Dynamic sensor illumination

US11988775B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• Zoox, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Harrison Thomas Waschura · Los Altos Hills, US
• Turhan Karadeniz · Oakland, US
• Ryan McMichael · Mountain View, US
• Robert Nicholas Moor · San Mateo, US
• Denis Nikitin · Campbell, US
• Subasingha Shaminda Subasingha · Menlo Park, US
• Joseph Patrick Warga · San Francisco, US
• Silas Kogure Wilkinson · San Francisco, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 18, 2019
• Grant date: May 21, 2024
• Expiry date: Sep 24, 2041

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01S17/931
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Sensors, including time-of-flight sensors, may be used to detect objects in an environment. In an example, a vehicle may include a time-of-flight sensor that images objects around the vehicle, e.g., so the vehicle can navigate relative to the objects. Sensor data generated by the time-of-flight sensor can be impacted by glare. In some examples, an emitter system for illuminating a field of view can be dynamically altered to provide different illumination intensities at different regions in the field of view. For instance, locations at which a highly-reflective object or other object that is likely to cause glare may be illuminated at a lower illumination intensity, e.g., to reduce the likelihood of pixel saturation in measured data associated with the object.