A processing method, sensor system, radar, terminal and vehicle terminal

Abstract

A processing method, sensor system, radar, terminal, and vehicle-mounted device are disclosed, relating to the field of lidar technology. The processing method includes identifying interference echoes in the first echo based on a first echo acquired by a detection device (210) and at least two frames of images acquired by an imaging device (220). Since polarized beams are typically caused by multipath interference, which can also result in multiple undiscriminate peaks in the echo waveform signal received by the detection device (210), thus affecting the detection performance of the detection device (210). This method, combining at least two frames of images, can determine the image region or pixel corresponding to the polarized light, assisting the detection device (210) in identifying interference peaks in the first echo, thereby improving the detection performance of the detection device (210).

Description

A processing method, sensor system, radar, terminal and vehicle end Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of lidar technology, and more particularly to a processing method, sensor system, radar, terminal, and vehicle-mounted device. Background Technology

[0002] Lidar, also known as optical radar, is a light detection and ranging (Lidar) system. Lidar uses light as its detection medium, utilizing the emission and reception of laser light to detect targets, such as for ranging, velocity measurement, or azimuth measurement.

[0003] LiDAR detection is susceptible to environmental interference, leading to phenomena such as high reflection dilation, ghosting, or false alarms. For example, when a target has high reflectivity, the waveform signal passing through it will have strong energy, causing high reflection dilation in the detection results. As another example, when the detection signal is interfered with by water mist, some of the energy is reflected back by the mist, resulting in at least two waveform signals in the echo, thus causing false alarms.

[0004] In summary, interference reduces the detection accuracy of lidar. Improving the anti-interference capability of lidar is a pressing technical problem that needs to be solved.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a processing method, a sensor system, a radar, a terminal, and a vehicle-mounted device. The processing method provided by this application can determine the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo received by the detection device and at least two frames of images acquired by the imaging device, which can improve the anti-interference capability of the detection device and thus enhance the detection performance of the detection device.

[0007] In a first aspect, this application provides a processing method, comprising: acquiring a first echo received by a detection device, acquiring at least two frames of images acquired by an imaging device, and determining interference echoes in the first echo based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images. The at least two frames of images include a first image and a second image, wherein the first image is a non-polarized filtered image and the second image is a polarized filtered image.

[0008] The first echo can be an echo formed by the detection device receiving the returned beam, and the form of the first echo can be an electrical signal. At least two frames can be images formed by the imaging device receiving the beam reflected from the object. A non-polarized filtered image refers to an image obtained by the imaging device without polarization filtering the beam from the object space, while a polarized filtered image refers to an image obtained by the imaging device with polarization filtering the beam from the object space.

[0009] In this application, the processing unit can determine the image region or pixel corresponding to polarized light based on at least two frames of images. For example, when the beam received by the first region of the imaging device's field of view is polarized light, there will be a significant difference between the unpolarized filtered image and the polarized filtered image generated by the imaging device. This is because the imaging device performs polarization filtering on the received beam before generating the polarized filtered image, filtering out all polarized light received by the first region, resulting in lower brightness or complete darkness in the image corresponding to the first region. It is understood that polarized beams are usually interference beams; for example, polarized beams are often caused by multipath interference. Multipath interference can also cause the echo (waveform signal) received by the detection device to include multiple undiscriminate peaks, thus affecting the detection performance of the detection device. Since polarized beams are usually caused by multipath interference, the interference peaks in the first echo are usually later than the effective peaks. Combined with the processing unit's ability to determine the image region or pixel corresponding to polarized light based on at least two frames of images, this can assist the detection device in identifying the interference peaks in the first echo, thereby improving the detection performance of the detection device.

[0010] Optionally, the above-mentioned determination of interference echoes in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images can be understood as identifying interference peaks in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images.

[0011] Optionally, after the processing unit identifies the interference peaks in the first echo, it can determine the effective peaks and then generate detection results based on the effective peaks.

[0012] Optionally, the field of view of the detection device and the field of view of the imaging device are pre-calibrated, meaning that there is a correspondence between the field of view of the detection device and the field of view of the imaging device, and the corresponding regions are used to receive light beams from the same object in the object space. For example, a first region of the field of view of the detection device corresponds to a second region of the field of view of the imaging device, and both the first and second regions are used to receive light beams from a first target object in the object space.

[0013] Optionally, the first image can also be a polarization-filtered image, and the polarization filtering directions of the first image and the second image are different. For example, the first image is an image obtained by the imaging device performing horizontal polarization filtering on the light beam, and the second image is an image obtained by the imaging device performing vertical polarization filtering on the light beam.

[0014] Optionally, when at least two frames of images include two frames of polarization-filtered images, the polarization directions of the two frames of polarization-filtered images are different.

[0015] In one possible implementation, determining the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images includes: the image brightness of at least two frames of images is different, determining that the first echo contains multipath interference echo, and the first peak of the first echo is a valid echo.

[0016] In the above embodiments, "at least two frames of images have different image brightness" means that at least two frames of images include images with different image brightness. It is understood that natural light can consist of beams of light in any two orthogonal directions. Polarization filtering filters out polarized light in the polarization direction of natural light, causing a 50% reduction in the intensity of natural light, thus resulting in different image brightness. Therefore, the different image brightness shown in this application can refer to the image brightness obtained through calculation processing, rather than the brightness of the image generated by the imaging device. For example, the first region of the first image and the second region of the second image correspond to the regions of the target field of view of the imaging device. For example, the brightness of the first region is 100 cd / cm². 2 The brightness of the second region is 50 cd / cm². 2 Therefore, it can be seen that if the beam received in the second region is not polarized filtered, the resulting image will be 100 cd / cm². 2 Therefore, the brightness of the first region is the same as that of the second region. For example, the brightness of the first region is 100 cd / cm². 2 The brightness of the second region is 30 cd / cm². 2 It can be seen that if the beam received in the second region is not polarized filtered, the resulting image will be 60 cd / cm². 2 Therefore, the brightness of the first region is different from that of the second region. In summary, the brightness of the second image without polarization filtering can be estimated based on the fact that the beam received by the imaging device does not include interfering beams, thereby comparing and determining the brightness relationship between the first and second images.

[0017] Optionally, the above statement "the first peak of the first echo is a valid echo" can be understood as "the first peak of the first echo is a valid echo".

[0018] Optionally, during implementation, due to various factors such as calculation errors, engineering errors, or environmental errors, the brightness of the first image and the brightness of the second image are usually not exactly the same. To avoid the influence of errors on the processing results, the brightness of the first image and the brightness of the second image can be considered to be the same if the difference between the brightness of the first image and the brightness of the second image is less than a preset threshold.

[0019] It is understandable that multipath interference refers to the interference formed by a beam after multiple reflections, scattering, or refractions. Therefore, the peaks corresponding to multipath interference are usually later than the peaks corresponding to the normal beam. Thus, the first peak of the first echo is the effective peak.

[0020] In another possible implementation, determining the interfering echo in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images includes: if it is determined that the first echo includes an interfering echo, determining the interfering echo in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images.

[0021] In the above embodiments, the case where it is determined that the first echo includes interfering echoes (peaks) is, for example, when the processing unit ultimately determines at least two peaks that meet the pre-screening conditions (peak value, duration, etc.) based on the first echo, but cannot further determine the final valid peaks. In cases where it is determined that the first echo includes interfering peaks, determining the interfering peaks in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images helps improve processing efficiency.

[0022] Optionally, if it is determined that the first echo does not contain interference peaks, the processing unit generates detection results based on the first echo.

[0023] Optionally, if it is determined that the first echo includes an interference peak, the imaging device is then controlled to acquire at least two more frames of images, and the interference peak in the first echo is determined based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images.

[0024] In another possible implementation, the first time T1 and the second time T2 satisfy the following relationship: T1 ≤ T2, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the second time is the start time when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images. The third time T3 and the fourth time T4 satisfy the following relationship: T3 ≤ T4, where the third time is the end time when the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two images, and the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0025] In the above embodiments, the first moment is the starting moment when the detection device receives the first echo, which can be understood as the starting moment when the detection device receives the returned beam, or the starting moment when the detection device receives the returned beam. If the first moment is less than or equal to the second moment, it indicates that the starting moment when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images is later than or equal to the starting moment when the detection device receives the first echo. If the third moment is less than or equal to the fourth moment, it indicates that the ending moment when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images is earlier than or equal to the ending moment when the detection device receives the first echo. Therefore, the timing of the imaging device acquiring at least two frames and the detection device receiving the first echo is synchronized, ensuring that the beams received by the imaging device and the detection device originate from the same time period, allowing interfering beams to be located in the same field of view of both the imaging device and the detection device.

[0026] In another possible implementation, the imaging device is used to acquire unpolarized filtered images from the first time T1 to the fifth time T5, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the fifth time is the start time when the imaging device acquires the second image. The fourth time T4 and the fifth time T5 satisfy the following relationship: T4 ≤ T5, where the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0027] In the above embodiments, the fourth time is less than or equal to the fifth time, and the imaging device is used to acquire non-polarized filtered images between the first and fifth times, so that the imaging device acquires non-polarized filtered images during the process of the detection device receiving the first echo, and the imaging device acquires polarized filtered images after the detection device receives the first echo.

[0028] Optionally, if the first echo received by the detection device from the first moment to the fourth moment includes interference peaks that the detection device cannot distinguish, in this case, the imaging device receives a polarization-filtered image and combines it with a non-polarization-filtered image acquired by the imaging device to assist the detection device in distinguishing interference peaks in the first echo, thereby improving the detection performance of the detection device.

[0029] In another possible implementation, the first duration L1 and the second duration L2 satisfy the following relationship: L1 ≥ N * L2, where N is an integer greater than 0. Here, L1 is the duration for the detection device to receive the first echo, and L2 is the duration for the imaging device to acquire any frame of at least two images.

[0030] In the above embodiments, L1≥N*L2 indicates that the frequency at which the detection device receives the first echo is less than the frequency at which the imaging device acquires images. This ensures that during the duration of the detection device receiving one first echo, the imaging device can acquire one or more images. This ensures that the time period of any frame in at least two frames acquired by the imaging device is within the time period during which the detection device receives the first echo, or that the time period of any frame in at least two frames acquired by the imaging device is near the time period during which the detection device receives the first echo.

[0031] Optionally, L1 = 2 * L2, so that during the time period when the detection device receives the first echo, the imaging device can receive two frames of images, thereby facilitating the processing unit to identify the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and the two frames of images.

[0032] Optionally, L1 = N*L2, such that the duration for the detection device to receive the first echo is N times the duration for the imaging device to receive one frame of image, which facilitates the processor to align the first echo and at least two frames of image in time, thereby improving processing efficiency and reducing processing complexity.

[0033] Secondly, this application provides a control method comprising: acquiring at least one echo received by a detection device; and controlling a first filtering unit array in an imaging device to filter the echo using a first polarization filtering parameter set.

[0034] At least one echo can be a partial or complete echo corresponding to a frame of point cloud data acquired by the detection device. The first filtering unit array consists of multiple filtering units, each of which can be independently controlled and filters the beam with specified filtering parameters. The filtering parameters include the filtering method and the corresponding filtering attributes. The filtering method includes polarization filtering and / or intensity filtering. The filtering attributes corresponding to polarization filtering include the direction of polarization filtering and the degree of attenuation of light intensity by polarization filtering. The filtering attributes corresponding to intensity filtering include the degree of attenuation of light intensity by intensity filtering. The first filtering parameter set includes one or more filtering parameters, each of which is used to control one or more filtering units in the first filtering unit array. This application does not limit the correspondence between filtering parameters and filtering units.

[0035] It is understandable that the at least one echo corresponding to a frame of point cloud data acquired by the detection device may include echoes without interference peaks, as well as echoes with interference peaks. When the detection device cannot distinguish the interference peaks in the echoes, the interference beam corresponding to the interference peaks may be polarized light. Furthermore, the field of view of the detection device and the field of view of the imaging device can be compared one-to-one. Based on the field of view of the detection device receiving the interference beam, the processing unit can determine the field of view of the imaging device receiving the interference beam, thereby determining the filtering parameters corresponding to the "field of view of receiving the interference beam," and further determining the first set of filtering parameters to filter out polarized beams that the imaging device may receive, thereby improving the imaging quality of the imaging device. It is understandable that the first set of filtering parameters determined above can instruct the first filtering unit array to perform filtering on the beam received by the "field of view of receiving the interference beam," and perform natural filtering (also known as "all-through" filtering) on ​​the beams received by other fields of view of the imaging device.

[0036] In one possible implementation, filtering the first filtering unit array in the at least one echo-controlled imaging device using a first polarization filtering parameter set includes: determining a target echo that includes interfering echoes among at least one echo; determining the first polarization filtering parameter set based on the target echo; and controlling the first filtering unit array to filter using the first filtering parameter set.

[0037] In the above embodiments, "determining a target echo including an interfering echo based on at least one echo" can be understood as "determining a target echo including an interfering peak based on at least one echo." This application does not limit how the target echo including the interfering peak is determined. Based on the target echo, a first field of view of the detection device and a second field of view of the imaging device can be determined sequentially. The first field of view is the field of view for receiving the target echo, and the second field of view corresponds to the first field of view, both used to receive the light beam reflected by the target object in the object space. Further, a first set of filtering parameters can be determined based on the second field of view. This first set of filtering parameters is used to instruct polarization filtering of the light beam received in the second field of view. It is understood that controlling the first filtering unit array to filter with the first set of filtering parameters can reduce the polarized light beam received by the imaging device, thereby improving the imaging quality of the imaging device.

[0038] In another possible implementation, determining a first polarization filter parameter set based on the target echo includes: determining a first region of the detection device's field of view based on the target echo, the first region being the region receiving the target echo; determining a second region of a first filter unit array based on the first region, the first region and the second region corresponding to the target region in object space; and determining a first polarization filter parameter set based on the second region, the first polarization filter parameter set being used to polarize the light beam passing through the second region.

[0039] In the above embodiments, a first region is determined by the target echo, and a second region is determined based on the first region. Then, a first polarization filter parameter set is determined, which is used to enable the first filter unit array to perform polarization filtering on the beam received in the second region, thereby reducing the polarized beam received by the imaging device and improving the imaging quality of the imaging device.

[0040] Optionally, the polarization filtering parameters in the first polarization filtering parameter set can be preset. For example, the polarization filtering parameters indicate that the polarization filtering direction is horizontal or vertical.

[0041] In another possible implementation, the second region includes a third region and a fourth region, which do not overlap. The first polarization filter parameter set includes a first polarization filter parameter and a second polarization filter parameter. The first polarization filter parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the third region, and the second polarization filter parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the fourth region. The first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are different.

[0042] In the above embodiments, the second region is further divided into a third region and a fourth region. Different regions correspond to different polarization filtering parameters, so that different regions can filter out polarized beams in different directions, thereby filtering out as many polarized beams as possible and improving the imaging quality of the imaging device.

[0043] In another possible implementation, the first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are preset, or the first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are determined based on the environment in which the imaging device is located.

[0044] In the above embodiments, the first polarization filtering parameter and the second polarization filtering parameter are preset. This means that when any region in the first polarization filtering array needs to filter the light beam, its polarization filtering parameter for the light beam is pre-set. For example, when the third region of the first polarization filtering array needs to filter the light beam, its polarization filtering parameter for the light beam can be a preset "horizontal polarization filtering" or "vertical polarization filtering". The first polarization filtering parameter and the second polarization filtering parameter are determined based on the environment in which the imaging device is located. This means that the first polarization filtering parameter and the second polarization filtering parameter will change based on the change in the environment in which the device is located. For example, if the environment in which the device is located is a rural road, the first polarization filtering parameter can be horizontally polarized light, and the second polarization filtering parameter can be vertically polarized light. If the environment in which the device is located is an urban road, the first polarization filtering parameter can be vertically polarized light, and the second polarization filtering parameter can be horizontally polarized light.

[0045] Thirdly, the imaging method provided in this application is applied to an imaging device, which includes a first filter unit array. The imaging method includes: the imaging device acquiring at least two frames of images, the at least two frames of images including a first image and a second image, the at least two frames of images being used to determine interference echoes in the first echo received by the detection device.

[0046] The first image is obtained by filtering the light beam using a first set of filtering parameters from a first filter unit array. The first set of filtering parameters indicates that the polarization state of the light beam before and after passing through the first filter unit array is the same. The second image is obtained by filtering the light beam using a second set of filtering parameters from a first filter unit array. The second set of filtering parameters indicates that the polarization state of the light beam before and after passing through the first filter unit array is different.

[0047] In this application, "the first set of filtering parameters is used to indicate that the polarization states of the beams before and after passing through the first filtering unit array are the same" can be understood as the first set of filtering parameters being used to instruct the first filtering unit array to perform natural filtering / full-pass filtering, or intensity filtering, so that the first image is a non-polarized filtered image. "The second set of filtering parameters is used to indicate that the polarization states of the beams before and after passing through the first filtering unit array are different" can be understood as the second set of filtering parameters being used to instruct the first filtering unit array to perform polarization filtering, so that the second image is a polarization filtered image. The aforementioned "at least two frames of images are used to determine the interference echo in the first echo received by the detection device" can be understood as the aforementioned at least two frames of images being used to determine the interference peak in the first echo received by the detection device. Regarding how to determine the interference peak in the first echo received by the detection device based on at least two frames of images, please refer to the relevant introduction in the first aspect, "Identifying the Interference Peak in the First Echo Based on the First Echo and At Least Two Frames of Images," which will not be repeated here.

