Control method and apparatus, LiDAR, and terminal device
The control method for LiDAR systems uses differentiated pulse trains to enhance detection accuracy by separately targeting far-field and near-field targets, improving point cloud quality and reducing interference.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- YINWANG INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2026-02-18
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-30
AI Technical Summary
LiDAR systems face challenges in accurately detecting both far-field and near-field targets due to high-power transmission pulses causing strong stray and echo signals that exceed the receiving range, hindering detection accuracy and reducing point cloud quality.
A control method is implemented using pulse trains with varying power levels and transmission times to separately detect far-field and near-field targets, employing high-power pulses for far-field detection and low-power pulses for near-field detection, optimizing angular resolution and reducing interference.
This approach enhances detection accuracy by improving the quality of point clouds and reducing interference, ensuring effective detection of both far-field and near-field targets while optimizing pulse utilization.
Smart Images

Figure 2026108622000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
[Technical Field]
[0001] This application relates to the field of sensing technology, and more particularly to the field of pulse control, providing control methods and apparatus, LiDAR, and terminal devices. [Background technology]
[0002] LiDAR (Optical Detection and Ranging) is an optical measuring device. LiDAR works by transmitting a laser signal to an object, receiving a target echo signal reflected by the object, and then comparing the target echo signal to the laser signal to obtain relevant parameters such as the object's distance and velocity. LiDAR can accurately scan surrounding objects to form high-resolution images that help in quickly identifying surrounding objects and making decisions about them, and is widely used in scenarios such as intelligent vehicles, smart transportation, 3D urban mapping, and atmospheric environment monitoring.
[0003] LiDAR needs to effectively detect all targets in its field of view, including far-field and near-field targets. However, to detect far-field targets, LiDAR typically uses high-power transmission pulses. The high power of these pulses causes strong stray signals and strong echo signals from near-field targets within the system. These signals easily exceed the LiDAR's receiving range, hindering improved detection accuracy. Therefore, further control methods are needed to improve detection accuracy. [Overview of the Initiative]
[0004] This application provides a control method and apparatus, a LiDAR, and a terminal device for improving detection accuracy.
[0005] According to a first aspect, the present application provides a control method applicable to a control device, the method comprising: the control device controlling a transmitting module to transmit a first pulse train, the first pulse train comprising M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses; and controlling the transmitting module to transmit a second pulse train, the second pulse train comprising M3 first-type pulses and / or M4 second-type pulses, where the power of the first-type pulses is greater than the power of the second-type pulses, M1 is an integer greater than 1, and M2, M3, and M4 are positive integers. The second pulse train and the first pulse train have different transmission time periods, or correspond to different transmitting submodules, or correspond to different pixels in a detection field, or correspond to different detection fields, or correspond to different receiving submodules. According to this design, the high-power first-type pulses in the first pulse train may be used to detect a far-field target, and the low-power second-type pulses may be used to detect a near-field target. Far-field and near-field targets are detected by using their respective matched pulses, thereby effectively improving the accuracy of detecting far-field and near-field targets, and thereby improving the LiDAR point cloud quality. In addition, at least two first-type pulses are transmitted in the first pulse train. In one embodiment, far-field targets are detected by using at least two high-power pulses, thereby further improving the detection effect of far-field targets and further improving the quality of far-field point clouds. In another embodiment, the amount of first-type pulses can be increased, and the amount of time intervals included in the first pulse train can be increased accordingly, so that more accurate pulse position modulation is performed on at least two first-type pulses based on the increased time intervals, thereby effectively improving the anti-interference performance of the first pulse train.In yet another embodiment, the problem of unclear distances because the detected target exceeds the ranging range of a single detection cycle can be further resolved through joint ranging of multiple first-type pulses. In addition, a test pulse does not need to be transmitted before the first and second pulse trains are transmitted, thereby improving the utilization rate of transmitted pulses.
[0006] In a feasible design, the first and second pulse trains may correspond to the same point cloud. In other words, the control device can generate a point cloud based on at least the first and second pulse trains, and by using the detection results of multiple pulse trains, it can obtain more comprehensive information and thereby improve the quality of point cloud construction.
[0007] In a possible design, the first and second pulse trains may correspond to different point clouds. In other words, the control device may improve point cloud construction efficiency by generating separate point clouds corresponding to the first and second pulse trains based on the first and second pulse trains.
[0008] In a possible design, a first pulse train belongs to a first pulse train set and a second pulse train set, where each pulse train in the first pulse train set contains a first-type pulse, and each pulse train in the second pulse train set contains a second-type pulse. The time intervals of the first-type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains in the first pulse train set may be determined based on far-field angular resolution, and the time intervals of the second-type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains in the second pulse train set may be determined based on near-field angular resolution.
[0009] For example, in the above design, the time interval of the first type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains may be the time interval between the central transmission moments of all the first type pulses included in any two pulse trains, and the time interval of the second type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains may be the time interval between the central transmission moments of all the second type pulses included in any two pulse trains. For example, first type pulses are used as an example. Suppose there are pulse trains 1 and pulse train 2, pulse train 1 includes first type pulse 1 and first type pulse 2, with the transmission moment of first type pulse 1 being 5 ns and the transmission moment of first type pulse 2 being 10 ns, and pulse train 2 includes first type pulse 3, first type pulse 4, and first type pulse 5, with the transmission moment of first type pulse 3 being 20 ns, the transmission moment of first type pulse 4 being 22 ns and the transmission moment of first type pulse 5 being 26 ns. In this case, the central transmission moment of the two first-type pulses in pulse train 1 is 7.5 ns, and the central transmission moment of the three first-type pulses in pulse train 2 is 23 ns. The time interval of the first-type pulses corresponding to pulse trains 1 and 2 can be determined to be 23 ns minus 7.5 ns, i.e., 15.5 ns.
[0010] In another example, if any two pulse trains in the first pulse train set have the same pulses and pulse arrangement scheme, the time interval of the first type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains may, alternatively, be the time interval between the transmission moments of the I1 first type pulse in any two pulse trains, and the time interval of the second type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains may be the time interval between the transmission moments of the I2 second type pulse in any two pulse trains. I1 and I2 are any positive integers less than or equal to the number of pulses in any pulse train.
[0011] In the above design, far-field angular resolution refers to the angular resolution used to detect far-field targets, and near-field angular resolution refers to the angular resolution used to detect near-field targets. The far-field and near-field angular resolutions can be found in the LiDAR product manual or handling manual. In some cases, the two angular resolutions are limited by a fixed value, and in other cases, they are each limited by a supported range. When the supported range is used for limitation, the ranges of the far-field and near-field angular resolutions may or may not overlap. If the resolutions are not specified in the product manual or handling manual, the far-field and near-field angular resolutions may, optionally, be the same by default. In this design, the time interval between high-power Type 1 pulses is limited by using the far-field angular resolution for far-field target detection, thereby satisfying both the remote measurement requirements and the far-field angular resolution requirements. The time interval between low-power Type 2 pulses is limited by using near-field angular resolution for near-field target detection, thereby satisfying both the dynamic optimization requirement and the near-field angular resolution requirement. This helps to make the transmitted pulse train meet the actual product requirements of LiDAR.
[0012] In a possible design, the first pulse train belongs to a third set of pulse trains, and each pulse train in the third set of pulse trains contains a first-type pulse and a second-type pulse. When the ratio of the far-field angular resolution to the near-field angular resolution is an integer, the time interval offsets of the first-type and second-type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains in the third set of pulse trains are the same. When the ratio of the far-field angular resolution to the near-field angular resolution is not an integer, the time interval offsets of the first-type and second-type pulses corresponding to at least two pulse trains in the third set of pulse trains are different. The time interval offset of the first-type and second-type pulses corresponding to two pulse trains is the difference between the time interval between the transmission moment of the first-type pulse and the transmission moment of the second-type pulse in one pulse train and the time interval between the transmission moment of the first-type pulse and the transmission moment of the second-type pulse in the other pulse train. In possible examples, the moment of transmission of a first-type pulse in any pulse train may be the central transmission moment for all first-type pulses in the pulse train, and the moment of transmission of a second-type pulse in any pulse train may be the central transmission moment for all second-type pulses in the pulse train. See the design above for the calculation method of the central transmission moment. In another possible design, when the pulses and pulse arrangement schemes in any two pulse trains are the same, the moment of transmission of a first-type pulse in any pulse train may be the moment of transmission of the first first-type pulse in the pulse train, and the moment of transmission of a second-type pulse in any pulse train may be the moment of transmission of the first second-type pulse in the pulse train, or the moment of transmission of a first-type pulse in any pulse train may be the moment of transmission of the last first-type pulse in the pulse train, and the moment of transmission of a second-type pulse in any pulse train may be the moment of transmission of the last second-type pulse in the pulse train, and so on. This is not particularly limited.
