Delay time calibration of optical distance measurement devices, and associated systems and methods
US10641875B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 3, 2018 |
| Grant date | May 5, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 3, 2038 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03K2005/00078
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Representative embodiments of the present technology include a device for measuring distance to an object. The device comprises a light emitter configured to emit an outbound light pulse and a light sensor configured to receive a returning light pulse and output a pulse signal representing the returning light pulse. The device further comprises a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) coupled to the light sensor and including a time-to-digital converter (TDC) having a series of sequentially coupled delay units. Individual sequentially coupled delay units are associated with corresponding individual delay times. At least some of the sequentially coupled delay units have different individual delay times. The TDC is configured to measure timing information of the pulse signal based at least in part on the individual delay times of the sequentially coupled delay units. The device further includes a controller configured to calculate the distance to the object based on the timing information.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.