[0048] Optionally, the first set of filtering parameters can also be used to indicate that the polarization state of the beam before and after passing through the first filter unit array is different. The polarization filtering directions indicated by the filtering parameters in the first set of filtering parameters and the second set of filtering parameters are different. For example, the filtering parameters in the first set of filtering parameters indicate that the polarization filtering direction is horizontal, while the filtering parameters in the second set of filtering parameters indicate that the polarization filtering direction is vertical.

[0049] Optionally, the field of view of the detection device and the field of view of the imaging device are pre-calibrated, meaning that there is a correspondence between the field of view of the detection device and the field of view of the imaging device, and the corresponding regions are used to receive light beams from the same object in the object space. For example, a first region of the field of view of the detection device corresponds to a second region of the field of view of the imaging device, and both the first and second regions are used to receive light beams from a first target object in the object space.

[0050] In one possible implementation, the first time T1 and the second time T2 satisfy the following relationship: T1 ≤ T2, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the second time is the start time when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images. The third time T3 and the fourth time T4 satisfy the following relationship: T3 ≤ T4, where the third time is the end time when the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two images, and the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0051] In the above embodiments, the first moment is the starting moment when the detection device receives the first echo, which can be understood as the starting moment when the detection device receives the returned beam, or the starting moment when the detection device receives the returned beam. If the first moment is less than or equal to the second moment, it indicates that the starting moment when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images is later than or equal to the starting moment when the detection device receives the first echo. If the third moment is less than or equal to the fourth moment, it indicates that the ending moment when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images is earlier than or equal to the ending moment when the detection device receives the first echo. Therefore, the timing of the imaging device acquiring at least two frames and the detection device receiving the first echo is synchronized, ensuring that the beams received by the imaging device and the detection device originate from the same time period, allowing interfering beams to be located in the same field of view of both the imaging device and the detection device.

[0052] In another possible implementation, the imaging device is used to acquire unpolarized filtered images from the first time T1 to the fifth time T5, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the fifth time is the start time when the imaging device acquires the second image. The fourth time T4 and the fifth time T5 satisfy the following relationship: T4 ≤ T5, where the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0053] In the above embodiments, the fourth time is less than or equal to the fifth time, and the imaging device is used to acquire non-polarized filtered images between the first and fifth times, so that the imaging device acquires non-polarized filtered images during the process of the detection device receiving the first echo, and the imaging device acquires polarized filtered images after the detection device receives the first echo.

[0054] Optionally, if the first echo received by the detection device from the first moment to the fourth moment includes interference peaks that the detection device cannot distinguish, in this case, the imaging device receives a polarization-filtered image and combines it with a non-polarization-filtered image acquired by the imaging device to assist the detection device in distinguishing interference peaks in the first echo, thereby improving the detection performance of the detection device.

[0055] In another possible implementation, the first duration L1 and the second duration L2 satisfy the following relationship: L1 ≥ N * L2, where N is an integer greater than 0. Here, L1 is the duration for the detection device to receive the first echo, and L2 is the duration for the imaging device to acquire any frame of at least two images.

[0056] In the above embodiments, L1≥N*L2 indicates that the frequency at which the detection device receives the first echo is less than the frequency at which the imaging device acquires images. This ensures that during the duration of the detection device receiving one first echo, the imaging device can acquire one or more images. This ensures that the time period of any frame in at least two frames acquired by the imaging device is within the time period during which the detection device receives the first echo, or that the time period of any frame in at least two frames acquired by the imaging device is near the time period during which the detection device receives the first echo.

[0057] Optionally, L1 = 2 * L2, so that during the time period when the detection device receives the first echo, the imaging device can receive two frames of images, thereby facilitating the processing unit to identify the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and the two frames of images.

[0058] Optionally, L1 = N*L2, such that the duration for the detection device to receive the first echo is N times the duration for the imaging device to receive one frame of image, which facilitates the processor to align the first echo and at least two frames of image in time, thereby improving processing efficiency and reducing processing complexity.

[0059] In another possible implementation, the first filter unit array includes a first filter unit, and the first filter unit includes a first filter layer. The first filter unit is used to filter the beam with first filter parameters, which belong to a first filter parameter set. The first filter layer is used to filter the beam with second filter parameters, which include second filter parameters, and the second filter parameters include a second filtering method and a second filtering attribute corresponding to the second filtering method. The second filtering attribute is adjustable.

[0060] In the above embodiments, the first filtering unit includes a first filtering layer, which is used to filter the light beam with second filtering parameters. The second filtering parameters include a second filtering method and a second filtering attribute corresponding to the second filtering method. The second filtering attribute is adjustable, so that the first filtering unit can filter the light beam with different filtering attributes, thereby enabling the imaging device to perform various types of filtering on the received light beam to improve the imaging quality of the imaging device.

[0061] In another possible implementation, the second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction. Alternatively, the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering. Here, polarization filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and intensity filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

[0062] In the above embodiments, the second filtering method is either polarization filtering or intensity filtering. When the second filtering method is polarization filtering, the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction, so that the first filtering unit can form polarized light in each polarization direction by performing polarization filtering on the beam. When the second filtering method is intensity filtering, the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering, so that the first filtering unit can perform intensity filtering on the beam and adjust the beam received by the imaging device to a suitable beam intensity.

[0063] In another possible implementation, the first filtering unit further includes a second filtering layer for filtering the beam with third filtering parameters. The third filtering parameters include a third filtering mode and a corresponding third filtering attribute, and the third filtering attribute is adjustable. The second filtering mode differs from the third filtering mode, and / or the second filtering attribute differs from the third filtering attribute. The first filtering parameters include the third filtering parameters.

[0064] In the above embodiments, the first filtering unit includes not only a first filtering layer but also a second filtering layer. Furthermore, the filtering parameters used by the first and second filtering layers are different, including: the second filtering method is different from the third filtering method, and / or the second filtering attribute is different from the third filtering attribute. For example, the second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the third filtering method is intensity filtering. Another example is that both the second and third filtering methods are polarization filtering, but the polarization directions indicated by the second and third filtering attributes are different. Yet another example is that both the second and third filtering methods are intensity filtering, but the degree of light intensity attenuation indicated by the second and third filtering attributes is different. In short, the first and second filtering layers are used to implement different filtering functions, which enables the first filtering unit to achieve richer filtering functions to better adapt to the filtering needs of various scenarios, thereby improving the imaging quality of the imaging device.

[0065] In another possible implementation, the third filtering method is polarization filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction. Alternatively, the third filtering method is intensity filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering. In this case, polarization filtering attenuates the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and intensity filtering attenuates the light intensity of the beam.

[0066] In the above embodiments, the third filtering method is either polarization filtering or intensity filtering. When the third filtering method is polarization filtering, the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction, so that the first filtering unit can be used to perform polarization filtering on the beam to form polarized light in a specified direction. When the third filtering method is intensity filtering, the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering, so that the first filtering unit can perform intensity filtering on the beam and adjust the beam received by the imaging device to a suitable beam intensity.

[0067] In another possible implementation, the first filtering unit further includes a third filtering layer, which is used to filter the beam with fourth filtering parameters. The fourth filtering parameters include a fourth filtering method and a corresponding fourth filtering attribute, and the fourth filtering attribute is adjustable. The first filtering parameters also include the fourth filtering parameters. Both the second and fourth filtering methods are polarization filtering, but the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method is different from that corresponding to the fourth filtering method. The third filtering method is intensity filtering. Specifically, polarization filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering, and intensity filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

[0068] In the above embodiments, the first filtering unit includes a first filtering layer, a second filtering layer, and a third filtering layer. Both the second and fourth filtering methods are polarization filtering, but the polarization directions corresponding to the second and fourth filtering methods are different. The third filtering method is intensity filtering. This allows the first filtering unit to simultaneously perform polarization filtering and intensity filtering, thereby enabling richer filtering of the light beam received by the imaging device to improve the imaging quality.

[0069] In another possible implementation, both the second and fourth filtering methods are polarization filters, and the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method is orthogonal to the polarization direction corresponding to the fourth filtering method.

[0070] In the above embodiments, it is understood that any light beam can be divided into mutually orthogonal polarized light. Therefore, the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method is orthogonal to the polarization direction corresponding to the fourth filtering method, so that the first filtering unit can filter the light beam to form polarized light in various directions, thereby allowing the light beam received by the imaging device to be polarized light in any direction.

[0071] It is understood that the first filtering unit mentioned above belongs to the first filtering unit array, and each filtering unit in the first filtering unit array has the function of the first filtering unit mentioned above.

[0072] In another possible implementation, the first filter unit array includes one or more of the following: guest-host effect liquid crystal (GHLC), metasurface, suspended particle device (SPD), polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC), photochromic device, or electrochromic device.

[0073] Fourthly, this application provides a processing apparatus, including an acquisition unit and a processing unit. The acquisition unit is used to acquire a first echo received by a detection device, and the acquisition unit is also used to acquire at least two frames of images acquired by an imaging device. The processing unit is used to determine interference echoes in the first echo based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images. The at least two frames of images include a first image and a second image, wherein the first image is a non-polarized filtered image and the second image is a polarized filtered image.

[0074] Optionally, the processing unit determines the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images. This can be understood as the processing unit identifying the interference peak in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images.

[0075] Optionally, after the processing unit identifies the interference peaks in the first echo, it can determine the effective peaks and then generate detection results based on the effective peaks.

[0076] Optionally, the field of view of the detection device and the field of view of the imaging device are pre-calibrated, meaning that there is a correspondence between the field of view of the detection device and the field of view of the imaging device, and the corresponding regions are used to receive light beams from the same object in the object space. For example, a first region of the field of view of the detection device corresponds to a second region of the field of view of the imaging device, and both the first and second regions are used to receive light beams from a first target object in the object space.

[0077] Optionally, the first image can also be a polarization-filtered image, and the polarization filtering directions of the first image and the second image are different. For example, the first image is an image obtained by the imaging device performing horizontal polarization filtering on the light beam, and the second image is an image obtained by the imaging device performing vertical polarization filtering on the light beam.

[0078] Optionally, when at least two frames of images include two frames of polarization-filtered images, the polarization directions of the two frames of polarization-filtered images are different.

[0079] In one possible implementation, when the image brightness of at least two frames is different, the processing unit determines that the first echo contains multipath interference echoes, and the first peak of the first echo is a valid echo.

[0080] Optionally, the above statement "the first peak of the first echo is a valid echo" can be understood as "the first peak of the first echo is a valid echo".

[0081] Optionally, during implementation, due to various factors such as calculation errors, engineering errors, or environmental errors, the brightness of the first image and the brightness of the second image are usually not exactly the same. To avoid the influence of errors on the processing results, the brightness of the first image and the brightness of the second image can be considered to be the same if the difference between the brightness of the first image and the brightness of the second image is less than a preset threshold.

[0082] In another possible implementation, if the processing unit determines that the first echo includes an interfering echo, it determines the interfering echo in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images.

[0083] Optionally, if the processing unit determines that the first echo does not contain interference peaks, it can also generate detection results based on the first echo.

[0084] Optionally, if the processing unit determines that the first echo includes an interference peak, it then controls the imaging device to acquire at least two frames of images, and then determines the interference peak in the first echo based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images.

[0085] In another possible implementation, the first time T1 and the second time T2 satisfy the following relationship: T1 ≤ T2, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the second time is the start time when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images. The third time T3 and the fourth time T4 satisfy the following relationship: T3 ≤ T4, where the third time is the end time when the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two images, and the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0086] In another possible implementation, the imaging device is used to acquire unpolarized filtered images from the first time T1 to the fifth time T5, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the fifth time is the start time when the imaging device acquires the second image. The fourth time T4 and the fifth time T5 satisfy the following relationship: T4 ≤ T5, where the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0087] Optionally, if the first echo received by the detection device from the first moment to the fourth moment includes interference peaks that the detection device cannot distinguish, in this case, the imaging device receives a polarization-filtered image and combines it with a non-polarization-filtered image acquired by the imaging device to assist the detection device in distinguishing interference peaks in the first echo, thereby improving the detection performance of the detection device.

[0088] In another possible implementation, the first duration L1 and the second duration L2 satisfy the following relationship: L1 ≥ N * L2, where N is an integer greater than 0. Here, L1 is the duration for the detection device to receive the first echo, and L2 is the duration for the imaging device to acquire any frame of at least two images.

[0089] Optionally, L1 = 2 * L2, so that during the time period when the detection device receives the first echo, the imaging device can receive two frames of images, thereby facilitating the processing unit to identify the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and the two frames of images.

[0090] Optionally, L1 = N*L2, such that the duration for the detection device to receive the first echo is N times the duration for the imaging device to receive one frame of image, which facilitates the processor to align the first echo and at least two frames of image in time, thereby improving processing efficiency and reducing processing complexity.

[0091] Fifthly, this application provides a control device, including an acquisition unit and a processing unit. The acquisition unit is used to acquire at least one echo received by the detection device. The processing unit is used to control a first filtering unit array in an imaging device to perform filtering with a first polarization filtering parameter set based on the at least one echo.

[0092] In one possible implementation, the processing unit is specifically configured to determine a target echo that includes interfering echoes among at least one echo, based on at least one echo. The processing unit is specifically configured to determine a first polarization filtering parameter set based on the target echo. The processing unit is specifically configured to control the first filtering unit array to perform filtering with the first filtering parameter set.

[0093] In another possible implementation, the processing unit is specifically configured to determine a first region of the field of view of the detection device based on the target echo, the first region being the region receiving the target echo. The processing unit is also specifically configured to determine a second region of a first filter unit array based on the first region, the first region and the second region corresponding to the target region in the object space. Furthermore, the processing unit is specifically configured to determine a first polarization filter parameter set based on the second region, the first polarization filter parameter set being used to polarize the light beam passing through the second region.

[0094] Optionally, the polarization filtering parameters in the first polarization filtering parameter set can be preset. For example, the polarization filtering parameters indicate that the polarization filtering direction is horizontal or vertical.

[0095] In another possible implementation, the second region includes a third region and a fourth region, which do not overlap. The first polarization filter parameter set includes a first polarization filter parameter and a second polarization filter parameter. The first polarization filter parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the third region, and the second polarization filter parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the fourth region. The first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are different.

[0096] In another possible implementation, the first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are preset, or the first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are determined based on the environment in which the imaging device is located.

[0097] In a sixth aspect, this application provides an imaging device, which includes a first filtering unit array for filtering a light beam received by the imaging device, and an imaging unit for imaging the light beam filtered by the first filtering unit array.

[0098] In one possible implementation, the first filter unit array includes a first filter unit, and the first filter unit includes a first filter layer. The first filter unit is used to filter the beam with first filter parameters, which belong to a first filter parameter set. The first filter layer is used to filter the beam with second filter parameters, which include second filter parameters, and the second filter parameters include a second filtering method and a second filtering attribute corresponding to the second filtering method. The second filtering attribute is adjustable.

[0099] In another possible implementation, the second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction. Alternatively, the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering. Here, polarization filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and intensity filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

[0100] In another possible implementation, the first filtering unit further includes a second filtering layer for filtering the beam with third filtering parameters. The third filtering parameters include a third filtering mode and a corresponding third filtering attribute, and the third filtering attribute is adjustable. The second filtering mode differs from the third filtering mode, and / or the second filtering attribute differs from the third filtering attribute. The first filtering parameters include the third filtering parameters.

[0101] In another possible implementation, the third filtering method is polarization filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction. Alternatively, the third filtering method is intensity filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering. In this case, polarization filtering attenuates the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and intensity filtering attenuates the light intensity of the beam.

[0102] In another possible implementation, the first filtering unit further includes a third filtering layer, which is used to filter the beam with fourth filtering parameters. The fourth filtering parameters include a fourth filtering method and a corresponding fourth filtering attribute, and the fourth filtering attribute is adjustable. The first filtering parameters also include the fourth filtering parameters. Both the second and fourth filtering methods are polarization filtering, but the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method is different from that corresponding to the fourth filtering method. The third filtering method is intensity filtering. Specifically, polarization filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering, and intensity filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

[0103] In another possible implementation, both the second and fourth filtering methods are polarization filters, and the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method is orthogonal to the polarization direction corresponding to the fourth filtering method.

[0104] In another possible implementation, the first filter unit array includes one or more of the following: guest-host effect liquid crystal (GHLC), metasurface, suspended particle device (SPD), polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC), photochromic device, or electrochromic device.

[0105] In a seventh aspect, this application provides a sensor device including a processor. When the processor invokes a computer program or instructions in a memory, it causes the processing method described in any of the first aspects to be executed, or causes the control method described in any of the second aspects to be executed, or causes the imaging method described in any of the third aspects to be executed.

[0106] Eighthly, this application provides a sensor device, including one or more of the processing device described in any of the fourth aspects, the control device described in any of the fifth aspects, or the imaging device described in any of the sixth aspects.

[0107] Ninthly, this application provides a terminal including a processing device as described in any of the fourth aspects, a control device as described in any of the fifth aspects, an imaging device as described in any of the sixth aspects, or a sensor device as described in any of the eighth aspects. Optionally, the terminal includes intelligent terminals or vehicles such as vehicles, robots, drones, or ships.

