Laser radar

Abstract

The invention provides a laser radar. The laser radar comprises a base, a transmitting module and a receiving module, the base rotates around the rotating shaft when the laser radar runs; the transmitting module is used for transmitting emergent laser during operation; the receiving module is used for receiving reflected laser formed after the emergent laser encounters an obstacle during operation; the transmitting module comprises a transmitting lens unit and a plurality of transmitting units, the transmitting lens unit is provided with a transmitting optical axis, the projection of the transmitting optical axis on a reference plane and the transmitting optical axis form a first target plane, the reference plane is perpendicular to the rotating shaft, and the transmitting units transmit the emergent laser when running; the target emitting laser emitted by at least one target emitting unit in the multiple emitting units is located on the first target plane. The emergent laser emitted by the target emitting unit is always located in the first target plane and can be parallel to the rotating shaft, and more point cloud data of the zenith area can be obtained.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This specification relates to the field of laser radar technology, and in particular to a laser radar. Background Art

[0002] LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a radar system that detects targets by emitting a laser beam and receiving the return signal when the laser beam is reflected off a target object. LiDAR typically consists of a transmitter and receiver module. Its main operating principle is as follows: The transmitter module emits an outgoing laser beam toward an obstacle. The outgoing laser beam reflects off the obstacle and returns to the LiDAR. The LiDAR compares the reflected laser beam with the outgoing laser beam and, after appropriate processing, obtains information about the obstacle, such as its distance, position, height, speed, attitude, reflectivity, and shape. As the LiDAR scans its surroundings, it acquires numerous data points. These data points, containing information about the obstacle, are called a point cloud. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In a first aspect, the present specification provides a laser radar. The laser radar includes a base, a transmitting module, and a receiving module. The base rotates around a rotation axis when the laser radar is in operation. The transmitting module is mounted on the base and transmits an outgoing laser when in operation. The receiving module is mounted on the base and receives reflected laser light generated when the outgoing laser encounters an obstacle when in operation. The transmitting module includes: a transmitting lens unit having an emission optical axis, wherein the vertical projection of the emission optical axis on a reference plane and the emission optical axis define a first target plane, wherein the reference plane is perpendicular to the rotation axis, and a plurality of transmitting units, which transmit the outgoing laser light when in operation, and transmit the outgoing laser light through the transmitting lens unit to the outside of the laser radar, wherein the target outgoing laser light emitted by at least one of the plurality of transmitting units is located on the first target plane.

[0004] In some embodiments, the transmitting module also includes a transmitting circuit board, the multiple transmitting units are arranged on the transmitting circuit board, and the projection of the first target plane on the transmitting circuit board is the transmitting central axis; and the multiple transmitting units include multiple transmitting arrays, at least one transmitting array among the multiple transmitting arrays includes the at least one target transmitting unit, and the at least one target transmitting unit is located on the transmitting central axis.

[0005] In some embodiments, the multiple transmitting arrays include multiple first transmitting arrays, multiple second transmitting arrays and at least one third transmitting array, the multiple first transmitting arrays are distributed on the first side of the transmitting axis to form a first queue, the multiple second transmitting arrays are distributed on the second side of the transmitting axis to form a second queue, the first queue and the second queue are arranged equidistant and parallel to the transmitting axis, and the third transmitting array is connected end to end with the first queue and includes the at least one target transmitting unit.

[0006] In some embodiments, the emission optical axis is at a first preset angle to the rotation axis; accordingly, the distance between the at least one target emission unit and the emission optical axis is a first preset value, so that the target emitted laser is parallel to the rotation axis after being deflected by the emission lens unit.

[0007] In some embodiments, the transmitting circuit board coincides with a first focal plane, wherein the first focal plane is a plane passing through the focus of the transmitting lens unit and perpendicular to the transmitting optical axis.

[0008] In some embodiments, the receiving module includes a receiving lens unit and a plurality of receiving units; the receiving module has a receiving optical axis, the vertical projection of the receiving optical axis on the reference plane and the receiving optical axis form a second target plane, and the reflected laser is incident into the receiving module through the receiving lens unit; and a plurality of receiving units correspond to the plurality of transmitting units and are located on the optical path of the reflected laser to receive the reflected laser, wherein there is at least one target receiving unit among the plurality of receiving units, and the reflected laser includes at least one beam of target reflected laser propagating along the second target plane and finally incident on the target receiving unit.

[0009] In some embodiments, the receiving module also includes a receiving circuit board, the multiple receiving units are arranged on the receiving circuit board and facing the receiving lens unit, and the projection of the second target plane on the receiving circuit board is the receiving central axis; and the multiple receiving units include multiple receiving arrays, at least one of the multiple receiving arrays includes the at least one target receiving unit, and the at least one target receiving unit is located on the receiving central axis.

[0010] In some embodiments, the transmitting module and the receiving module are arranged side by side and face the same direction, the rotation axis is equidistant from the transmitting optical axis and the receiving optical axis, and the multiple receiving units and the multiple transmitting units have the same distribution.

[0011] In some embodiments, the laser radar includes a detector, the detector includes the multiple receiving units, and the detector includes multiple SPAD units.

[0012] In some embodiments, the receiving module also includes the receiving circuit board, the multiple receiving units are arranged on the receiving circuit board and facing the receiving lens unit, the multiple receiving units include multiple receiving arrays, at least one receiving array among the multiple receiving arrays includes the at least one target receiving unit, and the target receiving unit is placed next to the second target plane; and a receiving light path guiding module, which guides the at least one beam of target reflected laser propagating along the second target plane out of the second target plane to be incident on the target receiving unit.

[0013] In some embodiments, the vertical field of view of the multiple emission units is greater than or equal to 100 degrees, and the number of the emitted laser beams is greater than 128 beams.

[0014] In some embodiments, the elevation angle of the emission optical axis relative to the rotation axis is greater than 10 degrees and less than 80 degrees, so that the emitted laser is close to the zenith area pointed by the rotation axis.

[0015] In some embodiments, the laser radar includes a laser, the laser includes the multiple transmitting units, the laser includes a VCSEL laser, and the VCSEL laser includes multiple VCSEL transmitting units.

[0016] In some embodiments, the emission module also includes an emission circuit board, the multiple emission units are arranged on the emission circuit board, the multiple emission units include multiple emission arrays, at least one emission array among the multiple emission arrays includes the at least one target emission unit, and the target emission unit is placed next to the first target plane; and an emission light path guiding module, guiding the laser emitted by the at least one target emission unit to the first target plane.

[0017] In a second aspect, the present application provides a laser radar. The laser radar includes a base, a transmitting module, and a receiving module; the base rotates around a rotation axis when the laser radar is in operation; the transmitting module is mounted on the base and emits an outgoing laser when in operation; the receiving module is mounted on the base and receives reflected laser light formed when the outgoing laser light encounters an obstacle when in operation, wherein the receiving module includes a receiving lens unit and a plurality of receiving units, the receiving lens unit having a receiving optical axis, the perpendicular projection of the receiving optical axis on a reference plane and the receiving optical axis forming a second target plane, the reflected laser light is incident on the receiving module through the receiving lens unit, wherein the reference plane is perpendicular to the rotation axis, the plurality of receiving units face the receiving lens unit and are located on the optical path of the reflected laser light to receive the reflected laser light, wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving units is a target receiving unit, and the reflected laser light includes at least one beam of target reflected laser light propagating along the second target plane and ultimately incident on the target receiving unit.

[0018] In some embodiments, the receiving module also includes a receiving circuit board, the multiple receiving units are arranged on the receiving circuit board and face the receiving lens unit, the projection of the second target plane on the receiving circuit board is the receiving central axis; and the multiple receiving units include multiple receiving arrays, at least one of the multiple receiving arrays includes the at least one target receiving unit, and the at least one target receiving unit is located on the receiving central axis.

[0019] In some embodiments, the multiple receiving arrays include multiple first receiving arrays, multiple second receiving arrays and at least one third receiving array, the multiple first receiving arrays are distributed on the first side of the receiving central axis to form a third queue, the multiple second receiving arrays are distributed on the second side of the receiving central axis to form a fourth queue, the third queue and the fourth queue are arranged equidistant and parallel to the receiving central axis, and the third receiving array is connected end to end to the third queue, and includes the at least one target receiving unit.

[0020] In some embodiments, the receiving optical axis is at a second preset angle to the rotation axis; accordingly, the distance between the at least one target receiving unit and the receiving optical axis is a second preset value, so that the at least one target receiving unit receives the target reflected laser parallel to the rotation axis.

[0021] In some embodiments, the receiving circuit board coincides with a second focal plane, wherein the second focal plane is a plane passing through the focus of the receiving lens unit and perpendicular to the receiving optical axis.

[0022] In some embodiments, the transmitting module includes a transmitting lens unit and multiple transmitting units; the transmitting lens has an transmitting optical axis, and the vertical projection of the transmitting optical axis on the reference plane forms a first target plane with the transmitting optical axis; the multiple transmitting units correspond to the multiple receiving units, and transmit the outgoing laser to the transmitting lens unit during operation, wherein the target outgoing laser emitted by at least one target transmitting unit among the multiple transmitting units is located on the first target plane.

