a photodetector, to generate a plurality of laser beams and to detect a plurality of reflected beams, each of said reflected beams corresponding to one of a plurality of generated laser beams; a scanning mechanism, positioned in relation to the distance sensor,
    [009] [009] In addition, the system of this specification comprises a time to digital converter (TDC) for flight time measurements, in which the TDC is adapted to receive up to four return pulses from a single laser pulse. In one embodiment, the system comprises at least two TDCs.
    [010] [010] In one embodiment, the four-faceted cube described in the present specification rotates continuously in one direction at a constant speed and allows four sweeps in each revolution.
    [011] [011] In one embodiment, the system generates a plurality of laser footprints and in which said laser footprints appear as strips that touch end to end and provide a continuous line of detection.
    [012] [012] In one embodiment, the present specification describes a method for determining a three-dimensional shape of a vehicle that passes through a detection zone of a range measuring sensor comprising a laser transmitter and a photodetector, the method comprising: scanning of a plurality of laser beams through the vehicle using a scanning mechanism comprising a four-faceted cube, referred to as four-faceted cube with reflecting surfaces that are used to direct the laser beams through their field of view in a straight line said scanning mechanism further comprising a scanner control circuit that drives the laser at predefined scanning angles; determine a distance range from the sensor to portions of the vehicle using flight time measurements; and processing distance range data for each scanning angle to determine the vehicle's three-dimensional shape.
    [013] [013] In one embodiment, the four-faceted cube rotates continuously in one direction at a constant speed during scanning. In another mode, the scanning cube is adapted to produce four scans at each revolution.
    [014] [014] In one embodiment, the method of the present specification still uses a time to digital converter (TDC) for flight time measurements, in which the TDC is adapted to receive a maximum of four return pulses from a single laser pulse. In another embodiment, the system comprises at least two TDCs.
    [015] [015] In one embodiment, the system generates a plurality of laser footprints during a scan and in which each of these laser footprints appears as strips that touch end to end and provide a continuous line of detection.
    [016] [016] In one mode, the distance interval resolution from the system is + 1 cm. In another mode, the limits of distance interval measurements are customizable.
    [017] [017] In one embodiment, the scanner control circuit triggers a laser pulse once for each degree of the scanning angle.
    [018] [018] The modalities of the above mentioned specification and others will be described in greater detail in the drawings and in the detailed description provided below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
    [019] [019] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be further appreciated, as they become better understood by reference to the detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings:
    [020] [020] Figure 1 shows a frontal elevation view of a modality of an optoelectronic sensor system mounted above a road;
    [021] [021] Figure 2 is a side elevation view of the sensor, described in Figure 1A, mounted at a height 'H' and at a lower frontal look angle '* A';
    [022] [022] Figure 3 shows the laser footprint, in one mode, in which the sensor is mounted at a height of about 7 meters;
    [023] [023] Figure 4 is a table providing range coverage data according to varying mounting heights for the sensor when the sensor is at an O º angle to the direction of transport;
    [024] [024] Figure 5A is a table showing a plurality of performance parameters for the detection system according to a modality;
    [025] [025] Figure 5B is a table describing a plurality of laser output parameters according to an embodiment of the present invention;
    [026] [026] Figure 5C is a table showing a plurality of environmental factors and associated performance parameters in which the sensor is capable of carrying out, according to one embodiment of the present invention; and,
    [027] [027] Figure 6 illustrates a rotating hub scanner according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
    [028] [028] The present specification describes a pulsed flight time measurement sensor system comprising laser means for providing vehicle classification information. More specifically, the present specification describes a pulsed flight time interval sensor system comprising laser means for determining a distance interval from the sensor for portions of a vehicle in which the vehicle travels within a detection zone of the sensor and a respective range of data outputs corresponding to a sensor angle for each distance range data output.
