Laser radar, vehicle-mounted laser radar system and vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a laser radar, a vehicle-mounted laser radar system and a vehicle, and relates to the field of automatic driving. The laser radar obtains radar measurement data through the receiving module and outputs the radar measurement data to the domain controller; and the domain controller calculates the radar measurement data through the radar data processing module so as to obtain point cloud data. According to the invention, the processing effect of the point cloud data is improved, and the accuracy of environment perception in automatic driving is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of autonomous driving technology, and in particular to a laser radar, a vehicle-mounted laser radar system, and a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] With the development of autonomous driving technology, LiDAR has become an indispensable sensor.

[0003] Currently, most lidars convert the light beam reflected by the target object into photoelectric conversion, then convert the received signal from analog to digital, and finally process the digital signal locally. The radar's built-in algorithm is used to parse out environmental perception data such as distance and grayscale information from the digital signal. This data is then packaged into point cloud data and sent to the domain control unit (DCU) of the autonomous vehicle.

[0004] In the above solution, when generating point cloud data, the LiDAR needs to perform a large amount of internal data processing, which consumes a large amount of hardware resources. This requires the LiDAR 41 to use a high-performance core controller chip, resulting in relatively high costs. If a low-performance core controller chip is used, due to the limited hardware resources of the core controller chip, many complex algorithms cannot be executed within the LiDAR 41, thus limiting the processing effect of the point cloud data and affecting the accuracy of environmental perception. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present disclosure provides a laser radar and a vehicle-mounted laser radar system, which can improve the processing effect of point cloud data and enhance the accuracy of environmental perception in autonomous driving.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides a laser radar, comprising: a transmitting module, a receiving module, a control module and a first transmission module; wherein the transmitting module is configured to transmit a laser beam; the receiving module is configured to receive a reflected beam of the laser beam and obtain radar measurement data based on the transmitted beam; the radar measurement data is output to the first transmission module; the first transmission module is configured to output the radar measurement data to a domain controller, and the domain controller is used to obtain point cloud data by solving the radar measurement data.

[0007] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides a vehicle-mounted lidar system, comprising: a lidar as described in the first aspect and a domain controller, the domain controller comprising a radar data processing module; wherein the radar data processing module is configured to receive radar measurement data output by the first transmission module, and to solve the radar measurement data to obtain point cloud data.

[0008] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides a vehicle. The vehicle may include the vehicle-mounted laser radar system as described in the second aspect.

[0009] The technical solution provided by the present disclosure may have the following beneficial effects:

[0010] In this disclosure, the radar data processing module used to calculate radar measurement data is deployed in the domain controller. Because the domain controller has much richer hardware resources than the core controller inside the lidar, the vehicle-mounted lidar system can use more comprehensive, complex, and targeted algorithms to calculate radar measurement data, thereby improving the processing effect of radar point cloud data and further enhancing the accuracy of environmental perception in autonomous driving.

[0011] In addition, since the domain controller has much richer hardware resources than the core controller inside the lidar, the domain controller can call on more resources for data solution, shorten the solution delay, and thus improve the real-time performance of the DCU in obtaining radar point cloud data.

[0012] Furthermore, since the radar measurement data is solved by the DCU, the lidar does not need to perform a large amount of data processing, thereby reducing the power consumption of the lidar in the lidar system.

[0013] Furthermore, since the radar measurement data is solved by the DCU, the resource requirements of the core controller chip of the lidar are greatly reduced, the optional range of core controller chips is expanded, the hardware material cost is reduced, and the difficulty of designing the lidar system is reduced.

[0014] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing the composition of a lidar system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0016] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a vehicle-mounted lidar system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figures 3a to 3d A schematic diagram of a vehicle-mounted lidar system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 4a A first architectural schematic diagram of a SPAD according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Figure 4b A second architectural schematic diagram of a SPAD according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0020] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing the composition of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In the following description, specific details such as specific system structures and technologies are provided for illustrative purposes rather than for limitation, so as to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that the technical solutions of the present disclosure can also be implemented in other embodiments without these specific details. In other cases, detailed descriptions of well-known systems, devices, circuits, and methods are omitted to avoid obscuring the description of the technical solutions of the present disclosure with unnecessary details.

[0022] To illustrate the technical solutions described in the present disclosure, the following detailed description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the following detailed description is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The following description includes various details to assist in understanding, but these details are considered to be examples only and are not intended to limit the present disclosure, which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. The words and phrases used in the following description are intended only to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. In addition, for the sake of clarity and brevity, descriptions of well-known structures, functions, and configurations may be omitted. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0023] like Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the components of a laser radar system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1 The XYZ coordinate system is marked in . Figure 1 FIG2 shows a schematic diagram of the components of a laser radar system 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The laser radar system 100 can be used to detect the distance and speed of a target object.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the lidar system 100 may include a transmitting device 110 , a scanning device 120 , and a receiving device 130 .

[0025] In various embodiments, the transmitting device 110 can be configured to emit a transmission light beam having a uniform energy distribution. Here, uniform energy distribution can also be interpreted as uniform illumination or light intensity. In some embodiments, such a transmission light beam having a uniform energy distribution can be obtained by shaping (homogenizing) the transmission light beam using the transmitting optical system 112, which will be discussed in detail later.

[0026] In various embodiments, the emitted light beam is divergent in a first direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the emitting device 110, with a corresponding first divergence angle.

[0027] Furthermore, in various embodiments, the emitted light beam is either parallel in a second direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the emitting device and perpendicular to the first direction, or divergent and the corresponding second divergence angle is smaller than a preset threshold.