[0013] For example, in the above design, “same time interval offset” is identity in the ideal state. This identity may further include identity with certain deviations due to environmental factors or other factors. In other words, as long as the value of the time interval offset falls within the range between positive and negative deviations, the time interval offsets are considered to be the same in this embodiment of the present application. Correspondingly, “different time interval offsets” is difference in the ideal state. This difference may allow for certain deviations caused by environmental factors or other factors. In other words, in this embodiment of the present application, the time interval offsets are considered to be different only when the value of the time interval offset falls outside the range between positive and negative deviations. In the above design, the time interval offset between the first type pulse and the second type pulse is determined with respect to the ratio of far-field angular resolution to near-field angular resolution, and therefore the relative position of each pulse in the pulse train can be precisely configured based on the actual requirements of angular resolution, and therefore each pulse is transmitted based on the detection requirements in each detection cycle, thereby improving the detection effect.
[0014] In the above design, for any one of the first pulse train set, the second pulse train set, and the third pulse train set, it should be noted that for two adjacent pulse trains in the pulse train set, they may or may not be adjacent if their positions are not irregular. For example, assume there are pulse trains 1, pulse train 2, pulse train 3, and pulse train 4 arranged in sequence, where pulse train 1 contains the first type of pulse but not the second type of pulse, pulse train 2 contains the second type of pulse but not the first type of pulse, and pulse train 3 and pulse train 4 each contain the first type of pulse and the second type of pulse. In this case, the first pulse train set includes pulse train 1, pulse train 3, and pulse train 4, the second pulse train set includes pulse train 2, pulse train 3, and pulse train 4, and the third pulse train set includes pulse train 3 and pulse train 4. Based on this, pulse train 1 and pulse train 3 are adjacent pulse trains in the first pulse train set. However, if the positions are not irregular, since pulse train 1 and pulse train 3 are separated by pulse train 2, pulse train 1 and pulse train 3 are non - adjacent pulse trains. Pulse train 3 and pulse train 4 are adjacent pulse trains in the first pulse train set and also adjacent pulse trains when the positions are not irregular.
[0015] In a possible design, for the first pulse train, M1 first-type pulses include M1 first pulses of the same power, M2 second-type pulses include K second-type pulses, the powers of the K second-type pulses are different, the sum of the amounts of the K second-type pulses is M2, and K is a positive integer. In this design, the M1 first pulses of the same power may be used to detect far-field targets to satisfy the remote measurement requirements of the LiDAR, and the K second-type pulses may be used to detect near-field targets to increase the energy echo range of near-field targets that can be identified by the LiDAR and satisfy the dynamic optimization requirements of the LiDAR. It can be seen that the first pulse train in this design can satisfy both the remote measurement requirements and the dynamic optimization requirements of the LiDAR.
[0016] In a possible design, M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses may be transmitted during a plurality of detection cycles, and the pulse sequence transmitted in each detection cycle includes one or more of the first pulse and / or one or more of K types of second pulses. One transmission and one reception are called one detection cycle. The duration of each detection cycle in one pulse sequence may be equal to, for example, 500 ns, or at least two detection cycles may correspond to different lengths of duration. For example, the duration of all detection cycles is 500 ns, 1000 ns, 1500 ns,.... Preferably, the duration of each detection cycle can be set based on the amount of pulses transmitted during the detection cycle, power, etc. When the power of the transmitted pulses is smaller or the amount of transmitted pulses is smaller, the duration of the detection cycle can also be set to be smaller. In this way, the duration of each detection cycle is controlled so that the total time for transmitting the pulse sequence can be effectively reduced. In the above design, the control device comprehensively determines the point cloud by using a plurality of detection results received during a plurality of detection cycles, thereby helping to improve the quality of the point cloud.
[0017] In a possible design, the amount and type of pulses included in the pulse sequence transmitted during any two detection cycles can be the same. In this way, the complexity of controlling pulse transmission can be reduced. In another possible design, the amount and / or type of pulses included in the pulse sequence transmitted during any two detection cycles can be different. In this way, the flexibility of transmitting pulses in each detection cycle can be improved.
[0018] In a possible design, the pulse train transmitted within a detection cycle includes a first pulse and one or more of K types of second pulses, where the time interval between the first pulse and an adjacent second pulse is greater than or equal to the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the first pulse, i.e., the time interval between the first pulse and an adjacent second pulse is greater than or equal to the duration from sending the first pulse to receiving the echo signal corresponding to the first pulse. Furthermore, for example, the time interval may be set to the sum of the duration from the moment the first pulse is sent to the moment the echo signal of the first pulse is received, and a random interference duration. The random interference duration refers to an additional interference duration caused by uncontrollable factors such as hardware (which can be obtained through experimental verification), or an interference duration set for a purpose (e.g., to add interference to improve anti-interference performance). When the first pulse corresponds to one echo signal, the elapsed duration is the duration from sending the first pulse to receiving the echo signal. When the first pulse corresponds to multiple echo signals, the elapsed duration is the time from sending the first pulse to receiving the first echo signal among the multiple echo signals. Generally, the duration of an echo signal or first echo signal corresponding to a first-type pulse with a pulse width of 10 ns or less is generally between 1 ns and 50 ns. In this design, after controlling the transmitting module to send the first pulse, the control unit sends the second pulse after receiving the echo signal corresponding to the first pulse. This effectively prevents the first pulse or the echo signal of the first pulse from affecting the detection process of the second pulse, thereby improving anti-interference between far-field detection and near-field detection.
[0019] In possible designs, any two adjacent pulses other than the first pulse and adjacent second pulses, for example, any two adjacent second pulses in a detection cycle, any two adjacent first pulses in a detection cycle, any two adjacent second pulses in a pulse train, or the time interval between any two adjacent first pulses in a pulse train, the time interval between the start moment of any pulse train and a first-type pulse in the pulse train, or the time interval between the start moment of any detection cycle in any pulse train and a first-type pulse in the pulse train, can be obtained through coding. Coding refers to generating random numbers within a numerical range by using a method for generating random numbers as time intervals. For example, when the pulse train is the first pulse train, the time interval between the start moment of the first pulse train and a first-type pulse in the first pulse train, and the time interval between any two adjacent second pulses in the first pulse train, may be set to random numbers generated through different coding in order to improve the anti-interference performance of the first pulse train.
[0020] In a possible design, after sending a first pulse train, the control unit may further control the receiving module to receive a first echo signal, and then control the transmitting module to send a third pulse train, which is different from the first pulse train.
[0021] In this design, after it is determined that the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is abnormal, the transmitting module may be controlled to transmit a third pulse train. An abnormal point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal means that pixels or fields of view on the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal appear as abnormal, for example, appear as interference points, noise points, or empty points, or that the distance, intensity, or reflectance reported by the pixels or fields of view are inaccurate through subsequent measurements. In this design, when the point cloud of the first echo signal corresponding to the first pulse train is abnormal, the control unit can further adjust the subsequently transmitted pulse train so that the subsequently transmitted pulse train generates a normal point cloud, thereby improving detection accuracy.
[0022] In a possible design, when pulses included in the first pulse train are transmitted during multiple detection cycles, the control device may receive sub-echo signals during the multiple detection cycles and then accumulate the pulses that were successfully detected in the sub-echo signals during the multiple detection cycles to obtain the first echo signal. In this way, the first echo signal is obtained through accumulation, and therefore all information regarding the echo signal during all detection cycles of the first pulse train is used comprehensively for subsequent analysis, thereby avoiding the need to perform the analysis multiple times using small amounts of one-sided information, and thus contributing to improved efficiency of subsequent analysis.
