Optical shaping unit, laser radar and transmit-receive optical module
By using the first lens and the second lens in non-parallel configuration in the lidar to form a reduced luminous surface, the power density of the detection beam is improved, and the problem of many optical components and complex structures of the lidar is solved, and the small size of the lidar is realized and cost reduction.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202310700387.0
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-06-13
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-13
AI Technical Summary
The large number of optical components in lidar and complex structures lead to the inability to shrink in size and high production costs, which limits the use of miniaturization and large-scale production.
Using a non-parallel configuration of the first lens and the second lens, the light emitting surface of the emitting unit is formed into a reduced light emitting surface through the optical shaping unit, which increases the power density of the detection light beam, and optimizes the optical path structure to reduce the number and volume of optical components.
It reduces the requirements of lidar for laser power density, simplifies the structure, facilitates mass production, reduces volume, and improves remote measurement performance.
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Figure CN119126059A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to the field of laser radar, and in particular to an optical shaping unit for laser radar, a laser radar and a transceiver optical module for the laser radar. Background Art
[0002] LiDAR is a radar system that emits laser beams to detect the position, speed and other characteristic quantities of a target. It is an advanced detection method that combines laser technology with photoelectric detection technology. LiDAR is widely used in autonomous driving, transportation communications, drones, intelligent robots, resource exploration and other fields due to its advantages such as high resolution, good concealment, strong anti-active interference ability, good low-altitude detection performance, small size and light weight.
[0003] The laser radar transmits a detection beam through the transmitting unit, receives the echo reflected by the target object through the receiving unit, and calculates the position and distance of the target object relative to the laser radar based on the echo signal. Affected by the number of transmitting units and receiving units, as well as the coordination of lens groups and spectroscopic structures, the laser radar has a large number of optical components, a complex structure, and is difficult to arrange, which makes it impossible to further reduce the size of the laser radar, limiting the miniaturization of the laser radar and its application in small devices. At the same time, the traditional structure makes the production cost of the laser radar too high, which is not conducive to the large-scale production and application of the laser radar. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the laser radar.
[0004] The contents of the background technology section are merely the technologies known to the inventors and do not necessarily represent the prior art in the field. Summary of the invention
[0005] In view of one or more defects in the prior art, the present invention provides an optical shaping unit for a laser radar, comprising:
[0006] A first lens is used to receive a detection beam emitted by a transmitting unit of the laser radar, wherein the transmitting unit has a light-emitting surface, and the detection beam is emitted by the light-emitting surface; and
[0007] a second lens, wherein the first lens is located in the optical path between the emitting unit and the second lens, the first lens and the second lens are configured to reduce the light emitting surface of the emitting unit to form a reduced light emitting surface,
[0008] The optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are non-parallel.
[0009] According to one aspect of the present invention, both the first lens and the second lens are convex lenses, the focal length of the first lens is greater than that of the second lens, and the reduced light-emitting surface is formed on a side of the second lens opposite to the first lens.
[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical distance between the first lens and the second lens is the sum of the focal length of the first lens and the focal length of the second lens.
[0011] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical shaping unit further includes a reflecting portion, which is disposed between the first lens and the second lens, and is configured to receive the detection beam from the first lens and reflect the detection beam to the second lens.
[0012] According to one aspect of the present invention, the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting part are integrally formed, or the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting part are separately formed, the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are perpendicular, and the reflecting part forms an angle of 45° with the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens.
[0013] According to one aspect of the present invention, the ratio of the focal lengths of the first lens and the second lens is determined according to the size of the reduced light-emitting surface, and the optical shaping unit is configured to increase the power density of the detection beam emitted from the laser radar.
[0014] The present invention also provides a laser radar, comprising:
[0015] An emitting unit configured to emit a detection light beam, the emitting unit having a light emitting surface, the detection light beam being emitted by the light emitting surface;
[0016] an optical shaping unit, configured to form a light-emitting surface of the emitting unit into a reduced light-emitting surface, the optical shaping unit being arranged in the light path between the emitting unit and the light-splitting unit;
[0017] a receiving unit configured to receive an echo generated by the detection light beam being reflected on an obstacle and convert the echo into an electrical signal;
[0018] a light splitting unit configured to direct the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar and direct the echo to the receiving unit; and
[0019] The data processing unit is coupled to the receiving unit and is configured to obtain the information of the obstacle according to the electrical signal.
[0020] According to one aspect of the present invention, the laser radar further comprises a transceiver optical unit, which is configured to receive the detection beam from the spectroscopic unit and transmit it to the outside of the laser radar, and receive the echo and guide it to the spectroscopic unit.
[0021] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical shaping unit includes a first lens and a second lens, wherein the first lens is used to receive the detection light beam emitted by the emitting unit, the first lens is located in the light path between the emitting unit and the second lens, and the first lens and the second lens are configured to form the light-emitting surface of the emitting unit into the reduced light-emitting surface, wherein the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are non-parallel.
[0022] According to one aspect of the present invention, the laser radar further includes a circuit board, and the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are arranged on the same circuit board.
[0023] According to one aspect of the present invention, both the first lens and the second lens are convex lenses, the focal length of the first lens is greater than that of the second lens, and the reduced light-emitting surface is formed on a side of the second lens opposite to the first lens.
[0024] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical distance between the first lens and the second lens is the sum of the focal length of the first lens and the focal length of the second lens.
[0025] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical shaping unit further includes a reflecting portion, which is disposed between the first lens and the second lens, and is configured to receive the detection beam from the first lens and reflect the detection beam to the second lens.
[0026] According to one aspect of the present invention, the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting part are integrally formed, or the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting part are separately formed, the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are perpendicular, and the reflecting part forms an angle of 45° with the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens.
[0027] According to one aspect of the present invention, the laser radar further includes a scanner, which is configured to receive and scan the detection beam from the transceiver optical unit to cover the field of view of the laser radar, and reflect the echo to the transceiver optical unit.
[0028] According to one aspect of the present invention, the transmitting unit includes a laser array arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes a detector array arranged on the circuit board, and the laser radar includes multiple optical shaping units and multiple splitting units, one optical shaping unit and one splitting unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein one laser and one detector each correspond to one transceiver optical module.
[0029] According to one aspect of the present invention, the transmitting unit includes multiple groups of laser arrays arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes multiple groups of detector arrays arranged on the circuit board, and the laser radar includes multiple optical shaping units and multiple splitting units, one optical shaping unit and one splitting unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein a group of laser arrays and a group of detector arrays each correspond to a transceiver optical module.
[0030] According to one aspect of the present invention, the transmitting unit includes multiple groups of laser arrays arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes a detector arranged on the circuit board, and the areas in the detector can be activated individually. The laser radar includes multiple optical shaping units and multiple spectroscopic units, and one optical shaping unit and one spectroscopic unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein the activation area of the detector, a group of laser arrays or a laser corresponds to a transceiver optical module.
