Enabling lidar detection

Abstract

A system for detecting a vehicle includes a light source configured to emit a light signal. The system also includes a receiver sensor configured to receive a reflected light signal based at least in part on the light signal reflected from a plurality of reflectors. The system also includes a controller, the controller configured to identify an arrangement pattern of the plurality of reflectors based at least in part on the reflected light signal and determine that plurality of reflectors are coupled to another vehicle based at least in part on an identification of the arrangement pattern.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle comprising:
 a light source configured to emit a light signal;   a receiver sensor configured to receive a reflected light signal based on the light signal reflected from a plurality of reflectors;   a controller configured to:
 identify an arrangement pattern of the plurality of reflectors based at least in part on the reflected light signal; and 
 determine that plurality of reflectors are coupled to another vehicle based at least in part on an identification of the arrangement pattern. 
   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine a distance to the other vehicle based at least in part on relative spacing of the plurality of reflectors in the arrangement pattern and distance information included in the reflected light signal. 
     
     
         3 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , further comprising a direction of travel, wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine whether the other vehicle has a trajectory of motion that intersects with the direction of travel; and   in response to a determination that the vehicle has the intersecting path of motion, implement one or more control actions configured to adjust the direction of travel to not intersect with the trajectory of motion of the other vehicle.   
     
     
         4 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the plurality of reflectors are coupled to the other vehicle comprises comparing the arrangement pattern to a database of arrangement patterns. 
     
     
         5 . The vehicle of  claim 4 , wherein the controller is further configured to receive vehicle information from the database of arrangement patterns based at least in part on the determined arrangement pattern, wherein the vehicle information includes a vehicle make, a vehicle model, or both. 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , further comprising a display device, wherein the controller is further configured to send vehicle information for the other vehicle to the display device, wherein the display device is configured to display a representation of the other vehicle based at least in part on the vehicle information. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the light signal comprises a code comprising identification information configured to identify a source of the light signal, and wherein the receiver sensor is configured to confirm the source of the light signal comprising identifying the code in the reflected light signal. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the light source is further configured to emit a plurality of light signals over a period of time, and wherein the receiver sensor is further configured to receive a plurality of reflected light signals over the period of time based at least in part on the plurality of light signals reflected from the plurality of reflectors. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle of  claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to: determine whether the arrangement pattern is at least partially obscured, and wherein the controller is further configured to normalize the arrangement pattern based at least in part on aggregating the plurality of reflected light signals over the period of time. 
     
     
         10 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine a signal strength of the reflected light signal; and   determine a relative distance to the vehicle based at least in part on the signal strength.   
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive, from a receiver sensor, sensor data corresponding to a reflected light signal from a plurality of reflectors;   determine an arrangement pattern of the plurality of reflectors based at least in part on the sensor data; and   identify a vehicle comprising the plurality of reflectors based at least in part on the arrangement pattern.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 determine whether the arrangement pattern is at least partially obstructed from view of the receiver sensor;   receive additional sensor data comprising multiple reflected light signals; and   aggregate multiple reflected light signals to normalize the sensor data to normalize the arrangement pattern.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 instruct a light source to emit a light signal to the vehicle, wherein the light signal is reflected by the plurality of reflectors as the reflected light signal.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 query a database using the arrangement pattern; and   receive information for the vehicle from the database.   
     
     
         15 . A vehicle comprising:
 a plurality of retroreflectors configured to have a peak reflectivity at a wavelength for non-visible light, wherein the plurality of retroreflectors are configured to reflect a signal comprising non-visible light;   a front panel comprising a front subset of the plurality of retroreflectors comprising a front arrangement pattern;   a rear panel comprising a rear subset of the plurality of retroreflectors comprising a rear arrangement pattern; and   a side panel comprising a side subset of the plurality of retroreflectors comprising a side arrangement pattern.   
     
     
         16 . The vehicle of  claim 15 , wherein the wavelength for non-visible light is approximately 890-980 nm. 
     
     
         17 . The vehicle of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of retroreflectors comprises one or more refractive retroreflectors, one or more spherical retroreflectors, one or more corner-cube retroreflectors, or any combination thereof, and wherein the plurality of retroreflectors are configured to reflect the signal as a reflected signal, and wherein the reflected signal is substantially parallel to the signal. 
     
     
         18 . The vehicle of  claim 15 , further comprising a bandpass filter coupled to the front panel, the rear panel, the side panel, or any combination thereof, wherein the bandpass filter is configured to filter visible light from reflection by the plurality of retroreflectors. 
     
     
         19 . The vehicle of  claim 18 , wherein the bandpass filter comprises a non-conductive material comprising acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic, polythene plastic, polyethylene plastic, polystyrene plastic, polyvinyl chloride plastic, a thermoplastic polymer, acrylic plastic, glass, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         20 . The vehicle of  claim 15 , wherein the front arrangement pattern, the rear arrangement pattern and the side arrangement pattern each comprise different patterns, wherein the front arrangement pattern is configured to identify the front panel, wherein the rear arrangement pattern is configured to identify the rear panel, and wherein the side arrangement pattern is configured to identify the side panel.