[0023] In some embodiments, the transmitting module also includes a transmitting circuit board, the multiple transmitting units are arranged on the transmitting circuit board, the projection of the first target plane on the transmitting circuit board is the transmitting central axis; and the multiple transmitting units are divided into multiple transmitting arrays, at least one transmitting array among the multiple transmitting arrays includes the at least one target transmitting unit, and the at least one target transmitting unit is located on the transmitting central axis.

[0024] In some embodiments, the transmitting module and the receiving module are arranged side by side and face the same direction, the rotation axis is equidistant from the transmitting optical axis and the receiving optical axis, and the multiple receiving units and the multiple transmitting units have the same distribution.

[0025] In some embodiments, the laser radar includes a laser, the laser includes the multiple transmitting units, the transmitter includes a VCSEL laser, and the VCSEL laser includes multiple VCSEL transmitting units.

[0026] In some embodiments, the transmitting module also includes a transmitting circuit board, the multiple transmitting units are arranged on the transmitting circuit board, the multiple transmitting units include multiple transmitting arrays, at least one transmitting array among the multiple transmitting arrays includes the at least one target transmitting unit, and the target transmitting unit is placed next to the first target plane; and an transmitting light path guiding module, guiding the laser emitted by the at least one target transmitting unit to the first target plane.

[0027] In some embodiments, the vertical field of view of the multiple receiving units is greater than or equal to 100 degrees.

[0028] In some embodiments, the elevation angle of the receiving optical axis relative to the rotation axis is greater than 10 degrees and less than 80 degrees, so as to receive the reflected laser light in a zenith area close to where the rotation axis points.

[0029] In some embodiments, the laser radar includes a detector, the detector includes the multiple receiving units, and the detector includes multiple SPAD units.

[0030] In some embodiments, the receiving module also includes a receiving circuit board and a receiving optical path guiding module, the multiple receiving units are arranged on the receiving circuit board and facing the receiving lens unit, the multiple receiving units include multiple receiving arrays, and at least one receiving array among the multiple receiving arrays includes the at least one target receiving unit; the receiving optical path guiding module guides the at least one beam of target reflected laser propagating along the second target plane out of the second target plane so as to be incident on the target receiving unit.

[0031] In the third aspect, the present application provides a laser radar. The laser radar includes a base, a transmitting module and a receiving module. The base rotates around the rotation axis when the laser radar is in operation; the transmitting module is installed on the base and transmits an outgoing laser when in operation; the receiving module is installed on the base and receives the reflected laser formed when the outgoing laser encounters an obstacle when in operation, wherein the transmitting module includes a transmitting lens unit and a plurality of transmitting units, the transmitting lens unit has an transmitting optical axis, the projection of the transmitting optical axis on the reference plane forms a first target plane with the transmitting optical axis, wherein the reference plane is perpendicular to the rotation axis, and the plurality of transmitting units transmit the outgoing laser when in operation, and the outgoing laser is emitted outside the laser radar through the transmitting lens unit, wherein at least one of the plurality of transmitting units A target outgoing laser emitted by a target emitting unit is located on the first target plane. The receiving module includes a receiving lens unit and multiple receiving units. The receiving lens unit has a receiving optical axis. The projection of the receiving optical axis on the reference plane and the receiving optical axis form a second target plane. The reflected laser is incident on the receiving module through the receiving lens unit, wherein the reference plane is perpendicular to the rotation axis. Multiple receiving units face the receiving lens unit and are located on the optical path of the reflected laser to receive the reflected laser. There is at least one target receiving unit among the multiple receiving units. The reflected laser includes at least one beam of target reflected laser that propagates along the second target plane and is finally incident on the target receiving unit.

[0032] It can be seen from the above technical solution that this specification provides a laser radar including a target transmitting unit located in a first target plane, and a target receiving unit located in a second target plane, so that the outgoing laser emitted by the target transmitting unit can be parallel to the rotation axis after passing through the transmitting lens unit and then emitted to the outside of the laser radar, thereby realizing the detection of the zenith area, and the target transmitting unit can receive the target reflected laser parallel to the rotation axis, so that the laser radar obtains point cloud data of the zenith area, thereby realizing the stitching of point cloud data of the zenith area.

[0033] Other functions of the laser radar provided by this specification will be partially listed in the following description. The creative aspects of the laser radar provided by this specification can be fully explained by practicing or using the methods, devices and combinations described in the following detailed examples. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this specification, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this specification. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0035] Figure 1 The following illustrates the working scenarios of the laser radar provided according to some embodiments of this specification;

[0036] Figure 2A shows a cross-sectional view of a laser radar provided according to some embodiments of this specification;

[0037] Figure 2B A schematic diagram showing a laser radar emitting multiple laser beams when operating according to some embodiments of this specification is shown;

[0038] Figure 3A A schematic diagram showing the operation of a transmitting module provided in some embodiments of this specification is shown;

[0039] Figure 3B A schematic diagram showing how the outgoing laser forms a scanning blind zone in the zenith area;

[0040] Figure 3C shows a schematic diagram of the optical path of an outgoing laser according to some embodiments of this specification;

[0041] Figure 4A A schematic diagram illustrating a transmitting module including a target transmitting unit according to some embodiments of this specification is shown;

[0042] Figure 4B A schematic diagram showing the operation of a transmitting module provided in some embodiments of this specification is shown;

[0043] Figure 4C shows a schematic diagram of the arrangement of multiple transmitting units provided according to some embodiments of this specification;

[0044] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of target-emitting laser scanning provided in accordance with some embodiments of this specification;

[0045] Figure 6A A schematic diagram showing the operation of a receiving module according to some embodiments of this specification is shown;

[0046] Figure 6B A schematic diagram showing the distribution of receiving units provided according to some embodiments of this specification is shown;

[0047] Figure 7 A schematic diagram showing the distribution of transmitting units and receiving units provided according to some embodiments of this specification is shown;

[0048] Figure 8A A method for installing a laser radar according to some embodiments of the present application is shown; and

[0049] Figure 8B Another installation method of the laser radar provided according to some embodiments of the present application is shown.

[0050] The reference numerals in the drawings of the specification are as follows:

[0051] 001: Application scenario; 10: LiDAR; 20: Obstacle; 100: Transmitter module; 110: Transmitter unit;

[0052] 111: target transmitting unit; 120: transmitting lens unit; 200: receiving module; 210: receiving unit;

[0053] 211: target receiving unit; 220: receiving lens unit; 300: lens barrel; 400: control circuit board; 500: base;

[0054] 600: light mask; D1: first target plane; A1: emission optical axis; C1: emission center axis; m1: emission lens center line;

[0055] L1: outgoing laser; L2: target outgoing laser; 10A: emission array; 10A1: first emission array;

[0056] 10A2: second transmitting array; 10A3: third transmitting array; D2: second target plane; A2: receiving optical axis;

[0057] C2: receiving center axis; m2: receiving lens center line; L3: reflected laser; L4: target reflected laser;

[0058] 20A1: first receiving array; 20A2: second receiving array; 20A3: third receiving array; R: rotation axis;

[0059] X: horizontal direction. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] The following description provides specific application scenarios and requirements for this specification, with the goal of enabling those skilled in the art to make and use the contents of this specification. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of this specification. Therefore, this specification is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is intended to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the claims.

[0061] The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing specific example embodiments only and are not intended to be limiting. For example, as used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" may also include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. When used in this specification, the terms "comprise," "include," and / or "contain" are intended to refer to the presence of the associated integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups or the addition of other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups in the system / method.

[0062] In this specification, "X includes at least one of A, B, or C" means that X includes at least A, or X includes at least B, or X includes at least C. In other words, X may include only any one of A, B, and C, or any combination of A, B, and C, as well as other possible contents / elements. Any combination of A, B, and C may be A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC.

[0063] In this specification, unless otherwise specified, the association relationship between structures can be a direct association relationship or an indirect association relationship. For example, when describing "A is connected to B", unless it is clearly stated that A is directly connected to B, it should be understood that A can be directly connected to B or indirectly connected to B; for another example, when describing "A is above B", unless it is clearly stated that A is directly above B (AB are adjacent and A is above B), it should be understood that A can be directly above B or indirectly above B (AB is separated by other elements and A is above B). And so on.

[0064] These and other features of this specification, as well as the operation and function of the associated elements of the structure, and the economical assembly and manufacture of the components, can be significantly improved with consideration of the following description. Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification. However, it should be expressly understood that the drawings are for illustration and description purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this specification. It should also be understood that the drawings are not drawn to scale.

[0065] The flowcharts used in this specification illustrate operations implemented by systems according to some embodiments of the present specification. It should be clearly understood that the operations of the flowcharts may not be implemented in sequence. Rather, the operations may be implemented in reverse order or simultaneously. Furthermore, one or more additional operations may be added to the flowcharts. One or more operations may be removed from the flowcharts.

[0066] Before describing the specific embodiments of this specification, Figure 1 A brief description of the structure and working process of the lidar is given.