[0031] The present invention also provides a laser radar, comprising:
[0032] An emitting unit configured to emit a detection light beam, the emitting unit having a light emitting surface, the detection light beam being emitted by the light emitting surface;
[0033] a receiving unit configured to receive an echo generated by the detection light beam being reflected on an obstacle and convert the echo into an electrical signal;
[0034] a spectroscopic unit, wherein the spectroscopic unit is configured to guide the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar and guide the echo to the receiving unit;
[0035] a data processing unit, coupled to the receiving unit and configured to obtain information about the obstacle according to the electrical signal; and
[0036] A circuit board, wherein the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are arranged on the same circuit board.
[0037] According to one aspect of the present invention, the laser radar further comprises a transceiver optical unit, which is configured to receive the detection beam from the spectroscopic unit and transmit it to the outside of the laser radar, and receive the echo and guide it to the spectroscopic unit.
[0038] According to one aspect of the present invention, the laser radar also includes an optical shaping unit, which is arranged in the optical path between the transmitting unit and the spectroscopic unit, and is configured to adjust the spot shape of the detection light beam emitted by the transmitting unit to form the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit into a reduced light-emitting surface.
[0039] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical shaping unit includes a first lens and a second lens, wherein the first lens is located in the optical path between the transmitting unit and the second lens, wherein the first lens receives the detection beam and emits the detection beam to the second lens.
[0040] According to one aspect of the present invention, both the first lens and the second lens are convex lenses, the focal length of the first lens is greater than that of the second lens, and the reduced light-emitting surface is formed on a side of the second lens opposite to the first lens.
[0041] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical distance between the first lens and the second lens is the sum of the focal length of the first lens and the focal length of the second lens.
[0042] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical shaping unit further includes a reflecting portion, which is disposed in the optical path between the first lens and the second lens, and is configured to receive the detection beam from the first lens and totally reflect the detection beam to the second lens.
[0043] According to one aspect of the present invention, the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting portion are integrally formed, or the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting portion are separately formed.
[0044] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are perpendicular, and the reflecting portion forms an angle of 45° with the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens.
[0045] According to one aspect of the present invention, the ratio of the focal lengths of the first lens and the second lens is determined according to the size of the reduced light emitting surface.
[0046] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical shaping unit is configured to increase the power density of the detection beam emitted from the laser radar.
[0047] According to one aspect of the present invention, the light splitting unit is configured to guide the detection beam and the echo in a polarization splitting, pinhole splitting, or partial reflection mirror splitting manner.
[0048] According to one aspect of the present invention, the laser radar further includes a scanner, which is configured to receive and scan the detection beam from the transceiver optical unit to cover the field of view of the laser radar, and reflect the echo to the transceiver optical unit.
[0049] According to one aspect of the present invention, the transmitting unit includes a laser array arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes a detector array arranged on the circuit board, and the laser radar includes multiple optical shaping units and multiple splitting units, one optical shaping unit and one splitting unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein one laser and one detector each correspond to one transceiver optical module.
[0050] According to one aspect of the present invention, the transmitting unit includes multiple groups of laser arrays arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes multiple groups of detector arrays arranged on the circuit board, and the laser radar includes multiple optical shaping units and multiple splitting units, one optical shaping unit and one splitting unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein a group of laser arrays and a group of detector arrays each correspond to a transceiver optical module.
[0051] According to one aspect of the present invention, the transmitting unit includes multiple groups of laser arrays arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes a detector arranged on the circuit board, and the areas in the detector can be activated individually. The laser radar includes multiple optical shaping units and multiple spectroscopic units, and one optical shaping unit and one spectroscopic unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein the activation area of the detector, a group of laser arrays or a laser corresponds to a transceiver optical module.
[0052] The present invention also provides a transceiver optical module for a laser radar, comprising an optical shaping unit and a spectroscopic unit, wherein the optical shaping unit is configured to receive a detection beam emitted by a transmitting unit of the laser radar and transmit the detection beam to the spectroscopic unit, the transmitting unit has a light-emitting surface, and the detection beam is emitted by the light-emitting surface, the spectroscopic unit is configured to receive the detection beam from the optical shaping unit and guide the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar, and is configured to receive an echo and guide the echo to the receiving unit of the laser radar, wherein the optical shaping unit is configured to form the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit into a reduced light-emitting surface.
[0053] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical shaping unit corresponds one by one to one of the laser radar's one or more lasers, and the spectroscopic unit corresponds one by one to one of the laser radar's one detector, multiple detectors, and one of the detector's activation areas.
[0054] According to one aspect of the present invention, the optical shaping unit comprises the optical shaping unit according to any one of claims 1-6.
[0055] Compared with the prior art, the present invention provides an optical shaping unit for a laser radar, which reduces the size of the light-emitting surface by utilizing the cooperation of a first lens and a second lens, can flexibly control the size of the light-emitting surface, improves the power density of the detection beam emitted by the laser radar, and reduces the laser radar's requirement for the laser power density; at the same time, the first lens and the second lens fold the optical path, change the position of the light-emitting surface, and facilitate the optimization of the layout of other components inside the laser radar.
[0056] The present invention also includes an embodiment of a laser radar, which uses an optical shaping unit to form a reduced light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit, thereby reducing the requirements for the size of the laser light-emitting surface. At the same time, the detection beam can be shaped, and the detection beam and echo can be guided simultaneously by a spectroscopic unit, providing a structural basis for the transmitting unit and the receiving unit to share a lens group, which is beneficial to reducing the number of laser radar components and reducing the size of the laser radar, reducing costs, and having a simple structure and facilitating mass production.
[0057] The present invention also includes another embodiment of a laser radar, which uses a spectroscopic unit to simultaneously guide the detection beam and the echo, and the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are integrated on a circuit board, which can reduce the occupied space, has a simple structure, and is conducive to the installation and field of view alignment of the transmitting unit and the receiving unit, reducing the difficulty of mass production and improving production efficiency.
[0058] The present invention also includes an embodiment of a transceiver optical module, wherein an optical shaping unit and a light splitting unit cooperate with each other and are integrated into the transceiver optical module, thereby improving the integration of optical elements inside the laser radar and facilitating mass production. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0059] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present invention, they are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute a limitation of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings:
[0060] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an optical shaping unit in one embodiment of the present invention;
[0061] Figure 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an optical shaping unit in another embodiment of the present invention;
[0062] Figure 3 is a system block diagram of a laser radar in one embodiment of the present invention;
[0063] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a laser radar including a transceiver optical unit in one embodiment of the present invention;
[0064] Figure 5is a schematic diagram of a laser radar including an optical shaping unit in one embodiment of the present invention;
[0065] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the optical path of a laser radar in one embodiment of the present invention;
[0066] Figure 7A-7D is a schematic diagram of a light splitting unit in different embodiments of the present invention;
[0067] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the optical path of a transceiver optical module in one embodiment of the present invention;
[0068] Fig.9A and Fig. 9B is a schematic diagram of the structure of the transceiver optical module in different embodiments of the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0069] In the following, only some exemplary embodiments are briefly described. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the described embodiments may be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the drawings and descriptions are considered to be exemplary and non-restrictive in nature.