[0028] In practical applications, the first direction ( Figure 1 The Y-axis direction shown in the figure) can usually refer to the vertical direction (V direction), and the second direction ( Figure 1 The Z-axis direction shown in FIG) can generally refer to the horizontal direction (H direction). For ease of understanding, the following description uses the case where the first direction corresponds to the vertical direction and the second direction corresponds to the horizontal direction as an example. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the first direction can also refer to the horizontal direction, and the second direction can refer to the vertical direction.

[0029] On the one hand, the emitted light beam diverges in the vertical direction, and the corresponding first divergence angle is defined as Δθ V That is, the emitted light beam is at an angle Δθ in the vertical direction. V Fan-shaped beam emission.

[0030] Alternatively, the emitted light beam may be parallel in the horizontal direction. Alternatively, the emitted light beam may diverge in the horizontal direction, but the corresponding second divergence angle is less than a preset threshold. In other words, the emitted light beam is emitted horizontally as parallel light or at a very small angle. The selection of the preset threshold will be discussed in detail later.

[0031] That is, the emission light beam is a uniform linear or narrow rectangular beam. As a result, the light spot projected in the field of view can appear as a narrow rectangle or even a line. The long side of the rectangle corresponds to the vertical direction, and the short side corresponds to the horizontal direction. Here, "narrow" can mean that the aspect ratio of the rectangle is greater than a preset aspect ratio threshold. Advantageously, by using an emission light beam that is linear or narrow rectangular, the lidar system 100 of the present disclosure can achieve a more concentrated field of view angle energy, a longer distance detection, and a higher resolution.

[0032] The inventors of the present disclosure have recognized that an emitted light beam having the above-mentioned specific illumination distribution can be obtained by shaping a laser beam emitted from a common light source.

[0033] Therefore, in some embodiments, the emission device 110 includes a light source 111 and an emission optical system 112. The emission optical system 112 is configured to shape the laser beam emitted from the light source 111 to convert it into the emission light beam.

[0034] In some embodiments, the light source 111 can be a laser, such as a solid-state laser (such as a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), an edge-emitting laser (EEL), an external-cavity diode laser (ECDL)), a laser diode, or a fiber laser. In some embodiments, the light source 111 can also include a light emitting diode (LED). However, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the present disclosure does not place any specific restrictions on the type of device of the light source 111, as long as the output power of the light source 111 is large enough.

[0035] In some embodiments, the light source 111 may be an array light source. For example, the light source 111 may be a VCSEL array comprising a plurality of VCSELs. In a non-limiting example, the plurality of VCSELs may be configured to illuminate all at once during measurement, rather than being illuminated in sections and / or time-sharing.

[0036] Alternatively, in some embodiments, the light source 111 may also be a single point light source. It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure does not impose any specific limitation on the arrangement of the light source 111.

[0037] In some embodiments, the light source 111 can emit light beams in different forms, including pulsed light, continuous wave (CW) and quasi-continuous light. The operating wavelength of the light source can be 650nm to 1150nm, 800nm ​​to 1000nm, 850nm to 950nm or 1300nm to 1600nm. In some embodiments, the light source 111 may further include an optical component optically coupled to the light source 111 for collimating or focusing the light beam emitted by the light source 111. Each emitted light beam emitted by the light source 111 may be continuous light lasting a certain period of time, or it may be one or more light pulses.

[0038] In some embodiments, the emission optical system 112 may include a diffusion unit configured to diffuse and shape the input laser beam. For example, the diffusion unit may diffuse and shape the beam based on diffraction and / or refraction to emit the aforementioned uniform linear or narrow rectangular beam. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present disclosure may also utilize other shaping processes to obtain the aforementioned emission beam.

[0039] In some embodiments, the diffusion unit may include at least one of the following optical devices: an optical diffuser, a diffractive optical element (DOE), and an aspheric cylindrical mirror. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the above devices are merely examples of the diffusion unit and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0040] When an optical diffuser or DOE is used to perform diffusion shaping, the emission optical system 112 may further include a collimating unit, wherein the collimating unit may be configured to collimate the laser beam emitted from the light source to obtain a collimated laser beam to be input into the diffuser or DOE.

[0041] In some embodiments, the collimating unit may include at least one of the following optical devices: a microlens or a collimating mirror. For example, the collimating unit may be an array of microlenses. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the above devices are merely examples of collimating units and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0042] In some embodiments, the lidar system 100 further includes a plane mirror 140 having an aperture 141. Specifically, the plane mirror 140 uses the aperture 141 to transmit the transmission light beam to guide the transmission light beam to the scanning device 120, and uses the mirror surface to reflect the reception light beam to guide the reception light beam to the receiving device 130. That is, the transmission light beam emitted from the transmitting device 110 can be directly transmitted through the plane mirror 140 via the aperture 141, and the reflected reception light beam can be reflected by the mirror surface in the plane mirror 140. That is, the reverse reception path can be separated from the forward transmission path at the plane mirror 140. Thus, with the aid of the plane mirror 140 with an aperture, the lidar system 100 can achieve coaxial transmission and reception. Advantageously, coaxial transmission and reception can avoid the problem of imaging position deviation of the return light spots of short-range and long-range detection caused by the separation of the optical axes of the two, thereby avoiding the additional calibration caused by this problem and facilitating mass production of products. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present disclosure may also be a non-coaxial lidar system.

[0043] In some embodiments, since the plane reflector with a hole has relatively loose requirements on the precision of the manufacturing and adjustment of the hole, it is sufficient to ensure that the emitted light beam can pass through. On this basis, by reducing the size of the hole, the loss of reflected light can be reduced. Therefore, in some embodiments, the emitted light beam is in a focused state when passing through the hole. For example, by designing the beam characteristics of the emitted light beam and / or adjusting the position of the plane reflector relative to the emitting device, it can be ensured that the emitted light beam is in a focused state when passing through the hole. Advantageously, by focusing the emitted light beam at the hole, the hole can be minimized while ensuring that the emitted light beam passes through the hole, thereby minimizing the loss of reflected light and further reducing the precision requirements for the manufacturing and adjustment of the hole. However, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the present disclosure is not limited to this.