[0023] In a possible design, the third pulse train may contain M5 first-type pulses, where the value of M5 is greater than the value of M1. In this way, as the amount of pulses in the pulse train increases, the amount of time intervals between pulses in the pulse train also increases accordingly. Since the time intervals between pulses are related to random numbers generated by coding, this is equivalent to increasing the amount of time intervals included in the pulse train from which values are obtained by using random numbers, which helps to improve the anti-interference performance of the third pulse train. The third pulse train may also be generated by increasing the amount of detection cycles based on the first pulse train and / or increasing the amount of first-type pulses in one or more detection cycles, where the newly added detection cycles may be held in accordance with the detection cycles in the first pulse train, and the interval between the newly added first-type pulses and other pulses may be constrained by certain interference.
[0024] For example, in the above design, if it is determined that there is no valid signal in the echo signal corresponding to the first pulse train, the control device may transmit a third pulse train in which the amount of first-type pulses is greater than the amount of first-type pulses in the first pulse train.
[0025] In possible designs, the time interval between a first-type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the third pulse train and the start of each detection cycle may differ from the time interval between a first-type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the first pulse train and the start of each detection cycle, and / or the time interval between a first-type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the third pulse train and an adjacent second-type pulse may differ from the time interval between a first-type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the first pulse train and an adjacent second-type pulse.
[0026] For example, in the above design, when it is determined that the first echo signal has multiple active signals, the control device may transmit a third pulse train in which the time interval between the moment of the start of the detection cycle and the first type pulse is different from that of the first pulse train, thereby increasing the anti-interference characteristics between the third pulse train and adjacent pulse trains of the third pulse train by refreshing the time interval of the third pulse train.
[0027] In possible designs, when it is determined that the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is normal, the control unit may continue to perform detection by transmitting a third pulse train identical to the first pulse train, thereby using the first pulse train which has relatively good intra-train anti-interference capability and relatively good inter-train anti-interference capability. The fact that the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is normal may also be understood as the first echo signal having a single valid signal.
[0028] In possible designs, after the first pulse train has been sent, the received first echo signal may include sub-echo signals corresponding to the first pulse train, and further sub-echo signals corresponding to interfering pulses. Therefore, the control device may perform the following analysis on each of the sub-echo signals in the first echo signal to determine whether the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is abnormal.
[0029] Comparison of time intervals in pulse trains: The control device may compare the time interval between any two adjacent pulses in any detection cycle of the first pulse train with the time interval between any two adjacent pulses in each of the sub-echo signals. If the comparison is successful, it indicates that the sub-echo signal can perfectly match the first pulse train, further indicating that the sub-echo signal is the sub-echo signal corresponding to the first pulse train, and that the point cloud corresponding to the sub-echo signal is normal. If the comparison fails, it indicates that the sub-echo signal cannot perfectly match the first pulse train, further indicating that the sub-echo signal may be an abnormal echo signal. For example, the sub-echo signal may be the sub-echo signal corresponding to an interference pulse, or it may be the sub-echo signal corresponding to the first pulse train, but with a slight deviation. In this case, the control device may label the sub-echo signal as a "potential interference signal".
[0030] Comparison of time intervals between pulse trains: After all sub-echo signals in the first echo signal have been compared, the control unit calculates the difference between the time interval between each of the first type pulses in each sub-echo signal labeled as a "potential interference signal" and the start moment of the sub-echo signal, and the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the adjacent echo signal of the first echo signal and the start moment of the adjacent echo signal, and the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the first pulse train and the start moment of the first pulse train and the adjacent pulse train of the first pulse train The difference between the time interval between the start of the pulse train and the sub-echo signal is calculated, and if this difference does not exceed a preset first deviation threshold, the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the sub-echo signal labeled as a “potential interference signal” and the start of the sub-echo signal may be compared to the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the first pulse train and the start of the first pulse train (or, the time interval between each of the first type pulses in an adjacent echo signal of the first echo signal and the start of the adjacent echo signal may be compared to the time interval between each of the first type pulses in an adjacent pulse train of the first pulse train and the start of the adjacent pulse train). If the difference between these two time intervals does not exceed a preset second deviation threshold, the control device corrects the label of the sub-echo signal to “effective signal”. The preset first deviation threshold and the preset second deviation threshold may be the same or different, and may be set empirically by a person skilled in the art or determined experimentally. This is not particularly limited.
[0031] Point Cloud Verification: After all sub-echo signals labeled as "potential interference signals" have been analyzed, if not all sub-echo signal labels are corrected, it indicates that the first echo signal has no valid signal and the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is anomalous. Alternatively, if only one sub-echo signal label is corrected to "valid signal," it indicates that the first echo signal has a single valid signal and the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is normal. If at least two sub-echo signal labels are corrected to "valid signal," the interference signal may also match as a valid signal due to errors in the matching process described above. Theoretically, the matching result is inaccurate. However, since the point cloud displays at least two sub-echo signals labeled as "valid signals," the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is also anomalous.
[0032] It should be noted that in the above design, labeling sub-echo signals is merely one example of an identification method. This application does not limit any implementation of identifying potential interference signals or active signals, provided that the LiDAR can identify sub-echo signals determined to be potential interference signals or active signals through matching.
[0033] In the design described above, whether the echo signal contains valid signals, and whether it contains one valid signal or multiple valid signals, is determined comprehensively from two perspectives: a perspective within the pulse train and a perspective between pulse trains. This helps to better adapt the pulse train, which is adjusted by referring to the results, to real-world conditions and effectively improve the accuracy of pulse adjustment.
[0034] According to a second aspect, the present application provides a control method. The method is applicable to a control device and includes the following: The control device controls a transmitting module to transmit a fourth pulse train, a fifth pulse train, and a sixth pulse train. The fourth pulse train includes M1 first-type pulses, the fifth pulse train includes M2 second-type pulses, and the sixth pulse train includes M1 first-type pulses, or the fourth pulse train includes M2 second-type pulses, the fifth pulse train includes M1 first-type pulses, and the sixth pulse train includes M2 second-type pulses, where the power of the M1 first-type pulses is greater than the power of the M2 second-type pulses, M1 is an integer greater than 1, and M2 is a positive integer. According to this design, the control device can not only improve the detection effect of far-field targets by transmitting at least two first-type pulses in a single pulse train, but can also improve point cloud construction precision by acquiring the detection results lost in the fifth pulse train using a differential method by using the detection results of the fourth pulse train and the detection results of the sixth pulse train.
[0035] It should be noted that the design in the first embodiment is also applicable to the second embodiment. Further details are not described again in this application.
[0036] According to a third aspect, the present application provides a control device comprising at least one processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being configured to provide data or code instructions to at least one processor, and the at least one processor being configured to implement the method according to either the first or second aspect by using logic circuits or executing code instructions.
[0037] According to a fourth aspect, the present application provides a chip including a processor and an interface. The processor is configured to read instructions by using the interface and to carry out a method according to either the first or second aspect.
[0038] According to a fifth aspect, a LiDAR is provided, including a control device and a transmitting module, wherein the control device is configured to implement a control method according to either the first or second aspect, and the transmitting module is configured to transmit pulse trains under the control of the control device.
[0039] In a possible design, the LiDAR further includes a scanning mechanism, which includes one or more of the following: a multi-faceted rotating mirror, a pendulum mirror, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) scanning mirror, or a prism.
[0040] In a possible design, the LiDAR further includes a receiver module configured to receive echo signals, and a control unit further configured to determine target features based on the echo signals.
[0041] According to the sixth aspect, the application provides a terminal device including LiDAR in any design of the fifth aspect. Examples of terminal devices include, but are not limited to, smart home devices (such as televisions, floor cleaning robots, smart desk lamps, sound systems, intelligent lighting systems, electrical control systems, home background music, home theater systems, intercom systems, and video surveillance systems), intelligent transport devices (such as cars, ships, unmanned aerial vehicles, trains, freight vehicles, and trucks), intelligent manufacturing devices (such as robots, industrial devices, intelligent logistics, and smart factories), and intelligent terminals (such as mobile phones, computers, tablet computers, palmtop computers, desktop computers, headsets, sound devices, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, virtual reality devices, and augmented reality devices).
[0042] According to the seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed, a method according to either the first or second aspect is carried out.
[0043] According to the eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product. When the computer program product runs on a processor, the method according to either the first or second aspect is implemented.