[0070] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, which are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.
[0071] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or can communicate with each other; it can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.
[0072] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may include that the first and second features are in direct contact, or may include that the first and second features are not in direct contact but are in contact through another feature between them. Moreover, a first feature being "above", "above" and "above" a second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being "below", "below" and "below" a second feature includes that the first feature is directly below and obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.
[0073] The disclosure below provides many different embodiments or examples to realize different structures of the present invention. In order to simplify the disclosure of the present invention, the parts and settings of specific examples are described below. Of course, they are only examples, and the purpose is not to limit the present invention. In addition, the present invention can repeat reference numbers and / or reference letters in different examples, and this repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity, which itself does not indicate the relationship between the various embodiments and / or settings discussed. In addition, the present invention provides various specific examples of processes and materials, but those of ordinary skill in the art can be aware of the application of other processes and / or the use of other materials.
[0074] The embodiments of the present invention are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the present invention, and are not used to limit the present invention.
[0075] Figure 1An optical shaping unit 100 for a laser radar according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, which includes a first lens and a second lens. The first lens is used to receive a detection beam emitted by a light-emitting surface of a transmitting unit of the laser radar. The first lens is located in the optical path between the transmitting unit and the second lens. The light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit is formed into a reduced light-emitting surface by the first lens and the second lens. The size of the (reduced) light-emitting surface after imaging can be flexibly controlled by the first lens and the second lens, thereby improving the power density of the detection beam emitted by the laser radar and reducing the laser radar's requirement for laser power density. The optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are non-parallel, and the light beam emitted by the transmitting unit can be folded by the first lens and the second lens. The position of the transmitting unit can be flexibly set, which is convenient for optimizing the arrangement of other components inside the laser radar. Figure 1 The optical shaping unit 100 is described in detail.
[0076] like Figure 1 As shown, the optical shaping unit 100 for the laser radar includes a first lens 110 and a second lens 120, wherein the transmitting unit 200 of the laser radar is also schematically shown, and the transmitting unit 200 has a light-emitting surface (the upper surface of the transmitting unit 200 in the figure), and the detection beam is emitted by the light-emitting surface. The transmitting unit 200 can be, for example, a vertical cavity surface emitting laser VCSEL. The first lens 110 is used to receive the detection beam emitted by the transmitting unit 200 of the laser radar. In addition, the detection beam emitted by the transmitting unit 200 can be directly incident on the first lens 110, or it can be incident on the first lens 110 after being shaped by other optical components (such as a microlens or a microlens array).
[0077] The first lens 110 is disposed in the optical path between the emitting unit 200 and the second lens 120. The first lens 110 and the second lens 120 cooperate with each other to form the light-emitting surface of the emitting unit 200 into a reduced light-emitting surface 200' (real image), which is equivalent to reducing the size of the light-emitting surface. Therefore, according to the relationship of "transmitting power = light-emitting surface size * power density", when the transmitting power of the emitting unit 200 remains stable, the power density of the detection light beam emitted by the reduced light-emitting surface 200' (equivalent to a virtual light source or a virtual emitting unit) can be increased by reducing the size of the light-emitting surface.
[0078] Specifically, the original size of the light-emitting surface of the emitting unit 200 is set to L 1 The size of the reduced light emitting surface 200′ after imaging by the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 is L 2 , calculated by the following formula:
[0079] L 2 =N×L 1 .
[0080] Where N is less than 1 (also called compression coefficient). Therefore, the size of the light-emitting surface of the emitting unit 200 is compressed, and correspondingly, the power density of the detection beam emitted by the reduced light-emitting surface 200' is increased to 1 / N of the original power density. 2 In the above embodiment, the size of the light emitting surface is changed after the light emitting surface is imaged by the first lens 110 and the second lens 120, so as to form a reduced light emitting surface 200'.
[0081] In this embodiment, the optical axes of the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 are non-parallel. Figure 1 As shown in FIG. , the optical axis of the first lens 110 is approximately Figure 1 In the vertical direction, the optical axis of the second lens 120 is approximately Figure 1 Of course, in different embodiments of the present invention, the angle between the optical axis of the first lens 110 and the optical axis of the second lens 120 may be other angles. Preferably, an optical element for changing the propagation direction of the detection light beam, such as a reflection element, a diffraction element or a grating, may be provided between the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 to achieve non-parallel arrangement of the optical axes of the first lens 110 and the second lens 120.
[0082] According to the specific structural design of the laser radar, by adjusting the position of the first lens 110 and the second lens 120, and the angle between the optical axes of the two, the position of the transmitting unit 200 and the reduced light-emitting surface 200' and the size of the reduced light-emitting surface 200' can be changed. At the same time, since the size of the reduced light-emitting surface 200' is smaller than the size of the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit 200, the power density of the detection beam emitted by the reduced light-emitting surface 200' is increased, that is, the power density of the detection beam emitted by the laser radar is increased, which is conducive to improving the distance measurement capability of the laser radar. In addition, when applied to the laser radar, the optical shaping unit 100 allows the position of the optical components such as the splitter unit and the lens group located downstream of the optical path to be adjusted more flexibly, which is convenient for optimizing the arrangement of other components inside the laser radar, which is conducive to reducing the number of laser radar components and reducing the volume of the laser radar, reducing costs, and having a simple structure and facilitating mass production. It will be described in detail below.
[0083] In addition, after an object is imaged once through a lens, the spatial domain and the angular domain will be interchanged. For example, a laser with a rectangular light-emitting surface and a circular symmetrical distribution of divergence angles will have its light-emitting surface transformed into a circle and its divergence angle transformed into a rectangular distribution after being imaged once through a lens. In the application of laser radar, the light-emitting surface of the laser in the transmitting unit is usually set to a rectangle or a square. In order to achieve effective matching of the laser radar laser's transmitting field of view and the detector's receiving field of view, it is preferred to set the divergence angle of the detection beam to a circular symmetrical distribution. If the laser is imaged only once through a lens, the light-emitting surface of the laser needs to be set to a circle and have a rectangular distribution of divergence angles. This type of laser is difficult to achieve through engineering methods, and the processing cost is difficult to control. Therefore, in order to reduce the cost of laser radar and achieve mass production, a laser with a rectangular light-emitting surface can be used in the transmitting unit, and the transmitting unit is imaged twice by a lens to meet the effective matching of the laser's transmitting field of view and the detector's receiving field of view.
[0084] In order to facilitate the provision of the detection beam required by the laser radar, this embodiment proposes to perform lens imaging on the transmitting unit twice. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 are both convex lenses, and the focal length of the first lens 110 is greater than the focal length of the second lens 120, and the reduced light-emitting surface 200' is formed on the side of the second lens 120 opposite to the first lens 110, that is, the detection beam emitted by the transmitting unit 200 passes through the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 in sequence, and converges on the other side of the second lens 120.