[0108] In a tenth aspect, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the method as described in any of the first aspects, or implement the method as described in any of the second aspects, or implement the method as described in any of the third aspects.

[0109] In one aspect, this application provides a computer program product including instructions, wherein the computer program product includes computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, implements the method as described in any of the first aspects, or implements the method as described in any of the second aspects, or implements the method as described in any of the third aspects.

[0110] In a twelfth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a chip including a processor configured to execute instructions. When the processor executes the instructions, the chip performs the methods described in any one of the first aspects and possible implementations, or implements the methods described in any one of the second aspects and possible implementations, or implements the methods described in any one of the third aspects and possible implementations. Optionally, the chip further includes a communication interface configured to receive or transmit signals.

[0111] Optionally, in the process of executing the methods described in any of the first, second, or third aspects and any possible embodiments above, the processor may be a processor specifically designed to execute these methods, or a processor that executes these methods by executing computer instructions stored in memory, such as a general-purpose processor. The memory may be a non-transitory memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), which may be integrated with the processor on the same chip or disposed on separate chips. This application does not limit the type of memory or the arrangement of the memory and processor.

[0112] The solutions provided in aspects four through twelfth above are used to implement or cooperate with the methods provided in aspects one, two or three above, and therefore can achieve the same or corresponding beneficial effects as the methods in aspects one, two or three above, which will not be elaborated here. Attached Figure Description

[0113] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the drawings used in the embodiments of this application will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0114] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a multipath interference provided in this application;

[0115] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a sensor system provided in this application;

[0116] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a detection device provided in this application;

[0117] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing method provided in this application;

[0118] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an echo provided in this application;

[0119] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a pre-calibration method provided in this application;

[0120] Figures 7A to 7C are schematic diagrams illustrating the timing of receiving the first echo and acquiring at least two frames of images provided in this application;

[0121] Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating another processing method provided in this application;

[0122] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating another processing method provided in this application;

[0123] Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating a control method provided in this application;

[0124] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a target echo provided in this application;

[0125] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the second region of a first filter unit array provided in this application;

[0126] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a preset filtering parameter provided in this application;

[0127] Figure 14A is a schematic diagram of determining filter parameters according to this application;

[0128] Figure 14B is a schematic diagram of the second region of another first filter unit array provided in this application;

[0129] Figures 15A to 15C are schematic diagrams of a filtering unit provided in this application;

[0130] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of a dichroic dye provided in this application;

[0131] Figures 17A and 17B are schematic diagrams of another filtering unit provided in this application;

[0132] Figures 18A and 18B are schematic diagrams of another filtering unit provided in this application;

[0133] Figures 19A and 19B are schematic diagrams of another filtering unit provided in this application;

[0134] Figures 20A and 20B are schematic diagrams of another filtering unit provided in this application;

[0135] Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of dichroic dyes in Figure 20A or Figure 20B;

[0136] Figures 22A and 22B are schematic diagrams of another filtering unit provided in this application;

[0137] Figures 23A and 23B are schematic diagrams of another filtering unit provided in this application;

[0138] Figures 24A and 24B are schematic diagrams of another filtering unit provided in this application;

[0139] Figures 25A and 25B are schematic diagrams of another filtering unit provided in this application;

[0140] Figure 26 is a flowchart illustrating an imaging method provided in this application;

[0141] Figure 27 is a schematic block diagram of a processing device provided in this application;

[0142] Figure 28 is a schematic block diagram of a control device provided in this application;

[0143] Figure 29 is a schematic block diagram of an imaging device provided in this application;

[0144] Figure 30 is a schematic block diagram of another processing apparatus provided in this application;

[0145] Figure 31 is a schematic block diagram of another control device provided in this application;

[0146] Figure 32 is a schematic block diagram of another imaging device provided in this application. Detailed Implementation

[0147] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0148] The terms "first" and "second," etc., used in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or apparatuses.

[0149] The term "embodiment" as used herein means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It will be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0150] It should be understood that in this application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "more than one" means two or more, "at least two (items)" means two or three or more, and "and / or" is used to describe the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist simultaneously, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (item) of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0151] The following is an explanation of some of the terms used in this application. It should be noted that these explanations are for the convenience of those skilled in the art and are not intended to limit the scope of protection claimed in this application.

[0152] 1. Guest-host effect.

[0153] The guest-host effect refers to the phenomenon where dichroic dyes, which absorb visible light differently along their long and short axes, are dissolved in a liquid crystal substrate. The dichroic dyes align with the liquid crystal molecules. When the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules changes under the influence of an electric field, the alignment direction of the dye molecules and their absorption of incident light also change, thus achieving functions such as optical switching or optical filtering.

[0154] 2. Dichroic dyes.

[0155] Dichroic dyes are dyes with special optical properties. The absorption coefficient of these dye molecules depends on the polarization state of the incident light. Generally, the absorption of the incident light by the crystal varies depending on the polarization direction of the incident light.

[0156] Dichroic dye molecules are generally ellipsoidal in shape, possessing a major axis and a minor axis. Based on the absorption coefficients of the major and minor axes for polarized light, dichroic dyes can be classified into positive dichroic and negative dichroic dye molecules. For positive dichroic dye molecules, the component of polarized light parallel to the major axis is absorbed, while the component perpendicular to the major axis is not absorbed. For negative dichroic dye molecules, polarized light parallel to the major axis is not absorbed, while the component perpendicular to the major axis is absorbed.

[0157] 3.Liquid crystal material

[0158] Liquid crystal materials have unique properties that lie between liquids and crystals. Liquid crystal materials usually have a certain long axis and short axis, and their arrangement can be changed under the influence of external electric fields, magnetic fields or temperature.

[0159] 4. Metasurfaces.

[0160] A metasurface is an artificial layered material with a thickness less than the wavelength. It is a planar array of subwavelength meta-atoms, the geometry and spatial arrangement of which can be precisely designed according to the target phase distribution. Metasurfaces can be used in optical fields such as optical imaging, fiber optic communication, and spectral analysis to achieve functions that are difficult to implement with traditional filters, such as polarization filtering, ultra-narrowband filtering, or tunable filtering.

[0161] 5. Polarization filtering.

[0162] Polarization filtering refers to the use of filtering devices to filter out or attenuate light with a specific polarization direction, thereby achieving the selection and processing of light. Polarization filtering has wide applications in fields such as photography and machine vision.

[0163] 6. Intensity filtering.

[0164] Intensity filtering refers to using a filtering device to allow light within a specific intensity range to pass through or to adjust the intensity of light to a certain extent in order to achieve a specific effect or meet a specific need.

[0165] 7. Image sensor.

[0166] An image sensor is a device that converts optical images into electrical signals. Its main function is to capture light and convert it into digital signals, enabling electronic devices to process, store, display, and transmit the images. Image sensors offer advantages such as high resolution, high sensitivity, and fast response, and are widely used in digital cameras, smartphones, surveillance cameras, medical imaging equipment, and industrial inspection equipment. For example, image sensors can be complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensors, charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors, back-side illumination (BSI) CMOS sensors, or quantum dot image sensors, etc. Of course, image sensors can also refer to photodetectors in lidar, such as single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs), silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), multi-pixel photon counters (MPPCs), avalanche photo detectors (APDs), or positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes (or P-type semiconductor-impurity-N-type semiconductor diodes), etc.

[0167] 8. LiDAR.

[0168] LiDAR, also known as optical radar, is short for light detection and ranging system. It can also be called Laser Radar or LADAR (laser detection and ranging).

[0169] LiDAR uses light as its detection medium, utilizing the emission and reception of laser light to detect targets, such as for ranging, velocity measurement, or azimuth measurement. LiDAR can measure target distance based on the laser's time-of-flight (TOF), or based on the phase difference between the transmitted and received laser signal. The greatest advantage of LiDAR lies in its ability to create clear three-dimensional (3D) images of targets using Doppler imaging technology. LiDAR collects information such as the 3D coordinates, reflectivity, and texture of numerous dense points on the target surface through laser emission and reception. Based on this information, it generates a 3D model of the target, establishes a 3D point cloud map, and creates an environmental map to achieve environmental perception. Compared to traditional passive imaging technologies such as visible light and infrared, lidar imaging technology overturns the traditional two-dimensional projection imaging mode. It can collect the depth information of the target surface, obtain relatively complete spatial information of the target, and reconstruct the three-dimensional surface of the target through data processing to obtain a three-dimensional graphic that better reflects the geometric shape of the target. At the same time, it can also obtain rich feature information such as the reflectivity of the target surface and the speed of movement, providing sufficient information support for data processing such as target detection, identification, and tracking, and reducing the difficulty of algorithms.

[0170] The explanations of the above terms can be applied in the following text.

[0171] A lidar system comprises a laser emitting system, a laser receiving system, and a signal processing unit. The laser emitting system emits a laser beam. The laser receiving system receives the echo beam; for example, when the laser beam emitted by the emitting system encounters a target object, it interacts with the object to form a reflected / scattered echo beam. The laser receiving system also converts the received echo into an electrical signal. The processing unit processes this electrical signal to determine information such as the target object's distance, velocity, and azimuth. Furthermore, it can acquire information such as the target's surface morphology and physical properties to build an object model. However, the echo received by the laser receiving system often includes interference echoes, which can affect the lidar's detection performance.

[0172] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of multipath interference provided in this application. As shown in Figure 1, the echo received by the detection device 10 includes echo 1 and echo 2. Echo 1 is the echo formed by the direct reflection of the detection beam from the target object, and echo 2 includes echoes formed by the detection beam being reflected by multiple objects (including targets and obstacles). Obviously, when the detection device 10 cannot distinguish the valid echoes in echo 1 and echo 2, the detection device 10 cannot generate accurate detection results.

[0173] In view of this, this application provides a processing method, sensor system, radar, terminal and vehicle end, relating to the field of lidar technology, which can use the image generated by the imaging device to assist lidar in identifying the effective echo in the echo, thereby improving the detection performance of lidar.

[0174] The following is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of the sensor system provided in this application.

[0175] As shown in Figure 2, the sensor system includes a detection device 210, an imaging device 220, and a processing unit 230.

[0176] The detection device 210 can emit a detection beam, which is reflected after illuminating an object in front of the vehicle. The reflected beam can be received by the detection device 210 and used to determine obstacle information in front of the vehicle, such as the size, speed, and distance of the obstacle. This obstacle information can then be used to enable vehicle driving functions, including but not limited to automatic assumption or assisted driving. It should be noted that the detection device 210 can be a lidar. This application does not specifically limit the type of lidar; it can be a mechanical lidar, liquid lidar, pure solid-state lidar, or hybrid solid-state lidar (also known as semi-solid-state lidar).

[0177] Imaging device 220 can receive a light beam from the object space and convert the optical signal into an electrical signal. This electrical signal is used to generate image information, which can be used to realize vehicle driving functions, including but not limited to autonomous driving or assisted driving. Imaging device 220 includes a photosensitive unit 221 and a first filtering unit array 222. The photosensitive unit 221 is used to convert the optical signal into an electrical signal. For example, the photosensitive unit 221 includes the image sensor described above. For a description of the image sensor, please refer to the above description; it will not be repeated here. The first filtering unit array 222 is used to filter the light beam. For example, the first filtering unit array 222 is used to perform polarization filtering and / or intensity filtering on the light beam. Optionally, the first filtering unit array 222 may include one or more filtering units, each of which can filter the light beam with individual filtering parameters. Optionally, imaging device 220 can also directly generate image information based on the electrical signal.

[0178] The processing unit 230 can process the echo received by the detection device 210 and generate detection results, such as generating information about the size, speed, and distance of obstacles. The processing unit 230 can also process the electrical signals output by the imaging device 220 and generate image information. The processing unit 230 can also determine the detection results or adjust the image information based on the echo received by the detection device 210 and the image information generated by the imaging device 220. Furthermore, the processing unit 230 is also used to control the first filtering unit array 222 in the imaging device 220, for example, controlling the first filtering unit array 222 in the imaging device 220 to filter the light beam using a first polarization filtering parameter set. Optionally, the processing unit 230 can consist of one or more processing units. For example, the detection device 210 includes a first processing unit for processing the echo to generate detection results, and the imaging device 220 includes a second processing unit for processing electrical signals to generate image information; the processing unit 230 can include both the first and second processing units. It is understood that the processing unit 230 is a functional limitation and does not limit its hardware implementation. Alternatively, the processing unit 230 may be located inside the vehicle, or the processing unit 230 may be located remotely from the vehicle and wirelessly communicate with the vehicle.

[0179] In one possible implementation, the detection device 210 is, for example, a lidar on a vehicle, the imaging device 220 is, for example, an image sensor in an advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) on a vehicle, and the processing unit 230 may be one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), system-on-chips (SoCs), central processors (CPUs), network processors (NPs), digital signal processors (DSPs), microcontrollers (MCUs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or other integrated chips, or any combination of the above chips or processors.

[0180] It should be noted that this application does not limit the position of the detection device 210 and the imaging device 220 on the vehicle. The detection device 210 may include one or more lidars, and the imaging device 220 may include one or more cameras.

[0181] The detection device 210 provided in this application will now be described exemplarily with reference to Figure 3. As shown in Figure 3, the detection device 210 provided in this application includes a transmitting module 100, a receiving module 200, and a processing unit 300. The transmitting module 100 includes an excitation source (or laser driver), a laser 101, and a transmitting optical module 102. The excitation source and the laser 101 can also be collectively referred to as the transmitting device. The excitation source drives the laser 101 to emit a detection beam, and the laser beam (or laser pulse) is emitted outward through the transmitting optical module 102. The receiving module 200 includes a receiving optical module 202 and a detector 201 (also referred to as a receiving device). When the detection beam emitted from the detection device 210 encounters a target, it interacts with the target to form a reflected / scattered return beam. The return beam is collected by the receiving optical module 202 and received by the detector 201, which converts the optical signal into an electrical signal. The electrical signal is then processed by an analog front-end and transmitted to the processing unit 300. The processing unit 300 processes the received signal to obtain information such as the target's distance, velocity, and azimuth. It can also acquire information such as the target's surface morphology and physical properties to build an object model. The detector 201 is typically a photodetector, converting the received light signal into an electrical signal, usually an analog signal. The processing unit 300, typically used for processing digital signals (e.g., a digital signal processor, DSP), converts the analog electrical signal into a digital signal via an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and provides it to the processing unit 300. It can also amplify the electrical signal, converting it back to a digital signal via the ADC before providing it to the processing unit 300. The processing unit 300 includes a signal processing circuit for processing the digital signal to obtain information such as the target's distance, velocity, and azimuth, and further builds an object model. The detection device 210 also includes a control circuit, such as a control section for controlling the excitation source and a control section for controlling the scanning drive circuit 402. These two control sections can be integrated or set up independently. Furthermore, the signal processing circuit and the control circuit can also be integrated or set up independently.

[0182] Optionally, the processing unit 300 can be set up independently of the detection device 210, for example, the processing unit 300 belongs to the processing unit 230.

[0183] In another implementation, the emitting module 100 may also include a laser modulator and a beam controller. The laser beam emitted by the laser 101 passes through the beam controller, which controls the direction and number of lines of the emitted laser beam under the control of the laser modulator. The laser beam emitted from the beam controller is emitted outward through the emitting optical module 102.

[0184] In one implementation, the laser 101 may include one or more of the following light sources: vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), photonic crystal surface emitting semiconductor laser (PCSEL), edge emitting laser (EEL), laser diode (LD), distributed feedback laser diode (DFB-LD), grating coupled sampling reflection laser diode (GCSR-LD), or micro opto-electro-mechanical system laser diode (MOEUS-LD), etc.

[0185] In another implementation, detector 201 may include, but is not limited to, a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD), a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM), a multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC), an avalanche photo detector (APD), or a positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diode (or a P-type semiconductor-impurity-N-type semiconductor diode). When the detector includes multiple detection units, these units can be arranged in an array to form an array detector; for example, the receiving module may include a SPAD array detector. Detector 201 may also be an image sensor, including one or more of the following photosensitive elements: complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), charge-coupled device (CCD), Live MOS, etc. For example, the image sensor may include a CMOS image sensor (CIS), which converts optical images into electronic signals. In some scenarios, detectors and image sensors can be collectively referred to as optical receiver chips.

[0186] In another implementation, the transmitting optical module 102 and the receiving optical module 202 refer to a system composed of optical elements, including but not limited to: lenses, filters, polarizers, mirrors, beam splitters, prisms, windows, and diffusers.

[0187] Furthermore, the detection device 210 may also include a scanning unit 400. Under the action of the scanning unit 400, the detection beam emitted by the transmitting module 100 scans the detection beam on a plane to generate real-time planar image information. The scanning unit 400 mainly includes a scanning mechanism 401 and a scanning drive circuit 402. The scanning drive circuit 402 is used to drive the scanning mechanism 401 to operate. Under the action of the scanning mechanism 401, the detection beam changes from a "line" to a "plane", or from a "point" to a "line" and then to a "plane".

[0188] Optionally, the scanning mechanism 401 may include one or more of the following: a one-dimensional tilting mirror, a one-dimensional rotating mirror (polygon), a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEUS) galvanometer, or a metal galvanometer. In some embodiments, the scanning mechanism 401 may include one or more reflective surfaces, which may be mounted on the main body of the scanning module in the form of patches; alternatively, the reflective surfaces of the scanning mechanism 401 and the main body of the scanning mechanism 401 may be integrated. Optionally, the scanning method of the scanning mechanism 401 may be one-dimensional scanning.