[0044] For the beneficial effects of the second through eighth embodiments, please refer to the technical effects that can be achieved by the corresponding designs in the first embodiment. Further details are not described herein. [Brief explanation of the drawing]
[0045] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of a schematic diagram of a LiDAR application scenario according to the embodiments of this application. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of a schematic diagram of the internal architecture of a LiDAR according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of a schematic interaction flowchart corresponding to the control method according to the embodiment of this application. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of a schematic diagram of the detection field according to the embodiment of this application. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of a schematic diagram of various pulse train presentation modes according to the embodiments of this application. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of a schematic diagram of the presentation mode of the pulse train sent during the detection cycle according to the embodiment of this application. [Figure 7] This figure shows an example of a schematic diagram of the time interval for transmitting a pulse train according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of a schematic flowchart for the transmission pulse adjustment method according to the embodiment of this application. [Figure 9]This figure shows an example of a schematic diagram of the presentation mode of the first pulse train and the first echo signal according to the embodiment of this application. [Figure 10] This figure shows an example of a schematic flowchart for comparing time intervals between pulse trains according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 11] This figure shows an example of a schematic diagram of an implementation for adding a first type pulse according to an embodiment of this application. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0046] The control methods disclosed in this application may be applied to terminal devices having pulse transmission capabilities, and in particular to terminal devices having laser transmission capabilities. Terminal devices may be intelligent devices having pulse transmission capabilities, including, but are not limited to, smart home devices such as televisions, floor cleaning robots, smart desk lamps, sound systems, intelligent lighting systems, electrical control systems, home background music, home theater systems, intercom systems, and video surveillance systems; intelligent transport devices such as cars, ships, unmanned aerial vehicles, trains, freight vehicles, and trucks; and intelligent manufacturing devices such as robots, industrial devices, intelligent logistics, and smart factories. Alternatively, terminal devices may be computer devices having pulse transmission capabilities, such as desktop computers, personal computers, or servers. It should be further understood that terminal devices may also be portable electronic devices having pulse transmission capabilities, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, palmtop computers, headsets, sound devices, wearable devices (such as smartwatches), vehicle-mounted devices, virtual reality devices, or augmented reality devices. Examples of portable electronic devices include, but are not limited to, portable electronic devices with the iOS® operating system, Android® operating system, Microsoft® operating system, Harmony® operating system, or another operating system. Alternatively, a portable electronic device may be, for example, a laptop computer (laptop) with a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch panel).
[0047] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to specific attached drawings.
[0048] In certain application scenarios, control methods may be applied to LiDAR. Figure 1 shows an example schematic diagram of a LiDAR application scenario according to embodiments of the present application. In this example, LiDAR 100 is installed on a vehicle and is therefore also called a vehicle-mounted LiDAR. In addition to vehicle-mounted LiDARs, LiDARs further include ship-mounted LiDARs installed on ships and machine-mounted LiDARs installed on machines. In possible examples, as shown in Figure 1, LiDAR 100 may be specifically installed at the head position of the vehicle. During the vehicle's movement process, LiDAR 100 may transmit a laser signal. The laser signal is irradiated onto an object in front of the vehicle and then reflected by that object. The reflected echo signal may be received by LiDAR 100. LiDAR 100 then uses the echo signal to detect information about obstacles in front of the vehicle, such as the size and distance of the obstacles, and uses this obstacle information to implement vehicle driving functions, including, for example, autonomous driving or assisted driving, but not limited to.
[0049] It should be noted that LiDAR 100 may be one of the following: mechanical LiDAR, liquid LiDAR, pure solid-state LiDAR, or hybrid solid-state LiDAR (also called semi-solid-state LiDAR), or any other type of LiDAR. This is not particularly limited to the embodiments of this application.
[0050] Furthermore, for example, Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the internal architecture of a LiDAR according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, in this example, the LiDAR 100 may include a control unit 110, a transmitting module 120, a scanning mechanism 130, and a receiving module 140. The transmitting module 120 includes a laser 121 and a transmitting optical system 122, and the receiving module 140 includes a receiving optical system 141 and a detector 142. In the LiDAR 100, the control unit 110 may have signal control and processing capabilities and may be connected to other components in the LiDAR 100 by using a controller area network (CAN) bus or in another manner. The laser 121 is a device capable of transmitting a laser and may be one of the following: a semiconductor laser, a gas laser, a fiber optic laser, a solid-state laser, a dye laser, a diode laser, or an excimer laser. The transmitting optical system 122 and the receiving optical system 141 are systems including optical elements. The optical elements include, but are not limited to, lenses, optical filters, polarizers, reflectors, beam-splitting mirrors, prisms, window sections, scattering sections, etc. The scanning mechanism 130 may include one or more of the following: a polyhedron rotating mirror, a pendulum mirror, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) scanning mirror, or a prism. The detector 142 may include, but are not limited to, an avalanche photodiode (APD), a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD), a photodiode (positive intrinsic-negative, PIN), a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM), etc.
[0051] In the implementation, the control device 110 may control the laser 121 to emit laser pulses, control the transmitting optical system 122 to transmit laser pulses from the laser 121, and further control the scanning mechanism 130 to scan and traverse the detection area using the laser pulses. It should be noted that the scanning mechanism 130 is not an essential component, and the traversal function that can be implemented by the scanning mechanism 130 can essentially be implemented by using array designs and array control devices in the transmitting and receiving modules. Furthermore, after the object in the detection area has been scanned, the laser pulse is reflected by the object, and the reflected echo signal is received by the receiving optical system 141 under the control of the control device 110 and transmitted to the detector 142, which then, under the control of the control device 110, presents an optical spot corresponding to the echo signal, generates an electrical signal corresponding to the optical spot, and sends the electrical signal to the control device 110. Next, the control device 110 analyzes electrical signals to generate a point cloud, which may be used to acquire target information such as the distance, orientation, height, speed, posture, and even shape of an object, and then further used to plan autonomous or assisted driving of the vehicle by referring to other sensor information of the vehicle.
[0052] It should be noted that the control and processing capabilities of the control device 110 may be integrated into a single component for implementation purposes, or they may be implemented separately in multiple components. For example, the control device 110 may be an integrated circuit chip, such as a general-purpose processor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on a chip (SoC), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or another programmable logic device, individual gate or transistor logic device, individual hardware components, or another integrated chip. The control device 110 may include a central processor unit (CPU), a neural network processing unit (NPU), and a graphics processing unit (GPU), and may further include an application processor (AP), a modem processor, an image signal processor (ISP), a video codec, a digital signal processor (DSP), and / or a baseband processor. This is not particularly limited.
[0053] In the above implementation, laser pulses play a crucial role in object detection within the detection area. Generally, the boundary point between near-field targets and far-field targets is 20m. The detection area is assumed to include the following three objects shown in Figure 1: pedestrian a, 8m away from the vehicle head; signpost b, 10m away from the vehicle head; and cargo vehicle c, 30m away from the vehicle head. The distance between pedestrian a and the LiDAR 100 installed on the vehicle head, and the distance between signpost b and the LiDAR 100 are both within 20m, while the distance between cargo vehicle c and the LiDAR 100 installed on the vehicle head is greater than 20m. Therefore, pedestrian a and signpost b are near-field targets, and cargo vehicle c is a far-field target. It can be seen that both near-field targets and far-field targets are within the detection area of LiDAR 100. Near-field targets need to be detected using low-power laser pulses, and far-field targets need to be detected using high-power laser pulses. Currently, in this industry, laser pulses with relatively high power are typically configured to ensure that both near-field and far-field targets can be detected. However, as the power of the laser pulse increases, the energy of the clutter signal generated through the reflection of the laser pulse by each component in the LiDAR 100 also increases, as does the power of the echo signal reflected back by the near-field target. In one embodiment, the strong clutter signal and the strong near-field echo signal overlap, which degrades the detection effect of the near-field target and further reduces the point cloud quality of the LiDAR 100. In another embodiment, the receiving module 140 can only receive echo signals within a specific power range. If the power of the near-field echo signal is excessively high, the power exceeds the upper limit of the power that the receiving module 140 can receive, and therefore the receiving module 140 cannot receive or identify the near-field echo signal.As a result, the point cloud quality of the LiDAR100 is further reduced. Therefore, how the laser pulses are configured plays a crucial role in accurately detecting far-field and near-field targets and obtaining high-quality point clouds.