[0067] Figure 1 FIG001 illustrates an operating scenario 001 of a laser radar 10 provided according to some embodiments of this specification. Scenario 001 includes the laser radar 10 and an obstacle (or target object) 20. The laser radar 10 may include a transmitting system and a receiving system. The transmitting system may include a transmitting module 100. The transmitting module 100 may transmit an outgoing laser beam toward the obstacle 20. The receiving system may include a receiving module 200. The receiving module 200 may receive reflected laser beams formed after the outgoing laser beams are reflected by the obstacle 20. Based on the reflected laser beams, the laser radar 10 may obtain detection information about the obstacle 20, such as the distance, position, height, shape, attitude, and speed of the obstacle 20 relative to the laser radar 10. The transmitting module 100 may include one or more transmitting units 110 (transmitting unit group 110) and a transmitting lens unit 120. The transmitting module 100 may also include a transmitting circuit board. The transmitting unit group 110 may be located on the transmitting circuit board. Each transmitting unit 110 may emit an outgoing laser beam, which is then transmitted through the transmitting lens unit 120 toward the obstacle 20. The receiving module 200 may include one or more receiving units 210 (receiving unit group 210) and a receiving lens unit 220. Each receiving unit 210 may receive the reflected laser light formed after the outgoing laser light is reflected by the obstacle 20. The receiving unit group 210 may be located on a receiving circuit board. In some embodiments, the transmitting circuit board and the receiving circuit board may be two circuit boards. In other embodiments, the transmitting circuit board and the receiving circuit board may also be the same circuit board, that is, "transmitting and receiving on the same board". For example, the driving circuit chip of the transmitting module 100 and the readout circuit chip of the receiving module 200 are soldered together on a PCB board, thereby facilitating the alignment of the transmitting and receiving. In addition, using a circuit board to control the transmitting and receiving can reduce the signal time difference offset and improve the ranging accuracy. The following description will take the transmitting circuit board and the receiving circuit board as the same circuit board, and name it as the control circuit board 400 as an example.

[0068] Figure 2A A cross-sectional view of a laser radar 10 according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown. Figure 2AOnly the cross-sectional view of the transmitting module 100 is shown, and the receiving module 200 is blocked behind the transmitting module 100. Figure 2B FIG2 shows a schematic diagram of a laser radar 10 emitting multiple laser beams when working according to some embodiments of the present specification. Figure 2A As shown, in addition to the transmitting module 100 and the receiving module 200, the laser radar 10 may also include a lens barrel 300, a control circuit board 400, and a base 500. The transmitting module 100 and the receiving module 200 may be located on the control circuit board 400. The transmitting lens unit 120 of the transmitting module 100 and the receiving lens unit 220 of the receiving module 200 may be disposed within the lens barrel 300. The transmitting module 100 and the receiving module 200 may be fixed to the base 500. When the laser radar 10 is in operation, the transmitting module 100 and the receiving module 200 may rotate 360° along the rotation axis R of the base 500, while the transmitting module 100 emits an outgoing laser; the receiving module 200 receives the emitted laser formed after the outgoing laser encounters an obstacle, thereby detecting the surrounding environment of the laser radar 10.

[0069] For the convenience of the following description, in this application, the definition Figure 2A The direction of the rotation axis R in is the zenith direction of the laser radar. That is, if the orientation of the plane where the base 500 is located is horizontal, then Figure 2A The rotation axis R in the image points to the sky, that is, the zenith direction now points to the sky. If the laser radar is rotated 90° clockwise, the rotation axis R points to the right, and the zenith direction of the laser radar 10 points to the right. If the laser radar is rotated another 90° clockwise, the rotation axis R points to the ground (downward), and the zenith direction of the laser radar 10 points to the ground. If the laser radar is rotated another 90° clockwise, the rotation axis R points to the left, and the zenith direction of the laser radar 10 points to the left.

[0070] Here, the orientation of the plane where the base 500 is located is horizontal. Figure 2A The rotation axis R in the figure points to the sky, that is, the sky direction is the zenith direction, and the field of view of the laser radar 10 in the vertical direction is the vertical field of view. The situation where the plane of the base 500 is in other directions will be described later.

[0071] Because the relative positions of the lasers and the optical axes of the transmitting lens group unit 120 and the receiving lens group unit 220 are different, the transmitting and receiving lens groups deflect the emitted light of different lasers to different degrees. Therefore, when the laser radar 10 is working, it can emit the emitted laser to different azimuths within the vertical field of view angle range and receive the reflected laser reflected by the obstacle 20 at the corresponding azimuth angle, thereby obtaining the point cloud data of the obstacle 20 within the azimuth angle. Figure 2B In the laser radar 10, the total number of beams emitted is 40 ( Figure 2B The vertical field of view angle is 23°, wherein the scanning angle of the uppermost edge of the vertical field of view relative to the horizontal direction X is 7°, and the scanning angle of the lowermost edge relative to the horizontal direction X is -16°. Figure 2B Below the vertical field of view shown in , the laser radar 10 cannot detect the space above the radar top. Therefore, in one or more embodiments of the present invention, a laser radar is provided that can increase the pitch angle of the transmitting module 100 and the receiving module 200, that is, the transmitting optical axis A1 (shown in Figure 3A 、 4A ) and the receiving optical axis A2 of the receiving lens unit 220 (shown in Figure 6A In the middle) the base 500 is further turned toward the direction of the rotation axis R, so that the emitted laser light can be further directed toward the zenith of the laser radar 10 in the vertical field of view, thereby increasing the detection range of the laser radar 10 between the horizontal direction X and the rotation axis R (zenith direction).

[0072] In order to further eliminate the aforementioned blind spots in transmission and reception during the actual use of the laser radar 10, this application uses the transmitting end as an example to describe the detection blind spot problem of the existing laser radar 10. The blind spot problem of the receiving end is similar.

[0073] For ease of description, we first define the direction indicated by the rotation axis R of the laser radar 10 as the zenith direction. For example, if the rotation axis R of the laser radar 10 points directly upward, then the direction directly upward is the zenith direction; if the laser radar is rotated 90°, with the rotation axis R pointing to the right, then the right direction is the zenith direction of the laser radar 10. The blind spots that exist during the detection process of the laser radar 10 are the blind spots in the zenith direction and the adjacent area (the zenith area).

[0074] Specifically, Figure 3A A schematic diagram of the transmitting module 100 provided in some embodiments of this specification during operation is shown. Figure 3B A schematic diagram showing how the laser beam L1 forms a scanning blind zone in the zenith area. Figure 3C Schematic diagram of the optical path of the outgoing laser L1 provided according to some embodiments of this specification is shown.

[0075] like Figure 3AAs shown, the transmitting unit group 110 can be distributed on the transmitting circuit board / control circuit board 400. According to some embodiments of the present application, the transmitting unit group 110 can be arranged in an array on the transmitting circuit board / control circuit board 400. For example, the transmitting unit groups 110 are oriented in the same direction to form a number of linear arrays. These linear arrays are symmetrically distributed along the transmitting central axis C1. The transmitting circuit board / control circuit board 400 is located on one side of the rotation axis R, that is, the transmitting unit group 110 is located on one side of the rotation axis R, and there is a distance between the linear array formed by the transmitting unit group 110 and the rotation axis R. Furthermore, the transmitting lens unit 120 is configured so that its optical axis passes vertically through the transmitting central axis C1; the posture of the entire transmitting module 100 is configured so that the plane determined by the transmitting optical axis A1 and the transmitting central axis C1 (called the target plane) is parallel to the rotation axis R.

[0076] Along the emission direction of the laser, if it is assumed that the emission laser L1 emitted by a certain emission unit 110P on the left side of the emission center axis C1 is parallel to the optical axis A1, the laser L1 will be refracted by the emission lens unit 120 toward the focus O located on the optical axis A1. Figure 3A In FIG, since the emitting unit 110P and the laser L1 are located at the lower left of the optical axis A1, the refraction direction of L1 is the upper right. Figure 3C As shown, assuming that each emitting unit 110 emits a laser parallel to the optical axis A1, the outgoing laser will converge at one focal length of the emitting lens unit 120. However, because no emitting unit 110 is located on the emitting center axis C1, the outgoing laser emitted by the emitting unit 110 will either be refracted to the right, upper right, or lower right, or to the left, upper left, or lower left after passing through the exit lens unit 120. In other words, the outgoing laser beam emitted by the emitting unit group 110 along the direction parallel to the optical axis A1 cannot be parallel to the target plane after being refracted by the exit lens unit 120. Since the rotation axis R is parallel to the target plane, this means that even if the pitch angle of the emitting module 100 is adjusted so that the upper edge of its vertical field of view is parallel to the rotation axis R, all the outgoing laser beams emitted by the emitting unit 110 group along the direction parallel to the optical axis A1 are not in the same plane as the rotation axis R and cannot be parallel to the rotation axis R.