[0085] Furthermore, the optical spacing between the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 is the sum of the focal length of the first lens 110 and the focal length of the second lens 120, wherein the optical spacing represents the distance between the optical center of the first lens 110 and the optical center of the second lens 120 along the optical axis direction of the two. For example, the focal length of the first lens 110 is f1, the focal length of the second lens 120 is f2, and the optical spacing between the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 is f1+f2. The focal length f2 of the second lens 120 is smaller than the focal length f1 of the first lens 110. After two lens imaging, the reduced light-emitting surface 200′ of the transmitting unit 200 is smaller in size, thereby improving the power density of the detection beam emitted by the laser radar. In this embodiment, the compression coefficient N above is obtained by calculating the following formula:
[0086]
[0087] This is equivalent to emitting the entire luminous power of the emitting unit 200 from a smaller luminous surface. The power density of the detection beam emitted by the laser radar will increase to 1 / N of the original power. 2 times.
[0088] like Figure 1As shown, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the optical shaping unit 100 further includes a reflecting portion 130, which is disposed in the optical path between the first lens 110 and the second lens 120, and is disposed according to the angle between the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 in the direction of the optical axis. The reflecting portion 130 is configured to receive the detection beam from the first lens 110 and reflect the detection beam to the second lens 120.
[0089] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first lens 110, the second lens 120 and the reflective portion 130 can be integrated into an integral optical component (for example, by integral molding) and arranged in a lens barrel, wherein the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 can be respectively arranged as convex surfaces of the optical component at the light entrance position and the light exit position, so as to play a role in converging light beams, and a reflective film is attached to the position of the reflective portion 130. Alternatively, the reflective portion 130 is formed by total reflection inside the medium, for example, by selecting the material of the optical shaping unit 100, and by adjusting the angle at which the detection light beam emitted by the emitting unit 200 is incident on the reflective portion 130 after passing through the first lens 110, so that the incident angle is greater than the critical angle (the critical angle is related to the refractive index of the material and the refractive index of the external medium (for example, air)), so that the detection light beam incident on the reflective portion 130 will be totally reflected to the second lens 120. In this case, there is no need to provide a separate reflective film.
[0090] In various embodiments of the present invention, Figure 2 As shown, the first lens 110, the second lens 120 and the reflecting portion 130 may also be formed separately and separately arranged in the lens barrel 140. For example, the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 are independent convex lenses, respectively fixed at the light entrance position and the light exit position of the lens barrel 140, and the reflecting portion 130 may be a reflecting mirror fixed at a specific position in the lens barrel 140.
[0091] Furthermore, the optical axis of the first lens 110 and the optical axis of the second lens 120 are arranged to be perpendicular to each other. Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the reflector 130 is arranged to form an angle of 45° with the optical axes of the first lens 110 and the second lens 120. The first lens 110 and the second lens 120 are arranged so that the optical axes are perpendicular to each other, which is only a preferred embodiment. The first lens 110, the second lens 120 and the reflector 130 can also be arranged at other angles to meet the specific optical path requirements and installation requirements in the laser radar. In addition, the reflector 130 can also be arranged as a curved reflector to further optimize the optical shaping effect, and cooperate with the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 to form a reduced light-emitting surface 200′ from the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit 200.
[0092] In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the ratio of the focal length of the first lens 110 to the focal length of the second lens 120 is determined according to the size of the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit 200 and the reduced light-emitting surface 200' thereof. When applied to a laser radar, the ratio of the focal length of the first lens 110 to the focal length of the second lens 120 can be determined according to the above formula based on the actual light-emitting surface size of the transmitting unit 200 of the laser radar and the ideal light-emitting surface size expected for the transmitting unit as the size of the reduced light-emitting surface 200'.
[0093] When applied to laser radar, since the optical shaping unit can reduce the size of the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit and improve the power density, it will be able to significantly improve the distance measurement performance of the laser radar. In addition, in the laser radar, the size of the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit 200 affects the focal length of the transmitting lens group (the actual transmitting unit and the receiving unit share the lens group) that subsequently shapes the detection beam. The focal length of the transmitting lens = the size of the light-emitting surface / the angle of the far-field spot. The size of the reduced light-emitting surface 200' of the transmitting unit 200 is used as the size of the light-emitting surface, and the focal length of the transmitting lens group set downstream of the reduced light-emitting surface 200' is also adjusted accordingly. Specifically, according to the focal length and position of the transmitting lens group, the predetermined position and size of the reduced light-emitting surface 200' are determined, and then according to the actual size of the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit 200, the focal lengths and positions of the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 are determined, so that the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit 200 is formed into the reduced light-emitting surface 200' at the predetermined position. Finally, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit can share a set of lenses, which can reduce the number of optical components in the laser radar and simplify the structure of the laser radar. In addition, when the focal length of the transmitting and receiving lens or the transmitting and receiving lens group is determined, the transmitting unit 200 and the receiving unit can be integrated on the same circuit board, further simplifying the internal structure of the laser radar and reducing the difficulty of designing and processing the laser radar.
[0094] Figure 3 The system structure of the laser radar 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown below. Figure 3 The laser radar 10 will be described.
[0095] like Figure 3 As shown, in this embodiment, the laser radar 10 includes a transmitting unit 11, a receiving unit 12, a spectroscopic unit 13, a data processing unit 14 and a circuit board 15, wherein the transmitting unit 11 is used to transmit a detection light beam L, and the receiving unit 12 is used to receive an echo L′ generated by the detection light beam L being reflected on an obstacle, and convert the echo signal L′ into an electrical signal, and the receiving unit 12 has, for example, a photoelectric conversion element.
[0096] like Figure 3As shown, the thicker arrow represents the detection beam L, and the thinner arrow represents the echo L′. The spectroscopic unit 13 is used to guide the detection beam L to the outside of the laser radar 10, and guide the echo L′ to the receiving unit 12, that is, the spectroscopic unit 13 can receive the detection beam L and the echo L′, and guide the detection beam L and the echo L′ to different directions. The detection beam L and the echo L′ both pass through the spectroscopic unit 13, and the optical paths partially overlap, which is beneficial to reducing the volume of the laser radar.
[0097] The data processing unit 14 is coupled to the receiving unit 12 and is configured to obtain information about the obstacle based on the electrical signal of the echo. Specifically, for example, the distance between the obstacle and the laser radar 10 is determined based on the time when the echo is received, and information such as the reflectivity of the obstacle is determined based on the echo.
[0098] In this embodiment, the laser radar 10 includes a circuit board 15, wherein the transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12 are arranged on the same circuit board 15, which can further compress the space occupied by the optical components inside the laser radar 10 and help reduce the volume.