    [029] [029] In addition, the detection system comprises a scanning means for scanning at least one beam through the vehicle, which, in one embodiment, is a four-faceted cube, having “reflecting surfaces, which is used as a scanning mirror. In addition, a processing medium is also provided for processing the respective distance range data and angle range data to determine the three-dimensional shape of the vehicle.
    [030] [030] This specification describes several modalities. The following description is provided to allow a person with current knowledge in the art to practice the invention. Language used in the present specification should not be interpreted as a general denial of any specific modality or used to limit claims beyond the meaning of the terms used herein. The general principles defined here can be applied to other modalities and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, the terminology and phraseology used are intended to describe exemplary modalities and should not be considered as limiting. Thus, the inventions disclosed today are to grant the greatest scope encompassing numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents according to the principles and characteristics disclosed. For the sake of clarity, details concerning the technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the present invention have not yet been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
    [031] [031] Figure 1 shows a front elevation view of an optoelectronic sensor 105 of a detection system that is mounted above a road 110, having a plurality of travel lanes 115, to sense, detect and / or classify vehicles 120 passing under sensor 105 and also for the activation of video and / or audio capture equipment. According to one modality, sensor 105 is used in multi-lane electronic toll collection operations to detect vehicles traveling at express speed. The sensor 105 is generally mounted on top of traffic lanes on either a gantry, pole arm or toll plaza roof structure 125. More specifically, the sensor is preferably mounted on or around the central point of a horizontal portion of the gantry structure 125 that extends along and above the road 110 and is kept at the top because it is fixedly attached to the vertical right and left portions of the gantry structure 125.
    [032] [032] Figure 2 is a side elevation view of the 205 sensor mounted at an 'H' height of about 7 meters (23 feet) and a 10 "lower 215" front frontal "A" angle. The sensor is preferably mounted offset from the normal in such a way that a beam 225 emitted from the sensor 205 travels downward in the direction of the road and crosses the road at an angle which, relative to the frame 230, is less than 90 degrees. Such an angle can be formed by having the sensor 205 mounted, in relation to the frame 230, using a lower look angle 215 in an interval of less than 25 degrees and preferably about 10 degrees.
    [033] [033] Referring to Figures l1 and 2, during operation, sensor 105, sweeps the road, taking distance / range measurements of the entire width of the road below the sensor. When no vehicle is present, the range measurements are equal to the distance range for road 110. When a vehicle 120 is present below the sensor, the distance to the top surface of the vehicle is measured and provides a cross height profile of the vehicle at each scan. Thus, when a vehicle passes through the laser beam, as shown in Figure 2, the distances or intervals to various points on the vehicle's surface are measured by emitting a plurality of laser beams towards the vehicle, detecting a corresponding reflecting beam for each of the plurality of laser beams, record the flight time for each beam emitted and reflecting correspondingly and use the flight time data to generate distance information. In one embodiment, sensor 105 scans a narrow laser beam 135 over the entire field width of 90 degrees of view at a rate of 120 readings per second (sps). The narrow laser beam width allows the detection and separation of vehicles following closely traveling at high speed.
    [034] [034] These measured intervals or distances are then used to generate a vehicle profile. The profile is formed using geometric transformations, well known in the art, for the distance measurements obtained. In one embodiment, the laser scanner is performed at several scanning angles to obtain a wide range of distance measurements, and to generate a more accurate vehicle profile.
    [035] [035] In one mode, these measurements are transmitted (using wired and / or wireless networks) in real time to a computer that is programmed to exclusively detect, classify and determine the position of each vehicle on the road. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the scanning laser rangefinder measures a single flat profile that allows for greater accuracy in vehicle detection and activation. In one embodiment, pulsed flight time measurements provide vehicle profiles of + 2.5 cm (t + 1.0 inch) accuracy. By transmitting consecutive scans to the computer, a complete three-dimensional vehicle profile can be developed in real time.