[0044] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the hole is usually located at the center of the plane reflector, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In addition, to reduce the loss of reflected light, the shape of the hole can correspond to the cross-sectional shape of the emitted light beam when passing through the hole, and therefore does not necessarily have to be circular.

[0045] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present disclosure may also employ other methods to achieve coaxial transmission and reception. However, compared to other methods such as a beam splitter, the plane reflector with holes proposed in the present disclosure can reduce light loss and improve efficiency.

[0046] In various embodiments, the scanning device 120, such as a rotating mirror, can be configured to rotate about a rotation axis oriented in a vertical direction (a first direction, the Y-axis in the figure) to guide the emission light beam to scan a target object within the field of view. The target object can be any object within the scanning field of view of the lidar system that can reflect the scanning laser, such as a vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road sign, obstacle, tree, shelf, furniture, etc.

[0047] After irradiating the target object, the transmitted light beam is scattered and returned, a portion of which returns to the laser radar system 100 as a received light beam and is received by the receiving device 130.

[0048] In various embodiments, the receiving device 130 may be configured to receive and detect a received light beam (also referred to as a reflected light beam) returned from the target object. For example, the received light beam scattered by the target object may return to the scanning device 120 along its original path, then be guided by the scanning device 120 to the plane reflector 140, and then be reflected by the plane reflector 140 to the receiving device 130.

[0049] In some embodiments, the receiving device 130 may include a photodetector 131. The photodetector 131 may measure the power, phase, or time characteristics of the received light and generate a corresponding current output.

[0050] In some embodiments, as Figure 1 As shown, the photodetector 131 may include a plurality of photodetection units 1310 arranged along a direction. Different photodetection units 1310 are configured to receive and detect light signals returned from target objects at different relative angles in the vertical direction of the field of view. The photodetector 131 may also include a receiving circuit (not shown) associated with each photodetection unit 1310. Each receiving circuit may be used to process the output electrical signal of the corresponding photodetection unit 1310.

[0051] The photodetection unit 1310 may include various forms of photodetection devices or one-dimensional or two-dimensional arrays of photodetection devices. Accordingly, the receiving circuit may be a circuit or an array of multiple circuits. In various embodiments, the photodetection device may be an avalanche photodiode (APD), a single photon avalanche diode (SPAD), a PN photodiode, or a PIN photodiode.

[0052] For example, the photodetection unit 1310 can be a photodetection device (such as a SPAD) or a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array thereof, so the photodetector 131 is an array of SPADs. Advantageously, since the spacing between the SPADs is very small and they are closely arranged, the spatial resolution can be greatly improved. Moreover, different SPADs can simultaneously and individually perform direct time-of-flight (dToF) measurements without the need to illuminate the light source in different zones and at different times, which can greatly improve the temporal resolution.

[0053] In some embodiments, the photodetector device may also be, but is not limited to, an avalanche photodiode (APD) or a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM).

[0054] In some embodiments, the receiving device 130 may further include a receiving optical system 132. The receiving optical system 132 may be configured to image the received light onto the photodetector 131. For example, in some embodiments, the receiving optical system 132 may include a receiving lens and an aperture. The receiving lens and the aperture are located upstream of the photodetector 131 on the receiving path. For example, the receiving lens may include an imaging system lens so that the focus of the received light beam is in front of or behind the receiving surface of the photodetector or just above the receiving surface. In some cases, instead of existing as a separate component, the receiving lens may also be integrated into the photodetector 131. The aperture is used to limit the angle of incident light incident on the photodetector 131, block stray light, etc.

[0055] As described above, the light spot projected by the lidar system 100 into the field of view can be a uniform line or a narrow rectangle extending in the vertical direction. Therefore, the received light beam returned from the target object will form a similar pattern on the receiving surface of the photodetector 131. By arranging multiple photodetection units 1310 correspondingly along the long side of the line or rectangle, and using the receiving optical system 132 to image the light returned from the target object at different relative vertical angles in the field of view onto different photodetection units 1310, these photodetection units 1310 can be made to correspond to target objects at different relative vertical angles in the field of view. In other words, different photodetection units 1310 are configured to receive and detect light signals returned from target objects at different relative vertical angles in the field of view. Therefore, based on the arrangement information of the photodetection units 1310 and the parameter information of the optical system, the relative angle of the corresponding target object can be accurately calculated.

[0056] Since a uniform linear (or narrow rectangular) transmitting light beam is adopted, it is only necessary to perform simple adjustment on the laser radar system 100 so that the receiving light spot imaged by the receiving optical system 132 on the photodetector 131 can cover the receiving surface of the photodetection unit 1310 (that is, the photosensitive surface of all photodetection units 1310), and there is no need to perform separate alignment of the transmitting module and the receiving module. Here, the receiving light spot "covering" the receiving surface can be understood as the receiving light spot at least partially overlapping with the receiving surface, so that each photodetection unit can receive the light signal returned from the target object. For example, in some embodiments, the size of the receiving light spot can be made relatively small, and can only cover a part of the receiving surface, so that the returned light signal can be received by the photodetection unit as much as possible to reduce waste. Therefore, advantageously, the solution proposed in the present disclosure can greatly simplify the difficulty of adjustment and facilitate the realization of automated production.

[0057] The angular resolution δθ of the laser radar system 100 in the vertical direction according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is V =Δθ V / Q, where Q is the number of photodetection units 1310 included in the photodetector 131. By reducing the emission angle Δθ V And / or increasing the number Q of the photodetection units 1310 in the photodetector 131 can reduce the angular resolution δθ in the vertical direction V value, thereby improving the angular resolution in the vertical direction.