[0099] In the existing design, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are usually arranged on both sides of the spectrometer unit 13 in different directions. For example, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are arranged on different sides of the spectrometer unit 13 at an angle of 90°, that is, the transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12 are respectively arranged at different positions, and the transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12 need to be arranged on the circuit board. Therefore, it is necessary to set up separate circuit boards for the transmitting unit and the receiving unit, resulting in large occupied space, poor integration, and a relatively complicated production process. The transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12 in this embodiment are both integrated on the same circuit board 15, wherein the transmitting unit 11 or the receiving unit 12 can optimize the optical path by using an optical shaping unit with shaping, guiding and other functions, so that the detection beam is incident on the spectrometer unit 13, and the spectrometer unit 13 guides the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar 10 for detection, and the echo is guided to the receiving unit 12 through the spectrometer unit 13.
[0100] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4As shown, the laser radar 10 also includes a transceiver optical unit 16 (such as the lens group shared by the transmitting unit and the receiving unit described above), wherein the transceiver optical unit 16 is configured to receive the detection beam L from the spectroscopic unit 13 and transmit the detection beam L to the outside of the laser radar 10, and the transceiver optical unit 16 is also used to receive the echo L' and guide the echo L' to the spectroscopic unit 13. The transceiver optical unit 16 can be a lens or a lens group, which is used to collimate, converge, and other shaping of the detection beam and the echo to meet the detection and echo reception requirements of the laser radar 10. Compared with the existing laser radars with independent transmitting lenses and receiving lenses, the detection beam and the echo share the transceiver optical unit 16 in this embodiment, which can reduce the number of optical elements in the laser radar 10 and further reduce the size of the laser radar.
[0101] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 As shown, the laser radar 10 also includes the above reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The optical shaping unit 100 described above is arranged in the optical path between the emitting unit 11 and the light splitting unit 13. In this embodiment, the emitting unit 11 has a light emitting surface, the detection light beam L is emitted by the light emitting surface, and the optical shaping unit 100 is arranged to adjust the spot shape of the detection light beam emitted by the emitting unit 11 to form the light emitting surface of the emitting unit 11 into a reduced light emitting surface 11′. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The features of the optical shaping unit 100 described above can be incorporated into this embodiment individually or in any combination. The features of the optical shaping unit 100 will not be described in detail.
[0102] Figure 6The laser radar 10 of a specific embodiment of the present invention is shown with a transmitting unit 11, an optical shaping unit 100, a spectroscopic unit 13 and a receiving unit 12, wherein the optical shaping unit 100 includes a first lens 110, a second lens 120 and a reflecting unit 130, wherein the first lens 110 is located in the optical path between the transmitting unit 11 and the second lens 120, wherein the first lens 110 is used to receive the detection beam emitted by the transmitting unit 11, and emit the detection beam to the second lens 120, the detection beam is emitted through the second lens 120, and forms a reduced light-emitting surface 11' of the transmitting unit 11 downstream of the optical path, and the reduced light-emitting surface 11' is regarded as a virtual transmitting unit, which reduces the size of the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit and improves the power density. The detection beam emitted from the second lens 120 can pass through the spectroscopic unit 13 and be emitted to the outside of the laser radar 10. According to different embodiments of the present invention, during the transmission of the detection beam from the first lens 110 to the second lens 120, its propagation direction can be changed by an optical device for changing the direction of the beam, for example, by the reflecting unit 130. In this embodiment, when the luminous power of the transmitting unit 11 does not change, the optical shaping unit 100 is used to form a reduced luminous surface 11′ of the transmitting unit 11, that is, to reduce the size of the luminous surface. Accordingly, the optical shaping unit 100 can increase the power density of the detection beam emitted by the laser radar.
[0103] exist Figure 6 In the embodiment of the present invention, the optical axis of the first lens 110 and the optical axis of the second lens 120 are perpendicular to each other, and the reflector 130 and the optical axes of the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 are at an angle of 45°, so that the propagation direction of the detection beam emitted by the emitting unit 11 is deflected by 90° after passing through the reflector 130. The deflection angle of the detection beam in this embodiment corresponds to the position and setting form of the spectroscopic unit 13 in the laser radar 10. For example, the spectroscopic surface of the spectroscopic unit 13 is set to be inclined at an angle of 45°, such as Figure 6 As shown, the detection beam is deflected 90° by the light splitting unit 13 and then guided to the outside of the laser radar 10. After the echo passes through the light splitting unit 13, it continues to extend along the original direction to the receiving unit 12. Of course, the angle of the light splitting unit 13 relative to the transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12 can also be other values, such as Figure 6 The spectroscopic unit 13 shown in the figure rotates a certain angle, and accordingly, the angle at which the detection light beam is incident on the spectroscopic unit 13 is adjusted, and the angle between the optical axes of the first lens 110 and the second lens 120 and the position of the reflecting part 130 are also adjusted accordingly.
[0104] In different embodiments of the present invention, the light splitting unit 13 of different structures can be selected, for example Figure 7A-7D As shown, the light splitting unit 13 can be configured as a polarization light splitting prism ( Fig. 7A ), polarizing plate spectrometer ( Figure 7B)、Pinhole Spectroscopy( Figure 7C ), partial reflector spectroscopy ( Fig.7D ) and other different ways to guide the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar 10 and guide the echo to the receiving unit 12. When different structures of the spectroscopic unit 13 are selected, the optical paths of the detection beam and the echo will also change accordingly. The structure of the spectroscopic unit 13 can be matched with the position of the transmitting unit 11, the reduced light-emitting surface 11' of the transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12. The specific structure of the spectroscopic unit 13 is not limited in different embodiments of the present invention.
[0105] Further, such as Figure 5 As shown, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the laser radar 10 further includes a scanner 18, which is used to receive the detection beam emitted from the transceiver optical unit 16, and the field of view of the laser radar is covered by the scanner 18. At the same time, the scanner 18 is also used to reflect the echo to the transceiver optical unit 16. The scanner 18 is arranged on the side of the transceiver optical unit 16 facing the outside of the laser radar 10, for example, by controllable rotation to change the emission angle of the detection beam to achieve detection of the field of view of the laser radar, and specifically can be one of a galvanometer mirror, a swing mirror, a galvanometer mirror and a multi-faceted rotating mirror. Further, the scanner 18 scans in the horizontal direction and records the rotation angle of the reflector at the same time, so as to calculate the angle of the obstacle generating the echo relative to the laser radar 10.
[0106] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting unit 11 includes a laser array composed of a plurality of lasers, and the laser array is arranged on a circuit board 15. The laser may be a VCSEL (vertical cavity surface emitting laser). Correspondingly, the receiving unit 12 also includes a detector array composed of a plurality of detectors, which are also arranged on the circuit board 15. The detector may be a single-photon detector, such as a SPAD (single-photon avalanche diode) or a SiPM (silicon photomultiplier tube). The laser radar 10 includes a plurality of optical shaping units 17 and a plurality of light splitting units 13, wherein one optical shaping unit 17 and one light splitting unit 13 are combined to form a transceiver optical module, and one transceiver optical module corresponds to one laser and one detector. In order to improve the detection range and detection efficiency of the laser radar 10, the plurality of lasers in the transmitting unit 11 may correspond one-to-one with the plurality of detectors in the receiving unit 12 to form a plurality of detection channels, each detection channel corresponding to a detection direction, for example, to cover the detection range of the laser radar 10.