    [036] [036] It should be noted here that the sensor mounting height may vary according to each installation location. Various horizontal beam widths and mounting height correlations are provided below and shown with respect to Figure 4, which provides a table providing strip coverage, in terms of horizontal beam width 405, with respect to varying mounting heights 415 for the sensor when the sensor is at an O degree for traffic. In a preferred embodiment, the lower frontal look angle "A" is in the range of 0 to 10 degrees for creating high reflection of the emitted laser light. A reflective strip can optionally be painted on the road surface in lengths on the road positioned at a lower look angle greater than 10 degrees to increase the reflection of the emitted laser light. A reflective band is optionally used if the floor is very black and, therefore, of low reflectivity. This ensures that there is a sufficient amount of energy reflected back in the rain, where water is on the pavement and tends to reflect energy away from the scanner (a mirrored effect).
    [037] [037] Referring again to Figures 1 and 2, according to one modality, the sensor 105, 205 employs a pulsed flight time rangefinder comprising a laser diode transmitter and a silicon avalanche photodiode receiver (APD) ) in a side-by-side, off-axis configuration. By reference, an avalanche photodiode, as used here, is a photosensor that generates a large amount of current when hit by a small amount of leakage due to the avalanche of electrons. The transmitter comprises the laser diode, its drive circuit, and a collimation lens. The optical receiver comprises an objective lens, narrowband optical filter, detector / amplifier, and a threshold detector, each coupled to each other.
    [038] [038] The diode-laser, in one embodiment, is an InGaAs injection laser powered by a diode driver to produce a pulsed output. A trigger pulse from a scanner control circuit triggers the laser at the required scanning angles. In one embodiment, an ideal laser emission wavelength for the silicon APD receiver is 904 nm. Figure 5B shows a plurality of laser output parameters according to an embodiment of the present invention, including, but not limited to, wavelength, maximum pulse width, maximum PULSE energy, and average laser power. In one embodiment, the laser wavelength is 904 nm. In one embodiment, the maximum pulse width is 8 ns. In one mode, the maximum PULSE energy is 64 nd. In one embodiment, the average laser power is 8 uW. The above values are exemplary values that reflect an embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that these values may change and that there may be slight variations from unit to unit due to fluctuations in manufacturing.
    [039] [039] In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the sensor also employs a rotating four-facet cube for scanning the line, and thus effectively directs the diode-laser pulse across its field of view (road) in a straight line. Thus, the four-faceted cube is used as a laser collimator. Referring to Figure 6, a cube scanner 601 rotates continuously in one direction at a constant speed. The 601 cube scanner comprises four sides, or facets, 601a, 601b, 601lc and 601d. In one embodiment, the cube scanner 601 comprises a square or rectangular block 691 formed by four facets 60la, 601lb, 60lc, and 60l1d and a second square or rectangular block 692, also formed by four facets. The second block 692, which is configured to receive and reflect energy transmitted from the laser diode 602, and the first block 691, which is configured to receive and reflect energy reflected from the road or vehicles, can be separated by a space and can be physically coupled through an axis such that the two blocks 691, 692 are able to rotate with respect to each other. The two blocks 691, 692 are mounted on a base 693 that can be separated from the second block 692 by a space and coupled to both blocks in a way that allows them to rotate.
    [040] [040] Each facet in each block 691, 692 comprises a reflecting surface. The angle between each facet and between each facet and the base of the respective block is 90 degrees. The four-faceted scanning cube allows four scans for each revolution. Conventional scanning systems use a single mirror surface mounted at a 45 degree angle to the laser axis, thus allowing only one scan per mirror revolution. Because it has four facets that are perpendicular to the laser axis, the hub 601 of the present system provides for four sweeps per revolution. As such, the motor in the present system only needs to run at% K- the speed of motors in conventional systems to obtain the same number of sweeps. In addition, since the laser is pulsed at 1 degree of rotation in the present system, the use of the four-sided cube allows the laser in the present system to be pulsed at 4-th of the repetition rate of conventional systems. This allows the current system to rotate the engine faster, sweep faster, and pulse the laser at a lower frequency, which prevents the laser from overworking or overheating to a harmful temperature.