[0189] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a flowchart illustrating a processing method provided in this application. The processing method shown in Figure 4 may include one or more steps S401 to S403. For example, some solutions may only include steps S401 and S403. It should be understood that, for ease of description, the order of steps S401 to S403 is used here, and it is not intended to limit the execution to this order. This application does not limit the order of execution, execution time, or number of executions of the above one or more steps. Steps S401 to S403 are as follows:

[0190] S401, The processing unit acquires the first echo received by the detection device.

[0191] The processing unit is, for example, the processing unit 230 shown in Figure 2 above, and the detection device is, for example, the detection device 210 shown in Figure 2 above. For a detailed description, please refer to the description in Figure 2 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0192] The aforementioned first echo is the echo signal (also called a waveform signal) obtained by the detection device from the first returned beam. For example, the first returned beam is detected by a photodetector, which obtains an analog signal corresponding to the first returned beam. This analog signal is then input to an analog-to-digital converter to obtain a digital signal corresponding to the first returned beam, i.e., the first echo. It is understood that when the detection beam is affected by object space interference, the first echo may include one or more peak signals. These peak signals correspond to potential targets, which can be effective or interfering targets. The peak corresponding to an effective target can be called an effective peak, and the peak corresponding to an interfering target can be called an interfering peak. It should be noted that the first echo is an electrical signal and should not be understood as an optical signal. For example, the first echo can be represented by the waveform diagram shown in Figure 5.

[0193] S402, The processing unit acquires at least two frames of images captured by the imaging device.

[0194] The imaging device is, for example, the imaging device 220 shown in Figure 2 above. For a detailed description, please refer to the description in Figure 2 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0195] Depending on whether the imaging device includes a processor, the aforementioned at least two frames of images can take different forms. For example, if the imaging device includes a processor (which processes electrical signals to generate image data), the aforementioned at least two frames of images can be at least two frames of image data. However, if the imaging device does not include a processor (which processes electrical signals to generate image data), the aforementioned at least two frames of images can be obtained by converting light signals into electrical signals using an image sensor, and these electrical signals require further processing to obtain at least two frames of images.

[0196] The field of view of the detection device corresponds to the field of view of the imaging device. The first echo received by the detection device is the echo corresponding to the target object in the object space, and the at least two frames of images acquired by the imaging device are the images corresponding to the target object in the object space. Please refer to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of pre-calibration provided in this application. As shown in Figure 6, the field of view of both the detection device and the field of view of the imaging unit in the imaging device can be divided into multiple regions, and each region corresponds to a region in the first filter unit array. For example, region 1 in the field of view of the detection device and region 1 in the field of view of the imaging unit correspond to the same object in the object space, and the light beam passing through region 1 in the first filter unit array will be received by region 1 in the field of view of the imaging unit. Optionally, the size of each region in Figure 6 is not limited in this application. For example, each region in Figure 6 is pixel-level in size.

[0197] The aforementioned at least two frames include a first image and a second image. For example, the first image is a non-polarized filtered image, and the second image is a polarized filtered image. The non-polarized filtered image is the image obtained when the imaging device does not perform polarization filtering on the received light beam, while the polarized filtered image is the image obtained when the imaging device performs polarization filtering on the received light beam. Exemplarily, if the first filtering unit array in the imaging device does not perform filtering on the passing light beam, the image obtained by the imaging device is a non-polarized filtered image; or if the first filtering unit array in the imaging device performs polarization filtering on the passing light beam, the image obtained by the imaging device is also a non-polarized filtered image.

[0198] Optionally, both the first image and the second image are polarization-filtered images, and the polarization directions of the first image and the second image are different. For example, the polarization filter array in the imaging device performs polarization filtering on the passing light beam in a first direction, and the imaging device obtains the first image. The polarization filter array in the imaging device performs polarization filtering on the passing light beam in a second direction, and the imaging device obtains the second image. The first direction and the second direction are different. For example, the first direction is the horizontal direction, and the second direction is the vertical direction.

[0199] The timing of the detection device receiving the first echo and the imaging device acquiring at least two frames of images will be described in detail below.

[0200] Case 1: The first time T1 and the second time T2 satisfy the following relationship: T1 ≤ T2, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the second time is the start time when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images. The third time T3 and the fourth time T4 satisfy the following relationship: T3 ≤ T4, where the third time is the end time when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images, and the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0201] Please refer to Figure 7A, which is a schematic diagram illustrating the timing of receiving the first echo and acquiring at least two frames of images according to this application. As shown in Figure 7A, the starting time for the detection device to acquire the first echo is designated as the first time, and the starting time for the imaging device to acquire the first image is designated as the second time, where the first time is less than or equal to the second time. The ending time for the detection device to acquire the first echo is designated as the fourth time, and the ending time for the imaging device to acquire the second image is designated as the third time, where the third time is less than or equal to the fourth time. In other words, during the time period when the detection device receives the first echo, the imaging device acquires the first and second images.

[0202] Optionally, the first image and the second image include at least one polarization-filtered image. For example, the first image is a polarization-filtered image, and the second image is a non-polarization-filtered image. Another example is that the first image is a non-polarization-filtered image, and the second image is a polarization-filtered image. Yet another example is that both the first image and the second image are polarization-filtered images, and the polarization directions of the first image and the second image are different; for example, the first image is a horizontally polarized-filtered image, and the second image is a vertically polarized-filtered image.

[0203] It should be noted that Figure 7A illustrates the above "Scenario 1" by using the imaging device acquiring two frames of images as an example. In the actual implementation, the imaging device can acquire multiple frames of images during the time period when the detection device receives the first echo. Please refer to Figure 7B, which is a schematic diagram of another timing for receiving the first echo and acquiring at least two frames of images provided by this application. As shown in Figure 7B, during the time period when the detection device acquires the first image, the imaging device acquires n frames of images. The start time of the first frame of image (image 1) is the second time, and the start time of the first echo is the first time, which is less than or equal to the second time. The end time of the nth frame of image (image n) is the third time, and the end time of the first echo is the fourth time, which is less than or equal to the fourth time.

[0204] Optionally, n is an integer greater than or equal to 2, for example, n is 2, 3, 4 or 5, etc., and this application does not limit it.

[0205] Optionally, the first image and the second image can be any two frames from the aforementioned n frames (image 1 to image n). For example, the first image is image 1 and the second image is image n. Another example is that the first image is image 2 and the second image is image 3, etc.

[0206] Optionally, image 1 is a non-polarized filtered image, while images 2 to n are polarized filtered images. Further, the polarization filtering parameters for images 2 to n are different. For example, images 2 to n all represent polarized light in a first direction. During the acquisition of images 2 to n by the imaging device, the attenuation of the light beam in the first polarization direction by the polarization filter array increases sequentially. It is understandable that during image acquisition, the imaging device involves many parameters such as aperture and exposure time. Some imaging devices can actively determine whether the amount of light received meets the imaging requirements to determine the exposure time for acquiring one frame. However, when the polarization filter unit switches from "all-through" to "polarization filtering," the amount of light received by the imaging device decreases, resulting in an inability to obtain an accurate and clear image. By gradually adjusting the attenuation of the light beam by the polarization filter, the imaging device can actively adapt to changes in the amount of light received, thereby adjusting relevant parameters (such as exposure time) to obtain an accurate and clear image.

[0207] Scenario 2: The imaging device is used to acquire unpolarized filtered images from the first time T1 to the fifth time T5. The first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the fifth time is the start time when the imaging device acquires the second image. The fourth time T4 and the fifth time T5 satisfy the following relationship: T4 ≤ T5, where the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0208] Please refer to Figure 7C, which is a schematic diagram of another timing for receiving the first echo and acquiring at least two frames of images according to this application. As shown in Figure 7C, the starting time for the detection device to acquire the first echo is the first time, the ending time for the detection device to acquire the first echo is the fourth time, and the starting time for the imaging device to acquire image n+2 is the fifth time. Image n+2 is a polarized filtered image, and images 1 to n+1 are all unpolarized filtered images. n is a positive integer, for example, n is 1, 2, or 3, etc., and this application does not limit it.

[0209] It should be noted that Figures 7A to 7C are exemplary and do not constitute a limitation on the solution of this application. This application does not limit the frequency relationship between the first echo acquired by the detection device and the image acquired by the imaging device. For example, the frequency of the first echo acquired by the detection device may be less than or equal to the frequency of the image acquired by the imaging device.

[0210] Optionally, the first duration L1 of the detection device receiving the first echo and the second duration L2 of the imaging device acquiring at least two frames of images satisfy the following relationship: L1 ≥ N * L2, where N is an integer greater than 0, for example, N is 1, 2, or 3. By setting the first duration to N times the second duration, it can be ensured that the first duration and the second duration are integers, which facilitates the processing unit in aligning the data output by the imaging device and the detection device, thereby improving processing efficiency and the accuracy of the generated results.

[0211] S403. The processing unit determines the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images.

[0212] It should be noted that in this application, "the processing unit determines the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images" means that the processing unit identifies the interference peaks in the first echo based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images. Then, it can generate detection results based on the effective peaks in the first echo.

[0213] The following is an exemplary description of how the processing unit identifies interference echoes in the first echo based on the first echo and the above-mentioned at least two frames of images, specifically including the following steps:

[0214] Step 1: The processing unit determines the target detection unit corresponding to the first echo.

[0215] The detection unit is the smallest unit in the detection device that receives the returned beam and generates an echo. For example, the detection unit can be a SPAD, SiPM, MPPC, APD, or PIN. For a detailed description of the detection unit, please refer to the description of the aforementioned detector 201; it will not be repeated here.

[0216] For example, the processing unit can determine the target detection unit corresponding to the first echo based on the spatial parameters of the first echo and / or signal characteristics. For instance, the processing unit can determine the detection unit corresponding to the first echo based on the direction or angle of the detection unit and the arrival angle of the returned beam. As another example, the processing unit can determine the detection unit corresponding to the echo by matching the amplitude of the echo signal with a preset amplitude range. This application does not limit the method by which the processing unit determines the target detection unit corresponding to the first echo.

[0217] Step 2: The processing unit determines the first field of view of the imaging device based on the target detection unit.

[0218] As shown in Figure 6 above, there is a correspondence between the field of view of the detection device and the field of view of the imaging device. Therefore, based on the correspondence between the field of view of the detection device and the field of view of the imaging device, the processing unit can determine the first field of view corresponding to the target detection unit. Taking Figure 6 as an example, if the target detection unit is region 1 in the field of view of the detection device, then the processing unit can determine that the first field of view is region 1 in the field of view of the imaging device.

[0219] It is understood that the resolutions of the detection device and the imaging device may differ; for example, the resolution of the detection device may be lower than that of the imaging device, or vice versa. When the resolution of the detection device is lower than that of the imaging device, one detection unit may correspond to multiple pixels in the imaging device. Conversely, when the resolution of the detection device is higher than that of the imaging device, multiple detection units may correspond to one pixel in the imaging device. Optionally, when the resolution of the detection device is lower than that of the imaging device, the first field of view may include multiple pixels. When the resolution of the detection device is equal to or higher than that of the imaging device, the first field of view includes one pixel.

[0220] Step 3: The processing unit identifies interference echoes in the first echo based on the images corresponding to the first field of view in at least two of the above-mentioned images.

[0221] It is understandable that the above "identifying interference echoes in the first echo" can be interpreted as "identifying interference peaks in the first echo".

[0222] In one possible implementation, the processing unit identifies interference peaks in the first echo based on the images corresponding to the first field of view in the above at least two frames, which can be achieved in any of the following ways.

[0223] Method 1: Assuming the beam received by the imaging device is uniform natural light, the processing unit, based on the brightness of the image corresponding to the first field of view in at least two frames, inversely calculates the brightness the image should have without polarization filtering. If the brightness of the inversely calculated images differs, it is assumed that the first echo includes interference peaks. For ease of description, the brightness, filtering parameters, and restored image brightness of the image corresponding to the first field of view in at least two frames can be displayed in a table, as shown in Table 1.

[0224] Table 1

[0225] As shown in Table 1, the brightness of the restored image of the first frame is 550 cd / m². 2 The brightness of the restored images from the second and Nth frames is 500 cd / m². 2 As can be seen, the brightness of the restored images is not uniform; therefore, the first echo includes interference peaks. The filtering parameters "50% filtering out" or "100%" indicate the degree of attenuation of the beam by polarization filtering. For example, if the detection device performs horizontal polarization filtering on the received beam, "50% filtering out" means that the detection device will filter out 50% of the horizontally polarized light. For example, the processing unit can restore the image brightness using the following formula: for example, the brightness L1 of the image corresponding to the first field of view, the attenuation degree C of the beam by polarization filtering, and the restored image brightness L2 satisfy the following relationship: L2 = 2 * L1 / (2 - C).

[0226] Method 2: Assuming the beam received by the imaging device is uniform natural light, the processing unit calculates the image brightness that should be achieved when all polarization filters are applied, based on the brightness of the image corresponding to the first field of view in at least two frames. If the brightness of the filtered images differs, it is assumed that the first echo includes interference peaks. For ease of description, the brightness, filtering parameters, and brightness of the filtered image corresponding to the first field of view in at least two frames can be displayed in a table, as shown in Table 2.

[0227] Table 2

[0228] As shown in Table 2, the brightness of the first frame image after filtering is 250 cd / m². 2 The brightness of the filtered second frame image is 250 cd / m². 2 The brightness of the filtered image in the Nth frame is 200 cd / m². 2As can be seen, the brightness of the filtered images is not uniform; therefore, the first echo includes interference peaks. For example, the processing unit can determine the brightness of the filtered image using the following formula: for instance, the brightness L1 of the image corresponding to the first field of view, the attenuation degree C of the polarization filter on the beam, and the brightness L2 of the filtered image satisfy the following relationship: L2 = L1 / (2-C). It can be understood that the above-mentioned brightness of the filtered image refers to the image brightness corresponding to "polarization filtering, 100% removal" of the received beam.

[0229] Alternatively, the influence of factors such as the aperture and exposure time of the detection device on image brightness can be considered, and the control variables can be kept as consistent as possible, so as to analyze whether the influence of polarization filtering on image brightness is consistent, thereby determining whether the first echo includes interference peaks.

[0230] Method 3: The processing unit can calculate and generate a polarization-filtered image corresponding to the second polarization filtering direction by using the received unpolarized filtered image and the polarization-filtered image corresponding to the first polarization filtering direction. The first and second directions are orthogonal to each other.

[0231] For example, the first direction is horizontal. The processing unit can calculate and generate a polarization-filtered image corresponding to the vertical polarization filtering by using the received unpolarized filtered image and the polarization-filtered image corresponding to the horizontal polarization filtering. It is understood that when the beam does not contain interfering beams, the brightness of each pixel in the aforementioned polarization-filtered image corresponding to the horizontal polarization filtering is the same as that in the polarization-filtered image corresponding to the vertical polarization filtering.

[0232] Optionally, pixels with different brightness in the polarization-filtered images corresponding to the first and second directional polarization filters are considered to be pixels corresponding to the polarized beam. Therefore, by analyzing the polarization-filtered images corresponding to the first and second directional polarization filters, it is possible to analyze whether the aforementioned first field of view received a polarized beam, thereby assisting in identifying interference peaks in the first echo.

[0233] Optionally, a first difference in pixel brightness between the polarized filtered image corresponding to the first directional polarization filter and the polarized filtered image corresponding to the second directional polarization filter in the first field of view can be calculated. This difference is then used to determine a first ratio between the first difference and the pixel brightness of the unpolarized filtered image in the first field of view, thereby determining whether there is an interfering beam and the polarization characteristics of the interfering beam. For example, if the first difference or the first ratio is zero, it indicates that the first field of view has not received an interfering beam. If the first difference or the first ratio is greater than zero, it indicates that the first field of view has received an interfering beam. The larger the first difference or the first ratio, the stronger the polarization characteristics of the interfering beam.

[0234] Optionally, the solution provided by "Method 3" can effectively detect polarized light whose polarization direction is close to the first or second direction.

[0235] In another possible implementation, the image brightness of the above at least two frames is different, the processing unit determines that the first echo contains multipath interference echoes, and the first peak of the first echo is a valid echo.

[0236] It should be noted that the above statement "and the first peak of the first echo is a valid echo" can be understood as "and the first peak of the first echo is a valid peak".

[0237] It is understandable that factors such as the filtering method of the first filtering unit array, the aperture of the imaging device, and the exposure time of the imaging device will affect the image brightness of the image generated by the imaging device. Therefore, when comparing image brightness in this application, it usually refers to calculating the relationship between the image brightness of at least two frames under ideal and interference-free conditions using relevant algorithms. Regarding how to calculate the image brightness under ideal and interference-free conditions, please refer to the relevant descriptions of calculating the "restored image brightness" or "filtered image brightness" in "Method 1", "Method 2", or "Method 3" above, which will not be repeated here.

[0238] For example, the imaging device receives a beam containing multipath interference. The imaging device receives the beam in an "all-through" manner and obtains a first image (as shown in Figure 7A above). The imaging device also receives the beam using polarization filtering and obtains a second image (as shown in Figure 7A above). However, the beam received by the imaging device includes a polarized beam, causing the average brightness of the first image to be greater than the average brightness of the second image. For instance, the beam received by the imaging device includes horizontally polarized light. The polarization filter array in the imaging device is used to perform horizontal polarization filtering on the passing beam, filtering out the horizontally polarized light in the beam. This results in the average brightness of the second image obtained by the imaging device being lower than the average brightness of the first image.