[0054] To accurately detect far-field and near-field targets and obtain high-quality point clouds, the control solutions currently commonly used are as follows: The control unit first controls the transmitting module to send a test pulse, and then the transmit pulse is sent based on the detection effect of the echo signal corresponding to the test pulse. For example, when the point cloud quality of the echo signal is not high, a transmit pulse with lower power than that of the test pulse is sent, reducing the power of the transmit pulse to reduce the clutter signal detected in the near field and improve the point cloud quality. While this control solution can adaptively determine the transmit pulse best suited to the current detection area, this is a type of post-feedback, which can cause untimely adjustments due to untimely feedback, and consequently, it is impossible to effectively improve detection accuracy. In addition, in this control solution, the subsequently transmitted transmit pulse must be determined based on the echo signal. When the echo signal has a specific error or the adjustment process has a specific error, the adjustment result is inaccurate, and consequently, detection accuracy is further reduced. In addition, extra test pulses are sent, which clearly does not lead to an improvement in the utilization rate of the transmit pulse. It can be seen that the control solutions currently offered in this industry are unable to effectively improve the accuracy of detecting far-field and near-field targets, nor can they improve the utilization rate of transmitted pulses.
[0055] In this regard, this application provides a control method for improving the accuracy of detecting far-field and near-field targets and improving the utilization rate of transmitted pulses.
[0056] It should be noted that the control method in this application may be applied to LiDAR, or to other devices, equipment, or chips other than LiDAR, for example, to another intelligent terminal having pulse transmission capabilities other than LiDAR, or to components of another intelligent terminal. Components include, but are not limited to, controllers, chips, or other sensors such as cameras, and other components. Alternatively, the control method in this application may be applied to the above-described driving scenarios, or to other imaging systems other than the above-described driving scenarios, for example, 3D building modeling systems, terrain mapping systems, or rendezvous and docking systems. In addition, with the development of system architectures and the emergence of new scenarios, the control method provided in this application is also applicable to similar technical problems. This is not particularly limited in this application.
[0057] The following describes specific implementations of the control method in this application with reference to specific embodiments. It is clear that the embodiments described are only a few embodiments of this application and not all embodiments of this application.
[0058] It should be noted that the terms “system” and “network” in embodiments of this application may be used interchangeably. “Multiple” means two or more than two. “And / or” describes an association between related subjects and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may mean that only A exists, that both A and B exist, and that only B exists, and A and B may be singular or plural. “One or more of the following items (parts)” or similar expressions mean any combination of these items, including any combination of singular or plural items (parts). For example, one or more of a, b, or c may mean a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b, and c, and a, b, and c may be singular or plural.
[0059] In addition, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" as described in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish between multiple subjects, but not to limit the priority or importance of multiple subjects. For example, the first pulse train, second pulse train, third pulse train, fourth pulse train, fifth pulse train, and sixth pulse train are used merely to distinguish between different pulse trains, and do not indicate different priorities, importance, etc., of these pulse trains. [Embodiment 1]
[0060] Based on the LiDAR 100 shown in Figure 2, Figure 3 shows an example of a schematic interaction flowchart corresponding to a control method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, the method includes: A control device controls a transmitting module to transmit N pulse trains, each of which includes at least one first-type pulse and / or at least one second-type pulse, the power of the first-type pulse being greater than the power of the second-type pulse, and N being a positive integer. The control device may control the transmitting module to send N pulse trains in one or more transmissions, based on the scanning scheme. For example, when the scanning scheme is point-spot scanning, the control device may control the transmitting module to send N pulse trains in N transmissions to detect one pixel on an object, sending one pulse train from the N pulse trains each time. When the scanning scheme is line-spot scanning, the control device may control the transmitting module to transmit multiple pulse trains in the linear area corresponding to the current line spot each time to detect a linear area on an object. When the scanning method is planar array scanning, the control device may control the transmitting module to transmit multiple pulse trains that are in the planar area corresponding to the current planar array each time in order to detect a planar area on the object.
[0061] Based on the above implementation, several possible pulse train transmission methods will be described using examples.
[0062] In this example, the control unit may control the transmitting module to transmit a first pulse train, the first pulse train comprising M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses, and control the transmitting module to transmit a second pulse train, the second pulse train comprising M3 first-type pulses and / or M4 second-type pulses. M1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2, and M2, M3, and M4 are positive integers, where the values of M1 and M3 may be the same or different, and the values of M2 and M4 may be the same or different. This is not particularly limited. In this example, the high-power first-type pulses in the first pulse train may be used to detect far-field targets, and the low-power second-type pulses may be used to detect near-field targets. Far-field and near-field targets are detected by using their respective matched pulses, and thus the accuracy of detecting far-field and near-field targets is effectively improved, thereby making it possible to improve the point cloud quality of the LiDAR. In addition, at least two first-type pulses are transmitted in the first pulse train. In one embodiment, a far-field target is detected by using at least two high-power pulses, thereby further improving the detection effect of the far-field target and further improving the quality of the far-field point cloud. In another embodiment, the amount of first-type pulses can be increased, and the amount of time intervals included in the first pulse train can be increased accordingly, so that more accurate pulse position modulation is performed on at least two first-type pulses based on the increased time intervals, thereby effectively improving the anti-interference performance of the first pulse train. In yet another embodiment, the problem of unclear distances because the detected target exceeds the ranging range of one detection cycle can be further solved through joint ranging of multiple first-type pulses. In addition, test pulses do not need to be transmitted in advance before the first and second pulse trains are transmitted, thereby improving the utilization rate of transmitted pulses.
[0063] In another example, the control unit may control the transmitting module to transmit a fourth pulse train, a fifth pulse train, and a sixth pulse train. The fourth pulse train may contain M1 first-type pulses, the fifth pulse train may contain M2 second-type pulses, and the sixth pulse train may contain M1 first-type pulses, or the fourth pulse train may contain M2 second-type pulses, the fifth pulse train may contain M1 first-type pulses, and the sixth pulse train may contain M2 second-type pulses. M1 is a positive integer greater than 2, and M2, M3, and M4 are positive integers. In this example, in addition to transmitting at least two first-type pulses in one pulse train to improve the detection effect of the far-field target, the lost detection results in the fifth pulse train can be acquired in a differential manner by using the detection results of the fourth pulse train and the detection results of the sixth pulse train. For example, when the fourth pulse train contains M1 first-type pulses, the fifth pulse train contains M2 second-type pulses, and the sixth pulse train contains M1 first-type pulses, the fourth and sixth pulse trains are used to detect far-field targets, and the fifth pulse train is used to detect near-field targets. Even if the fifth pulse train does not contain high-power first-type pulses and cannot directly detect far-field targets, the difference in far-field detection results of the fourth and sixth pulse trains adjacent to the fifth pulse train can be used as the detection result for the fifth pulse train to supplement the far-field detection result of the fifth pulse train and improve the construction precision of the far-field point cloud. On the contrary, when the fourth pulse train contains M2 second-type pulses, the fifth pulse train contains M1 first-type pulses, and the sixth pulse train contains M2 second-type pulses, the difference in the near-field detection results of the fourth and sixth pulse trains adjacent to the fifth pulse train can be used as the detection result for the fifth pulse train to supplement the near-field detection result for the fifth pulse train and improve the construction precision of the near-field point cloud.
[0064] In yet another example, to improve the construction precision of both far-field and near-field point clouds, the control unit could, as an alternative, control the transmitting module to transmit pulse train 1 containing M1 first-type pulses, pulse train 2 containing M2 second-type pulses, pulse train 3 containing M1 first-type pulses, and pulse train 4 containing M2 second-type pulses, thereby improving the overall point cloud quality of the LiDAR by obtaining the far-field detection result of pulse train 2 using pulse trains 1 and 3 in a differential manner, and obtaining the near-field detection result of pulse train 3 using pulse trains 2 and 4 in a differential manner. Alternatively, the control unit may control the transmitting module to transmit pulse train 5 containing M2 second-type pulses, pulse train 6 containing M1 first-type pulse, pulse train 7 containing M2 second-type pulses, and pulse train 8 containing M1 first-type pulse, thereby improving the overall point cloud quality of the LiDAR by obtaining near-field detection results for pulse train 6 using pulse trains 5 and 7 in a differential manner, and obtaining far-field detection results for pulse train 7 using pulse trains 6 and 8 in a differential manner.