[0058] It should be noted that in some embodiments, each photodetection unit 1310 may include multiple photodetection devices (such as SPADs) arranged along a direction, wherein the arrangement direction of the multiple photodetection devices is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the multiple photodetection units 1310. Through this arrangement, the number of photodetection devices in each photodetection unit 1310 can be increased without affecting the spacing between the photodetection units 1310, thereby improving the detection accuracy without affecting the spatial resolution.

[0059] With the increasing electrification and diversification of automotive functionality, the limitations of distributed architectures and electronic control units (ECUs) pose challenges to vehicle production costs, functional implementation, and future development. This has necessitated the emergence of more integrated and intelligent solutions, namely domain control units (DCUs) and centralized architectures within domains. The domain controller is the core of each functional domain in the vehicle and primarily consists of three components: a domain master controller, an operating system, and application software and algorithms. Platform-based, high-integration, high-performance, and excellent compatibility are the core design principles of the domain controller. Leveraging a high-performance domain master controller, a rich set of hardware interfaces, and powerful software features, the domain controller can integrate core functions that previously required multiple ECUs, significantly improving system functional integration. Combined with standardized interfaces for data exchange, this significantly reduces development and manufacturing costs for this component.

[0060] In some embodiments, the functional domains of a car may include: a power domain, a body domain, a chassis domain, a cockpit domain, and an autonomous driving domain.

[0061] The DCU in the power domain primarily controls the vehicle's powertrain, optimizing performance and ensuring power safety. Its functions include, but are not limited to, engine management, transmission management, battery management, power distribution management, emissions management, speed limit management, and fuel and power conservation management.

[0062] The DCU in the body domain mainly controls various body functions, including but not limited to the control of headlights, taillights, interior lights, door locks, windows, sunroof, wipers, electric trunk, smart keys, air conditioning, antennas, gateway communications, etc.

[0063] The DCU in the chassis domain mainly controls the vehicle's driving behavior and posture. Its functions include but are not limited to braking system management, vehicle transmission system management, driving system management, steering system management, vehicle speed sensor management, body posture sensor management, air suspension system management, airbag system management, etc.

[0064] The DCU in the cockpit domain mainly controls various electronic information system functions in the vehicle's intelligent cockpit, including the central control system, in-vehicle infotainment system, head-up display, seat system, instrument system, rearview mirror system, driving behavior monitoring system, navigation system, etc.

[0065] The DCU in the autonomous driving domain is mainly responsible for realizing and controlling the autonomous driving functions of the vehicle. It needs to have the ability to receive image information, process and judge image information, process and calculate data, navigate and plan routes, and make quick judgments and decisions on real-time situations. It needs to process algorithms at the three levels of perception, decision-making, and control, and has the highest requirements for the domain controller's hardware and software.

[0066] In one example, such as the autonomous driving domain, Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a vehicle-mounted LiDAR system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In the vehicle-mounted LiDAR system 30, the LiDAR 21 may include a power module 211, a clock module 212, a laser emission module 213, a receiving module 214, a core controller chip 215, a laser scanning module 216, a data transmission interface 217, and a radar data processing module 218; the domain controller 22 may include a data transmission interface 221.

[0067] Among them, the receiving module 214 may include a photodetector 131, such as a SPAD array (denoted as SPAD). The core controller chip 215 may be a system on chip (SOC), which usually includes a high-performance processing chip, such as an ARM controller and a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The laser scanning module 216 may be a scanning mirror control module, including but not limited to a scanning mirror, a galvanometer, etc. The data transmission interface 217 may include but not limited to an automotive ethernet interface, a controller area network (CAN) bus interface, a local interconnect network (LIN) bus interface, etc. The radar data processing module 218 includes a radar driver module 218a and a radar application (Lidar app) module 218b.

[0068] In some embodiments, the laser radar 21 corresponds to the laser radar system 100. A power module 211 is used to power the laser radar 21. A clock module 212 is used to provide time information. A data transmission interface 217 is used for the laser radar 21 to transmit point cloud data to the DCU 22. A radar data processing module 218 is used to obtain point cloud data.

[0069] In some embodiments, the specific implementation of the laser emitting module 213 can be found in the description of the emitting device 110 and is not further described here. The specific implementation of the receiving module 214 can be found in the description of the receiving device 130 and is not further described here. The specific implementation of the laser scanning module 216 can be found in the description of the scanning device 120 and is not further described here.

[0070] In some embodiments, the radar driver module 218a and radar application module 218b are drivers and applications related to the lidar. The radar driver module 218a is a software module or program used to communicate with and control the core controller chip 215. It is responsible for receiving data sent by the core controller chip 215 and passing it to the radar application module 218b for processing. The radar application module 218b is a software application used to process and analyze radar measurement data collected from the core controller chip 215. In other words, the radar driver module 218a is a software module or program used to communicate with and control the core controller chip 215, while the radar application module 218b is an application used to process and analyze radar measurement data.

[0071] In some embodiments, radar measurement data is generated by a receiving module 214 (SPAD) and a core controller chip 215. The SPAD converts the received laser beam into an analog electrical signal. The core controller chip 215 samples the analog electrical signal and converts it into a digital signal, performing some related calculations to obtain radar measurement data. The core controller chip 215 calls the radar driver module 218a and the radar application module 218b to solve the radar measurement data to obtain point cloud data (such as environmental perception data such as distance information and grayscale information). The point cloud data is sent to the autonomous vehicle's DCU 22 via the data transmission interface 217.

[0072] In practical applications, the data transmission interface 217 mainly transmits point cloud data. In some cases, the data transmission interface 217 can also transmit control data. In one example, the control data may include radar status monitoring data, control instructions, and remote upgrade (OTA) data.