[0239] For example, the beam received by the imaging device includes a beam with multipath interference. A polarization filter array filters the beam with polarization filtering in a first direction, resulting in a first image (as shown in Figure 7A above). The polarization filter array then filters the beam with polarization filtering in a second direction, resulting in a second image (as shown in Figure 7A above). The first and second directions are different. However, the beam received by the imaging device may include a beam polarized in a certain direction, which can cause the brightness of the first image to differ from that of the second image. For example, the beam received by the imaging device may include horizontally polarized light, where the first direction is horizontal and the second direction is vertical. The horizontal direction of the first direction means that the horizontally polarized light in the beam received by the imaging device will be filtered out, significantly reducing the brightness of the first image. The vertical direction of the second direction means that the horizontally polarized light in the beam received by the imaging device will not be filtered out, resulting in a brighter second image than the brightest first image. It is understandable that when the beam received by the imaging device is unpolarized, the polarization filter array filters out polarized light in the first direction and polarized light in the second direction, and the brightness of the image obtained by the imaging device is the same.

[0240] Furthermore, when the brightness of the first image differs from that of the second image, it can be assumed that the beam received by the imaging device includes a polarized beam, thus determining that the echo received by the detection device also includes interference peaks caused by multipath interference. It is understood that because multipath interference beams travel a greater distance in space, the time when the detection device receives the normal peak is usually earlier than the time when it receives the multipath interference peak. Therefore, if it is determined that the first echo contains a multipath interference peak, the first peak of the first echo can be determined as the valid peak, and the processing unit can generate the detection result based on the first peak of the first echo.

[0241] Optionally, due to measurement or calculation errors in real-world environments, "identical image brightness" in this application can mean that the difference in image brightness is less than a certain threshold. For example, image brightness less than 1 cd / m². 2 In this case, the two images can be considered to have the same brightness.

[0242] In another possible implementation, if the processing unit determines that the first echo includes an interfering echo, the interfering echo in the first echo is determined based on the first echo and at least two frames of images.

[0243] It should be noted that the above "determining the interference echo in the first echo" can be understood as "determining the interference peak in the first echo".

[0244] For example, when the processing unit acquires the first echo, it can preprocess the first echo to determine the valid peaks in the first echo. For instance, the processing unit can perform signal amplification, filtering, signal detection, or thresholding on the first echo to determine the valid peaks. However, if the first echo includes multipath interference peaks, the processing unit will process and obtain two peaks; this is the case where the processing unit determines that the first echo includes interference peaks. When the processing unit determines that the first echo includes interference peaks, it further identifies the interference peaks in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two image frames. This allows the processing unit to directly generate detection results from the first echo if it does not contain interference peaks. Conversely, when the processing unit detects interference echoes in the first echo, it identifies the interference peaks based on the first echo and at least two image frames to generate detection results. This helps improve the efficiency of the processing unit in generating detection results and reduces unnecessary computation.

[0245] To better understand the processing method shown in Figure 4, please refer to Figure 8, which is a flowchart illustrating another processing method provided in an embodiment of this application. The processing method shown in Figure 8 may include one or more steps S801 to S805. For example, some solutions may only include steps S801 and S805. It should be understood that for ease of description, the order of steps S801 to S805 is used here, and it is not intended to limit the execution to the above order. Figure 8 can be used as a supplement to Figure 4 above, or as a separate embodiment. This application embodiment does not limit the order of execution, execution time, or number of executions of the above one or more steps. Steps S801 to S805 are as follows:

[0246] S801, the detection device receives the first echo. For details on the implementation, please refer to the description of S401 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0247] S802: The imaging device acquires at least two frames of images. For details on the implementation, please refer to the description of S402 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0248] Optionally, the imaging device can sequentially acquire ordinary images and polarization-filtered images, as shown in Figure 7A.

[0249] Optionally, the imaging device can also acquire multiple frames of polarization-filtered images after acquiring one frame of ordinary image, as shown in Figure 7B.

[0250] S803. The processing unit determines whether the first echo includes interfering echoes. For example, the processing unit may preprocess the first echo to determine the valid peaks in the first echo. For instance, the processing unit may perform signal amplification, filtering, signal detection, or thresholding operations on the first echo to determine the valid peaks in the first echo. However, if the first echo includes multipath interference peaks, the processing unit will process and obtain two peaks; this is the case where the processing unit determines that the first echo includes interfering peaks.

[0251] If the first echo includes an interference peak, perform the step shown in S804. If the first echo does not include an interference peak, perform the step shown in S805.

[0252] S804: The processing unit identifies interference echoes in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images. For a detailed implementation, please refer to the description of S403 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0253] S805, the processing unit generates an image and a detection result. Exemplarily, the processing unit generates an image based on data acquired by the imaging device, and the processing unit generates a detection result based on the effective peaks in the first echo. This application does not limit how the processing unit generates the image based on data acquired by the imaging device or how the processing unit generates the detection result based on the effective peaks in the first echo.

[0254] Please refer to Figure 9, which is a flowchart illustrating another processing method provided in an embodiment of this application. The processing method shown in Figure 9 may include one or more steps S901 to S906. For example, some solutions may only include steps S901 and S906. It should be understood that, for ease of description, the order of steps S901 to S906 is used here, and it is not intended to limit the execution to this specific order. Figure 9 can supplement Figure 4 or Figure 8 above, or it can be used as a separate embodiment. This application embodiment does not limit the order of execution, execution time, or number of executions of the above one or more steps. Steps S901 to S906 are as follows:

[0255] S901, the detection device receives the first echo. For details on the implementation, please refer to the description of S401 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0256] S902. The imaging device acquires a normal image. For example, as shown in FIG7C, the imaging device acquires a normal image during the process of the detection device receiving the first echo.

[0257] S903. The processing unit determines whether the first echo includes interfering echoes. For example, the processing unit may preprocess the first echo to determine the valid peaks in the first echo. For instance, the processing unit may perform signal amplification, filtering, signal detection, or thresholding operations on the first echo to determine the valid peaks in the first echo. However, if the first echo includes multipath interference peaks, the processing unit will process and obtain two peaks; this is the case where the processing unit determines that the first echo includes interfering peaks.

[0258] If the first echo includes an interference peak, perform the step shown in S904. If the first echo does not include an interference peak, perform the step shown in S906.

[0259] S904. The processing unit controls the imaging device to acquire a polarization-filtered image. For example, as shown in FIG7C, the processing unit controls the imaging device to acquire a polarization-filtered image at the fifth moment.

[0260] S905 The processing unit identifies interference echoes in the first echo based on the ordinary image, polarization-filtered image, and first echo acquired by the imaging device.

[0261] Taking Figure 7C above as an example, the ordinary images acquired by the imaging device include images 1 to n+1, and the polarization-filtered images acquired by the imaging device include image n+2. The image set consisting of one or more of the images 1 to n+1 and image n+2 conforms to the characteristic of "at least two frames of images" mentioned above. Therefore, the process by which the processing unit identifies the interference peaks in the first echo based on the ordinary images, polarization-filtered images, and the first echo acquired by the imaging device can be referred to the description of S403 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0262] S906. The processing unit generates an image and a detection result. Exemplarily, the processing unit generates an image based on data acquired by the imaging device, and generates a detection result based on the effective peaks in the first echo. This application does not limit how the processing unit generates the image based on data acquired by the imaging device or how it generates the detection result based on the effective peaks in the first echo.

[0263] The processing methods shown in Figures 4, 8, or 9 above illustrate how to determine the interference peak of the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images, thereby improving the detection performance of the detection device and obtaining accurate detection results. The solution provided in this application can also control the first filtering unit array to perform filtering with a first polarization filtering parameter set based on at least one echo received by the detection device, thereby improving the imaging quality of the imaging device.

[0264] Please refer to Figure 10, which is a flowchart illustrating a control method provided in an embodiment of this application. The control method shown in Figure 10 may include one or more steps S1001 to S1002. For example, some solutions may only include steps S1001 and S1002. It should be understood that, for ease of description, the method is described in the order of steps S1001 to S1002, and is not intended to limit the execution to this order. This application embodiment does not limit the order of execution, the execution time, or the number of executions of the above one or more steps. Steps S1001 to S1002 are as follows:

[0265] S1001, The processing unit acquires at least one echo received by the detection device.

[0266] The processing unit is, for example, the processing unit 230 shown in Figure 2 above, and the detection device is, for example, the detection device 210 shown in Figure 2 above. For a detailed description, please refer to the description in Figure 2 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0267] The aforementioned at least one echo can be multiple echoes corresponding to a frame of point cloud data received by the detection device. Any one of the aforementioned at least one echo can be an echo signal (also called a waveform signal) obtained by the detection device from the returned beam. For example, the returned beam is detected by a photodetector to obtain an analog signal corresponding to the returned beam, and then the analog signal is input to an analog-to-digital converter to obtain a digital signal corresponding to the returned beam, i.e., a waveform signal. It is understood that when the detection beam is affected by object space interference, the waveform signal may include one or more peaks, which is not limited in this application. It should be noted that the echo in the at least one echo is an electrical signal, and should not be understood as an optical signal. For example, the echo in the at least one echo can be represented by the waveform diagram shown in Figure 5.

[0268] For example, taking the field of view of the detection device shown in Figure 6 above as an example, the at least one echo can include the echo generated by each region within the field of view of the detection device receiving the returned beam.

[0269] S1002, the processing unit performs filtering based on a first set of polarization filtering parameters using a first filter unit array in at least one echo-controlled imaging device.

[0270] The imaging device is, for example, the imaging device 220 shown in Figure 2 above. For a detailed description, please refer to the description in Figure 2 above; it will not be repeated here. The first filter unit array is, for example, the first filter unit array 222 shown in Figure 2 above. For a detailed description, please refer to the description in Figure 2 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0271] The first polarization filtering parameter set includes one or more polarization filtering parameters, each corresponding to a filtering unit, used to adjust the filtering function implemented by the filtering unit. Optionally, each filtering parameter in the first polarization filtering parameter set may also correspond to a filtering unit in a region, used to adjust the filtering function implemented by the filtering unit in that region. Taking the first filtering unit array shown in Figure 6 above as an example, the first polarization filtering parameter set may include 25 polarization filtering parameters, each corresponding to a region of the first filtering unit array, used to make each region of the first filtering unit array filter with the corresponding polarization filtering parameter.

[0272] The following exemplarily describes how the processing unit performs filtering based on a first set of polarization filtering parameters using a first filter unit array in at least one echo-controlled imaging device, including the following steps:

[0273] Step 1: The processing unit determines the target echo that includes the interfering echo in the at least one echo based on the at least one echo.

[0274] It should be noted that the above-mentioned "the processing unit determines the target echo including the interference echo in at least one echo based on the at least one echo" can be understood as "the processing unit determines the target echo including the interference peak in at least one echo based on the at least one echo".

[0275] For example, when acquiring at least one echo, the processing unit can preprocess each of the at least one echo to determine the effective peaks of each echo. Taking the first echo as an example, the processing unit can perform operations such as signal amplification, filtering, signal detection, or thresholding on the first echo to determine the effective peaks in the first echo. However, if the first echo includes multipath interference peaks, the processing unit will process and obtain two peaks; this is the case where the processing unit determines that the first echo includes interference peaks. By analyzing and processing each of the at least one echo, the processing unit can determine the target echo that includes interference peaks in the at least one echo.

[0276] Please refer to Figure 11, which is a schematic diagram of a target echo provided in this application. As shown in Figure 11, the field of view of the detection device is divided into multiple regions, and the multiple regions receive the returned beam to generate at least one echo. For example, the returned beam received in each region is used to generate one echo. By analyzing at least one echo, the detection device determines that the target echo is the echo corresponding to the region filled with slashes in Figure 11.

[0277] Step 2: The processing unit determines the first polarization filter parameter set based on the target echo.

[0278] The processing unit determines the first polarization filter parameter set based on the target echo, which may include the following steps:

[0279] Step 1: The processing unit determines a first region of the detection device's field of view based on the target echo. The first region is the area where the target echo is received. For example, the processing unit may determine the first region based on spatial parameters of the target echo and / or signal characteristics, etc.

[0280] For example, the processing unit can determine the detection unit corresponding to each echo in the target echo based on the direction or angle of the detection unit and the arrival angle of the returned beam. As another example, the processing unit can match the amplitude of the echo signal with a preset amplitude range to determine the detection unit corresponding to each echo in the target echo. This application does not limit the method by which the processing unit determines the target detection unit corresponding to each echo in the target echo. Furthermore, the region formed by the target detection units corresponding to each echo in the target echo can be called the first region. As shown in Figure 11 above, the target echo includes echoes corresponding to regions 2, 3, 4, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17, 22, 23, or 24. Furthermore, the interference peaks in each echo can prevent the processing unit from identifying the interference peaks. Based on the aforementioned introduction to "multipath interference", it can be assumed that the interference peaks in each echo are caused by multipath interference. That is, the return beam corresponding to the target echo includes a beam with polarization characteristics, and correspondingly, the beam received by the imaging device will also include a beam with polarization characteristics.

[0281] Step 2: The processing unit determines the second region of the first filter unit array based on the first region. The first region and the second region correspond to the target region in the object space.

[0282] The target region can be any area within the field of view of the detection device, and the echo corresponding to the target region includes interference peaks. As shown in the pre-calibration schematic diagram in Figure 6 above, there is a correspondence between the field of view of the detection device, the field of view of the imaging device, and the first filter unit array. Therefore, given the first region, the processing unit can determine the second region of the first filter unit array based on the correspondence between the field of view of the detection device and the first filter unit array. For example, taking the first region as the area filled with slashes as shown in Figure 11, and combining it with the correspondence shown in Figure 6, the processing unit can determine the second region as the area filled with slashes as shown in Figure 12.

[0283] Step 3: The processing unit determines a first polarization filter parameter set based on the second region. The first polarization filter parameter set is used to perform polarization filtering on the beam passing through the second region.

[0284] It is understood that multipath interference beams are typically horizontally polarized or vertically polarized. For example, multipath interference beams caused by a horizontal surface are typically horizontally polarized. Similarly, multipath interference beams caused by a wall are typically vertically polarized. Therefore, when a second region is determined, the processing unit can determine a first set of polarization filtering parameters, which, for example, instructs the second region to filter the beam using either horizontal or vertical polarization filtering.

[0285] Optionally, the second region includes a third region and a fourth region, which do not overlap. The first polarization filter parameter set includes a first polarization filter parameter and a second polarization filter parameter. The first polarization filter parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the third region, and the second polarization filter parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the fourth region. The first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are different. As shown in Figure 14B, the second region is, for example, the region enclosed by the black box, including region 2, region 3, region 4, region 9, region 12, region 13, region 14, region 17, region 22, region 23, and region 24. The third region includes region 2, region 3, region 4, region 9, region 12, region 13, and region 14, and the fourth region includes region 17, region 22, region 23, and region 24. The first filter parameter is, for example, a vertical polarization filter, and the second filter parameter is, for example, a horizontal polarization filter.

[0286] Optionally, the first polarization filter parameters and the second polarization filter parameters are preset, or the first polarization filter parameters and the second polarization filter parameters are determined based on the environment in which the imaging device is located. For details, please refer to the descriptions of "Setting Method 1" and "Setting Method 2" below, which will not be elaborated here.

[0287] The following sections introduce several methods for setting filter parameters in the first polarization filter parameter set, as shown below.

[0288] Method 1: The filtering parameters corresponding to the first filtering unit array can be preset.

[0289] It is understandable that the ground is usually located below the field of view of the imaging device, while the wall is usually located above the field of view. Therefore, the polarization direction corresponding to the area below the first filter unit array can be preset to the horizontal direction, and the polarization direction corresponding to the area above the first filter unit array can be preset to the vertical direction. As shown in Figure 13, the polarization direction of the area filled with horizontal lines in the first filter unit array is preset to the vertical direction, and the polarization direction of the area filled with vertical lines in the first filter unit array is preset to the horizontal direction. After the processing unit determines the second region, it can generate a first set of filtering parameters, so that the second region is polarized filtered with the preset filtering parameters, while the remaining regions are not filtered.

[0290] It should be noted that Figure 13 above is illustrative and does not constitute a limitation on the solution provided in this application.

[0291] In the second setting method, the filtering parameters corresponding to the first filtering unit array are determined based on the current environment.

[0292] Understandably, the imaging device continuously acquires images, and the processing unit can also perform recognition and analysis on the acquired images to identify objects in the images. For example, the processing unit can identify the ground and walls in the image. Furthermore, the processing unit can also determine the field of view corresponding to each object in the image; for example, the processing unit can determine the field of view corresponding to the ground or the field of view corresponding to the wall. As shown in Figure 14A, the processing unit can determine, based on the images acquired by the imaging device, the field of view corresponding to the wall as the area corresponding to the horizontal line in Figure 14A, and the field of view corresponding to the ground as the area corresponding to the vertical line in Figure 14A.

[0293] The processing unit can determine the first polarization filter parameter set by combining the second region, the field of view corresponding to the ground, and the field of view corresponding to the wall.