[0065] In the two examples above involving differential calculations, it should be noted that the differential calculation of pulse trains can be flexibly configured based on the LiDAR system's point cloud construction precision requirements. For example, differential processing may not be performed when the current pulse train configuration has reached the point cloud construction precision requirements for all time periods, the entire field of view, and all frames. However, if the pulse train configuration for all or some time periods, all or some fields of view, or all or some frames in the current pulse train configuration fails to meet the point cloud construction precision requirements for the corresponding time period, the corresponding field of view, or the corresponding frame, differential processing may be performed on the corresponding time period, the corresponding field of view, or the corresponding frame to meet the point cloud construction precision requirements for all time periods, the entire field of view, and all frames.
[0066] In possible implementations, any two of the N pulse trains may satisfy one or more of the following conditions:
[0067] Condition 1: The transmission time periods of the two pulse trains are different. In other words, the two pulse trains are transmitted in sequence, and the transmission time periods of the two pulse trains are sequential. For example, when a line spot is used to scan an object, the laser is first driven to emit light based on one of the two pulse trains to generate a line spot for scanning an area of the object, and then the laser is driven to emit light based on the other of the two pulse trains to generate another line spot for scanning another area of the object.
[0068] Condition 2: Two pulse trains correspond to different transmitting submodules. For example, when a line spot is used to scan an object, multiple transmitting submodules simultaneously emit their respective corresponding pulse trains, and these simultaneously emitted pulse trains drive the laser tube to emit light, thereby presenting a line spot for scanning a specific area of the object.
[0069] Condition 3: Two pulse trains correspond to different pixels in the same detection field. The detection field is the area of an object that can be scanned in one detection, or correspondingly, the pixel area presented to the detector in one detection. For example, Figure 4 shows an example of a schematic diagram of a detection field according to an embodiment of the present application. In this example, the LiDAR scans the object by using line spots. If the line spots are parallel to the Y-axis and the object is scanned along the X-axis, the detection field is a vertical strip area marked by diagonal lines in Figure 4. The vertical strip area contains multiple pixels, each of which corresponds to its own pulse train, and the pulse trains corresponding to different pixels may or may not be the same. This is not particularly limited.
[0070] Condition 4: Two pulse trains correspond to different detection fields. For example, Figure 4 is still used as an example. The pixel areas corresponding to the two pulse trains belong to different vertical band areas. For example, one pulse train corresponds to pixels in the vertical band area marked with diagonal lines in Figure 4, and the other pulse train corresponds to pixels in the area not marked with diagonal lines in Figure 4.
[0071] Condition 5: Two pulse trains correspond to different receiving submodules. A receiving submodule can be a detector or a group of detectors within a receiving module. A group of detectors is used as an example. A receiving module may contain multiple detectors, which may be divided into at least two detector groups, each of which corresponds to one pixel area and is configured to present a spot of light transmitted to the pixel area. When a receiving submodule is a detector, two receiving submodules corresponding to two pulse trains may belong to the same detector group or to different detector groups. When a receiving submodule is a group of detectors, two receiving submodules corresponding to two pulse trains may belong to different detector groups.
[0072] In the above implementation, the control device can establish correlation relationships between pulse trains based on one or more factors, including transmission time period, transmitting submodule, detection field of view, pixels, or receiving submodule, thereby improving the flexibility of setting up pulse trains and allowing the control method to adapt to various pulse train configuration scenarios.
[0073] In possible implementations, a control device may generate a point cloud based on one or more pulse trains within N pulse trains. For example, transmitting a first pulse train and a second pulse train is used as an example. In one scheme, the control device may generate a point cloud based on echo signals corresponding to at least a first pulse train and a second pulse train (for example, based on a first pulse train and a second pulse train, or based on a first pulse train, a second pulse train, and another pulse train within N pulse trains). In this way, more comprehensive information can be obtained by using the detection results of multiple pulse trains, and the quality of point cloud construction is improved. In another scheme, the control device may generate a first point cloud based on echo signals corresponding to at least a first pulse train, and a second point cloud based on echo signals corresponding to at least a second pulse train. The first point cloud is different from the second point cloud. In this way, the efficiency of point cloud construction can be improved by allowing pulse trains to correspond to different point clouds.
[0074] In this embodiment of the present application, for pulse trains containing N pulse trains and including at least one first type pulse, the at least one first type pulse included in these pulse trains may be the same, for example, having the same amount, power, pulse width, and duration, or the at least one first type pulse included in these pulse trains may be different from each other, for example, having at least one of the amount, power, pulse width, or duration of the first type pulses. Correspondingly, for pulse trains containing N pulse trains and including at least one second type pulse, the at least one second type pulse included in these pulse trains may be the same, for example, having the same amount, power, pulse width, and duration, or the at least one second type pulse included in these pulse trains may be different from each other, for example, having at least one of the amount, power, pulse width, or duration of the second type pulses.
[0075] In possible implementations, the power and quantity of at least one Type 1 pulse (or possibly other information such as pulse width or duration) may be determined based on remote measurement requirements, and the power and quantity of at least one Type 2 pulse (or possibly other information such as pulse width or duration) may be determined based on dynamic optimization requirements. Remote measurement requirements are requirements for detecting far-field targets, including, but are not limited to, the distance to the furthest far-field target expected to be measured, and the reliability of measuring the far-field target. For example, when the expected maximum distance to a measurable far-field target is greater and the reliability of measuring the far-field target is greater, the power of at least one Type 1 pulse may be configured to be greater, and the quantity of at least one Type 1 pulse may be configured to be greater. In this way, by sending higher-power Type 1 pulses and using higher power, higher detection reliability and longer detection distances can be implemented. Correspondingly, the dynamic optimization requirements are those for detecting near-field targets, and include, but are not limited to, the echo signal intensity of the nearest near-field target expected to be measured, the success rate of measuring the near-field target, and the characteristics of stray light. When it is possible to measure a stronger echo signal intensity of a near-field target, a higher success rate of measuring the near-field target is obtained, and stronger stray light of the near-field target is expected to be detected, then it indicates that a larger dynamic requirement is needed so that a higher detection success rate and a wider dynamic range can be implemented by sending lower-power pulses and using a higher power range, and a wider power range of at least one second-type pulse may be configured, and a larger quantity of at least one second-type pulse may be configured. It should be understood that in addition to configuring the power and quantity of the pulses, other information such as pulse width and duration may be further configured. This is not particularly limited in this application.
[0076] For example, when only far-field targets need to be detected, the pulse train may include first-type pulses but not second-type pulses. When only near-field targets need to be detected, the pulse train may include second-type pulses but not first-type pulses. When both far-field and near-field targets need to be detected, the pulse train may include both first-type and second-type pulses.
[0077] In possible implementations, the type and quantity of pulses actually contained in each of the N pulse trains can be determined by referring to the LiDAR's repetition frequency limit, far-field angular resolution, and near-field angular resolution. The LiDAR's repetition frequency refers to the amount of time the LiDAR can transmit pulses per unit time. For example, a LiDAR's repetition frequency of 40 Hz means that the LiDAR can transmit 40 pulses per unit time. The unit time as used herein is generally set to 1 s. Far-field angular resolution refers to the angular resolution used to detect far-field targets, and near-field angular resolution refers to the angular resolution used to detect near-field targets. The far-field and near-field angular resolutions can be found in the LiDAR's product manual or handling manual. In some cases, the two angular resolutions are limited by a fixed value, and in other cases, the two angular resolutions are each limited by a supported range. When the supported range is used for limitation, the ranges of the far-field and near-field angular resolutions may or may not overlap. If the resolution is not specified in the product manual or instruction manual, the far-field angular resolution and near-field angular resolution may optionally be the same by default. In addition, the LiDAR frame frequency, field of view, distance, etc., may be specified in the product manual. These factors collectively determine the limitations on the LiDAR repetition frequency. For example, if it is determined that M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses must be configured in each pulse train based on remote measurement requirements and dynamic optimization requirements, refer to Figure 5. Figure 5 shows an example of schematic diagrams of various pulse train presentation configurations according to embodiments of this application.