[0073] It should be noted that the data transmission interface 221 in the DCU 22 can receive point cloud data and / or transmit control data to the lidar 21 by communicating with the data transmission interface 217. In one embodiment, transmitting control data can be understood as the lidar 21 sending control data to the DCU 22, and can also be understood as the DCU 22 sending control data to the lidar 21.

[0074] As can be seen, in the vehicle-mounted LiDAR system 30, when generating point cloud data, the LiDAR 21 needs to perform a large amount of internal data processing, which consumes a large amount of hardware resources. This requires the LiDAR 21 to use a high-performance core controller chip, resulting in relatively high costs. If a low-performance core controller chip is used, many complex algorithms cannot be executed within the LiDAR 21 due to the limited hardware resources of the core controller chip, thereby limiting the processing effect of the point cloud data and affecting the accuracy of environmental perception.

[0075] In addition, due to the limited hardware resources of the core controller chip, the laser radar 21 will produce calculation delays when performing data solution, resulting in the point cloud data being unable to be transmitted to the DCU in a timely manner, thereby reducing the real-time performance of the DCU in obtaining point cloud data.

[0076] Furthermore, the large amount of computation performed within the LiDAR results in relatively high power consumption. Furthermore, since the LiDAR 21 requires a high-performance core controller chip, the range of available core controller chips is limited, significantly increasing the design difficulty of the vehicle-mounted LiDAR system.

[0077] Furthermore, the transmission rate of LiDAR point cloud data exceeds tens of megabits per second (Mb / s). Therefore, it is often transmitted using in-vehicle Ethernet interfaces with bandwidths of hundreds of megabits or even gigabits. However, the adoption of in-vehicle Ethernet interface technology in automobiles was relatively late and is concentrated in select mid- to high-end models. Many mid- to low-end models lack in-vehicle Ethernet, thus limiting the deployment and use of LiDAR in autonomous vehicles. Furthermore, the late maturity of in-vehicle Ethernet technology leads to high costs for its development and use.

[0078] In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a vehicle-mounted LiDAR system, which can be deployed in an autonomous driving vehicle to provide environmental perception data for autonomous driving control.

[0079] like Figure 3a As shown, Figure 3aA schematic diagram of a vehicle-mounted LiDAR system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The vehicle-mounted LiDAR system 50 includes a LiDAR 31 and a DCU 32. The LiDAR 31 includes a receiving module 311, and the domain controller 32 includes a radar data processing module 321. The LiDAR 31 can communicate with the DCU 32. The LiDAR 31 is configured to obtain radar measurement data via the receiving module 311 and output it to the DCU 32. The DCU 32 is configured to interpret the radar measurement data via the radar data processing module 321 to generate point cloud data.

[0080] In one embodiment, if Figure 3b As shown, Figure 3b A schematic diagram of a vehicle-mounted laser radar system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Referring to the laser radar 31 described above, the laser radar 31 may further include a power module 312, a clock module 313, a laser emission module 314, a control module 315, a laser scanning module 316, and a transmission module 317 (i.e., a first transmission module).

[0081] In some embodiments, the specific implementation of the power module 312 can be found in the description of the power module 211 and will not be repeated here. The specific implementation of the clock module 313 can be found in the description of the clock module 212 and will not be repeated here. The specific implementation of the laser emission module 314 can be found in the description of the laser emission module 213 and will not be repeated here. The specific implementation of the control module 315 can be found in the description of the core controller chip 215 and will not be repeated here. The specific implementation of the transmission module 316 can be found in the description of the data transmission interface 217 and will not be repeated here.

[0082] In some embodiments, the receiving module 311 may include an array of photodetector units (e.g., SPAD 311a). In this case, radar measurement data is generated by the receiving module 311 (SPAD) and the control module 315. The SPAD converts the received laser beam into an analog electrical signal, and the control module 315 samples the analog electrical signal and converts it into a digital signal while performing some relevant calculations to obtain the radar measurement data.

[0083] In other embodiments, Figure 3c As shown, Figure 3cA schematic diagram of a vehicle-mounted lidar system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The receiving module 311 may include a photodetector array (such as SPAD311a) and a controller (such as ASIC 311b). In this case, the radar measurement data is generated by the receiving module 311 (i.e., SPAD 311a + ASIC 311b). The SPAD converts the received laser beam (i.e., reflected beam, received beam) into an analog electrical signal. The ASIC samples the analog electrical signal and converts it into a digital signal. In this way, the ASIC obtains an echo signal. Furthermore, the ASIC can perform some relevant calculations on the echo signal.

[0084] In some embodiments, the controller may also be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.

[0085] In some embodiments, to facilitate transmission, the radar measurement data may be a digital signal. Specifically, the radar measurement data may include a digital signal obtained by sampling the echo signal. In some embodiments, the radar measurement data may also include at least one of the time and length of the strongest echo signal, the start time of the echo signal's half-pulse width, the end time of the echo signal's half-pulse width, distance information, grayscale information, and ambient light intensity information.

[0086] In some embodiments, after sampling the analog electrical signal (ie, the echo signal), the ASIC uses the sampled digital signal as radar measurement data.

[0087] In some embodiments, the ASIC can perform some relevant calculations on the digital signal to obtain at least one of the time and length of the strongest echo signal, the start time of the half-pulse width of the echo signal, and the end time of the half-pulse width of the echo signal, and use at least one of the time and length of the strongest echo signal, the start time of the half-pulse width of the echo signal, and the end time of the half-pulse width of the echo signal as radar measurement data.

[0088] In some embodiments, the ASIC can calculate at least one of the distance information, grayscale information, ambient light intensity information, etc. of the surrounding objects based on the time and length of the strongest echo signal, the start time of the half-pulse width of the echo signal, the end time of the half-pulse width of the echo signal, etc., and use the calculated at least one of the distance information, grayscale information, ambient light intensity information, etc. of the surrounding objects as radar measurement data.