    [041] [041] The rotating hub allows for a fixed angular separation necessary to sweep the 602 diode laser in a straight line across an entire road, even those with three or more lanes. A motor control mechanism 603 is coupled to hub 601 to facilitate rotation. Motor speed control signals 631 and facet position 632 are generated through a digital signal processor (DSP) 610 which, in one embodiment, is connected to a computer via an appropriate interface 660.
    [042] [042] The DSP 610 also generates the laser trigger signal 633, which activates the laser trigger 604 to activate the laser diode 602. The laser beam emitted from the diode laser is collimated using the 605 lens. The beam 640 is directed by the rotating hub scanner 601 and passed through a temperature controlled window 606 to scan the target vehicle. Because the window is capable of being heated and / or cooled, as required, the window is less likely to become cloudy or foggy due to condensation.
    [043] [043] In one embodiment, the optical detection circuit converts reflected optical radiation from the vehicle and / or road to an electrical analog equivalent of the incoming radiation and, subsequently, a logic level signal.
    [044] [044] In one mode, pulsed flight time measurements are read by the digital signal processor (DSP) 610 and converted into distance / interval measurements. In one embodiment, a time to digital converter (TDC) is used as an integrated circuit on a single chip for flight time measurements. This device allows the system's built-in software to determine the range of an object under the scanner by providing the time period between a start pulse 635, which is generated when the laser is fired, and a stop pulse 636, which is generated when the reflected energy from the laser hits a target and reflects back to the scanner. The use of TDC provides better resolution, smaller size, simpler circuits, lower power consumption, and a lower cost when compared to prior art time to analog (TAC) conversion and multiple analog conversion chip circuits for digital (ADC). This is because, while TDC technology converts time segments into a digital representation of that time, TAC technology converts a time segment into an analog value that must then be converted into a digital value. The TAC requires a relatively large amount of electronic circuits to perform the task, whereas a TDC consists of a small integrated circuit. TDC consumes approximately 0.005% of the actual circuit board state compared to that required for the equivalent TAC circuit. In one embodiment, the gap resolution is improved to be + 1 centimeter, versus 7.62 centimeters in the prior art.
    [045] [045] In addition, the TDC can receive up to four return pulses from a single laser pulse. According to one modality, by using two TDC chips in the sensor, and alternating between them, eight return pulses from a single laser pulse can be received. In one mode, with the maximum interval set at 35 feet, eight return pulses are received in no more than 70 ns or 0.00000007 seconds. It can be noted that this can also be achieved using a TAC, but the number of circuits required for this purpose will have at least 200 times more space on a circuit board. This configuration improves the ability to see through adverse weather conditions from rain, snow and fog, by ignoring the returns that come from adverse weather conditions and using the returns from vehicles traveling under the sensor.
    [046] [046] Figure 5C shows a plurality of environmental factors and associated performance parameters in which the sensor is able to perform according to a modality of the present invention. In one embodiment, environmental factors include, but are not limited to, temperature, thermal shock, humidity, rain, snow load, ice snow, wind load, dust, vibration, shock, reliability and ease of maintenance.
    [047] [047] In one embodiment, the laser geometry and collimation optics provided (four-faceted cube) provide a laser footprint with a characteristic divergence of
    [048] [048] Referring to Figure 3, in another mode when the sensor is mounted at a height of 25 meters, the laser footprint on the pavement is approximately 0.15 inches (3.6 mm) in a vertical direction 310 and 4.6 inches (117 millimeters) in a horizontal direction 305. It should be appreciated that the footprints appear as strips along the pavement. These "striped" pattern footprints are formed during sweeping and stripes appear as successive strips across the road that only touch end to end, therefore providing a continuous line of detection. The striped footprint pattern is a result of using a diode laser where the output facet of the light emitting chip is rectangular in shape.