[0078] Case 1: When the amount M1 of first-type pulses and the amount M2 of second-type pulses are not limited by the LiDAR's repetition frequency (i.e., the sum of the amount of first-type pulses and second-type pulses that need to be transmitted per unit time is less than or equal to the amount of pulses that the LiDAR can transmit per unit time), it means that the LiDAR's repetition frequency capability supports the transmission of M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses during the time period corresponding to one pulse train. In this case, as shown in Figure 5(A), each pulse train may contain M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses, and thus both far-field and near-field angular resolution can reach a preset or configured optimal angular resolution. N pulse trains determined based on remote measurement requirements and dynamic optimization requirements may contain M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses, M3 first-type pulses and M4 second-type pulses, ..., and M 2N-1 Individual first type pulses and M 2N It should be understood that if the pulse train contains n second-type pulses, and the sum of the number of pulses in each pulse train is not limited to the LiDAR repetition frequency, the presentation of N pulse trains can be shown in Figure 5(B). M1, M3, ..., and M 2N-1 The values of M2, M4, ..., and M may be the same or different. 2N The values may be the same or different.
[0079] Case 2: When the amount M1 of first-type pulses and the amount M2 of second-type pulses are limited by the LiDAR's repetition frequency (i.e., the sum of the amount of first-type pulses and second-type pulses that need to be transmitted per unit time is greater than the amount of pulses that the LiDAR can transmit per unit time), and the degree of limitation is not higher than the first preset degree, the LiDAR's repetition frequency capability is not able to transmit M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses during the time period of one pulse train, but the degree of limitation of the LiDAR's repetition frequency is relatively small. In this case, as shown in Figure 5(C), the control device may be configured such that at least one of the N pulse trains contains M1 first-type pulses but not M2 second-type pulses, and all other pulse trains except at least one contain M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses, respectively, to match the LiDAR's repetition frequency capability by reducing the near-field angular resolution and ensuring optimal far-field angular resolution, thereby ensuring far-field point cloud quality.
[0080] Case 3: When the amount M1 of the first type pulses and the amount M2 of the second type pulses are limited by the repetition frequency of the LiDAR, and the degree of limitation is higher than the first preset degree, it means that the degree of limitation of the LiDAR's repetition frequency is relatively large, and the capability of the LiDAR's repetition frequency cannot be matched by only sacrificing near-field angular resolution. In this case, as shown in Figure 5(D), the control device may be configured such that at least three adjacent pulse trains in the N pulse trains are arranged in the manner of M1 first type pulses, M2 second type pulses, and M1 first type pulses, or in the manner of M2 second type pulses, M1 first type pulses, and M2 second type pulses, and any other pulse trains other than the at least three adjacent pulse trains include M1 first type pulses and / or M2 second type pulses. Thus, as shown in Figure 5(D), the first, second, and third pulse trains are arranged from left to right in the order of M1 first-type pulses, M2 second-type pulses, and M1 first-type pulses, thereby allowing the far-field detection result of the second pulse train to be obtained through interpolation using the detection results of the first and third pulse trains. In this way, when it is impossible to guarantee far-field angular resolution, interpolated far-field angular resolution can be implemented using an interpolation method. Similarly, as shown in Figure 5(D), the second, third, and fourth pulse trains are arranged from left to right in the order of M2 second-type pulses, M1 first-type pulse, and M2 second-type pulses, thereby allowing the near-field detection result of the third pulse train to be obtained through interpolation using the detection results of the second and fourth pulse trains. In this way, when it is impossible to guarantee near-field angular resolution, interpolated near-field angular resolution can be implemented using an interpolation method.
[0081] When the far-field angular resolution and the near-field angular resolution are presented in a range form, sacrificing the near-field angular resolution or the far-field angular resolution does not guarantee that the near-field angular resolution or the far-field angular resolution will meet the maximum value within the range, but will ultimately be greater than or equal to the minimum value within the range. Therefore, it should be noted that a pulse train adjusted based on the repetition frequency situation can still meet the minimum angular resolution requirement of LiDAR.
[0082] In a possible implementation, the power of the first type of pulse may be the same or different, and the power of the second type of pulse may be the same or different. For example, the power of the first type of pulse may be set to be the same, and the power of the second type of pulse may be set to be different. In this way, the complexity of processing the far-field detection pulses implemented by LiDAR in the transmission process can be simplified, and the dynamic range of near-field detection can be increased. For example, the configuration process of the first pulse train is used as an example. In an implementation, the control device may determine the power and quantity of the first type of pulse that meets the remote detection requirement based on the remote detection requirement. Assume that M1 first pulses TX1 are determined, each having a power of P1. In addition, the type, power, and quantity of the second type of pulse that meet the dynamic optimization requirement are determined based on the dynamic optimization requirement. For example, a second pulse Tx21 of type 1 with a power of P 21 is first configured, and P 21 < P1. It is determined whether the second pulse Tx21 of type 1 is sufficient to meet the dynamic optimization requirement. If not, a second pulse Tx22 of type 2 with a power of P 22 is configured, and P 22 < P 21 < P1 or P 21 < P 22It is P1. It is determined whether the second pulse Tx21 of type 1 and the second pulse Tx22 of type 2 are sufficient to meet the dynamic optimization requirements. If not, until K types of second pulses Tx21 to Tx2K that meet the dynamic optimization requirements are found, P 23 The second pulse Tx23 of type 3 with the power of P 23 <P 22 <P 21 <P1, or P 23 <P 21 <P 22 <P1, or P 22 <P 21 <P 23 <P1, or P 22 <P 23 <P 21 <P1, or P 21 <P 22 <P 23 <P1, or P 21 <P 23 <P 22 <P1, etc. The total amount of K types of second pulses Tx21 to Tx2K is M2, and K is a positive integer. In this way, after the first pulse sequence is configured, the M1 first-type pulses in the first pulse sequence include M1 first pulses with the same power, and the M2 second-type pulses in the first pulse sequence include K types of second pulses with different powers. The sum of the amounts of K types of second pulses is M2, and K is a positive integer.
[0083] Furthermore, for example, pulses included in the first pulse train may be transmitted in multiple detection cycles, and the pulse train transmitted in each detection cycle includes the first pulse Tx1 and / or one or more of K types of second pulses Tx21 to Tx2K. One transmission and one reception is called one detection cycle. In this way, the control device can comprehensively determine the point cloud by using multiple detection results received in multiple detection cycles, thereby helping to improve the point cloud quality. The duration of each detection cycle in a pulse train may be equal to, for example, 500 ns, or at least two detection cycles may correspond to different durations, for example, the durations of all detection cycles may be 500 ns, 1000 ns, 1500 ns, ..., etc. Preferably, the duration of each detection cycle may be set based on the amount, power, etc., of pulses transmitted in the detection cycle. When the power of the transmitted pulses is lower or the amount of pulses transmitted is lower, the duration of the detection cycle may also be set to be lower. In this way, the duration of each detection cycle is controlled so that the total time required to transmit the pulse train can be effectively reduced.
[0084] In one possible configuration, pulse trains transmitted during any two detection cycles may contain the same number of pulses and may also be of the same pulse type. In this way, the complexity of controlling pulse transmission can be reduced. In another possible configuration, the number and / or pulse types of pulses contained in pulse trains transmitted during at least two detection cycles are different. In this way, the flexibility of transmitting pulses in each detection cycle can be improved. For example, if a second type pulse contains a second pulse of type 1 Tx21 and a second pulse of type 2 Tx22, but does not contain another second pulse, the pulse train transmitted during any detection cycle may be one of the configurations shown in Figure 6.
[0085] Presentation Form 1: The pulse train transmitted during the detection cycle includes a first pulse Tx1, a second pulse Tx21 of type 1, and a second pulse Tx22 of type 2. The transmission method may be as follows: The first pulse Tx1, the second pulse Tx21 of type 1, and the second pulse Tx22 of type 2 are transmitted sequentially as shown in Figure 6(A), or the first pulse Tx1, the second pulse Tx22 of type 2, and the second pulse Tx21 of type 1 are transmitted sequentially as shown in Figure 6(B), or the second pulse Tx22 of type 2, the first pulse Tx1, and the second pulse Tx21 of type 1 are transmitted sequentially as shown in Figure 6(C), or Alternatively, the second pulse Tx22 of type 2, the second pulse Tx21 of type 1, and the first pulse Tx1 are transmitted sequentially as shown in Figure 6(D), or the second pulse Tx21 of type 1, the first pulse Tx1, and the second pulse Tx22 of type 2 are transmitted sequentially as shown in Figure 6(E), or the second pulse Tx21 of type 1, the second pulse Tx22 of type 2, and the first pulse Tx1 are transmitted sequentially as shown in Figure 6(F).