[0294] For example, taking the second region shown in Figure 12, the field of view corresponding to the ground shown in Figure 14A, and the field of view corresponding to the wall as examples, it can be determined that the first polarization filter parameter set is used to instruct the first polarization filter unit to perform vertical polarization filtering on regions 2, 3, 4, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 17, and horizontal polarization filtering on regions 22, 23 and 24.

[0295] Step 3: The processing unit controls the first filter unit array to perform filtering using the first polarization filter parameter set.

[0296] For example, the processing unit determines the filtering parameters of each filtering unit in the first filtering unit array according to the correspondence between the filtering parameters in the first polarization filtering parameter set and the filtering units in the first filtering unit array, and then controls each filtering unit to perform filtering with the corresponding filtering parameters, thereby achieving the effect of controlling the first filtering unit array to perform filtering with the first polarization filtering parameter set.

[0297] It is understood that the processing unit controls the first filtering unit array to perform filtering with the first polarization filtering parameter set, which can filter out or reduce interfering beams, thereby improving the imaging quality of the imaging device. Furthermore, the solution provided in this application can perform polarization filtering only on regions where multipath interference beams exist, thereby minimizing the impact of polarization filtering on normal imaging.

[0298] As described above, the processing or control method provided in this application has certain requirements on the functionality of the first filter unit array 222. For example, the first filter unit array 222 needs to be able to perform polarization filtering and / or intensity filtering, and the filtering attributes corresponding to the filtering methods are also adjustable. Therefore, this application provides several first filter unit arrays 222 as examples to implement various filtering functions required by the filtering units in the above-mentioned processing or control method. It is understood that the first filter unit array 222 includes multiple filtering units. The first filter unit array 222 will be described exemplarily below with reference to the accompanying drawings, taking a filtering unit as an example.

[0299] The following section, with reference to the accompanying drawings, provides an exemplary description of the filtering unit provided in this application for implementing polarization filtering.

[0300] Please refer to Figure 15A, which is a schematic diagram of a filtering unit provided in this application. The filtering unit shown in Figure 15A is a guest-host effect device, which consists of two transparent electrode layers, a liquid crystal material, and a dichroic dye. For a description of the liquid crystal material, please refer to the aforementioned description of "Liquid Crystal Materials," which will not be repeated here. Similarly, for a description of the dichroic dye, please refer to the aforementioned description of "Dichroic Dyes," which will not be repeated here.

[0301] For example, the rotation angle of the liquid crystal molecules can also be adjusted by controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, along with the adjustment of the rotation angle of the dye molecules, as shown in Figures 15B and 15C. In Figure 15B, the angle between the liquid crystal material and the dichroic dye in the filter unit is rotated 30° clockwise compared to Figure 15A. In Figure 15C, the angle between the liquid crystal material and the dichroic dye in the filter unit is rotated 90° clockwise compared to Figure 15A. Typically, by adjusting the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, the rotation range of the liquid crystal material in the guest-host effect device can be controlled to [0, 90°].

[0302] In one possible implementation, the filtering degree of the filter unit on polarized light can be controlled by adjusting the voltage difference of the block electrode layer.

[0303] For example, the dichroic dye is a normal dichroic dye molecule, that is, the polarized light component parallel to the long axis is absorbed, while the polarized light component perpendicular to the long axis is not absorbed. The long axis and short axis of the dichroic dye can be referred to the description in Figure 16.

[0304] As shown in Figure 15A, the arrows indicate the direction of light beam propagation. Polarized light in all directions is perpendicular to the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules. Therefore, the filter unit shown in Figure 15A does not filter the passing light beam. By controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, the rotation angle of the dichroic dye molecules in the filter unit is adjusted as shown in Figure 15B. It can be seen that the angle between the light propagation direction and the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules is approximately 30°, allowing the filter unit shown in Figure 15B to partially filter the passing perpendicularly polarized light beam. Furthermore, by controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, the rotation angle of the dichroic dye molecules in the filter unit is adjusted as shown in Figure 15C. It can be seen that the angle between the light propagation direction and the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules is 90°. In this case, the filter unit shown in Figure 15B will fully filter the passing perpendicularly polarized light beam. It is understood that Figures 15A, 15B, and 15C can represent different states of the same filter unit. For example, the filter unit shown in Figure 15A represents the initial state. For example, the filter unit shown in Figure 15C is in its initial state.

[0305] For example, the dichroic dye is a negative dichroic dye molecule, that is, the polarized light component perpendicular to the long axis is absorbed, while the polarized light component parallel to the long axis is not absorbed. The long axis and short axis of the dichroic dye can be referred to the description in Figure 16.

[0306] As shown in Figure 15A, the arrows indicate the propagation direction of the light beam. Polarized light in all directions is perpendicular to the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules. Therefore, the filter unit shown in Figure 15A will fully filter the perpendicularly polarized light beam. By controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, the rotation angle of the dichroic dye molecules in the filter unit is shown in Figure 15B. It can be seen that the angle between the light propagation direction and the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules is approximately 30°, so the filter unit shown in Figure 15B will partially filter the perpendicularly polarized light beam. Furthermore, by controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, the rotation angle of the dichroic dye molecules in the filter unit is shown in Figure 15C. It can be seen that the light propagation direction is parallel to the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules. In this case, the filter unit shown in Figure 15B will not filter the passing light beam.

[0307] Based on the above description, it can be seen that the filter units shown in Figures 15A to 15C can filter vertically polarized light beams. If the filter unit is to filter light beams polarized in other directions, it is necessary to control the dichroic dye in the filter unit shown in Figure 15A to rotate around the light transmission direction. For example, if the filter unit is to filter horizontally polarized light beams, and the dichroic dye is a positive dichroic dye molecule, then it is necessary to control the dichroic dye in the filter unit shown in Figure 15C to rotate 90° around the light transmission direction.

[0308] For example, the dichroic dye is a normal dichroic dye molecule, that is, the polarized light component parallel to the long axis is absorbed, while the polarized light component perpendicular to the long axis is not absorbed. The long axis and short axis of the dichroic dye can be referred to the description in Figure 16.

[0309] Please refer to Figures 17A and 17B, where Figure 17A is a front view of the filter unit and Figure 17B is a top view of the filter unit. The arrows indicate the direction of light beam propagation. Polarized light in all directions is perpendicular to the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules in the filter unit. Therefore, the filter units shown in Figures 17A and 17B do not filter the passing light beam. By controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, the dichroic dye molecules in the filter unit are rotated, as shown in Figures 18A (front view) and 18B (top view). It can be seen that the angle between the light propagation direction and the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules is approximately 45°, causing the filter units shown in Figures 18A and 18B to partially filter the horizontally polarized light beam. Furthermore, by controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, the dichroic dye molecules in the filter unit are rotated, as shown in Figures 19A (front view) and 19B (top view). It can be seen that the angle between the light propagation direction and the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules is 90°. In this case, the filter unit shown in Figures 19A and 19B will fully filter the horizontally polarized light beam. It is understood that Figures 17A, 17B, 18A, 18B, 19A, and 19B can represent different states of the same filter unit. For example, the filter unit shown in Figures 17A and 17B is the initial state. As another example, the filter unit shown in Figures 19A and 19B is the initial state.

[0310] For example, the dichroic dye is a negative dichroic dye molecule, that is, the polarized light component perpendicular to the long axis is absorbed, while the polarized light component parallel to the long axis is not absorbed. The long axis and short axis of the dichroic dye can be referred to the description in Figure 16.

[0311] Please refer to Figures 17A and 17B, where Figure 17A is a front view of the filter unit and Figure 17B is a top view of the filter unit. The arrows indicate the direction of light propagation. Polarized light in all directions is perpendicular to the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules. Therefore, the filter units shown in Figures 17A and 17B will fully filter horizontally polarized light beams. By controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, the dichroic dye molecules in the filter unit are rotated, as shown in Figures 18A (front view) and 18B (top view). It can be seen that the angle between the light propagation direction and the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules is approximately 45°, causing the filter units shown in Figures 18A and 18B to partially filter horizontally polarized light beams. Furthermore, by controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, the dichroic dye molecules in the filter unit are rotated, as shown in Figures 19A (front view) and 19B (top view). It can be seen that the light propagation direction is parallel to the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules. In this case, the filter units shown in Figures 19A and 19B will not filter the passing light beam. It is understood that Figures 17A, 17B, 18A, 18B, 19A, and 19B can represent different states of the same filter unit. For example, the filter unit shown in Figures 17A and 17B is the initial state. As another example, the filter unit shown in Figures 19A and 19B is the initial state.

[0312] The filtering units shown in Figures 15A to 15C can filter the vertically polarized beams shown in the figures. The filtering units shown in Figures 17A, 17B, 18A, 18B, 19A, and 19B can filter the horizontally polarized beams shown in the figures. By adjusting the angle at which the dyeing material is placed in the beam transmission direction, or by directly adjusting the angle at which the filtering unit is placed in the beam transmission direction, the filtering unit can achieve the effect of filtering light polarized in other directions. These will not be described in detail here.

[0313] The following section, with reference to the accompanying drawings, provides an exemplary description of the filtering unit provided in this application for implementing intensity filtering.

[0314] Please refer to Figures 20A and 20B, where Figure 20A is a front view of the filtering unit and Figure 20B is a top view of the filtering unit. As can be seen from Figures 20A and 20B, the filtering unit includes four layers of dichroic dyes. The orientation of the four layers of dichroic dyes along the direction of light transmission is shown in Figure 21. Given that the dichroic dyes are positively dichroic dye molecules, it can be known that the filtering units shown in Figures 20A and 20B can simultaneously filter polarized light beams from multiple directions, thereby reducing the overall light intensity of the beam, i.e., achieving the effect of light intensity filtering. Given that the dichroic dyes are negatively dichroic dye molecules, it can be known that the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules in the filtering units shown in Figures 20A and 20B is parallel to the polarized light in each direction. Therefore, the filtering units shown in Figures 20A and 20B do not filter the passing light beam.

[0315] Of course, the filtering intensity can also be conditionally adjusted by controlling the voltage difference between the two electrode layers, causing the dichroic dye molecules in the filtering unit to rotate, as shown in Figures 22A and 22B. Figure 22A is a front view of the filtering unit, and Figure 22B is a top view. Given that the dichroic dye molecules are positively dichroic, it can be known that the long axis of the dichroic dye molecules in the filtering units shown in Figures 22A and 22B is perpendicular to the polarized light in all directions. Therefore, the filtering units shown in Figures 22A and 22B do not filter the passing light. However, because the dichroic dye molecules are positively dichroic, the filtering units in Figures 22A and 22B can simultaneously filter polarized beams in multiple directions, thereby reducing the overall light intensity, i.e., achieving light intensity filtering.

[0316] In Figures 20A, 20B, 22A, and 22B, the dichroic dye molecules are positively dichroic. In another possible implementation, the dichroic dye molecules in Figures 20A, 20B, 22A, and 22B can also be negatively dichroic. It is understood that in this case, the filtering units shown in Figures 22A and 22B do not filter the passing light beam. The long axis of the dichroic dye molecules in the filtering units shown in Figures 22A and 22B is parallel to the polarized light in each direction, enabling simultaneous filtering of polarized light beams in multiple directions, thereby reducing the overall light intensity of the beam, i.e., achieving the effect of light intensity filtering.

[0317] It should be noted that the dichroic dye molecules in Figures 20A, 20B, 22A, and 22B all include four layers. In specific implementations, this application does not limit the number of layers of dichroic dye molecules. For example, the filter unit may include 5, 6, or 7 layers of dichroic dye molecules. It should also be noted that in Figures 20A, 20B, 22A, and 22B, the ellipses with vertical bars represent liquid crystal materials, and the ellipses with horizontal bars represent dichroic dyes.

[0318] The above content introduced the relevant information about the use of the filter unit to implement polarization filtering or intensity filtering. Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, we will provide an exemplary introduction to the use of the filter unit to simultaneously implement polarization filtering and intensity filtering.

[0319] Please refer to Figures 23A and 23B, where Figure 23A is a front view of the filter unit and Figure 23B is a top view of the filter unit. As shown in Figures 23A and 23B, the filter unit comprises two layers, used for intensity filtering and polarization filtering respectively. For details on how intensity filtering and polarization filtering are implemented on both sides of the filter unit, please refer to the aforementioned descriptions; they will not be repeated here. Of course, in the filter units shown in Figures 18A and 23B, the degree of polarization filtering or intensity filtering can also be adjusted by applying a voltage to the transparent electrode layer; for details, please refer to the aforementioned descriptions; they will not be repeated here.

[0320] In one possible implementation, one filter layer in the filter unit shown in Figures 23A and 23B can be controlled to perform polarization filtering or intensity filtering. Alternatively, both filter layers in the filter unit shown in Figures 23A and 23B can be controlled simultaneously for polarization filtering and intensity filtering; this application does not limit the scope of the implementation.

[0321] Please refer to Figures 24A and 24B, where Figure 24A is a front view of the filter unit and Figure 24B is a top view of the filter unit. As shown in Figures 24A and 24B, the filter unit consists of two layers, both used for polarization filtering. For details on how polarization filtering is implemented on both sides of the filter unit, please refer to the aforementioned descriptions; they will not be repeated here. Of course, the degree of polarization filtering in the filter unit shown in Figures 24A and 24B can also be adjusted by applying a voltage to the transparent electrode layer; for details, please refer to the aforementioned descriptions; they will not be repeated here.

[0322] In one possible implementation, any one of the filter layers in the filter units shown in Figures 24A and 24B can be controlled to perform polarization filtering, or both filter layers in the filter units shown in Figures 24A and 24B can be controlled to perform polarization filtering simultaneously; this application does not limit this. It is understood that when two filter layers in the filter unit are controlled to perform polarization filtering simultaneously, the filter units shown in Figures 24A and 24B can be used to achieve the effect of intensity filtering.

[0323] Please refer to Figures 25A and 25B, where Figure 25A is a front view of the filtering unit and Figure 25B is a top view of the filtering unit. As shown in Figures 25A and 25B, the filtering unit comprises three layers, used sequentially for polarization filtering, intensity filtering, and polarization filtering. For details on how intensity filtering and polarization filtering are implemented on both sides of the filtering unit, please refer to the aforementioned descriptions; they will not be repeated here. Of course, in the filtering units shown in Figures 23A and 25B, the degree of polarization filtering or intensity filtering can also be adjusted by applying a voltage to the transparent electrode layer; details can be found in the aforementioned descriptions, which will not be repeated here. Optionally, the two filtering layers in Figures 25A and 25B used for polarization filtering are used to filter beams with different polarization directions. For example, they are used to filter beams in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. Optionally, the two filtering layers in Figures 25A and 25B used for polarization filtering are used to filter beams polarized in orthogonal directions. Of course, this application does not limit which direction of polarized light beams the two filter layers in Figures 25A and 25B are used to filter. It is understood that by setting two filter layers in the filter unit to filter polarized light in different directions, the filtering capability of the filter unit can be improved, thereby meeting a variety of filtering requirements and enabling the imaging device to adapt to various sensing scenarios, thus improving the sensing performance of the imaging device in various scenarios.

[0324] Of course, when the filtering unit includes a polarization filter layer and an intensity filter layer, the order of the polarization filter layer and the intensity filter layer is not limited in this application. For example, when the filtering unit includes two polarization filter layers, the two polarization filter layers can be located on both sides of the intensity filter layer, as shown in Figures 25A and 25B. The two polarization filter layers can also be adjacent (not shown in the figures).

[0325] Figures 15A to 15C illustrate a filtering unit for polarization filtering. Figures 17A, 17B, 18A, 18B, 19A, and 19B illustrate another filtering unit for polarization filtering. Figures 20A, 20B, 22A, and 22B illustrate a filtering unit for intensity filtering. Figures 23A and 23B illustrate a filtering unit capable of simultaneously performing polarization and intensity filtering. Figures 24A and 24B illustrate a filtering unit comprising two polarization filtering layers, while Figures 25A and 25B illustrate a filtering unit comprising two polarization filtering layers and one intensity filtering layer. All of the filtering units shown above can be used in the processing method shown in Figure 4 or the control method shown in Figure 10.

[0326] The imaging method provided in this application will now be described exemplarily in conjunction with the first filter unit array 222 described above.

[0327] Please refer to Figure 26, which is a flowchart illustrating an imaging method provided in an embodiment of this application. The imaging method shown in Figure 26 may include one or more steps S2601 to S2602. For example, some solutions may only include steps S2601 and S2602. It should be understood that, for ease of description, the description uses the order of steps S2601 to S2602, and is not intended to limit the execution to this order. This application embodiment does not limit the order of execution, the execution time, or the number of executions of the above one or more steps. Steps S2601 to S2602 are as follows:

[0328] S2601, The imaging device acquires at least two frames of images.

[0329] The imaging device is, for example, the imaging device 220 shown in Figure 2 above. A detailed description of Figure 2 is available and will not be repeated here. At least two frames of images, including a first image and a second image, are used to determine the interference peaks in the first echo received by the detection device. The detection device is, for example, the detection device 210 shown in Figure 2 above. A detailed description of Figure 2 is available and will not be repeated here. The first echo can be referred to in the description of Figure 4 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0330] The first image described above is an image obtained by filtering a light beam using a first set of filtering parameters from a first filter unit array. The first set of filtering parameters indicates that the light beam before and after passing through the first filter unit array has the same polarization state. The second image described above is an image obtained by filtering a light beam using a second set of filtering parameters from a first filter unit array. The second set of filtering parameters indicates that the light beam before and after passing through the first filter unit array has different polarization states. The first set of filtering parameters indicating that the light beam before and after passing through the first filter unit array has the same polarization state can be understood as indicating that the first filter unit array does not filter the passing light beam, or that the first set of filtering parameters performs intensity filtering on the passing light beam. The second set of filtering parameters indicating that the light beam before and after passing through the first filter unit array has different polarization states can be understood as the second set of filtering parameters being used by the first filter unit array to perform polarization filtering on the passing light beam.

