Deflector feedback control in lidar

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided related to LIDAR technology. In one implementation, a vibration suppression system for a LIDAR configured for use on a vehicle includes at least one processor configured to: control at least one light source in a manner enabling light flux of light from the at least one light source to vary over scans of a field of view; control positioning of at least one light deflector to deflect light from the at least one light source in order to scan the field of view; obtain data indicative of vibrations of the vehicle; based on the obtained data, determine adjustments to the positioning of the at least one light deflector for compensating for the vibrations of the vehicle; and implement the determined adjustments to the positioning of the at least one light deflector to thereby suppress on the at least one light deflector, at least part of an influence of the vibrations of the vehicle on the scanning of the field of view.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vibration suppression system for a LIDAR configured for use on a vehicle, the system comprising:
 at least one processor configured to:
 control at least one light source in a manner enabling light flux of light from the at least one light source to vary over scans of a field of view; 
 control positioning of at least one light deflector to deflect light from the at least one light source in order to scan the field of view; 
 obtain data indicative of vibrations of the vehicle; 
 based on the obtained data, determine adjustments to the positioning of the at least one light deflector for compensating for the vibrations of the vehicle; and 
 implement the determined adjustments to the positioning of the at least one light deflector to thereby suppress on the at least one light deflector, at least part of an influence of the vibrations of the vehicle on the scanning of the field of view. 
   
     
     
         2 . The LIDAR system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control the at least one light deflector such that during a scanning cycle, the at least one light deflector is located in a plurality of different instantaneous positions. 
     
     
         3 . The LIDAR system of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to coordinate control of the at least one light deflector and control of the at least one light source such that when the at least one light deflector is located at a particular instantaneous position, a light beam is deflected by the at least one light deflector from the at least one light source towards an object in the field of view and reflections from the object are deflected by the at least one light deflector toward at least one sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The LIDAR system of  claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of light sources aimed at the at least one light deflector, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control the at least one light deflector such that when the at least one light deflector is located at a particular instantaneous position, light from the plurality of light sources is projected towards a plurality of independent regions forming the field of view. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data indicative of the vibrations of the vehicle includes information received from a sensor other than the at least one light deflector. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data indicative of the vibrations of the vehicle includes information received from at least a portion of the at least one light deflector. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of light deflectors configured to move in a manner enabling deflected light from the at least one light source to scan the field of view, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to use at least one of the plurality of light deflectors as a vibration sensor to determine the data indicative of the vibrations of the vehicle. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the data indicative of the vibrations of the vehicle from an additional sensor configured to detect a current position of the at least one light deflector. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of light deflector elements configured to move in a manner enabling to deflect reflections of light toward at least one sensor, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive from an additional sensor, the data, wherein the data includes information indicative of a current position of at least one of the plurality of light deflector elements, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to use the data to correct a position of each of the plurality of light deflector elements. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein each of the light deflector elements includes a pivotable mirror. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of light deflector elements configured to move in a manner enabling deflected light from the at least one light source to scan the field of view, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive from at least one additional sensor, the data, wherein the data includes information indicative of a current position of each of the plurality of light deflector elements information indicative of a current position of each light deflector element and to use the information unique to each light deflector element to correct a position of each light deflector element. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one light deflector includes a MEMS mirror array, and each of the plurality of light deflector elements includes a separate mirror in the MEMS mirror array. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a control loop for accessing a required position of the at least one light deflector, determining an instantaneous angular position of the at least one light deflector, and altering the instantaneous angle position of the at least one light deflector to compensate for a difference between the required position and the instantaneous angular position. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the instantaneous angular position of the at least one light deflector based on at least one of optical measurements, capacitance measurements, piezo resistance measurements, dielectric constant measurement and piezo polarization measurement. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: obtain input indicative of an inclination angle of the vehicle; determine adjustments to the positioning of the at least one light deflector based on the input; and move the at least one light deflector based on the determined adjustments. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, based on the data indicative of the vibrations of the vehicle, the at least one processor is further configured to change at least one of scanning rate, scanning pattern, spatial light distribution, and temporal light distribution. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one light deflector has a resonance frequency below 1000 Hz. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one light deflector includes a single MEMS mirror having a width of at least 4.5 mm. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one light deflector includes a two dimensional array of mirrors, each mirror having a width of at least 2 mm. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control one or more actuators including piezoelectric material in order to position the at least one light deflector such that during a scanning cycle the at least one light deflector deflects light towards differing portions of the field of view. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an integrated circuitry. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the integrated circuitry is included in a housing. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the integrated circuitry includes at least one processing device configured to determine an instantaneous angular position of the MEMS mirror. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the integrated circuitry includes an electrically controllable electromechanical driver configured to cause movement or power to be relayed to a component connected to the MEMS mirror. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the component connected to the MEMS mirror includes an actuator, a cantilever, or a bender. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the integrated circuitry includes at least one processing device configured to control a position of the MEMS mirror based on received outputs of one or more sensors included in the integrated circuitry or connected to the integrated circuitry. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the integrated circuitry includes at least one of a sensor, a feedback sensor, a sensing circuit, a mirror driver, a feedback circuit, and a mirror controller. 
     
     
         28 . A method for suppressing vibrations of a LIDAR configured for use on a vehicle, the method comprising:
 controlling at least one light source in a manner enabling light flux of light from the at least one light source to vary over scans of a field of view;   controlling positioning of at least one light deflector to deflect light from the at least one light source in order to scan the field of view;   obtaining data indicative of vibrations of the vehicle;   based on the obtained data, determining adjustments to the positioning of the at least one light deflector for compensating for the vibrations of the vehicle; and   implementing the determined adjustments to the positioning of the at least one light deflector to thereby suppress on the at least one light deflector, at least part of an influence of the vibrations of the vehicle on the scanning of the field of view.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one light deflector has a resonance frequency below 1000 Hz. 
     
     
         30 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method for suppressing vibrations of a vehicle on a LIDAR, the method comprising:
 controlling at least one light source in a manner enabling light flux of light from the at least one light source to vary over scans of a field of view;   controlling positioning of at least one light deflector to deflect light from the at least one light source in order to scan the field of view;   obtaining data indicative of vibrations of the vehicle;   based on the obtained data, determining adjustments to the positioning of the at least one light deflector to compensate for the vibrations of the vehicle; and   controlling the at least one light deflector based on the determined adjustments to thereby suppress at least part of an influence of the vibrations of the vehicle on the scanning of the field of view.