[0089] In some embodiments, the data calculated by the ASIC, such as the distance information, grayscale information, and ambient light intensity information of surrounding objects, is used to calibrate the results calculated by the domain controller 42. It is not used as data for the final point cloud display; only the calibrated results are used for the final point cloud display. Of course, depending on different application scenarios, the radar measurement data may also include other information, which is not specifically limited in the present embodiment.

[0090] In some embodiments, since the acquisition and calculation functions of radar measurement data are performed by other modules, the control module 315 can use a relatively weak core controller chip, such as a microcontroller unit (MCU) or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD). This greatly reduces the resource requirements of the core controller chip of the laser radar, expands the range of core controller chips available for the laser radar 31, reduces hardware material costs, and reduces the difficulty of laser radar system design.

[0091] In some embodiments, the SPAD array may, but is not limited to, have the following structure:

[0092] Architecture 1, such as Figure 4a As shown, Figure 4a A first schematic diagram of the architecture of a SPAD according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The receiving array 4101 is divided into N physically continuous receiving areas in the row or column direction (for example, respectively denoted as RAREA_1, RAREA_2, ..., RAREA_n, where n is a positive integer), and the light source array 3102 is divided into N physically continuous transmitting areas in the row or column direction (respectively denoted as TAREA_1, TAREA_2, ..., TAREA_n, where n is a positive integer). The N receiving areas correspond one-to-one to the N transmitting areas, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0093] In some embodiments, the receiving array 4101 can be understood as a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of photodetectors in the above-mentioned receiving unit.

[0094] It is understood that each of the N receiving areas may have one or more photodetectors, and each of the N emitting areas may also have one or more light sources. The photodetector in the kth receiving area corresponds to receiving the laser beam emitted by the light source in the kth emitting area. Therefore, the number of receivers in the kth receiving area is equal to the number of emitters in the kth emitting area. The value of k is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N.

[0095] In some embodiments, the laser radar further includes a driving unit 4103, which is electrically connected to the receiving array 4101 and the light source array 4102. The driving unit 4103 may be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field programmable gate array.

[0096] In some embodiments, the driving unit 4103 in the laser radar processes the reference pulse signal (denoted as TRG) according to N random transmission delay sequences to obtain N first random pulse driving sequences (denoted as TRG_1_I, TRG_2_I, TRG_3_I, ..., TRG_n_I respectively), and the N first random pulse driving sequences TRG_I are input into the receiver in each of the N receiving areas, and after passing through the N receiving areas, N second random pulse driving sequences are obtained (denoted as TRG_1_O, TRG_2_O, TRG_3_O, ..., TRG_n_O respectively), and the N second random pulse driving sequences are output to the transmitter in each of the N transmission areas.

[0097] The jth first random pulse drive sequence (denoted as TRG_j_I) among the N first random pulse drive sequences corresponds to the jth second random pulse drive sequence (denoted as TRG_j_O) among the N second random pulse drive sequences. Furthermore, there is a preset time interval between the jth first random pulse drive sequence TRG_j_I and the jth second random pulse drive sequence TRG_j_O, which allows the laser radar to first activate the receiver in the jth receiving area and then the transmitter in the jth transmitting area, thereby ensuring that all signals emitted by the transmitter can be received by the receiver.

[0098] In some embodiments, in the aforementioned architecture 1, for a rotating mirror LiDAR, a one-dimensional VCSEL array can be used in the light source array 4102, and a one-dimensional SPAD array can be used in the receiving array 4101, in conjunction with another dimension of rotating mirror scanning to achieve full field of view coverage. In the above solution, a row (or column) of the SPAD array is used each time to process the return beam.

[0099] In some embodiments, for a rotating mirror lidar, the operation of a row (or a column) of SPAD arrays when the rotating mirror is at a first angle can be copied to the operation of a row (or a column) of SPAD arrays when the rotating mirror is at a second angle, so as to enable the lidar to complete full field of view acquisition.

[0100] Architecture 2, such as Figure 4b As shown, Figure 4bA second schematic diagram of the SPAD architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The receiving array 4201 includes N receiving areas (RAREA_1, RAREA_2, ..., RAREA_n), which are electrically connected to the drive generation unit 4203, and the N receiving areas are electrically connected to the drive array 3204. The light source array 4202 includes N emitting areas (TAREA_1, TAREA_2, ..., TAREA_n), which are electrically connected to the drive array 4204.

[0101] It should be noted that the drive generation unit 4203 and the drive array 4204 together constitute the drive unit 4103. The drive generation unit 4203 is used to control the photodetector in each of the N receiving areas to receive the echo signal, and the drive array 4204 is used to control the light source in each of the N transmitting areas to emit light. In some embodiments, the drive array 4204 can generate N feedback sequences (respectively denoted as TRG_1_FB, TRG_2_FB, ..., TRG_n_FB) based on the actual light emission time (i.e., the light emission time in the N transmitting areas).

[0102] Here, receiving array 4201 can be located in a receiving chip in a lidar, such as a SPAD chip. Driver array 4204 can be integrated with the N transmitting regions on the same chip, or on a different chip. Driver array 4204 can include one or more drivers, each of which is used to control the light sources in the N transmitting regions, i.e., one driver can control one or more light sources.

[0103] In some embodiments, the controller is electrically connected to the receiving array 4201 and the light source array 4202. The controller can be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, etc.

[0104] In one embodiment, referring to the above-mentioned DCU 32, the DCU 32 may further include a transmission module 322 (ie, a third transmission module). Specific implementations of the transmission module 322 may be found in the description of the data transmission interface 221 and are not described in detail here.