[0077] When the laser radar 10 rotates around the rotation axis R, the emitted laser L1 rotates around the rotation axis R. Since the emitted laser L1 always forms a non-zero angle with the rotation axis R, the following will be obtained after L1 rotates around R: Figure 3B The outer contour shown is the scanning surface of a single-leaf hyperboloid. Figure 3BAs can be seen in the figure, the characteristic of a single-leaf hyperboloid is that the opening radius of the surface decreases first and then gradually increases upward along the rotation axis R. That is, the laser radar 10 will not have the outgoing laser L1 passing through the zenith and nearby areas for detection, and the laser radar 10 will not obtain information about obstacles 20 in the zenith and nearby areas, and as the distance of the outgoing light L1 becomes farther and farther (the detection range of the laser radar 10 is several hundred meters), the detection blind spot in the zenith area will become larger and larger. This means that as long as there is no transmitting unit 110 on the transmitting central axis C1, each beam of outgoing laser L1 is out of plane with the rotation axis R. Therefore, no matter how the elevation angle of the transmitting module 100 is adjusted, the laser radar 10 will always have a blind spot in its zenith area.

[0078] In order to solve the problem of scanning blind spots in the zenith area, the laser radar 10 must first prevent the detection blind spots from getting bigger and bigger in the zenith area. In order to prevent the detection blind spots of the laser radar 10 from getting bigger and bigger in the zenith area, there must be at least one beam of outgoing laser light parallel to the rotation axis R among the outgoing laser light emitted from the laser radar 10. Because the scanning trajectory formed by the outgoing laser light parallel to the rotation axis R after rotating around the rotation axis R is a cylinder. Since the transmitting module 100 is close to the rotation axis R, the distance between the transmitting unit group 110 and the rotation axis R is in the millimeter level, which is less than the detection accuracy of the laser radar point cloud. Therefore, the cylindrical scanning blind spot will not affect the accuracy of the point cloud image obtained by the laser radar, so the blind spot can be ignored. Therefore, the outgoing laser light parallel to the rotation axis R must be a laser light that is only deflected up and down after passing through the transmitting lens unit 120. And by Figures 3A-3C From the structure in FIG, it can be seen that because the rotation axis R is parallel to the target plane (i.e., the plane where the optical axis A1 and the emission center axis C1 are located), only the laser beam emitted along the target plane can be parallel to the rotation axis R after being refracted by the emission lens unit 120.

[0079] Based on the above analysis, this specification provides a laser radar 10 that can solve the above problems. Figure 4A A schematic diagram of a transmitting module 100 including a target transmitting unit 211 according to some embodiments of the present specification is shown. Figure 4B A schematic diagram of the transmitting module 100 provided in some embodiments of this specification during operation is shown. Figure 4C A schematic diagram of the arrangement of multiple transmitting units 110 provided according to some embodiments of this specification is shown. Figure 4AIn the embodiment, the reference plane Rf is perpendicular to the rotation axis R. For example, the reference plane Rf can be the plane where the base 500 is located, or it can be any plane perpendicular to the rotation axis R. The transmitting lens unit 120 has an transmitting optical axis A1. The vertical projection of the transmitting optical axis A1 on the reference plane Rf and the transmitting optical axis A1 form a first target plane D1. The line on the transmitting lens unit 120 that intersects the first target plane D1 is the transmitting lens center line m1. Figure 4A As shown, the first target plane D1 is parallel to the rotation axis R, and the emission lens centerline m1 passes through the emission optical axis A1. The emission module 100 includes a plurality of emission units 110 and an emission lens unit 120. The emission lens unit 120 may include a single lens or a combination of multiple lenses. Figure 4A As shown, the multiple transmitting units 110 can emit outgoing laser light when in operation, which is emitted outside the laser radar 10 through the transmitting lens unit 120. Among them, the target outgoing laser light L4 emitted by at least one target transmitting unit 111 in the multiple transmitting units 110 is located on the first target plane D1.

[0080] In some embodiments, the target outgoing laser light L2 is located on the first target plane D1. This may be because the target transmitting unit 111 is located on the first target plane D1, and thus the target outgoing laser light L2 emitted by it is located on the first target plane D1. In some embodiments, the target transmitting unit 111 may also be placed to the side of the first target plane D1. That is, the target transmitting unit 111 is not located on the first target plane D1. In this case, the laser radar 10 also needs to include a transmission light path guidance module. The transmission light path guidance module guides the laser light emitted by the at least one target transmitting unit 111 to the first target plane D1, so that the laser light is incident on the transmitting lens unit 120 along the first target plane D1. For example, the transmission light path guidance module may include a reflector. The laser light emitted by the target transmitting unit 111 enters the first target plane D1 after passing through the reflector, and then passes through the transmitting lens unit 120 and is emitted outside the laser radar 10. All situations in which the laser light incident on the transmitting lens unit 120 is located within the first target plane D1 are within the scope of protection of this specification. The following description will be made by taking the case where the target emitting unit 111 is located on the first target plane D1 and the target outgoing laser light L2 emitted by the target emitting unit 111 is located on the first target plane D1 as an example. The principles of other cases are the same.

[0081] Because the target emitting unit 111 is located on the first target plane D1 and the target outgoing laser light L2 it emits is parallel to the optical axis A1, the target outgoing laser light L2 is also on the first target plane D1 and is guaranteed to pass through the emission lens centerline m1 of the emitting lens unit 120. This means that no matter how the emitting lens unit 120 refracts the target outgoing laser light L2, it will only be refracted vertically relative to the emission lens centerline m1 and will not be deflected horizontally relative to the emission lens centerline m1. In other words, after being refracted by the emitting lens unit 120, the target outgoing laser light L2 will always be located on the first target plane D1 and will not be located outside of the first target plane D1. In other words, the target outgoing laser light L2 emitted by the emitting unit 110 (target emitting unit 111) located only on the first target plane D1 will definitely pass through the emission lens centerline m1 of the emitting lens unit 120 when entering the emitting lens unit 120, and will always remain within the first target plane D1 after being deflected by the emitting lens unit 120. Since the first target plane D1 is parallel to the rotation axis R, the target emitted laser L2 can be adjusted from the direction behind the emitting lens unit 120 to be parallel to the rotation axis R by adjusting the pitch angle of the emitting module 100 .

[0082] It should be noted that the attached Figure 4A The illustration of only one lens is merely an example. In a specific implementation, the laser radar 10 may include one or more lenses or lens groups. Figure 4B As shown, the transmitting lens unit 120 includes four lenses. After being deflected multiple times by the transmitting lens unit 120, the emitted laser light is emitted to the outside of the laser radar 10. The direction of the target emitted laser light L2 after being emitted from the transmitting lens unit 120 is adjusted to be parallel to the rotation axis R.

[0083] In summary, by arranging at least one target emitting unit 111 on the first target plane D1, it is ensured that at least one target outgoing laser L2 in the multiple target units 110 is still within the first target plane after being refracted by the emitting lens unit 120. In this way, the target outgoing laser L2 can be adjusted to be parallel to the rotation axis R by adjusting the pitch angle of the transmitting module 100, that is, emitted in the zenith direction. In this way, the scanning trajectory formed by the target outgoing laser L2 after rotating around the rotation axis R is a cylinder. Since the transmitting module 100 is close to the rotation axis R, the diameter of the cylinder is in the millimeter order, which is smaller than the detection accuracy of the laser radar point cloud, so the cylindrical scanning blind area will not affect the accuracy of the point cloud image obtained by the laser radar. The laser radar 10 with the above structure has no scanning blind area in its zenith area within a preset distance range.

[0084] Accordingly, a plurality of transmitting units 110 can be arranged on the transmitting circuit board / control circuit board 400. The transmitting circuit board / control circuit board 400 can coincide with the first focal plane. The first focal plane is a plane passing through the focus of the transmitting lens unit 120 close to the base 500 and perpendicular to the transmitting optical axis A1, so that the emitted laser is emitted from the laser radar 10 after passing through the transmitting lens unit 110. Among them, the projection of the first target plane D1 on the transmitting circuit board / control circuit board 400 can be the transmitting central axis C1. It should be noted that the transmitting central axis C1 here is determined by the first target plane D1 on the transmitting circuit board / control circuit board 400, which is different from the aforementioned method of determining the axis of symmetry based on the two columns of transmitting units 110. Therefore, the arrangement of the plurality of transmitting units 110 can be symmetrical with respect to the transmitting central axis C1, or it can be asymmetrical.

[0085] For example, Figure 4C As shown, multiple emission units 110 can be divided into multiple groups, each group is a emission array 10A. Among them, an emission array 10A can include multiple emission units 110. An emission array 10A can be a chip (die), and a certain number of emission units 110 can be set on each chip to emit outgoing lasers. For example, Figure 4C The illustrated lidar 10 includes eight transmit chips, die1 through die8, each of which forms a transmit array. Each transmit chip (each reflective array 10A) may include 32 transmit units 110. Specifically, the transmit units 110 of the transmit array 10A may be arranged in four columns, with each column containing four transmit units.