[0107] In this embodiment, the optical shaping unit 17 and the spectroscopic unit 13 correspond to the laser and the detector one by one, that is, the detection beam emitted by a laser increases its power density after passing through the optical shaping unit 17 and is incident on the spectroscopic unit 13. The spectroscopic unit 13 guides the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar 10. After being reflected by an obstacle, the detection beam forms an echo, which is guided by the spectroscopic unit 13 to the corresponding receiver, completing a detection process.
[0108] According to some other embodiments of the present invention, the transmitting unit 11 includes multiple groups of laser arrays arranged on the circuit board 15, and the receiving unit 12 includes multiple groups of detector arrays arranged on the circuit board 15. The laser radar 10 also includes multiple optical shaping units 17 and multiple spectroscopic units 13. One optical shaping unit 17 and one spectroscopic unit 13 form a transceiver optical module. The spectroscopic unit 13 is arranged downstream of the (detection) optical path of the corresponding optical shaping unit 17. A group of laser arrays and a group of detector arrays correspond to one of the transceiver optical modules. For example, multiple lasers in a group of laser arrays correspond to one optical shaping unit 17. After the emitted detection beam passes through the optical shaping unit 17, multiple reduced light-emitting surfaces are formed, and the light-splitting unit 13 is emitted to the outside of the laser radar. The corresponding echo is received by the spectroscopic unit 13 and guided to the corresponding detector array, for example, multiple detectors in the corresponding detector array to complete a detection process. In addition, multiple lasers in a group of laser arrays can also be emitted in time division, and the corresponding echoes are received by the corresponding detectors to complete a detection process.
[0109] According to other embodiments of the present invention, the transmitting unit 11 includes a laser array composed of a plurality of lasers, and the laser array is arranged on the circuit board 15. The laser is, for example, a vertical cavity surface emitting laser VCSEL, and the VCSEL can be a large-size array laser (such as 3mm*5mm) and has light-emitting points arranged in an array. The large array VCSEL can be individually strobed and lit in different areas (for example, rows / columns in the array VCSEL are individually controlled to light up), thereby forming different light-emitting areas according to actual needs and emitting detection beams. Specifically, as Fig.9A As shown, the laser radar includes two transmitting units 1, each transmitting unit 1 includes three large-array VCSELs. The three VCSELs in the transmitting unit 1 on the left and the three VCSELs in the transmitting unit 1 on the right are staggered in the vertical direction. The six staggered VCSELs detect different areas of the vertical field of view of the laser radar respectively. The detection of the entire vertical field of view of the laser radar is achieved through the six staggered VCSELs. Of course, Fig.9A The six VCSELs shown in the figure are only examples. In specific applications, different numbers of VCSELs can be selected according to actual working requirements. Fig.9AAs shown, the laser radar includes a receiving unit 2, which includes a detector arranged on a circuit board. The detector may be, for example, a SPAD array, and each SPAD in the SPAD array may be individually gated and activated. The regions in the detector may be activated individually. Specifically, one or more SPADs in the SPAD array are activated to form an activated region. The SPADs in the corresponding regions in the SAPD array are activated according to the light-emitting regions of the large-array VCSEL, so that the multiple gated regions in the VCSEL correspond to the corresponding multiple activated regions in the SPAD array to form multiple detection channels, each detection channel corresponding to a detection direction, for example, to cover the detection range of the laser radar 10.
[0110] In this embodiment, the optical shaping unit 17 and the spectroscopic unit 13 correspond one-to-one to the selection area of the laser and the activation area of the detector, that is, the detection light beam emitted from a selection area of the laser increases its power density after passing through the optical shaping unit 17, and is incident on the spectroscopic unit 13, and the spectroscopic unit 13 guides the detection light beam to the outside of the laser radar 10. After being reflected by an obstacle, the detection light beam forms an echo, and the echo is guided by the spectroscopic unit 13 to the corresponding activation area of the receiver, completing a detection process.
[0111] According to the specific structure of the laser radar 10 in another embodiment of the present invention, the laser radar 10 includes a transmitting unit 11, an optical shaping unit 100, a receiving unit 12, a spectroscopic unit 13 and a data processing unit 14. The transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12 are like the transmitting unit and the receiving unit in the aforementioned embodiment, which are respectively used to transmit the detection light beam and receive the echo generated by the reflection on the obstacle, and convert them into electrical signals, which will not be repeated here.
[0112] The laser radar 10 in this embodiment uses an optical shaping unit 100 to shape the detection light beam emitted by the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit 11. For example, the optical shaping unit in the aforementioned embodiment can improve the power density of the detection light beam emitted by the laser radar, thereby enabling the transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12 to share the same transceiver optical unit 16. The optical shaping unit 100 and the spectroscopic unit 13 cooperate with each other, so that the transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12 can use the same lens, simplifying the structure of optical components in the laser radar 10. At the same time, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the optical shaping unit 100 can also be used to change the optical path of the detection light beam, and can adjust the setting position of the transmitting unit 11, which helps to optimize the internal structural layout of the laser radar 10. For example, the transmitting unit 11 and the receiving unit 12 can be set on the same circuit board, such as Figure 5 As shown, the transmitting unit 11 can also be set at other appropriate positions inside the laser radar 10, thereby improving the flexibility of the internal component arrangement of the laser radar 10.
[0113] In some embodiments of the present invention, an optical shaping unit 100 and a spectroscopic unit 13 constitute a transceiver optical module. Specifically, a laser and a detector each correspond to a transceiver optical module, that is, a laser, an optical shaping unit 100, a spectroscopic unit 13 and a detector constitute a detection channel, and the laser radar includes multiple detection channels to meet the requirements of the detection range. Alternatively, a transceiver optical module corresponds to multiple detection channels at the same time, for example, a transceiver optical module covers a group of laser arrays including multiple lasers and a group of detector arrays including multiple detectors, a group of laser arrays corresponds to an optical shaping unit 100, and a group of detector arrays corresponds to a spectroscopic unit 13, which together constitute multiple detection channels. Alternatively, the transmitting unit 11 includes a planar array VCSEL having multiple individually selectable light-emitting areas, each selected light-emitting area can emit a detection light beam, the receiving unit 12 includes a SPAD array, each SPAD can be individually selected and activated, a transceiver optical module corresponds to a selected area in the planar array VCSEL and an activated area in the SPAD array, a selected area of the laser corresponds to an optical shaping unit 100, and an activated area of the detector corresponds to a spectroscopic unit 13, which together constitute multiple detection channels.