    [049] [049] In one mode, the system generates 90 pixels for each scan, which line up through the scan line with very little space between them. With the assembly geometry of Figure 1, the pixel-to-space ratio is more than 18.8. The space between subsequent pixels is approximately 6.6 millimeters (0.26 ") at this height of mounting. Thus, any shape larger than the size of the space, for example, a 5 cm (2") tow bar, will be detected by at least one pixel of the sensor, thus allowing vehicle detection accuracy greater than 99% in one mode. This type of laser footprint that appears as a continuous scan line allows, for example, to detect a trailer and also its attachment to the towing vehicle. It can be noted that the high pixel-to-space ratio is achieved by using the present, continuous, striped scan line design. In one embodiment, the laser is pulsed at 1 degree intervals. With the known range, the appropriate laser and optical width are selected to produce a specific beam divergence, such that the laser width increases in size at the exact rate as the angle separation. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that conventional laser scanners have a rounded footprint, as opposed to a striped continuous scan line of the present invention, and, consequently, conventional scanners produce a large amount of overlap when the range increases, whereas the modalities presently described minimize overlap.
    [050] [050] Figure 5A is a table showing a plurality of performance parameters for the sensor of the present invention according to a modality, such as scan rate, interval accuracy, angular resolution, etc. According to one aspect of the described inventions, the sensor's halftone port can be adjusted and / or customized by a customer. This allows the customer to set the sensor to ignore any feedback up to a predetermined range and only process distances beyond this range. In one mode, the minimum range port can be set from 0 feet up to 25 feet in 1/8-foot increments. This can also be used to prohibit adverse weather conditions from causing short intervals (false alarms) that could distort the resulting three-dimensional profile of the vehicle being scanned.
    [051] [051] In one mode, the customer can customize the number of pulses that occur inside each scan. In one mode, the customer can customize the scan angle. In one embodiment, the scan angle can be adjusted from a maximum of 90 degrees to a minimum of 20 degrees. A person with current knowledge in the art will understand that several other parameters can be adjusted by the software according to the user's preference.
    [052] [052] People of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that since theThe sensor of the present invention measures intervals in a single plane, the speed of the moving vehicle is optionally captured by another sensor (s) in order to allow a calibrated three-dimensional measurement . However, even an uncalibrated 3-D profile allows valuable information about the vehicle profile and allows the computer to easily distinguish, for example, a truck and a bus. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the various types of vehicle classifications, such as trucks, buses, pickup trucks, cars, van, sedans, convertibles, compact, etc., are only limited by the complexity of the software, and therefore the system can be adapted to classify vehicles for any number of categories. In one mode, the system is capable of classifying up to 12 vehicle classes. In one embodiment, the sensor of the present invention automatically initiates the interval measurement process when switched on, and its self-calibration process eliminates the need for any field adjustment at startup.
    [053] [053] According to another aspect, the system of the present invention has the ability to report the intensity of reflected objects together with the interval data. The purpose of capturing the reflected intensity for each pixel across the entire scan line is to perform interval correction and to provide additional data for the classification algorithm to determine the vehicle class. In addition, intensity data can be used to improve vehicle classification and detection in adverse weather conditions. In the case of reflection from the accumulation of water or oil on the ground or reflection from a vehicle windshield, the range reported by the sensor can be significantly greater than the actual range for a reference surface. That is why capturing intensity data helps the user to understand why the data reported from the sensor appears to be wrong. Another example of troubleshooting is the case where the optical alignment of the sensor has been changed for unknown reasons. In this case, the intensity reflected back to the scanner may be too low for good and consistent range measurement. Thus, analyzing the interval and intensity data allows system operators to identify the cause of the reduction in sensor performance.
    [054] [054] The above examples are merely illustrative of the many applications of the system of the present invention. Although only a few embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, it is to be understood that the present invention can be realized in many other specific ways without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the present embodiments and examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention can be modified within the scope of the appended claims.
    权利要求:
    Claims (19)
    [1]
    CLAIMS l.