[0105] In some embodiments, the SPAD array in receiving module 311 converts the received laser beam into an analog electrical signal. The ASIC samples the analog electrical signal, converts it into a digital signal, and uses the raw sampled signal as radar measurement data. In some embodiments, after the ASIC samples the analog electrical signal, it may also perform relevant calculations and use the calculated data as radar measurement data.

[0106] In some embodiments, after obtaining the radar measurement data, the receiving module 311 may output the radar measurement data to the radar data processing module 321 through the transmission module 317 . The radar data processing module 321 may solve the radar measurement data to obtain point cloud data.

[0107] In some embodiments, the radar data processing module 321 may include a radar driving module 321a and a radar application module 321b; wherein, the radar driving module 321a is configured to receive radar measurement data output by the laser radar 31 and output the radar measurement data to the radar application module 321b; the radar application module 321b is configured to solve the radar measurement data input by the radar driving module 321a to obtain point cloud data.

[0108] In some embodiments, since the laser beam is received by a SPAD array, the radar measurement data generated by the receiving module 311 is parallel data. Therefore, the transmission module 317 is configured to perform parallel-to-serial processing on the radar measurement data and output the processed radar measurement data to the transmission module 322. The transmission module 322 is configured to perform serial-to-parallel processing on the radar measurement data processed by the transmission module 317 and output the processed radar measurement data to the radar data processing module 321 for processing.

[0109] As will be understood, the radar measurement data input from the receiving module 311 to the transmission module 317 is parallel data. The transmission module 317 performs parallel-to-serial processing on the parallel radar measurement data to obtain serial radar measurement data. The transmission module 317 then sends the serial radar measurement data to the transmission module 322. After receiving the serial radar measurement data, the transmission module 322 performs serial-to-parallel processing on the serial radar measurement data to obtain parallel radar measurement data. Next, the transmission module 322 outputs the parallel radar measurement data to the radar data processing module 321, specifically to the radar driver module 321a. The radar driver module 321a then outputs the parallel radar measurement data to the radar application module 321b. The radar application module 321b then performs computation on the parallel radar measurement data to obtain point cloud data.

[0110] In one example, the transmission module 317 can be a high-speed serial interface, such as a serializer (SERializer), and the transmission module 322 can be a high-speed serial interface (SerDes), such as a deserializer (DESerializer). Of course, the transmission module 317 and the transmission module 322 can also be implemented by other serial-parallel conversion circuits, and the embodiment of the present disclosure does not specifically limit this. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a high-speed serial interface is used between the lidar 31 and the DCU 32 to transmit radar measurement data. Given that such interfaces have been promoted and used earlier in the field of automotive image transmission and display and have a higher degree of maturity, compared to the on-board Ethernet interface, the high-speed serial interface has higher universality and lower development and use costs.

[0111] In some embodiments, the control module 315 is configured to control the operation of the transmission module 317. In one example, after the receiving module 311 generates radar measurement data, the control module 315 can control the transmission module 317 to power on, start parallel-to-serial processing of the radar measurement data, and output it to the transmission module 322.

[0112] In some embodiments, the control module 315 is configured to transmit control data with the DCU 32. In one embodiment, when the lidar 31 has control data to be sent to the DCU 32 for processing, the control module 315 can send the control data to the DCU 32 via the transmission module 317, and the DCU 32 receives the control data from the lidar 31 via the transmission module 322. In one embodiment, when the DCU 32 has control data to be sent to the lidar 31, the DCU 32 can send the control data to the lidar 31 via the transmission module 322, and the control module 315 receives the control data from the DCU 32 via the transmission module 317. In this case, both radar measurement data and control data can be transmitted via the transmission modules 317 and 322.

[0113] In some embodiments, the data transmission between the laser radar 31 and the DCU 32 may include radar measurement data transmission and control data transmission. Then, two data transmission channels may be set between the laser radar 31 and the DCU 32, one for transmitting radar measurement data and the other for transmitting control data. Then, in this case, Figure 3d As shown, Figure 3d A schematic diagram of a vehicle-mounted laser radar system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The laser radar 31 may further include a transmission module 318 (ie, a second transmission module), and the DCU 32 may further include a transmission module 323 (ie, a fourth transmission module).

[0114] In some embodiments, the transmission module 318 is configured to output the control data input by the control module 315 to the transmission module 323, and / or output the control data input by the transmission module 323 to the control module 315; the transmission module 323 is configured to receive the control data input by the transmission module 318, and / or output the control data to the transmission module 318.

[0115] It is understood that a radar measurement data transmission channel consisting of transmission modules 317 and 322, and a control data transmission channel consisting of transmission modules 318 and 323 can be provided between the lidar 31 and the DCU 32. By using independent transmission channels to transmit the two types of data, the design complexity of the lidar 31 can be reduced and the maintenance difficulty can be reduced.

[0116] In one example, the transmission module 318 and the transmission module 323 may be an in-vehicle Ethernet interface, a CAN bus interface, a LIN bus interface, or the like.

[0117] In the disclosed embodiments, the radar data processing module used to calculate radar measurement data is deployed in the domain controller. Because the domain controller has much richer hardware resources than the core controller within the lidar, the vehicle-mounted lidar system can use more comprehensive, complex, and targeted algorithms to calculate radar measurement data, thereby improving the processing effect of radar point cloud data and further enhancing the accuracy of environmental perception in autonomous driving.

[0118] In addition, since the domain controller has much richer hardware resources than the core controller inside the lidar, the domain controller can call on more resources for data solution, shorten the solution delay, and thus improve the real-time performance of the DCU in obtaining radar point cloud data.

[0119] Furthermore, since the radar measurement data is solved by the DCU, the lidar does not need to perform a large amount of data processing, thereby reducing the power consumption of the lidar in the lidar system.