[0086] In order to allow the laser radar 10 to obtain the largest possible field of view in the vertical direction to fully capture the features of distant obstacles 20, but not to fail due to excessively large field of view exceeding the obstacle 20 at a long distance, multiple transmitting arrays 10A can be distributed in queues. For example, multiple first transmitting arrays 10A1 can be arranged on the first side of the transmitting axis C1 to form a first queue; multiple second transmitting arrays 10A2 can be arranged on the second side of the transmitting axis C1 to form a second queue. The first queue and the second queue are arranged equidistant and parallel to the transmitting axis C1. That is, the first queue and the second queue are not on the transmitting axis C1. The first queue and the second queue can also be symmetrically distributed about the transmitting axis C1, or they can be staggered about the transmitting axis C1. As shown in FIG. Figure 4CAs shown, the first transmitting array 10A1 includes die2, die4 and die6, and the second transmitting array 10A2 includes die1, die3, die5 and die7. The first transmitting array 10A1 and the second transmitting array 10A2 are staggered about the transmitting axis C1. The third transmitting array 10A3 includes die8. A third transmitting array 10A3 can be further divided from the multiple transmitting units 110, which is connected to the first array end to end and includes at least one target transmitting unit 111. The at least one target transmitting unit 111 is located on the transmitting axis C1. Specifically, Figure 4C Die8 in the figure represents the third transmitting array 10A3. Die8 is connected to the first position of die6 in the first array. While die1-die7 are all parallel to the transmitting axis C1, die8 is tilted at a non-zero angle relative to the transmitting axis C1, positioning one of the target transmitting units 111 in the transmitting array 10A3 on the transmitting axis C1. This ensures that the target outgoing laser light L2 emitted by the target transmitting unit 111 remains within the first target plane D1, making it possible for the target outgoing laser light L2 to be parallel to the rotation axis R.

[0087] As previously mentioned, to prevent the laser radar 10 from experiencing an increasingly large detection blind spot in the zenith region, at least one target laser beam L2 emitted from the laser radar 10 must be parallel to the rotation axis R. Therefore, the emission optical axis A1 of the laser radar 10 and the rotation axis R form a first preset angle. Accordingly, the distance between the at least one target emitting unit 111 and the emission optical axis A1 is a first preset value, so that the target laser beam L2 emitted by the at least one target emitting unit 111 is parallel to the rotation axis R after being deflected by the emitting lens unit 120.

[0088] The distance between at least one target emitting unit 111 and the emitting optical axis A1 is a first preset value. The first preset value can be obtained based on a first preset angle between the emitting optical axis A1 and the rotation axis R. When the angle between the emitting optical axis A1 and the rotation axis R and the focal length of the emitting lens unit 120 are determined, the distances between the emitting units 110 at different positions and the emitting optical axis A1 are different, so that the degree of deflection of the emitted laser after passing through the emitting lens unit 120 is also different. For example, the laser emitted by the emitting unit 110 close to the emitting optical axis A1 is deflected to a lesser extent, and the laser emitted by the emitting unit 110 away from the emitting optical axis A1 is deflected to a greater extent. When the angle between the emitting optical axis A1 and the rotation axis R is determined, the distance between the target emitting unit 111 and the emitting optical axis A1 can be selected so that the target outgoing laser L2 emitted by the target emitting unit 111 is parallel to the rotation axis R.

[0089] Continue to refer to Figure 4A, the target emitting unit 111 can be the emitting unit 110 farthest from the emitting optical axis A1 among all the emitting units 110. For example, when the reference plane Rf is the plane where the base 500 is located or the plane below the emitting circuit board / control circuit board 400, the target emitting unit 111 can be located on the emitting circuit board / control circuit board 400 at a position close to the reference plane Rf. Since the emitting lens unit 120 deflects the target emitted laser L2, the target emitted laser L2 located at the bottom can become the target emitted laser L2 closest to the rotation axis R after deflection, thereby being closer to the zenith area and being able to detect the zenith area. By selecting a suitable focal length of the emitting lens unit 120 and a combination of lenses included in the emitting lens unit 120, the target emitted laser L2 closest to the rotation axis R can also be made parallel to the rotation axis R, thereby solving the problem of the laser radar 10 having an increasingly larger detection blind spot in the zenith area and reducing the range of the laser radar 10's detection blind spot in the zenith area.

[0090] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of target-emitting laser L2 scanning provided according to some embodiments of this specification is shown. Figure 5 The figure shows the scanning situation of the target outgoing laser L2 (parallel to the rotation axis R) of the target emitting unit 111 after rotating around the rotation axis R for one circle, and the scanning situation of the outgoing laser L1 (not parallel to the rotation axis R) of the emitting unit not located on the emission center axis C1 after rotating around the rotation axis R for one circle. The target outgoing laser L2 forms a cylinder with a radius of r after rotating around the rotation axis R; the outgoing laser L1 (not on the same plane as the target outgoing laser L2) forms a single-leaf hyperboloid with a gradually changing opening radius after rotating around the rotation axis R ( Figure 5 not shown). Figure 5 In the single-leaf hyperboloid, two cross sections with opening radii of r1 and r2 are marked ( Figure 5 Indicated by the dashed line). It can be seen that since the target emitted laser L2 is closest to the cylinder, the radius r of the cylinder is smaller than the cross-sectional radius r1 and r2 of the single-leaf hyperboloid, and as the laser is emitted from the zenith area farther and farther, r1 and r2 will be much larger than r. In addition, since in actual products, the distance between the transmitting unit 110 and the rotation axis R is very small, on the order of millimeters (mm), the radius r of the cylinder obtained by rotating the target emitted laser L2 closest to the rotation axis R is also very small, also on the order of millimeters (mm). Such a large scanning blind area is smaller than the point cloud accuracy of the laser radar 10 and can be ignored. Therefore, it can be assumed that the target emitted laser L2 can complete the scanning of the zenith / zenith area. Combined with the scanning of other transmitting units 110, it is equivalent to the laser radar 10 being able to fully cover the zenith and the surrounding area, realizing the "stitching" of the point cloud in the zenith blind area. The laser radar 10 will not miss obstacles in the zenith and the surrounding area when scanning.

[0091] In some embodiments, the laser radar 10 can set a transmitting unit 110 at a position near the base 500 of the transmitting circuit board / control circuit board 400, under the condition that there is a target outgoing laser L2 parallel to the rotation axis R. That is, the emitted laser is deflected so that it is closer to the rotation axis R or is at the same distance from the rotation axis R relative to the target outgoing laser L2. Although the outgoing laser L1 of this transmitting unit 110 is not on the first target plane D1, a single-leaf hyperboloid is still obtained during the rotation scanning process, and a larger opening will appear at a farther distance. However, since the outgoing laser L1 is very close to the rotation axis R after being deflected by the transmitting lens unit 120, which is on the order of cm, the smallest radius of all the opening radii of the single-leaf hyperboloid is also on the order of cm. At the smallest opening, it can be regarded as the laser radar 10 having achieved "stitching" in the zenith area.

[0092] Figure 6A A schematic diagram of the receiving module 200 provided in some embodiments of this specification during operation is shown. Figure 6B A distribution diagram of the receiving unit 210 provided according to some embodiments of this specification is shown.

[0093] The same principle as the blind spot at the transmitting end, the existing laser radar also has a blind spot when receiving. In order to be able to receive the reflected laser from the zenith area, this specification provides a laser radar 10, whose receiving module 200 can also be installed on the base 500 and rotate around the rotation axis R together with the base 500 during operation, to receive the reflected laser formed after the outgoing laser encounters the obstacle 20. The overall structure of the laser radar 10 can adopt the structure described earlier in this specification, which will not be repeated here. Among them, the arrangement of the transmitting unit 110 in the transmitting module 100 can adopt the above-mentioned arrangement method, so that the target outgoing laser L2 is parallel to the rotation axis R and emitted to the outside of the laser radar 10. Since the optical path is reversible, the receiving module 200 can have the same structure as the transmitting module 100 above, except for the differences specifically mentioned below.

[0094] The receiving lens unit 220 may have a receiving optical axis A2, and the projection of the receiving optical axis A2 on the reference plane Rf and the receiving optical axis A2 form a second target plane D2. The line on the receiving lens unit 220 that intersects the second target plane D2 is the receiving lens center line m2. Figure 6A As shown, the second target plane D2 is parallel to the rotation axis R, and the receiving lens centerline m2 passes through the receiving optical axis A2. The receiving module 200 includes multiple receiving units 210 and a receiving lens unit 220. The receiving lens unit 220 can include a single lens or a combination of multiple lenses. The reflected laser passes through the receiving lens unit and enters the receiving module 200. Figure 6AAs shown, multiple receiving units 210 can be oriented toward the receiving lens unit 220 and located on the optical path of the reflected laser light, and can receive the reflected laser light during operation. The reflected laser light includes at least one target reflected laser beam L4 that propagates along the second target plane D2 and ultimately impinges on the target receiving unit 211.

[0095] In some embodiments, the target receiving unit 211 can receive the target reflected laser light L4 propagating along the second target plane D2 because the target receiving unit 211 is located on the second target plane D2, thereby being able to receive the target reflected laser light L4. In other embodiments, the target receiving unit 211 can also be placed to the side of the second target plane D2. That is, the target receiving unit 211 is not located on the second target plane D2. In this case, the laser radar 10 also needs to include a receiving light path guidance module. The receiving light path guidance module can guide the at least one beam of target reflected laser light L4 propagating along the second target plane D2 out of the second target plane D2 so that it is incident on the target receiving unit 211. For example, the receiving light path guidance module includes a reflector. The target reflected laser light L4 outside the laser radar 10 propagates along the second target plane D2, passes through the receiving lens unit 220, and is then reflected by the reflector to the target receiving unit 211. All situations in which the laser light incident on the receiving lens unit 220 is located within the second target plane D2 are within the scope of protection of this specification. The following description takes the target receiving unit 211 being located on the second target plane D2 and its receiving channel (the optical path of the reflected laser that can be received by the target receiving unit 211) being located on the second target plane D2 as an example, and the principles of other situations are the same.