    System for determining a three-dimensional shape of a vehicle, the system characterized by the fact that it comprises:
    a distance sensor comprising a laser transmitter and a photodetector, to generate a plurality of laser beams and to detect a plurality of reflected beams, each of said reflected beams corresponding to one of a plurality of generated laser beams; a scanning mechanism, positioned in relation to the distance sensor, to collimate each of said laser beams generated through the vehicle, in which said scanning mechanism comprises a cube of four facets, each having a reflecting surface, in which said cube of four facets are positioned in relation to the distance sensor so that it is adapted to reflect the generated laser beams, and in which said scanning mechanism also comprises a scanner control circuit in data communication with said distance sensor to activate the generation of laser beams to create predefined scanning angles; and a processing system for determining distance intervals from the sensor for portions of the vehicle using flight time measurements derived from timings of said generated laser beams and reflected beams, when the vehicle travels within a sensor detection zone and to determine a three-dimensional shape of the vehicle based on distance intervals.
    [2]
    2. System, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that it also comprises a time to digital converter (TDC) for flight time measurements.
    [3]
    3. System according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that the TDC is adapted to receive a maximum of four return pulses from a single laser pulse.
    [4]
    4. System according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that it comprises at least two TDCs.
    [5]
    5. System according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the four-faceted hub continuously rotates in one direction at a constant speed.
    [6]
    6. System, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the four-faceted cube allows four sweeps in each revolution.
    [7]
    7. System, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the system generates a plurality of laser footprints and in which said laser footprints appear as strips that touch end to end and provide a continuous line of detection.
    [8]
    8. System, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the system's distance interval resolution is + 1 cm.
    [9]
    9. System, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the limits of distance interval measurements are customizable.
    [10]
    10. Method for determining a three-dimensional shape of a vehicle passing through a detection zone of a range measuring sensor comprising a laser transmitter and a photodetector, the method characterized by the fact that it comprises: scanning a plurality of laser beams through the vehicle using a scanning mechanism comprising a four-faceted cube, said four-faceted cube having reflective surfaces that are used to direct the laser beams across its field of view in a straight line, said scanning mechanism further comprising a scanner control circuit that drives the laser at predefined scanning angles; determine a distance range from the sensor to portions of the vehicle using flight time measurements; and processing distance range data for each scanning angle to determine the vehicle's three-dimensional shape.
    [11]
    11. Method according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that the four-faceted cube rotates continuously in one direction at a constant speed during scanning.
    [12]
    12. Method, according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that the scanning cube is adapted to produce four scans at each revolution.
    [13]
    13. Method, according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that it also includes the use of a time to digital converter (TDC) for flight time measurements.
    [14]
    14. Method according to claim 13,
    characterized by the fact that the TDC is adapted to receive a maximum of four return pulses from a single laser pulse.
    [15]
    15. Method, according to claim 13, characterized by the fact that the system comprises at least two TDCs.
    [16]
    16. Method according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that the system generates a plurality of laser footprints during a scan and in which each of these laser footprints appears as strips that touch end to end and provide a line continuous detection.
    [17]
    17. Method according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that the measurement distance interval resolution is + 1 cm.
    [18]
    18. Method according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that the limits of distance interval measurements are customizable.
    [19]
    19. Method, according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that the scanner control circuit activates a laser pulse once for each degree of the scanning angle.
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    法律状态:
    2020-11-10| B06F| Objections, documents and/or translations needed after an examination request according [chapter 6.6 patent gazette]|
    2020-12-22| B06U| Preliminary requirement: requests with searches performed by other patent offices: procedure suspended [chapter 6.21 patent gazette]|
    2021-04-13| B11B| Dismissal acc. art. 36, par 1 of ipl - no reply within 90 days to fullfil the necessary requirements|
    2021-12-07| B350| Update of information on the portal [chapter 15.35 patent gazette]|
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    US201161534148P| true| 2011-09-13|2011-09-13|
    US61/534,148|2011-09-13|
    PCT/US2012/054993|WO2013040121A2|2011-09-13|2012-09-13|Improved laser rangefinder sensor|
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