[0120] Furthermore, since the radar measurement data is solved by the DCU, the resource requirements of the core controller chip of the lidar are greatly reduced, the optional range of core controller chips is expanded, the hardware material cost is reduced, and the difficulty of designing the lidar system is reduced.

[0121] The present disclosure also provides a laser radar, which can be the laser radar 31 in the above embodiment. For detailed description, please refer to the above embodiment. Figures 3a to 3d as well as Figures 4a to 4b embodiments, and Figure 1 、 Figure 2 The relevant content in the embodiment of this disclosure will not be elaborated on.

[0122] The embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a vehicle, which is an autonomous driving car. Figure 5 As shown, Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The vehicle 500 may include at least a vehicle-mounted laser radar system 501, a vehicle controller 502, and a motoring system 503. The vehicle-mounted laser radar system 501 may be used Figure 5 . The vehicle-mounted laser radar system 50 in the embodiment is implemented. Accordingly, the light source 504, the scanner 505, the light receiver 506 and the controller 507 correspond to the laser emission module 514, the laser scanning module 515, the receiving module 511 and the control module 515 of the vehicle-mounted laser radar system 51, respectively. The difference is that the vehicle controller 502 can be communicatively coupled with the light source 504, the scanner 505 and the light receiver 506 through the controller 507. In other embodiments, the vehicle controller 507 can also be directly communicatively coupled with the light source 504, the scanner 505 and the light receiver 506. In some embodiments, the vehicle-mounted laser radar system 501 may not include the controller 507. The motorized system 503 may include a power subsystem, a braking subsystem and a steering subsystem, etc. The vehicle controller 502 can adjust the motorized system 503 according to the detection results of the vehicle-mounted laser radar system 501.

[0123] The embodiments described above are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present disclosure, rather than to limit them. Although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present application, and should all be included in the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A laser radar, characterized in that: include: Transmitting module, receiving module, control module and first transmission module; wherein, The transmitting module is configured to transmit a laser beam; The receiving module is configured to receive a reflected light beam of the laser beam, obtain radar measurement data based on the reflected light beam, and output the radar measurement data to the first transmission module; The first transmission module is configured to output the radar measurement data to a domain controller, and the domain controller is used to obtain point cloud data by solving the radar measurement data.

2. The laser radar according to claim 1, characterized in that The receiving module includes: a photodetector array and a controller; The photodetector array is configured to receive the reflected light beam and generate an echo signal; The controller is configured to obtain the radar measurement data based on the echo signal.

3. The laser radar according to claim 2, characterized in that The photodetector array is a single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array, and the SPAD array is divided into a plurality of physically continuous receiving areas in a row direction or a column direction.

4. The laser radar according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that The radar measurement data includes: a digital signal obtained by sampling the echo signal.

5. The laser radar according to claim 4, characterized in that The radar measurement data further includes at least one of the following: The time and length of the strongest echo signal; Echo signal half pulse width start time; Echo signal half pulse width end time; distance information; Grayscale information; Ambient light intensity information.

6. The laser radar according to claim 5, characterized in that The controller is further configured to: determine at least one of the time and length of the strongest echo signal, the start time of the half pulse width of the echo signal, and the end time of the half pulse width of the echo signal based on the echo signal; and / or determine at least one of the distance information, the grayscale information, and the ambient light intensity information based on at least one of the time and length of the strongest echo signal, the start time of the half pulse width of the echo signal, and the end time of the half pulse width of the echo signal.

7. The laser radar according to claim 1, characterized in that The radar measurement data output by the receiving module is parallel data; The first transmission module is configured to perform parallel-to-serial processing on the radar measurement data and output the processed radar measurement data to the domain controller.

8. The laser radar according to claim 7, characterized in that The first transmission module is a serializer.

9. The laser radar according to claim 1, characterized in that The laser radar further includes a second transmission module; The control module is configured to output control data to the second transmission module and / or receive control data input by the second transmission module; The second transmission module is configured to output control data to the domain controller and / or output control data to the control module.

10. The laser radar according to claim 1, characterized in that The control module includes: a microcontroller chip and / or a complex programmable logic device.

11. A vehicle-mounted laser radar system, characterized in that: include: A domain controller and a laser radar according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the domain controller comprises a radar data processing module; The radar data processing module is configured to receive the radar measurement data output by the first transmission module and perform calculations on the radar measurement data to obtain the point cloud data.

12. The vehicle-mounted laser radar system according to claim 11, characterized in that: The radar data processing module includes a radar driving module and a radar application module; The radar driving module is configured to receive the radar measurement data and output the radar measurement data to the radar application module; The radar application module is configured to solve the radar measurement data to obtain the point cloud data.

13. The vehicle-mounted laser radar system according to claim 11, characterized in that: The domain controller further includes a third transmission module; The first transmission module is configured to output the radar measurement data to the third transmission module; The third transmission module is configured to output the radar measurement data to the radar data processing module.

14. The vehicle-mounted laser radar system according to claim 13, characterized in that: The first output module is configured to output the radar measurement data as serial data; the third transmission module is further configured to perform serial-to-parallel processing on the radar measurement data output by the first transmission module, and output the processed radar measurement data to the radar data processing module.

15. The vehicle-mounted laser radar system according to claim 14, characterized in that: The first transmission module is a serializer, and the third transmission module is a deserializer.

16. The vehicle-mounted laser radar system according to claim 11, characterized in that: The domain controller further includes a fourth transmission module; The second transmission module is configured to output the control data input by the control module to the fourth transmission module, and / or output the control data input by the fourth transmission module to the control module; The fourth transmission module is configured to receive control data input by the second transmission module and / or output control data to the second transmission module.

17. The vehicle-mounted laser radar system according to claim 11, characterized in that: The domain controller is used for the functional domain of the autonomous vehicle.

18. A vehicle, characterized in that: include: A vehicle-mounted lidar system according to any one of claims 11 to 17.

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