[0096] Because the target receiving unit 211 is located on the second target plane D2, its receiving channel is also located on the second target plane D2. The target reflected laser light L4 can be reflected by an obstacle 20 in the zenith region. For example, the target reflected laser light L4 can be generated by the target outgoing laser light L2 after being reflected by the obstacle 20. Therefore, the target reflected laser light L4 can be parallel to the rotation axis R. The target reflected laser light L4 propagates along the second target plane D2 and is incident on the receiving lens centerline m2 of the receiving lens unit 210. After being refracted vertically by the receiving lens unit 210 at the receiving lens centerline m2, it is incident on the target receiving unit 211. The specific analysis process is similar to that of the transmitting end. In other words, after being refracted by the receiving lens unit 220, the target reflected laser light L4 remains within the second target plane D2. Since the second target plane D2 is parallel to the rotation axis R, adjusting the pitch angle of the receiving module 200 can ensure that the target reflected laser light L4 parallel to the rotation axis R is received by the target receiving unit 211.

[0097] In summary, by arranging at least one target receiving unit 211 on the second target plane D2, at least one receiving channel among the multiple receiving units is ensured to be within the second target plane D2, thereby being able to receive the target reflected laser light L4 propagating along the second target plane D2. This allows the target reflected laser light L4 parallel to the rotation axis R, which is reflected by obstacles 20 in the zenith region, to be received by adjusting the pitch angle of the receiving module 200. The laser radar 10 having the above-described structure has no receiving blind spot in its zenith region.

[0098] In order to receive reflected laser light from outside the laser radar 10 and minimize the size and space occupied by the receiving unit 210, in actual products, the multiple receiving units 210 are often arranged on the second focal plane of the receiving lens unit 220. The second focal plane is a plane passing through the focus of the receiving lens unit 220 and perpendicular to the receiving optical axis A2.

[0099] Accordingly, multiple receiving units 210 can be disposed on the receiving circuit board / control circuit board 400. The receiving circuit board / control circuit board 400 can coincide with the second focal plane. The second focal plane is a plane passing through the focal point of the receiving lens unit 220 near the base 500 and perpendicular to the receiving optical axis A2, so that the reflected laser light L3 is received by the receiving unit 210 after passing through the receiving lens unit 220. The projection of the second target plane D2 on the receiving circuit board / control circuit board 400 can be the receiving central axis C2. The multiple receiving units 210 can be arranged symmetrically or asymmetrically relative to the receiving central axis C2.

[0100] For example, Figure 6B As shown, multiple receiving units 210 can be divided into multiple groups, each group is a receiving array 20A. Among them, a receiving array 20A can include multiple receiving units 210. A receiving array 20A can be a chip (die), and a certain number of receiving units 210 can be set on each chip to receive reflected laser light. For example, Figure 6B The illustrated lidar 10 may include eight receiving chips, die1' to die8', each of which constitutes a receiving array. Each receiving chip (each receiving array 20A) may include 32 receiving units 210. Specifically, the receiving units 210 of the receiving array 20A may be arranged in four columns, with each column including four receiving units 210.

[0101] In order to allow the laser radar 10 to obtain the largest possible field of view in the vertical direction to receive the laser reflected by the obstacle 20, the receiving array 20A can be distributed in a queue. For example, a plurality of first receiving arrays 10A1 can be arranged on the first side of the receiving central axis C2 to form a third queue; a plurality of second receiving arrays 10A2 can be arranged on the second side of the receiving central axis C2 to form a fourth queue. The third queue and the fourth queue are arranged equidistantly and parallel to the receiving central axis C2. That is, the third queue and the fourth queue are not on the receiving central axis C2. The third queue and the fourth queue can be symmetrically distributed about the transmitting central axis C1, or they can be staggered about the transmitting central axis C1. As shown in FIG. Figure 6B As shown, the first receiving array 20A1 may include die2', die4' and die6' to form a third queue; the second receiving array 20A2 may include die1', die3', die5' and die7' to form a fourth queue. The first receiving array 20A1 and the second receiving array 20A2 are staggered about the receiving center axis C2. The third receiving array 20A3 includes die8'. A third receiving array 20A3 may be further divided from the multiple receiving units 210, which is connected end to end with the third queue and includes at least one target receiving unit 211, and the at least one target receiving unit 211 is located on the receiving center axis C3. Specifically, Figure 6B Die8' in the image represents the third receiving array 20A3. Die8' connects to the first die6' in the third array. Receiver chips die1'-die7' are all parallel to the receiving axis C2, while receiver chip die8' is tilted at a non-zero angle relative to the receiving axis C2, positioning one receiving element 211 in the receiving array 10A3 on the receiving axis C2. This allows target receiving element 211 to receive target-reflected laser light L4 propagating along the second target plane D2, making it possible for the laser radar 10 to receive target-reflected laser light L4 parallel to the rotation axis R.

[0102] As mentioned above, in order for the laser radar 10 to receive the target reflected laser light L4 reflected by the obstacle 20 in the zenith area and parallel to the rotation axis R, the receiving module 200 needs to be adjusted to an appropriate pitch angle. Therefore, the receiving optical axis A2 of the laser radar 10 and the rotation axis R can be at a second preset angle. At the same time, there should also be a certain distance (second preset value) between at least one receiving and transmitting unit 210 and the receiving optical axis A2, so that at least one target receiving unit 211 can receive the target reflected laser light L4 incident on the receiving lens unit 220, parallel to the rotation axis R, and having a sufficient refraction angle after passing through the receiving lens unit 210.

[0103] Continue to refer to Figure 6A, the target receiving unit 211 can be the receiving unit 110 farthest from the receiving optical axis A2 among all the receiving units 210. For example, when the reference plane Rf is the plane where the base 500 is located or the plane below the receiving circuit board / control circuit board 400, the target receiving unit 211 can be located on the receiving circuit board / control circuit board 400. The position close to the reference plane Rf. Since the receiving lens unit 220 will deflect the target receiving laser L4, the target receiving laser L4 closest to the rotation axis R and closest to the zenith area will be located at the bottom of all the transmitting lasers after deflection. By selecting a suitable focal length of the receiving lens unit 220 and a combination of lenses included in the receiving lens unit 220, the target receiving laser L2 closest to the rotation axis R can also be made to finally enter the target receiving unit 220, thereby solving the problem of the laser radar 10 having a receiving blind spot in the zenith area.

[0104] The transmitting module 100 and the receiving module 200 can be arranged side by side and facing the same direction, and the transmitting module 100 and the receiving module 200 can be distributed on both sides of the rotation axis R, and the rotation axis R is equidistant from the transmitting optical axis A1 and the receiving optical axis A2. The transmitting unit 110 in the transmitting module 100 and the receiving unit 210 in the receiving module 200 can have a corresponding relationship. For example, the above-mentioned corresponding relationship can be a one-to-one relationship, a one-to-many relationship, or a many-to-one relationship. For example, Figure 7 FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the distribution of the transmitting unit 110 and the receiving unit 210 provided according to some embodiments of this specification. Figure 7 As shown, multiple receiving units 210 and multiple transmitting units 110 can have the same distribution method, so that multiple transmitting units 110 can correspond one-to-one to multiple receiving units 210, and the outgoing laser L1 emitted by each transmitting unit 110 can be received by the corresponding receiving unit 210 after being reflected by the obstacle 20. For example, when the target transmitting unit 111 (die8) is the transmitting unit 110 farthest from the transmitting optical axis A1 among all the transmitting units 110, the target receiving unit 211 (die8') is the receiving unit 210 farthest from the receiving optical axis A2 among all the receiving units 210. The laser radar 10 can also include a driver chip and a signal readout chip. The driver chip can be used to drive the transmitting unit 110 to emit laser pulses (outgoing laser); the signal readout chip can collect and read the echo signal (reflected laser).

[0105] In some embodiments, the laser radar 10 may include a laser. The laser may include multiple transmitting units 110. The laser may include a VCSEL laser, and the VCSEL laser may include multiple VCSEL transmitting units. The laser may also include an EEL (Edge Emitting Lasers), which may emit a laser beam parallel to the substrate surface. For example, the EEL laser may be an FP (Fabry-Perot Laser), a DFB (Distributed Feedback Laser), and a DBR (Distributed Bragg Reflector), etc. The laser may also include a fiber laser, a solid-state laser, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of this specification.

[0106] In some embodiments, the laser radar 10 may include a detector. The detector may include multiple receiving units 210. The detector may include a SiPM (Silicon Photomultiplier) detector or a SPAD array, wherein the SiPM detector includes multiple SPAD sub-pixels. The detector 410 may also include an APD (Avalanche Photodiode), a SPAD (Single Photon Avalanche Diode) detector, etc. The SiPM detector may include multiple sub-pixels, each of which may sense a light signal and output an electrical signal. The light signal may be an echo signal or an ambient light signal.

