Method of Providing a Dynamic Region of interest in a LIDAR System

Abstract

A system and method for providing a dynamic region of interest in a lidar system can include scanning a light beam over a field of view to capture a first lidar image, identifying a first object within the captured first lidar image, selecting a first region of interest within the field of view that contains at least a portion of the identified first object, and capturing a second lidar image, where capturing the second lidar image includes scanning the light beam over the first region of interest at a first spatial sampling resolution, and scanning the light beam over the field of view outside of the first region of interest at a second spatial sampling resolution, wherein the second sampling resolution is less than the first spatial sampling resolution.

1 . A method for providing a dynamic region of interest in a lidar system, the method comprising:
 scanning a light beam over a field of view to capture a first lidar image;   identifying a first object within the captured first lidar image;   selecting a first region of interest within the field of view that contains at least a portion of the identified first object; and   capturing a second lidar image, where capturing the second lidar image includes:
 scanning the light beam over the first region of interest at a first spatial sampling resolution; and 
 scanning the light beam over the field of view outside of the first region of interest at a second spatial sampling resolution, wherein the second sampling resolution is different than the first spatial sampling resolution. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 identifying a second object outside of the first region of interest; 
 selecting a second region of interest that contains at least a portion of the identified second object; and 
 capturing a third lidar image, where capturing the third lidar image includes:
 scanning the light beam over the first region of interest and the second region of interest at the first spatial sampling resolution; and 
 scanning the light beam over the field of view outside of both the first region of interest and the second region of interest at a third spatial sampling resolution, wherein the third sampling resolution is different than the first spatial sampling resolution. 
 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 detecting a movement of the identified first object; and 
 adjusting a characteristic of the first region of interest in response to the detected movement of the identified first object. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  comprising adjusting a size of the first region of interest in response to the detected movement of the identified first object. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  comprising adjusting a size and position of the first region of interest in response to the detected movement of the identified first object. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 detecting a change in the size of the identified first object; and 
 adjusting a size of the first region of interest to accommodate the detected change in size of the identified first object. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  comprising reducing a second spatial sampling resolution in response to an increase in the size of the first region of interest. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  comprising increasing a second spatial sampling resolution in response to a decrease in the size of the first region of interest. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising scanning the light beam over the field of view to capture successive lidar images, wherein the region of interest is capable of being adjusted after the capture of each successive lidar image. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 identifying a second object outside of the first region of interest; 
 selecting a second region of interest that contains at least a portion of the identified second object; and 
 capturing a third lidar image, where capturing the third lidar image includes:
 scanning the light beam over the first region of interest at the first spatial sampling resolution; 
 scanning the light beam over the second region of interest at a third spatial sampling resolution; and 
 scanning the light beam over the field of view outside of the first region of interest and the second region of interest at the second spatial sampling resolution, wherein the third sampling resolution is different than the second spatial sampling resolution. 
 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying a first object within the captured first lidar image includes detecting at least one edge of the first object. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying a first object within the captured first lidar image includes detecting at least one lane marker. 
     
     
         13 . A system for providing a dynamic region of interest in a lidar system, the system comprising:
 a laser configured to emit a light beam towards a target region;   control circuitry configured to instruct an optical system to scan the light beam over the target region;   an optical system having a field of view and configured to direct a portion of the light beam received from the target region;   a photodetector configured to receive the portion of the light beam directed from the optical system to form a first lidar image; and   detection circuitry configured to identify a first object within the first lidar image; wherein   the control circuitry is further configured to select a first region of interest within the field of view that contains at least a portion of the identified first object, instruct the optical system to scan the light beam over the first region of interest at a first spatial sampling resolution, and instruct the optical system to scan the light beam over the field of view outside of the first region of interest at a second spatial sampling resolution different than the first spatial sampling resolution, and wherein the photodetector is further configured to receive a corresponding portion of the light beam to form a second lidar image.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the detection circuitry is further configured to identify a second object outside of the first region of interest, the control circuitry is further configured to select a second region of interest that contains a portion of the identified second object, instruct the optical system to scan the light beam over the first region of interest and the second region of interest at the first spatial sampling resolution, and instruct the optical system to scan the light beam over the field of view outside of both the first region of interest and the second region of interest at a third spatial sampling resolution different than the first spatial sampling resolution. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the detection circuitry is further configured to detect a movement of the identified first object and the control circuitry is configured to adjust a characteristic of the first region of interest in response to the detected movement of the identified first object. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to adjust a size of the first region of interest in response to the detected movement of the identified first object. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to adjust a size and position of the first region of interest in response to the detected movement of the identified first object. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the detection circuitry is further configured to detect a change in the size of the identified first object and the control circuitry is further configured to adjust a size of the first region of interest to accommodate the detected change in size of the identified first object. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to reduce the second spatial sampling resolution in response to an increase in the size of the first region of interest. 
     
     
         20 . A system for providing a dynamic region of interest in a lidar system, the system comprising:
 means for scanning a light beam over a field of view to capture a first lidar image;   means for identifying a first object within the captured first lidar image;   means for selecting a first region of interest within the field of view that contains at least a portion of the identified first object; and   means for capturing a second lidar image, where capturing the second lidar image includes:
 scanning the light beam over the first region of interest at a first spatial sampling resolution; and 
 scanning the light beam over the field of view outside of the first region of interest at a second spatial sampling resolution, wherein the second sampling resolution is different than the first spatial sampling resolution.