[0331] Optionally, the polarization directions indicated by the filter parameters in the second filter parameter set are the same, such as the horizontal or vertical direction, etc., and this application does not limit this.

[0332] Optionally, the polarization filters shown in the second set of filtering parameters have the same attenuation degree on the beam. For example, the polarization filters attenuate the beam by 30%, 50%, or 100%, etc. This application does not limit this.

[0333] The timing of the detection device receiving the first echo and the imaging device acquiring at least two frames of images will be described in detail below.

[0334] Case 1: The first time T1 and the second time T2 satisfy the following relationship: T1 ≤ T2, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the second time is the start time when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images. The third time T3 and the fourth time T4 satisfy the following relationship: T3 ≤ T4, where the third time is the end time when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images, and the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo. For a detailed explanation, please refer to Figure 7A or Figure 7B above; it will not be repeated here.

[0335] Scenario 2: The imaging device is used to acquire unpolarized filtered images from the first time T1 to the fifth time T5. The first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the fifth time is the start time when the imaging device acquires the second image. The fourth time T4 and the fifth time T5 satisfy the following relationship: T4 ≤ T5, where the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo. For details, please refer to the description in Figure 7C above, which will not be repeated here.

[0336] Optionally, the first duration L1 of the detection device receiving the first echo and the second duration L2 of the imaging device acquiring at least two frames of images satisfy the following relationship: L1 ≥ N * L2, where N is an integer greater than 0, for example, N is 1, 2, or 3. By setting the first duration to N times the second duration, it can be ensured that the first duration and the second duration are integers, which facilitates the processing unit in aligning the data output by the imaging device and the detection device, thereby improving processing efficiency and the accuracy of the generated results.

[0337] In one possible implementation, the first filtering unit array includes a first filtering unit, and the first filtering unit includes a first filtering layer. The first filtering unit is used to filter the beam with first filtering parameters, which belong to a first set of filtering parameters. The first filtering layer is used to filter the beam with second filtering parameters, which include second filtering parameters, and the second filtering parameters include a second filtering method and a second filtering attribute corresponding to the second filtering method. The second filtering attribute is adjustable.

[0338] For example, the first filtering unit may be the filtering unit shown in Figures 15A to 15C, or the filtering unit shown in Figures 17A, 17B, 18A, 18B, 19A, and 19B, or the filtering unit shown in Figures 20A, 20B, 22A, and 22B, or the filtering unit shown in Figures 23A and 23B, 24A and 24B, or 25A and 25B. The first filtering layer may be any one of the filtering layers in the first filtering unit, and this application does not limit this. The second filtering method includes polarization filtering and / or intensity filtering. When the second filtering method includes polarization filtering, the filtering attributes corresponding to the second filtering method include the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation by the polarization filtering in that polarization direction. When the second filtering method includes intensity filtering, the filtering attributes corresponding to the second filtering method include the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering.

[0339] Optionally, the second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction. Alternatively, the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering. Specifically, polarization filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and intensity filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

[0340] For example, the second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the second filtering attribute is that the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering is the horizontal direction, and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction is 100%.

[0341] For example, the second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the second filtering attribute is that the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering is the vertical direction, and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction is 100%.

[0342] For example, the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the second filtering attribute is that the intensity filtering attenuates light intensity by 100%.

[0343] For example, the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the second filtering attribute is that the intensity filtering attenuates the light intensity by 50%.

[0344] In another possible implementation, the first filtering unit further includes a second filtering layer for filtering the beam with a third filtering parameter. For example, the first filtering unit is the filtering unit shown in Figures 23A, 23B, 24A, 24B, 25A, or 25B. Taking the filtering unit shown in Figure 23A as an example, the first filtering layer can be an intensity filtering layer, and the second filtering layer can be a polarization filtering layer.

[0345] The third filtering parameters include a third filtering method and a corresponding third filtering attribute, which is adjustable. For example, the third filtering method is polarization filtering, and the third filtering attribute indicates the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filter and the degree of light intensity attenuation in that direction. Alternatively, the third filtering method is intensity filtering, and the third filtering attribute indicates the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filter. For instance, the second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the second filtering attribute indicates that the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filter is horizontal, and the degree of light intensity attenuation in that direction is 100%. Another example: the second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the second filtering attribute indicates that the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filter is vertical, and the degree of light intensity attenuation in that direction is 100%. Yet another example: the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the second filtering attribute indicates that the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filter is 100%. And yet another example: the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the second filtering attribute indicates that the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filter is 50%.

[0346] The second filtering method differs from the third filtering method, and / or the second filtering attributes differ from the third filtering attributes. The first filtering parameters include the third filtering parameters.

[0347] For example, the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the third filtering method is polarization filtering.

[0348] For example, both the second and third filtering methods are intensity filtering. The second filtering attribute indicates that the intensity filtering attenuates the light intensity by 50%, and the second filtering attribute indicates that the intensity filtering attenuates the light intensity by 80%.

[0349] For example, both the second and third filtering methods are polarization filtering. The second filtering attribute indicates that the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering is horizontal, and the third filtering attribute indicates that the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering is vertical.

[0350] For example, both the second and third filtering methods are polarization filtering. The second and third filtering attributes indicate that the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering is the same (e.g., horizontal or vertical direction). The second filtering attribute indicates that the polarization filtering attenuates the light intensity by 50%, and the third filtering attribute indicates that the polarization filtering attenuates the light intensity by 100%.

[0351] Optionally, the third filtering method is polarization filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction. Alternatively, the third filtering method is intensity filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering. Specifically, polarization filtering attenuates the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and intensity filtering attenuates the light intensity of the beam.

[0352] For example, the third filtering method is polarization filtering, and the third filtering attribute is that the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering is the horizontal direction, and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction is 100%.

[0353] For example, the third filtering method is polarization filtering, the third filtering attribute is that the polarization direction corresponding to polarization filtering is vertical, and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction is 100%.

[0354] For example, the third filtering method is intensity filtering, and the third filtering attribute is that the intensity filtering attenuates light intensity by 100%.

[0355] For example, the third filtering method is intensity filtering, and the third filtering attribute is that the intensity filtering attenuates the light intensity by 50%.

[0356] Among them, polarization filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, while intensity filtering is used to attenuate the overall light intensity of the beam.

[0357] In another possible implementation, the first filtering unit further includes a third filtering layer, which is used to filter the beam with a fourth filtering parameter. The fourth filtering parameter includes a fourth filtering mode and a corresponding fourth filtering attribute, and the fourth filtering attribute is adjustable. The first filtering parameter includes the fourth filtering parameter. For a description of the fourth filtering parameter, please refer to the description of the second or third filtering parameter described above; it will not be repeated here. For example, the first filtering unit is the filtering unit shown in Figures 25A and 25B.

[0358] The second and fourth filtering methods are both polarization filtering, but the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method is different from that corresponding to the fourth filtering method. The third filtering method is intensity filtering. For example, taking Figure 25A as an example, the first and third filtering layers are the polarization filtering layers shown in Figure 25A, and the second filtering layer is the intensity filtering layer shown in Figure 25A.

[0359] Optionally, both the second and fourth filtering methods are polarization filtering, with the polarization directions of the second and fourth filtering methods being orthogonal. For example, the polarization direction of the second filtering method is horizontal, while the polarization direction of the fourth filtering method is vertical. This orthogonality ensures that the first filtering unit array can filter light of arbitrary polarization, thus meeting the filtering requirements of various scenarios.

[0360] Optionally, the aforementioned filtering unit includes one or more of the following: guest-host effect liquid crystal GHLC, metasurface, suspended particle device (SPD), polymer dispersed liquid crystal PDLC, polymer network liquid crystal PNLC, photochromic device, or electrochromic device. Correspondingly, the first filtering unit array also includes one or more of the following: guest-host effect liquid crystal GHLC, metasurface, suspended particle device (SPD), polymer dispersed liquid crystal PDLC, polymer network liquid crystal PNLC, photochromic device, or electrochromic device.

[0361] S2602, The imaging device sends at least two frames of images.

[0362] For example, the imaging device sends the two captured images to the processing unit, either to allow the processing unit to identify interference peaks in the first echo, or to allow the processing unit to generate image data.

[0363] In summary, the solution provided in this application utilizes an adjustable polarization camera to acquire ordinary images and polarization-filtered images to identify specific scenes, and feeds back to the detection device for multi-echo filtering, thereby improving the detection performance of the detection device. It can also determine a first set of filtering parameters based on the first echo, thereby improving the imaging quality of the imaging device. Furthermore, the filtering unit in this application is based on electrical signal control, has no mechanical moving parts, and features long lifespan and fast response speed. Each filtering unit in the filtering unit array can have its filtering parameters set independently, achieving independent control of multiple regions without affecting areas that do not require filtering, and avoiding the problem of insufficient overall light intake. The filtering unit can be designed as a single-layer or multi-layer structure, thereby achieving rich filtering functions, wide application scenarios, and strong scalability. The image acquisition rate of the imaging device is more than twice that of the point cloud data acquisition rate of the detection device, ensuring that while the detection device is acquiring one frame of point cloud data, the imaging device can acquire at least two frames of images (including ordinary images and polarization-filtered images).

[0364] The processing method provided by the embodiments of this application has been described in detail above with reference to Figures 4, 8, and 9. The processing apparatus provided by the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to Figure 27. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments. Therefore, any content not described in detail can be found in the description of the method embodiments above.

[0365] Figure 27 is a schematic block diagram of a processing device provided in an embodiment of this application, used to implement the processing methods shown in Figures 4, 8, or 9 above. For example, the processing device 2700 can be a software unit or a chip system. The chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. The processing device 2700 includes an acquisition unit 2701, which can also be called a communication interface, a transceiver unit, an input / output interface, etc. The acquisition unit 2701 is used to acquire the first echo received by the detection device, and the acquisition unit 2701 is also used to acquire at least two frames of images acquired by the imaging device. The processing device 2700 may also include a processing unit 2702, which is used to determine the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two frames of images.

[0366] In one possible implementation, the image brightness of the at least two frames is different. Specifically, processing unit 2702 is used to determine that the first echo contains multipath interference echoes, and the first peak of the first echo is a valid echo.

[0367] In another possible implementation, if it is determined that the first echo includes interfering echoes, the processing unit 2702 is specifically configured to determine the interfering echoes in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two image frames. It should be noted that the processing unit 2702's determination of the interfering echoes in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two image frames can be understood as identifying the interfering echoes in the first echo based on the first echo and at least two image frames.

[0368] In another possible implementation, the first time T1 and the second time T2 satisfy the following relationship: T1 ≤ T2, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the second time is the start time when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images. The third time T3 and the fourth time T4 satisfy the following relationship: T3 ≤ T4, where the third time is the end time when the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two images, and the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0369] In another possible implementation, the imaging device is used to acquire unpolarized filtered images from the first time T1 to the fifth time T5, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the fifth time is the start time when the imaging device acquires the second image. The fourth time T4 and the fifth time T5 satisfy the following relationship: T4 ≤ T5, where the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0370] In another possible implementation, the first duration L1 of the detection device receiving the first echo and the second duration L2 of the imaging device acquiring any frame from at least two frames satisfy the following relationship: L1 ≥ N * L2, where N is an integer greater than 0, for example, N is 1, 2, or 3. By setting the first duration to N times the second duration, the integer relationship between the first and second durations can be ensured, facilitating the processing unit to align the data output by the imaging and detection devices, thereby improving processing efficiency and the accuracy of the generated results.

[0371] The control method provided by the embodiments of this application has been described in detail above with reference to FIG. 10. The control device provided by the embodiments of this application is described in detail below with reference to FIG. 28. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments. Therefore, for contents not described in detail, please refer to the description in the method embodiments above.

[0372] Figure 28 is a schematic block diagram of a control device provided in an embodiment of this application, used to implement the control method shown in Figure 10 above. For example, the control device 2800 can be a software unit or a chip system. The chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. The control device 2800 includes an acquisition unit 2801, which can also be called a communication interface, transceiver unit, input / output interface, etc. The acquisition unit 2801 is used to acquire at least one echo received by the detection device. The control device 2800 may also include a processing unit 2802, which is used to control the first filtering unit array in the imaging device to perform filtering with a first polarization filtering parameter set based on at least one echo.

[0373] In one possible implementation, processing unit 2802 is specifically configured to determine a target echo that includes interfering echoes among at least one echo, based on at least one echo. Processing unit 2802 is specifically configured to determine a first polarization filtering parameter set based on the target echo. Processing unit 2802 is specifically configured to control a first filtering unit array to perform filtering with the first filtering parameter set.

[0374] In another possible implementation, processing unit 2802 is specifically used to determine a first region of the field of view of the detection device based on the target echo, the first region being the region receiving the target echo. Processing unit 2802 is specifically used to determine a second region of the first filter unit array based on the first region, the first region and the second region corresponding to the target region in the object space. Processing unit 2802 is specifically used to determine a first polarization filter parameter set based on the second region, the first polarization filter parameter set being used to polarize filter the light beam passing through the second region.

[0375] In another possible implementation, the second region includes a third region and a fourth region, which do not overlap. The first polarization filter parameter set includes a first polarization filter parameter and a second polarization filter parameter. The first polarization filter parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the third region, and the second polarization filter parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the fourth region. The first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are different.

[0376] In another possible implementation, the first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are preset, or the first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are determined based on the environment in which the imaging device is located.

[0377] The control method provided by the embodiments of this application has been described in detail above with reference to FIG. 10. The control device provided by the embodiments of this application is described in detail below with reference to FIG. 28. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments. Therefore, for contents not described in detail, please refer to the description in the method embodiments above.

[0378] Figure 29 is a schematic block diagram of an imaging device provided in an embodiment of this application, used to implement the imaging method shown in Figure 10 above. For example, the imaging device 2900 can be a software unit or a chip system. The chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. The imaging device 2900 includes an acquisition unit 2901, which can also be referred to as a communication interface, a transceiver unit, an input / output interface, etc. The acquisition unit 2901 is used to acquire at least two frames of images, including a first image and a second image. The imaging device 2900 may also include a processing unit 2902, which is used to process the at least two frames of images.

[0379] In one possible implementation, processing unit 2902 is specifically configured to determine, based on at least one echo, a target echo that includes interfering echoes among at least one echo. Processing unit 2902 is specifically configured to determine a first polarization filtering parameter set based on the target echo. Processing unit 2902 is specifically configured to control a first filtering unit array to perform filtering with the first filtering parameter set. At least two frames are used to determine interfering echoes in the first echo received by the detection device. The first image is an image obtained by filtering the beam with the first filtering unit array using the first filtering parameter set; the first filtering parameter set is used to indicate that the polarization state of the beam before and after passing through the first filtering unit array is the same; the second image is an image obtained by filtering the beam with the first filtering unit array using a second filtering parameter set; the second filtering parameter set is used to indicate that the polarization state of the beam before and after passing through the first filtering unit array is different.

[0380] In one possible implementation, the first time T1 and the second time T2 satisfy the following relationship: T1 ≤ T2, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the second time is the start time when the imaging device acquires any frame of at least two images. The third time T3 and the fourth time T4 satisfy the following relationship: T3 ≤ T4, where the third time is the end time when the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two images, and the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0381] In another possible implementation, the imaging device is used to acquire unpolarized filtered images from the first time T1 to the fifth time T5, where the first time is the start time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the fifth time is the start time when the imaging device acquires the second image. The fourth time T4 and the fifth time T5 satisfy the following relationship: T4 ≤ T5, where the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

[0382] In another possible implementation, the first duration L1 of the detection device receiving the first echo and the second duration L2 of the imaging device acquiring any frame from at least two frames satisfy the following relationship: L1 ≥ N * L2, where N is an integer greater than 0, for example, N is 1, 2, or 3. By setting the first duration to N times the second duration, the integer relationship between the first and second durations can be ensured, facilitating the processing unit to align the data output by the imaging and detection devices, thereby improving processing efficiency and the accuracy of the generated results.

[0383] In another possible implementation, the first filter unit array includes a first filter unit, and the first filter unit includes a first filter layer. The first filter unit is used to filter the beam with first filter parameters, which belong to the first filter parameter set. The first filter layer is used to filter the beam with second filter parameters, which include second filter parameters, and the second filter parameters include a second filtering method and a second filtering attribute corresponding to the second filtering method. The second filtering attribute is adjustable.

[0384] In another possible implementation, the second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction. Alternatively, the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering. Here, polarization filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and intensity filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

[0385] In another possible implementation, the first filtering unit further includes a second filtering layer for filtering the beam with third filtering parameters. The third filtering parameters include a third filtering mode and a corresponding third filtering attribute, which is adjustable. The second filtering mode differs from the third filtering mode, and / or the second filtering attribute differs from the third filtering attribute. The first filtering parameters include the third filtering parameters.