[0114] Figure 8 An embodiment of a transceiver optical module 30 that can be used for a laser radar is shown, wherein the transceiver optical module 30 includes an optical shaping unit 31 and a spectroscopic unit 32. Specifically, the optical shaping unit 31 and the spectroscopic unit 32 can be structures as described in the above embodiments, and the optical shaping unit 31 is configured to receive a detection beam emitted by a transmitting unit 1 of the laser radar and emit the detection beam to the spectroscopic unit 32. At the same time, the optical shaping unit 31 can also form a reduced light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit 1 to improve the power density of the detection beam emitted by the laser radar. Specifically, the optical shaping unit 31 in this embodiment can be the optical shaping unit 100 in the above embodiments.
[0115] The spectroscopic unit 32 is configured to receive the detection beam from the optical shaping unit 31 and guide the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar, and the spectroscopic unit 32 also receives the echo and guides the echo to the receiving unit 2 of the laser radar. The spectroscopic unit 32 can take the form of any one or more spectroscopic units 32 provided in the aforementioned embodiments.
[0116] like Fig.9A As shown, in one embodiment of the present invention, the optical shaping unit 31 corresponds to the laser or the laser gating area in the transmitting unit 1 of the laser radar, and the light splitting unit 32 is also configured to correspond to the detector or the activation area of the detector in the receiving unit 2 of the laser radar. Fig. 9BAs shown, in another embodiment of the present invention, an optical shaping unit 31 corresponds to a group of multiple lasers or multiple gating areas of a laser in the transmitting unit 1 of the laser radar, and a spectroscopic unit 32 corresponds to a group of multiple detectors or multiple activation areas of a detector in the receiving unit 2 of the laser radar. For example, a group of multiple lasers in the transmitting unit 1 are arranged in strips, and the light incident surface in the optical shaping unit 31 can also be set as a continuous surface to cover the corresponding multiple lasers or multiple gating areas of a laser. Similarly, the light exit surface of the optical shaping unit 31 can also be set as a continuous surface, and the spectroscopic unit 32 can also be set as a strip to correspond to a group of multiple detectors or multiple activation areas of a detector in the receiving unit 2. The spectroscopic unit 32 can be set as a whole or a combination of multiple split structures.
[0117] In other embodiments of the present invention, the transmitting unit 1 includes multiple groups of laser arrays arranged on a circuit board, each group of laser arrays includes multiple lasers, and similarly, the receiving unit 2 includes multiple groups of detector arrays arranged on a circuit board, each group of detector arrays includes multiple detectors. There are also multiple optical shaping units 31 and splitting units 32, and one optical shaping unit 31 and one splitting unit 32 constitute a transceiver optical module, and one group of laser arrays and one group of detector arrays correspond to one transceiver optical module. That is, in this embodiment, one optical shaping unit 31 and its corresponding splitting unit 32, one group of laser arrays and one group of detector arrays constitute a detection channel.
[0118] like Fig. 9B As shown, two groups of laser arrays, two groups of detector arrays and two transceiver optical modules 30 (each transceiver optical module includes an optical shaping unit 31 and a light splitting unit 32), and the two transceiver optical modules 30 are staggered.
[0119] According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, the laser of the transmitting unit 11 and the detector of the receiving unit 12 and the corresponding optical shaping unit 100 and the spectroscopic unit 13 can be packaged together, and the packaged structure is set as a whole on the circuit board 15. The laser of the transmitting unit 11 and the detector of the receiving unit 12 can also be set on the circuit board 15 respectively, and positioned and installed, and the optical shaping unit 100 and the spectroscopic unit 13 are set at a preset position, so that the transceiver optical module corresponds to the laser and the detector. For example, the laser of the transmitting unit 11 and the detector of the receiving unit 12 are first set at different positions of the circuit board 15, and then the optical shaping unit 100 and the spectroscopic unit 13 are installed at positions corresponding to the laser of the transmitting unit 11 and the detector of the receiving unit 13.
[0120] Finally, it should be noted that the above description is only an embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments or replace some of the technical features therein by equivalents. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. An optical shaping unit for laser radar, comprising: A first lens is used to receive a detection beam emitted by a transmitting unit of the laser radar, wherein the transmitting unit has a light-emitting surface, and the detection beam is emitted by the light-emitting surface; and a second lens, wherein the first lens is located in the optical path between the emitting unit and the second lens, the first lens and the second lens are configured to reduce the light emitting surface of the emitting unit to form a light emitting surface, The optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are non-parallel.
2. The optical shaping unit according to claim 1, wherein the first lens and the second lens are both convex lenses, the focal length of the first lens is greater than the focal length of the second lens, and the reduced light-emitting surface is formed on a side of the second lens opposite to the first lens.
3. The optical shaping unit according to claim 2, wherein the optical distance between the first lens and the second lens is the sum of the focal length of the first lens and the focal length of the second lens.
4. The optical shaping unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a reflecting portion, the reflecting portion being disposed between the first lens and the second lens, the reflecting portion being configured to receive the detection beam from the first lens and reflect the detection beam to the second lens.
5. The optical shaping unit according to claim 4, wherein the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting portion are integrally formed, or the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting portion are separately formed, the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are perpendicular, and the reflecting portion is at an angle of 45° to the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens.
6. The optical shaping unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ratio of the focal lengths of the first lens and the second lens is determined according to the size of the reduced light-emitting surface, and the optical shaping unit is configured to increase the power density of the detection beam emitted from the laser radar.
7. A laser radar, comprising: An emitting unit configured to emit a detection light beam, the emitting unit having a light emitting surface, the detection light beam being emitted by the light emitting surface; an optical shaping unit, configured to form a light-emitting surface of the emitting unit into a reduced light-emitting surface, the optical shaping unit being arranged in the light path between the emitting unit and the light-splitting unit; a receiving unit configured to receive an echo generated by the detection light beam being reflected on an obstacle and convert the echo into an electrical signal; A light splitting unit configured to guide the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar and guide the echo to the receiving unit; and The data processing unit is coupled to the receiving unit and is configured to obtain the information of the obstacle according to the electrical signal.
8. The laser radar according to claim 7 further includes a transceiver optical unit, which is configured to receive the detection beam from the spectroscopic unit and transmit it to the outside of the laser radar, and receive the echo and guide it to the spectroscopic unit.
9. The laser radar according to claim 7, wherein the optical shaping unit comprises a first lens and a second lens, wherein the first lens is used to receive the detection light beam emitted by the transmitting unit, the first lens is located in the light path between the transmitting unit and the second lens, and the first lens and the second lens are configured to form the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit into the reduced light-emitting surface, wherein the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are non-parallel.
10. The laser radar according to any one of claims 7-9, further comprising a circuit board, and the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are arranged on the same circuit board.
11. The laser radar according to claim 9, wherein the first lens and the second lens are both convex lenses, the focal length of the first lens is greater than the focal length of the second lens, and the reduced light-emitting surface is formed on the side of the second lens opposite to the first lens.
