Dynamic power throttling of spinning lidar

Abstract

An autonomous vehicle having a LIDAR system that scans a field of view is described herein. With more specificity, a computing system of the autonomous vehicle defines a region of interest in the field of view for a scan of the field of view by the LIDAR system. The region of interest is a portion of the field of view. Based on the region of interest, the computing system transmits a control signal to the LIDAR system that causes the LIDAR system to emit first light pulses with a first intensity within the region of interest during the scan and second light pulses with a second intensity outside the region of interest during the scan. The first intensity is different from the second intensity to provide different ranges for distance measurements inside and outside the region of interest.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A LIDAR system configured to perform acts comprising:
 emitting first light pulses with a first intensity in a region of interest during a scan of an environment of the LIDAR system, the region of interest being a portion of a field of view of the LIDAR system, the region of interest being defined to include a stationary object at a location specified in a computer-implemented three-dimensional map of the environment, the first intensity being set to control a range of the LIDAR system based on a distance between the LIDAR system and the stationary object in the environment;   emitting second light pulses with a second intensity outside of the region of interest during the scan of the environment of the LIDAR system, wherein the first intensity is different from the second intensity; and   generating a return based upon the first light pulses and the second light pulses, wherein the return indicates distances between the LIDAR system and objects in the environment.   
     
     
         2 . The LIDAR system of  claim 1 , wherein the distance between the LIDAR system and the stationary object is based on geolocation data that identifies a location of the LIDAR system and the location of the stationary object specified in the computer-implemented three-dimensional map. 
     
     
         3 . The LIDAR system of  claim 1 , wherein the region of interest is updated over time as the location of the stationary object changes relative to a location of the LIDAR system. 
     
     
         4 . The LIDAR system of  claim 1 , the acts further comprising:
 receiving a control signal at the LIDAR system, wherein the LIDAR system emits the first light pulses with the first intensity in the region of interest and emits the second light pulses with the second intensity outside of the region of interest based on the control signal.   
     
     
         5 . The LIDAR system of  claim 1 , wherein the region of interest is defined by a bounding box encompassing the stationary object set based on a range of azimuth angles and a range of elevation angles. 
     
     
         6 . The LIDAR system of  claim 1 , the acts further comprising:
 emitting third light pulses with a third intensity in a second region of interest during the scan of the environment of the LIDAR system, the second region of interest is non-overlapping with the region of interest;   wherein the return is further generated based on the third light pulses.   
     
     
         7 . The LIDAR system of  claim 6 , wherein a position of the second region of interest within the field of view of the LIDAR system is based on a curvature of a road in the environment. 
     
     
         8 . The LIDAR system of  claim 6 , the acts further comprising:
 during a subsequent scan of the environment of the LIDAR system, emitting fourth light pulses with a fourth intensity in the second region of interest, wherein the fourth intensity is different from the third intensity; and   disambiguating whether an object in the second region of interest is at least one of steam or fog based on the return corresponding to the scan and a subsequent return corresponding to the subsequent scan.   
     
     
         9 . The LIDAR system of  claim 1 , wherein an autonomous vehicle comprises the LIDAR system. 
     
     
         10 . The LIDAR system of  claim 1 , wherein the LIDAR system is a spinning LIDAR system. 
     
     
         11 . The LIDAR system of  claim 1 , wherein the LIDAR system is a scanning LIDAR system. 
     
     
         12 . A method of operating a LIDAR system, comprising:
 emitting first light pulses with a first intensity during a first scan of an environment of the LIDAR system;   generating a first point cloud based on the first light pulses of the first scan;   detecting a cluster of points in the first point cloud representative of an object in the environment of the LIDAR system;   defining a region of interest in a field of view of the LIDAR system, wherein the region of interest is a portion of the field of view of the LIDAR system, and wherein the region of interest is defined to include the object represented by the cluster of points in the first point cloud;   emitting second light pulses with a second intensity in the region of interest during a second scan of the environment of the LIDAR system, wherein the first intensity is different from the second intensity;   emitting third light pulses with a third intensity outside of the region of interest during the second scan of the environment of the LIDAR system, wherein the second intensity is different from the third intensity; and   generating a second point cloud based upon the second light pulses and the third light pulses of the second scan.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the first intensity is different from the third intensity. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 disambiguating whether the object in the environment is one of steam or fog based on a comparison between the first point cloud and the second point cloud.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the region of interest is updated over time as a location of the object changes relative to a location of the LIDAR system. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein a position of the region of interest within the field of view of the LIDAR system is further based on a curvature of a road in the environment. 
     
     
         17 . An autonomous vehicle, comprising:
 a LIDAR system configured to perform acts comprising:
 emitting first light pulses with a first intensity during a first scan of an environment of the LIDAR system; 
 generating a first point cloud based on the first light pulses of the first scan, wherein a cluster of points is detected in the first point cloud representative of an object in the environment of the LIDAR system; 
 emitting second light pulses with a second intensity in a region of interest in a field of view of the LIDAR system during a second scan of the environment of the LIDAR system, wherein the first intensity is different from the second intensity, wherein the region of interest is a portion of the field of view of the LIDAR system, and wherein the region of interest is defined to include the object represented by the cluster of points in the first point cloud; 
 emitting third light pulses with a third intensity outside of the region of interest during the second scan of the environment of the LIDAR system, wherein the second intensity is different from the third intensity; and 
 generating a second point cloud based upon the second light pulses and the third light pulses of the second scan. 
   
     
     
         18 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 17 , wherein the LIDAR system is further configured to perform acts comprising:
 disambiguating whether the object in the environment is one of steam or fog based on a comparison between the first point cloud and the second point cloud.   
     
     
         19 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 17 , wherein the region of interest is updated over time as a location of the object changes relative to a location of the LIDAR system. 
     
     
         20 . The autonomous vehicle of  claim 17 , wherein a position of the region of interest within the field of view of the LIDAR system is further based on a curvature of a road in the environment.