[0107] In some embodiments, the vertical field of view of the multiple transmitting units 110 can be greater than or equal to 100 degrees, and the beam of the outgoing laser can be greater than 128 beams. The vertical field of view of the laser radar 10 is greater than or equal to 100 degrees, so that the laser radar 10 can scan the surrounding environment with a wider coverage range, and the target outgoing laser L2 can be closer to the zenith area after the laser radar 10 is tilted. The beam of the outgoing laser is greater than 128 beams, so that the laser radar 10 can capture richer details of the obstacle 20 with higher resolution, and the final point cloud map is significantly clearer. Correspondingly, the vertical field of view of the multiple receiving units 210 can be greater than or equal to 100 degrees, so as to receive the reflected laser emitted by the transmitting unit 110 and then reflected by the obstacle 20 within a larger range.

[0108] In some embodiments, the pitch angle (tilt angle) of the emission optical axis A1 of the emitting lens unit 120 relative to the rotation axis R can be greater than 10 degrees and less than 80 degrees, so that the emitted laser can be close to the zenith area pointed by the rotation axis R. By raising the tilt of the emission optical axis A1 relative to the base 500, the target emission laser L2 emitted by the target emitting unit 111 can be made closer to the rotation axis R, and the radius r of the cylinder obtained around the rotation axis R can be smaller, thereby achieving a scan that nearly covers the zenith. Correspondingly, the pitch angle (tilt angle) of the receiving optical axis A2 of the receiving lens unit 220 relative to the rotation axis R can be greater than 10 degrees and less than 80 degrees, so that the receiving unit 210 can receive the reflected laser close to the zenith area pointed by the rotation axis R.

[0109] As mentioned above, the rotation axis R pointing upwards is only one way to install the laser radar 10. In order to adapt to different usage scenarios and usage requirements, the laser radar 10 can be installed in different ways. For example, in the scenario of autonomous driving, in order to detect the road conditions on the left or right, the laser radar 10 is installed horizontally on the vehicle body, that is, the rotation axis R points to the left or right, so as to obtain the situation of obstacles on the left or right. For another example, in the scenario of smart home, in order to monitor the situation indoors, the laser radar 10 is installed upside down on the roof so that the rotation axis of the laser radar 10 points downwards to obtain the situation of objects inside the house.

[0110] Figure 8A A method of installing the laser radar 10 provided according to some embodiments of the present application is shown. Figure 8B Another installation method of the laser radar 10 provided in some embodiments of the present application is shown. For example, Figure 8A The laser radar 10 in the figure uses an inverted mounting method. The base 500 of the laser radar 10 is at the top, with the rotation axis R pointing directly downward. The laser radar 10 has a vertical field of view of 105 degrees. By tilting the optical axis, the laser scans 15 degrees upward horizontally and 90 degrees downward horizontally. By inverting the laser radar 10, it can scan obstacles 20 directly below and acquire relevant information. Furthermore, because the laser radar 10 is inverted, it avoids direct sunlight, better protecting the light shield 600 outside the laser radar 10. To accommodate the field of view of the laser radar 10 when inverted, the top corner of the light shield 600 is designed to be curved, allowing light to be emitted from both the side and the top. This design places the light output aperture as close to the curved corner surface as possible, which greatly facilitates the light output angle away from the base, reduces internal reflections, and gives the light shield a more streamlined appearance and better mechanical properties. It is less likely to collapse under stress on the top and less likely to generate stress at the corners. It also facilitates mask processing, makes demolding easier, reduces consumables, and reduces costs.

[0111] Figure 8BThe laser radar 10 in the application uses a horizontal installation method. The base 500 of the laser radar 10 is on the left, and the rotation axis R points to the right. The laser radar 10 has a field of view of 130 degrees. When the laser radar 10 rotates, it can form a complete hemisphere, so that the laser radar 10 has almost no scanning blind spots in the vertical direction. And when the laser radar 10 is installed horizontally on the vehicle body, only the head of the light shield 600 needs to be exposed from the front side of the vehicle body. The exposed part is very small, such as only 2 cm, which is very good for concealment and the appearance of the entire vehicle. The laser radar 10 in this application supports various tilt installation angles of the rotation axis R from vertical to horizontal, and balances the regularity of the point cloud and the protruding volume, so that users can rotate the installation method according to the vehicle model.

[0112] In summary, this specification provides a laser radar 10 including a target transmitting unit 111 located in a first target plane D1, and a target receiving unit 211 located in a second target plane D2, so that the outgoing laser L2 emitted by the target transmitting unit 111 can pass through the transmitting lens unit 120 and be parallel to the rotation axis R and then emitted to the outside of the laser radar 10, thereby realizing detection of the zenith area, and the target transmitting unit 211 can receive the target reflected laser L4 parallel to the rotation axis R, so that the laser radar 10 obtains the point cloud data of the zenith area, thereby realizing the stitching of the point cloud data of the zenith area, and solving the original problem of the scanning blind spot in the zenith area.

[0113] The foregoing description of this specification describes specific embodiments. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recited in the claims can be performed in an order different from that described in the embodiments and still achieve the desired results. Furthermore, the processes depicted in the accompanying drawings do not necessarily require the particular order or sequential order shown to achieve the desired results. In certain embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing are also possible or may be advantageous.

[0114] In summary, after reading this detailed disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing detailed disclosure may be presented by way of example only and may not be limiting. Although not expressly stated herein, those skilled in the art will understand that this specification encompasses various reasonable changes, improvements, and modifications to the embodiments. Such changes, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this specification and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of this specification.

[0115] Furthermore, certain terms in this specification have been used to describe embodiments of this specification. For example, “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” and / or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this specification. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be understood that two or more references to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” or “an alternative embodiment” in various parts of this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be appropriately combined in one or more embodiments of this specification.

[0116] It should be understood that in the foregoing descriptions of the embodiments of this specification, to facilitate understanding of a feature and to simplify this specification, various features are combined in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof. However, this does not necessarily mean that these features are combined. When reading this specification, a person skilled in the art may label some of the devices as separate embodiments. In other words, the embodiments of this specification can also be understood as the integration of multiple sub-embodiments. This also applies when each sub-embodiment contains fewer than all the features of a single previously disclosed embodiment.

[0117] Each patent, patent application, patent application publication, and other materials, such as articles, books, specifications, publications, documents, articles, etc., cited herein is hereby incorporated by reference, except for any content that appears in the patent-related documents that may be inconsistent or conflicting with this document or that may have a limiting effect on the broadest scope of the claims. In addition, if there is any inconsistency or conflict between the description, definition, and / or use of terms associated with any incorporated material and the terminology, description, definition, and / or use associated with this document, the terminology in this document shall control.

[0118] Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments of the application disclosed herein are illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of this specification. Other modified embodiments are also within the scope of this specification. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples and not limitations. Those skilled in the art can adopt alternative configurations based on the embodiments in this specification to implement the application in this specification. Therefore, the embodiments of this specification are not limited to the embodiments precisely described in the application.

Claims

1. A laser radar, characterized in that: include: a base, which rotates around a rotation axis when the laser radar is in operation; A transmitting module is mounted on the base and emits an outgoing laser when in operation; as well as The receiving module is installed on the base and receives the reflected laser light generated when the outgoing laser encounters an obstacle during operation. The transmitting module comprises: an emission lens unit having an emission optical axis, wherein a perpendicular projection of the emission optical axis on a reference plane and the emission optical axis define a first target plane, wherein the reference plane is perpendicular to the rotation axis, and Multiple transmitting units transmit the outgoing laser when in operation, and transmit the outgoing laser through the transmitting lens unit to the outside of the laser radar, wherein the target outgoing laser emitted by at least one target transmitting unit among the multiple transmitting units is located on the first target plane.

2. The laser radar according to claim 1, wherein The transmitting module further includes a transmitting circuit board, the plurality of transmitting units are arranged on the transmitting circuit board, and the projection of the first target plane on the transmitting circuit board is a transmitting central axis; as well as The plurality of launch units include a plurality of launch arrays, at least one launch array among the plurality of launch arrays includes the at least one target launch unit, and the at least one target launch unit is located on the launch central axis.

3. The laser radar according to claim 2, wherein: The plurality of transmit arrays include a plurality of first transmit arrays, a plurality of second transmit arrays and at least one third transmit array, The plurality of first transmitting arrays are distributed on the first side of the transmitting central axis to form a first queue. The plurality of second transmitting arrays are distributed on the second side of the transmitting central axis to form a second queue, and the first queue and the second queue are arranged in parallel with the transmitting central axis at equal distances, and The third transmitting array is connected end to end with the first queue and includes the at least one target transmitting unit.

4. The laser radar according to claim 3, wherein The emission light axis and the rotation axis form a first preset angle; Correspondingly, the distance between the at least one target emitting unit and the emitting optical axis is a first preset value, so that the target emitted laser is parallel to the rotation axis after being deflected by the emitting lens unit.

5. The laser radar according to claim 2, wherein: The transmitting circuit board coincides with the first focal plane, The first focal plane is a plane passing through the focus of the emission lens unit and perpendicular to the emission optical axis.