12. The laser radar according to claim 11, wherein the optical distance between the first lens and the second lens is the sum of the focal length of the first lens and the focal length of the second lens.
13. The laser radar according to claim 9, 11 or 12, wherein the optical shaping unit further comprises a reflecting portion, the reflecting portion being disposed between the first lens and the second lens, the reflecting portion being configured to receive the detection beam from the first lens and reflect the detection beam to the second lens.
14. The laser radar according to claim 13, wherein the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting part are integrally formed, or the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting part are separately formed, the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are perpendicular, and the reflecting part forms an angle of 45° with the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens.
15. The laser radar according to claim 8, further comprising a scanner, which is configured to receive and scan the detection beam from the transceiver optical unit to cover the field of view of the laser radar, and reflect the echo to the transceiver optical unit.
16. The laser radar according to claim 10, wherein the transmitting unit includes a laser array arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes a detector array arranged on the circuit board, the laser radar includes a plurality of optical shaping units and a plurality of spectroscopic units, one optical shaping unit and one spectroscopic unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein one laser and one detector each correspond to one transceiver optical module.
17. The laser radar according to claim 10, wherein the transmitting unit includes multiple groups of laser arrays arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes multiple groups of detector arrays arranged on the circuit board, and the laser radar includes multiple optical shaping units and multiple spectroscopic units, one optical shaping unit and one spectroscopic unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein a group of laser arrays and a group of detector arrays each correspond to a transceiver optical module.
18. The laser radar according to claim 10, wherein the transmitting unit includes a plurality of laser arrays arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes a detector arranged on the circuit board, and the areas in the detector can be activated individually, and the laser radar includes a plurality of optical shaping units and a plurality of spectroscopic units, one optical shaping unit and one spectroscopic unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein the activation area of the detector, a group of laser arrays or a laser corresponds to a transceiver optical module.
19. A laser radar, comprising: An emitting unit configured to emit a detection light beam, the emitting unit having a light emitting surface, the detection light beam being emitted by the light emitting surface; a receiving unit configured to receive an echo generated by the detection light beam being reflected on an obstacle and convert the echo into an electrical signal; a spectroscopic unit, wherein the spectroscopic unit is configured to guide the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar and guide the echo to the receiving unit; a data processing unit, coupled to the receiving unit and configured to obtain information about the obstacle according to the electrical signal; and A circuit board, wherein the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are arranged on the same circuit board.
20. The laser radar according to claim 19, further comprising a transceiver optical unit, which is configured to receive the detection beam from the spectroscopic unit and transmit it to the outside of the laser radar, and receive the echo and guide it to the spectroscopic unit.
21. The laser radar according to claim 19 further includes an optical shaping unit, which is arranged in the optical path between the transmitting unit and the spectroscopic unit, and is configured to adjust the spot shape of the detection light beam emitted by the transmitting unit to form the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit into a reduced light-emitting surface.
22. The laser radar according to claim 21, wherein the optical shaping unit comprises a first lens and a second lens, wherein the first lens is located in the optical path between the transmitting unit and the second lens, and wherein the first lens receives the detection beam and emits the detection beam to the second lens.
23. According to the laser radar of claim 22, the first lens and the second lens are both convex lenses, the focal length of the first lens is greater than the focal length of the second lens, and the reduced light-emitting surface is formed on the side of the second lens opposite to the first lens.
24. The laser radar according to claim 23, wherein the optical distance between the first lens and the second lens is the sum of the focal length of the first lens and the focal length of the second lens.
25. According to any one of claims 22-24, the optical shaping unit also includes a reflecting part, which is arranged in the optical path between the first lens and the second lens, and the reflecting part is configured to receive the detection beam from the first lens and totally reflect the detection beam to the second lens.
26. The laser radar according to claim 25, wherein the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting part are integrally formed, or the first lens, the second lens and the reflecting part are separately formed.
27. The laser radar according to claim 25, wherein the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are perpendicular, and the reflecting portion is at an angle of 45° to the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens.
28. A laser radar according to any one of claims 22-24, wherein the ratio of the focal lengths of the first lens and the second lens is determined according to the size of the reduced light-emitting surface.
29. The laser radar according to any one of claims 21-24, wherein the optical shaping unit is configured to increase the power density of the detection beam emitted from the laser radar.
30. The laser radar according to any one of claims 19-24, wherein the splitting unit is configured to guide the detection beam and the echo in a polarization splitting, pinhole splitting, or partial reflector splitting manner.
31. The laser radar according to claim 20 further includes a scanner, which is configured to receive and scan the detection beam from the transceiver optical unit to cover the field of view of the laser radar and reflect the echo to the transceiver optical unit.
32. The laser radar according to any one of claims 22-24, wherein the transmitting unit includes a laser array arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes a detector array arranged on the circuit board, the laser radar includes a plurality of optical shaping units and a plurality of spectroscopic units, one optical shaping unit and one spectroscopic unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein one laser and one detector each correspond to one transceiver optical module.
33. The laser radar according to any one of claims 21-24, wherein the transmitting unit includes a plurality of laser arrays arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes a plurality of detector arrays arranged on the circuit board, the laser radar includes a plurality of optical shaping units and a plurality of spectroscopic units, one optical shaping unit and one spectroscopic unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein a group of laser arrays and a group of detector arrays each correspond to a transceiver optical module.
34. The laser radar according to any one of claims 21-24, wherein the transmitting unit includes a plurality of laser arrays arranged on the circuit board, the receiving unit includes a detector arranged on the circuit board, and the areas in the detector can be activated individually, and the laser radar includes a plurality of optical shaping units and a plurality of spectroscopic units, one optical shaping unit and one spectroscopic unit constitute a transceiver optical module, wherein the activation area of the detector, a group of laser arrays or a laser corresponds to a transceiver optical module.
35. A transceiver optical module for a laser radar, comprising an optical shaping unit and a spectroscopic unit, wherein the optical shaping unit is configured to receive a detection beam emitted by a transmitting unit of the laser radar and transmit the detection beam to the spectroscopic unit, the transmitting unit has a light-emitting surface, and the detection beam is emitted by the light-emitting surface, the spectroscopic unit is configured to receive the detection beam from the optical shaping unit and guide the detection beam to the outside of the laser radar, and is configured to receive an echo and guide the echo to the receiving unit of the laser radar, wherein the optical shaping unit is configured to form the light-emitting surface of the transmitting unit into a reduced light-emitting surface.
36. The transceiver optical module according to claim 35, wherein the optical shaping unit corresponds one to one with one of the one or more lasers of the laser radar, and the spectroscopic unit corresponds one to one with one of the detector, multiple detectors and activation areas of the detector of the laser radar.
37. The transceiver optical module according to claim 35, wherein the optical shaping unit comprises the optical shaping unit according to any one of claims 1-6.
Citation Information
Cited By
Detection device, laser radar and terminal
CN119881836A