[0386] In another possible implementation, the third filtering method is polarization filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation in the polarization direction. Alternatively, the third filtering method is intensity filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering. Here, polarization filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and intensity filtering is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

[0387] In another possible implementation, the first filtering unit further includes a third filtering layer, which is used to filter the beam with fourth filtering parameters. The fourth filtering parameters include a fourth filtering method and a corresponding fourth filtering attribute, which is adjustable. The first filtering parameters include the fourth filtering parameters. Both the second and fourth filtering methods are polarization filtering, but the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method is different from that corresponding to the fourth filtering method. The third filtering method is intensity filtering.

[0388] In another possible implementation, both the second and fourth filtering methods are polarization filters, with the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method being orthogonal to the polarization direction corresponding to the fourth filtering method.

[0389] In another possible implementation, the aforementioned filtering unit includes one or more of the following: guest-host effect liquid crystal (GHLC), metasurface, suspended particle device (SPD), polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), polymer-networked liquid crystal (PNLC), photochromic device, or electrochromic device. Correspondingly, the first filtering unit array also includes one or more of the following: guest-host effect liquid crystal (GHLC), metasurface, suspended particle device (SPD), polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), polymer-networked liquid crystal (PNLC), photochromic device, or electrochromic device.

[0390] Figure 30 is a schematic block diagram of another processing device provided in an embodiment of this application. The processing device 3000 shown in Figure 30 can be a hardware circuit implementation of the device shown in Figure 27. The processing device 3000 is used to implement the processing methods shown in Figures 4, 8, or 9. For ease of explanation, Figure 30 only shows the main components of the processing device.

[0391] The processing device 3000 shown in Figure 30 includes at least one processor 3001. The processing device 3000 may also include at least one memory 3002 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 3002 and the processor 3001 are coupled. The coupling in this embodiment is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, and can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 3001 can operate collaboratively with the memory 3002, and the processor 3001 can execute program instructions stored in the memory 3002. At least one of the at least one memory 3002 may be included in the processor 3001.

[0392] The processing device 3000 may further include a communication interface 3003 for communicating with other devices via a transmission medium, thereby enabling the processing device 3000 to communicate with other devices. In this embodiment, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface. In this embodiment, when the communication interface is a transceiver, the transceiver may include an independent receiver, an independent transmitter, or a transceiver integrating transceiver functions, or an interface circuit.

[0393] It should be understood that the connection medium between the processor 3001, memory 3002, and communication interface 3003 described above is not limited in the embodiments of this application. In the embodiments of this application, the processor 3001, memory 3002, and communication interface 3003 are connected via a communication bus 3004 in FIG30. The bus is represented by a thick line in FIG30. The connection methods between other components are only illustrative and are not intended to be limiting. The bus may include an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in FIG30, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus. For the operations performed by the processor 3001, please refer to the operations performed by the processing unit 2702 in FIG27, which will not be repeated here. For the operations performed by the communication interface 3003, please refer to the operations performed by the acquisition unit 2701 in FIG27, which will not be repeated here.

[0394] Figure 31 is a schematic block diagram of another control device provided in an embodiment of this application. The control device 3100 shown in Figure 31 can be a hardware circuit implementation of the device shown in Figure 27. The control device 3100 is used to implement the control method shown in Figure 10. For ease of explanation, Figure 31 only shows the main components of the control device.

[0395] The control device 3100 shown in Figure 31 includes at least one processor 3101. The control device 3100 may also include at least one memory 3102 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 3102 and the processor 3101 are coupled. The coupling in this embodiment is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 3101 can operate collaboratively with the memory 3102, and the processor 3101 can execute program instructions stored in the memory 3102. At least one of the at least one memory 3102 may be included in the processor 3101.

[0396] The control device 3100 may further include a communication interface 3103 for communicating with other devices via a transmission medium, thereby enabling the control device 3100 to communicate with other devices. In this embodiment, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface. In this embodiment, when the communication interface is a transceiver, the transceiver may include an independent receiver, an independent transmitter, or a transceiver with integrated transceiver functions, or an interface circuit.

[0397] It should be understood that the connection medium between the processor 3101, memory 3102, and communication interface 3103 described above is not limited in the embodiments of this application. In the embodiments of this application, the processor 3101, memory 3102, and communication interface 3103 are connected via a communication bus 3104 in FIG31. The bus is represented by a thick line in FIG31. The connection methods between other components are only illustrative and are not intended to be limiting. The bus may include an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in FIG31, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus. For the operations performed by the processor 3101, please refer to the operations performed by the processing unit 2802 in FIG28, which will not be repeated here. For the operations performed by the communication interface 3103, please refer to the operations performed by the acquisition unit 2801 in FIG28, which will not be repeated here.

[0398] Figure 32 is a schematic block diagram of another imaging device provided in an embodiment of this application. The imaging device 3200 shown in Figure 32 can be a hardware circuit implementation of the device shown in Figure 27. The imaging device 3200 is used to implement the imaging method shown in Figure 10 above. For ease of explanation, Figure 32 only shows the main components of the imaging device.

[0399] The imaging apparatus 3200 shown in Figure 32 includes at least one processor 3201. The imaging apparatus 3200 may also include at least one memory 3202 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 3202 and the processor 3201 are coupled. The coupling in this embodiment is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, and can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 3201 can operate collaboratively with the memory 3202, and the processor 3201 can execute program instructions stored in the memory 3202. At least one of the at least one memory 3202 may be included in the processor 3201.

[0400] The imaging device 3200 may further include a communication interface 3203 for communicating with other devices via a transmission medium, thereby enabling the imaging device 3200 to communicate with other devices. In this embodiment, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface. In this embodiment, when the communication interface is a transceiver, the transceiver may include an independent receiver, an independent transmitter, or a transceiver integrating transceiver functions, or an interface circuit.

[0401] It should be understood that the connection medium between the processor 3201, memory 3202, and communication interface 3203 described above is not limited in the embodiments of this application. In the embodiments of this application, the processor 3201, memory 3202, and communication interface 3203 are connected via a communication bus 3204 in Figure 32. The bus is represented by a thick line in Figure 32. The connection methods between other components are only illustrative and are not intended to be limiting. The bus may include an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in Figure 32, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus. The operations performed by the processor 3201 can be referred to the operations performed by the processing unit 2902 in Figure 29, and will not be repeated here. The operations performed by the communication interface 3203 can be referred to the operations performed by the acquisition unit 2901 in Figure 29, and will not be repeated here.

[0402] A sensor device includes a module or unit for performing the method described in any one of FIG4, FIG8 or FIG9, or a module or unit for performing the method described in any one of FIG10, or a module or unit for performing the method described in any one of FIG26.

[0403] A sensor device includes the processing device shown in FIG27 or FIG30, or the control device shown in FIG28 or FIG31, or the imaging device shown in FIG29 or FIG32.

[0404] A chip includes: a processor coupled to a memory for storing programs or instructions, wherein when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the device performs a method of the flow shown in any one of Figures 4, 8, 9, 10 or 26 above.

[0405] In this application embodiment, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field-programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware component, capable of implementing or executing the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in this application embodiment. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly manifested as being executed by a hardware processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules within the processor.

[0406] In the embodiments of this application, the memory can be non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), or it can be volatile memory, such as random-access memory (RAM). Memory is any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures, and accessible by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiments of this application can also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing storage functions, used to store program instructions and / or data.

[0407] This application also provides another control device, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to execute the computer program, causing the device to execute the processing method obtained by FIG4, FIG8 or FIG9 and combinations thereof, or to execute the control method obtained by FIG10 and combinations thereof, or to execute the imaging method obtained by FIG10 and combinations thereof.

[0408] This application also provides a vehicle, which includes the aforementioned control device. In this application, a vehicle refers to equipment including a power unit and a traction unit. Exemplarily, a vehicle can be a means of transportation (such as commercial vehicles, passenger cars, motorcycles, flying cars, trams, trains, etc.), an industrial vehicle (such as forklifts, trailers, tractors, etc.), an engineering vehicle (such as excavators, bulldozers, cranes, etc.), or agricultural equipment (such as lawnmowers, harvesters, etc.). A vehicle can also refer to a robot (automated guided vehicle, AGV, walking conversational robot, service robot, etc.), industrial equipment (industrial robots, robotic arms, etc.), or leisure and entertainment equipment (virtual reality (VR) equipment, mixed reality (MR) equipment, or 4D cinema cabins, etc.).

[0409] It should be noted that the vehicle can be set to either a fully autonomous driving mode or a partially autonomous driving mode. In fully autonomous driving mode, the vehicle can perform operations without human interaction, including but not limited to acceleration, deceleration, and following. In partially autonomous driving mode, the vehicle can not only perform these operations automatically, but also be controlled by the driver. For example, the driver might determine the vehicle and its surrounding environment, identify the possible behaviors of at least one other vehicle in the environment, determine the confidence level corresponding to the probability of that other vehicle performing its possible behavior, and then control the vehicle based on the determined information.

[0410] This application provides a computer program that, when executed by a processor, performs the processing method obtained by FIG4, FIG8, or FIG9 and combinations thereof, or performs the control method obtained by FIG10 and combinations thereof, or performs the imaging method obtained by FIG10 and combinations thereof.

[0411] This application provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions); when the computer program is run, it causes the computer to execute the processing method obtained by FIG4, FIG8 or FIG9 and combinations thereof, or to execute the control method obtained by FIG10 and combinations thereof, or to execute the imaging method obtained by FIG10 and combinations thereof.

[0412] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, implement the processing method obtained by FIG4, FIG8, or FIG9 and combinations thereof, or execute the control method obtained by FIG10 and combinations thereof, or execute the imaging method obtained by FIG10 and combinations thereof.

[0413] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps of the above embodiments can be implemented by hardware or by a program instructing related hardware. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a read-only memory, a disk, or an optical disk.

Claims

1. A processing method, characterized in that, The method includes: Acquire the first echo received by the detection device; Acquire at least two frames of images captured by the imaging device, the at least two frames of images including a first image and a second image, the first image being a non-polarized filtered image and the second image being a polarized filtered image; Based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images, interference echoes in the first echo are determined.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of determining the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images includes: The image brightness of at least two frames is different, which determines that the first echo contains multipath interference echo; The first peak of the first echo is the valid echo.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The step of determining the interference echo in the first echo based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images includes: If it is determined that the first echo includes interfering echoes, the interfering echoes in the first echo are determined based on the first echo and the at least two frames of images.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The first time T1 and the second time T2 satisfy the following relationship: T1≤T2, where the first time is the starting time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the second time is the starting time when the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two frames of images. The third time T3 and the fourth time T4 satisfy the following relationship: T3≤T4, where the third time is the end time when the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two frames of images, and the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

5. The method according to claims 1-3, characterized in that, The imaging device is used to acquire non-polarized filtered images from the first time T1 to the fifth time T5. The first time is the starting time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the fifth time is the starting time when the imaging device acquires the second image. The fourth time T4 and the fifth time T5 satisfy the following relationship: T4≤T5, where the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The first duration L1 and the second duration L2 satisfy the following relationship: L1≥N*L2, where N is an integer greater than 0; where L1 is the duration for which the detection device receives the first echo, and L2 is the duration for which the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two frames of images.

7. A control method, characterized in that, The method includes: Acquire at least one echo received by the detection device; Filtering is performed using a first polarization filtering parameter set based on the first filtering unit array in the at least one echo-controlled imaging device.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The filtering based on the first filter unit array in the at least one echo-controlled imaging device using a first polarization filter parameter set includes: Based on the at least one echo, determine the target echo that includes interfering echoes in the at least one echo; Based on the target echo, determine the first polarization filter parameter set; The first filter unit array is controlled to perform filtering using the first set of filter parameters.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, Determining the first polarization filter parameter set based on the target echo includes: Based on the target echo, a first region of the field of view of the detection device is determined, wherein the first region is the region that receives the target echo; A second region of the first filter unit array is determined based on the first region, and the first region and the second region correspond to the target region in the object space; Based on the second region, a first polarization filtering parameter set is determined, which is used to perform polarization filtering on the beam passing through the second region.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The second region includes a third region and a fourth region, wherein the third region and the fourth region do not overlap. The first polarization filtering parameter set includes a first polarization filtering parameter and a second polarization filtering parameter. The first polarization filtering parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the third region, and the second polarization filtering parameter is used to filter the beam passing through the fourth region. The first polarization filtering parameter is different from the second polarization filtering parameter.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are preset, or the first polarization filter parameter and the second polarization filter parameter are determined based on the environment in which the imaging device is located.

12. An imaging method applied to an imaging device, characterized in that, The imaging device includes a first filter unit array; the method includes: The imaging device acquires at least two frames of images, including a first image and a second image; the at least two images are used to determine interference echoes in the first echo received by the detection device. Wherein, the first image is an image obtained by filtering the light beam with the first filtering unit array using the first filtering parameter set; the first filtering parameter set is used to indicate that the polarization state of the light beam before and after passing through the first filtering unit array is the same; the second image is an image obtained by filtering the light beam with the first filtering unit array using the second filtering parameter set; the second filtering parameter set is used to indicate that the polarization state of the light beam before and after passing through the first filtering unit array is different.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The first time T1 and the second time T2 satisfy the following relationship: T1≤T2, where the first time is the starting time when the detection device receives the first echo, and the second time is the starting time when the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two frames of images. The third time T3 and the fourth time T4 satisfy the following relationship: T3≤T4, where the third time is the end time when the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two frames of images, and the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

14. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The imaging device acquires at least two frames of images, including: The imaging device acquires unpolarized filtered images between a first time T1 and a fifth time T5, wherein the first image is an unpolarized filtered image acquired by the imaging device between the first time and the fifth time; wherein the first time is the starting time at which the detection device receives the first echo, and the fifth time is the starting time at which the imaging device acquires the second image; The fourth time T4 and the fifth time T5 satisfy the following relationship: T4≤T5, where the fourth time is the end time when the detection device receives the first echo.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, The first duration L1 and the second duration L2 satisfy the following relationship: L1≥N*L2, where N is an integer greater than 0; where L1 is the duration for which the detection device receives the first echo, and L2 is the duration for which the imaging device acquires any frame of the at least two frames of images.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12-15, characterized in that, The first filter unit array includes a first filter unit, and the first filter unit includes a first filter layer; The first filtering unit is used to filter the beam with first filtering parameters, wherein the first filtering parameters belong to the first filtering parameter set; The first filtering layer is used to filter the beam with the second filtering parameters, the first filtering parameters including the second filtering parameters; the second filtering parameters include a second filtering mode and a second filtering attribute corresponding to the second filtering mode, the second filtering attribute being adjustable.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The second filtering method is polarization filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation of the polarization filtering in the polarization direction; or, the second filtering method is intensity filtering, and the second filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation of the intensity filtering. The polarization filter is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and the intensity filter is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that, The first filtering unit further includes a second filtering layer, which is used to filter the beam with a third filtering parameter. The third filtering parameter includes a third filtering mode and a third filtering attribute corresponding to the third filtering mode. The third filtering attribute is adjustable. The second filtering mode is different from the third filtering mode, and / or the second filtering attribute is different from the third filtering attribute. The first filtering parameter includes the third filtering parameter.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The third filtering method is polarization filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filtering and the degree of light intensity attenuation by the polarization filtering in the polarization direction; or, the third filtering method is intensity filtering, and the third filtering attribute is used to indicate the degree of light intensity attenuation by the intensity filtering. The polarization filter is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction, and the intensity filter is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that, The first filtering unit further includes a third filtering layer, which is used to filter the beam with a fourth filtering parameter. The fourth filtering parameter includes a fourth filtering mode and a fourth filtering attribute corresponding to the fourth filtering mode. The fourth filtering attribute is adjustable. The first filtering parameter includes the fourth filtering parameter. Both the second and fourth filtering methods are polarization filtering, but the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method is different from that corresponding to the fourth filtering method. The third filtering method is intensity filtering. The polarization filter is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam in the polarization direction corresponding to the polarization filter, and the intensity filter is used to attenuate the light intensity of the beam.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, Both the second filtering method and the fourth filtering method are polarization filtering methods, and the polarization direction corresponding to the second filtering method is orthogonal to the polarization direction corresponding to the fourth filtering method.

22. The method according to any one of claims 12-21, characterized in that, The first filter unit array includes guest-host type liquid crystal GHLC, metasurface, suspended particle device (SPD), polymer dispersed liquid crystal PDLC, polymer network liquid crystal PNLC, photochromic device, or electrochromic device, or one or more of these.

23. A sensor device, characterized in that, It includes modules or units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, or modules or units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 11, or modules or units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 22.

24. A sensor device, characterized in that, include: processor; When the processor invokes a computer program or instruction in memory, it causes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6 to be executed, or causes the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 11 to be executed, or causes the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 22 to be executed.

25. A sensor system, characterized in that, Includes one or more of the following: processing device, imaging device, and detection device; The processing device is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-6, or the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 11; the imaging device is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 22; and the detection device is used to receive the echo.

26. A vehicle end, characterized in that, The vehicle end includes the sensor device according to any one of claims 23 to 24, or the sensor system according to any one of claims 25.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program, which, when executed, performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, or the method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, or the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

28. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 6 to be implemented, or the method of any one of claims 7 to 11 to be implemented, or the method of any one of claims 12 to 22 to be implemented.

Images