6. The laser radar according to claim 2, wherein: The receiving module includes: a receiving lens unit having a receiving optical axis, wherein a vertical projection of the receiving optical axis on the reference plane and the receiving optical axis form a second target plane, and the reflected laser light is incident into the receiving module through the receiving lens unit; and A plurality of receiving units, corresponding to the plurality of transmitting units and located on the optical path of the reflected laser to receive the reflected laser, There is at least one target receiving unit among the multiple receiving units, and the reflected laser includes at least one beam of target reflected laser propagating along the second target plane and finally incident on the target receiving unit.

7. The laser radar according to claim 6, wherein: The receiving module further includes a receiving circuit board, the plurality of receiving units are arranged on the receiving circuit board and face the receiving lens unit, and the projection of the second target plane on the receiving circuit board is a receiving central axis; as well as The plurality of receiving units include a plurality of receiving arrays, at least one receiving array among the plurality of receiving arrays includes the at least one target receiving unit, and the at least one target receiving unit is located on the receiving central axis.

8. The laser radar according to claim 7, wherein: The transmitting module and the receiving module are arranged side by side and face the same direction. The rotation axis is equidistant from the transmitting optical axis and the receiving optical axis, and The multiple receiving units and the multiple transmitting units have the same distribution method.

9. The laser radar according to claim 6, wherein: The detector includes a detector including the multiple receiving units, and the detector includes a multiple SPAD units.

10. The laser radar according to claim 6, wherein: The receiving module further includes a receiving circuit board, the plurality of receiving units are arranged on the receiving circuit board and face the receiving lens unit, the plurality of receiving units include a plurality of receiving arrays, at least one receiving array of the plurality of receiving arrays includes the at least one target receiving unit, and the target receiving unit is placed on one side of the second target plane; as well as The receiving light path guiding module guides the at least one beam of target reflected laser light propagating along the second target plane out of the second target plane so as to be incident on the target receiving unit.

11. The laser radar according to claim 1, wherein The vertical field of view angles of the multiple emitting units are greater than or equal to 100 degrees, and the number of the emitted laser beams is greater than 128.

12. The laser radar according to claim 11, wherein The elevation angle of the emission optical axis relative to the rotation axis is greater than 10 degrees and less than 80 degrees, so that the emitted laser is close to the zenith area pointed by the rotation axis.

13. The laser radar according to claim 1, wherein The laser comprises a plurality of emission units, the laser comprises a VCSEL laser, and the VCSEL laser comprises a plurality of VCSEL emission units.

14. The laser radar according to claim 1, wherein The transmitting module also includes a transmitting circuit board, the plurality of transmitting units being arranged on the transmitting circuit board, the plurality of transmitting units comprising a plurality of transmitting arrays, at least one transmitting array of the plurality of transmitting arrays comprising the at least one target transmitting unit, the target transmitting unit being placed beside one side of the first target plane; as well as The emission light path guiding module guides the laser emitted by the at least one target emission unit to the first target plane.

15. A laser radar, characterized in that: include: a base, which rotates around a rotation axis when the laser radar is in operation; A transmitting module is mounted on the base and emits an outgoing laser when in operation; as well as The receiving module is installed on the base and receives the reflected laser light generated when the outgoing laser encounters an obstacle during operation. The receiving module includes: The receiving lens unit has a receiving optical axis, wherein the vertical projection of the receiving optical axis on the reference plane forms a second target plane with the receiving optical axis, and the reflected laser is incident into the receiving module through the receiving lens unit. wherein the reference plane is perpendicular to the rotation axis, and A plurality of receiving units are arranged toward the receiving lens unit and on the optical path of the reflected laser to receive the reflected laser, wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving units is a target receiving unit, and the reflected laser includes at least one beam of target reflected laser propagating along the second target plane and finally incident on the target receiving unit.

16. The laser radar according to claim 15, wherein: It also includes a receiving circuit board, the plurality of receiving units are arranged on the receiving circuit board and face the receiving lens unit, and the projection of the second target plane on the receiving circuit board is a receiving central axis; as well as The plurality of receiving units include a plurality of receiving arrays, at least one receiving array among the plurality of receiving arrays includes the at least one target receiving unit, and the at least one target receiving unit is located on the receiving central axis.

17. The laser radar according to claim 16, wherein: The plurality of receiving arrays include a plurality of first receiving arrays, a plurality of second receiving arrays and at least one third receiving array. The plurality of first receiving arrays are distributed on the first side of the receiving central axis to form a third queue. The plurality of second receiving arrays are distributed on the second side of the receiving central axis to form a fourth queue, and the third queue and the fourth queue are arranged equidistantly and parallel to the receiving central axis, and The third receiving array is connected end to end with the third queue and includes the at least one target receiving unit.

18. The laser radar according to claim 17, wherein: The receiving light axis and the rotation axis form a second preset angle; Correspondingly, the distance between the at least one target receiving unit and the receiving optical axis is a second preset value, so that the at least one target receiving unit receives the target reflected laser parallel to the rotation axis.

19. The laser radar according to claim 16, wherein: The receiving circuit board coincides with the second focal plane, The second focal plane is a plane passing through the focus of the receiving lens unit and perpendicular to the receiving optical axis.

20. The laser radar according to claim 16, wherein: The transmitting module includes: an emitting lens unit having an emitting optical axis, wherein a perpendicular projection of the emitting optical axis on a reference plane forms a first target plane with the emitting optical axis; and A plurality of transmitting units, corresponding to the plurality of receiving units, transmit the outgoing laser to the transmitting lens unit during operation, The target-emitting laser emitted by at least one target-emitting unit among the plurality of emitting units is located on the first target plane.

21. The laser radar according to claim 20, wherein: It also includes a transmitting circuit board, the plurality of transmitting units are arranged on the transmitting circuit board, and the projection of the first target plane on the transmitting circuit board is the transmitting central axis; as well as The multiple launch units are divided into multiple launch arrays, at least one launch array among the multiple launch arrays includes the at least one target launch unit, and the at least one target launch unit is located on the launch central axis.

22. The laser radar according to claim 21, wherein The transmitting module and the receiving module are arranged side by side and face the same direction. The rotation axis is equidistant from the transmitting optical axis and the receiving optical axis, and The multiple receiving units and the multiple transmitting units have the same distribution method.

23. The laser radar according to claim 20, wherein: The laser comprises a plurality of emission units, the emitter comprises a VCSEL laser, and the VCSEL laser comprises a plurality of VCSEL emission units.

24. The laser radar according to claim 20, wherein: Also includes a transmitting circuit board, the plurality of transmitting units being arranged on the transmitting circuit board, the plurality of transmitting units comprising a plurality of transmitting arrays, at least one transmitting array of the plurality of transmitting arrays comprising the at least one target transmitting unit, the target transmitting unit being placed beside one side of the first target plane; as well as The emission light path guiding module guides the laser emitted by the at least one target emission unit to the first target plane.

25. The laser radar according to claim 15, wherein The vertical viewing angle of the multiple receiving units is greater than or equal to 100 degrees.

26. The laser radar according to claim 25, wherein: The pitch angle of the receiving optical axis relative to the rotation axis is greater than 10 degrees and less than 80 degrees, so as to receive the reflected laser light in a zenith area close to the direction of the rotation axis.

27. The laser radar according to claim 15, wherein: The detector includes a detector including the multiple receiving units, and the detector includes a multiple SPAD units.

28. The laser radar according to claim 15, wherein: Also includes a receiving circuit board, the plurality of receiving units being arranged on the receiving circuit board and facing the receiving lens unit, the plurality of receiving units comprising a plurality of receiving arrays, at least one receiving array of the plurality of receiving arrays comprising the at least one target receiving unit; as well as The receiving light path guiding module guides the at least one beam of target reflected laser light propagating along the second target plane out of the second target plane so as to be incident on the target receiving unit.

29. A laser radar, characterized in that: include: a base, which rotates around a rotation axis when the laser radar is in operation; A transmitting module is mounted on the base and emits an outgoing laser when in operation; as well as The receiving module is installed on the base and receives the reflected laser light generated when the outgoing laser encounters an obstacle during operation. The transmitting module comprises: an emission lens unit having an emission optical axis, a projection of the emission optical axis on a reference plane forming a first target plane with the emission optical axis, wherein the reference plane is perpendicular to the rotation axis, and a plurality of transmitting units, which transmit the outgoing laser light during operation, and transmit the outgoing laser light through the transmitting lens unit to the outside of the laser radar, wherein the target outgoing laser light emitted by at least one target transmitting unit among the plurality of transmitting units is located on the first target plane, and The receiving module includes: The receiving lens unit has a receiving optical axis, the projection of the receiving optical axis on the reference plane is parallel to the receiving optical axis. The receiving optical axis forms a second target plane, and the reflected laser is incident into the receiving module through the receiving lens unit, wherein the reference plane is perpendicular to the rotation axis, and A plurality of receiving units are arranged toward the receiving lens unit and on the optical path of the reflected laser to receive the reflected laser, wherein at least one of the plurality of receiving units is a target receiving unit, and the reflected laser includes at least one beam of target reflected laser propagating along the second target plane and finally incident on the target receiving unit.

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