[0086] Presentation form 2: The pulse train sent during the detection cycle includes one of the following: a first pulse Tx1, a second pulse of type 1 Tx21, or a second pulse of type 2 Tx22. For example, as shown in Figure 6(G), the first pulse Tx1 may be included, but the second pulse of type 1 Tx21 and the second pulse of type 2 Tx22 may not be included; or as shown in Figure 6(H), the second pulse of type 1 Tx21 may be included, but the first pulse Tx1 and the second pulse of type 2 Tx22 may not be included; or as shown in Figure 6(I), the second pulse of type 2 Tx22 may be included, but the first pulse Tx1 and the second pulse of type 1 Tx21 may not be included.
[0087] Presentation form 3: The pulse train transmitted during the detection cycle includes a second pulse of type 1, Tx21, and a second pulse of type 2, Tx22. The transmission method may be as follows: As shown in Figure 6(J), the second pulse of type 2, Tx22, and the second pulse of type 1, Tx21, are transmitted sequentially, or as shown in Figure 6(K), the second pulse of type 1, Tx21, and the second pulse of type 2, Tx22, are transmitted sequentially.
[0088] Presentation form 4: The pulse train transmitted during the detection cycle includes a first pulse TX1 and one of a second pulse TX21 of type 1 and a second pulse TX22 of type 2. The transmission method may be as follows: As shown in Figure 6(L), the first pulse TX1 and the second pulse Tx21 of type 1 are transmitted sequentially; or as shown in Figure 6(M), the first pulse TX1 and the second pulse Tx22 of type 2 are transmitted sequentially; or as shown in Figure 6(N), the second pulse Tx21 of type 1 and the first pulse TX1 are transmitted sequentially; or as shown in Figure 6(O), the second pulse Tx22 of type 2 and the first pulse TX1 are transmitted sequentially.
[0089] Below, based on the pulse train presentation format corresponding to the detection cycle shown in Figure 6, several possible pulse implementations of the N pulse trains in Figure 5 will be described as an example.
[0090] In the N pulse trains shown in Figure 5(A) or Figure 5(B), each pulse train contains a first-type pulse and a second-type pulse. In this case, any pulse train can be implemented by using one or a combination of the following configurations: one of Figures 6(A) through (F), Figures 6(G) and 6(J), Figures 6(G) and 6(K), Figures 6(G), 6(H), and 6(I), Figures 6(L) and 6(I), Figures 6(M) and 6(H), Figures 6(N) and 6(I), and Figures 6(O) and 6(H). A smaller number of pulses during a detection cycle indicates a smaller total duration of the detection cycle. In each detection cycle from (A) to (F) in Figure 6, three pulses are transmitted; in each detection cycle from (J) to (O) in Figure 6, two pulses are transmitted; and in each detection cycle from (G) to (I) in Figure 6, one pulse is transmitted. Therefore, using any of the pulse trains from (A) to (F) in Figure 6 may result in the shortest detection time; using (G), (H), and (I) in Figure 6 may result in the longest detection time; and using (G) and (J), (G) and (K), (L) and (I), (M) and (H), (N) and (I), or (O) and (H) in Figure 6 may result in a moderate detection time.
[0091] In the N pulse trains shown in Figure 5(C), pulse trains containing first-type pulses and second-type pulses may be implemented according to one or a combination of the above configurations, and pulse trains containing first-type pulses but not second-type pulses may be implemented according to Figure 6(G).
[0092] In the N pulse trains shown in Figure 5(D), pulse trains that include a first-type pulse but do not include a second-type pulse may be implemented according to Figure 6(G), and pulse trains that include a second-type pulse but do not include a first-type pulse may be implemented according to one or a combination of Figures 6(H) and (I), Figure 6(J), and Figure 6(K).
[0093] In this embodiment of the present application, pulse trains including first-type pulses (including pulse trains including first-type pulses but not second-type pulses, and pulse trains including first-type pulses and second-type pulses) are grouped into a first pulse train set, pulse trains including second-type pulses (including pulse trains including second-type pulses but not first-type pulses, and pulse trains including first-type pulses and second-type pulses) are grouped into a second pulse train set, and pulse trains including first-type pulses and second-type pulses are grouped into a third pulse train set. There may be crossover sets between the first pulse train set and the second pulse train set, or there may not be crossover sets between the first pulse train set and the second pulse train set, and there may be crossover sets between the third pulse train set and the first pulse train set or between the third pulse train set and the second pulse train set. In addition, for any one of the first, second, and third pulse train sets, two adjacent pulse trains in the pulse train set may or may not be adjacent, provided their positions are not irregular. For example, suppose there are consecutively arranged pulse trains 1, 2, 3, and 4, where pulse train 1 contains first-type pulses but no second-type pulses, pulse train 2 contains second-type pulses but no first-type pulses, and pulse trains 3 and 4 each contain first-type and second-type pulses, respectively. In this case, the first pulse train set includes pulse trains 1, 3, and 4; the second pulse train set includes pulse trains 2, 3, and 4; and the third pulse train set includes pulse trains 3 and 4. Based on this, pulse trains 1 and 3 are adjacent pulse trains in the first pulse train set. However, if the positions are not irregular, pulse train 1 and pulse train 3 are separated by pulse train 2, so pulse train 1 and pulse train 3 are not adjacent pulse trains. Pulse train 3 and pulse train 4 are adjacent pulse trains in the first pulse train set, and are also adjacent pulse trains when the positions are not irregular.Based on this, several possible ways of setting the time interval between any two pulses contained in each pulse train and the time interval between any two pulses in any two pulse trains will be described below using examples. The time interval between two pulses is the time interval between the transmission times of the two pulses. The control device may generate each pulse train based on the determined time interval corresponding to each pulse train.
[0094] Time interval in pulse train
[0095] After a LiDAR emits a first-type pulse, stray light signals may be generated in the LiDAR. The duration of the stray light signal depends on factors such as the pulse width and power of the first-type pulse, and the maximum duration is generally determined by the pulse width of the first-type pulse. Generally, the duration of a stray light signal generated by a first-type pulse with a pulse width of generally within 10 ns ranges from 1 ns to 50 ns. The duration of the stray light signal is the time from when the first-type pulse is sent to when the stray light signal is received. In a LiDAR where stray light signals are present, the first echo signal corresponding to the first-type pulse is usually a stray light signal. Based on this, in this application, the duration from when the first-type pulse is sent to when the first echo signal corresponding to the first-type pulse is received is referred to as the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the first-type pulse. Furthermore, for any pulse train in the third pulse train set, the pulse train includes a first-type pulse and a second-type pulse. When setting the time interval between a first-type pulse and an adjacent second-type pulse, the LiDAR may design the interval by referencing the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the first-type pulse. For example, the time interval between a first-type pulse and an adjacent second-type pulse in a pulse train may be set to be greater than or equal to the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the first-type pulse, and the interval may be set to the sum of the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the first-type pulse and the random interference duration. For example, the time interval between the first pulse Tx1 and the second pulse Tx22 of type 2 in the detection cycle shown in Figure 6(A) is set to the sum of the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the first pulse Tx1 and the random interference duration. The random interference duration refers to additional interference duration caused by uncontrollable factors such as hardware (which may be obtained through experimental verification), or interference duration set for a purpose (e.g., to add interference to improve anti-interference performance).In this way, when the transmitting module is controlled to send a pulse train, after sending the first type pulse, the control unit sends the second type pulse after receiving the echo signal corresponding to the first type pulse. This effectively prevents the first type pulse or the echo signal of the first type pulse from affecting the detection process of the second type pulse, thereby improving the anti-interference performance between far-field detection and near-field detection.
[0096] In this embodiment of the present application, it should be noted that the pulse width, power, etc., of the second type pulse are specifically designed so that the stray light signal corresponding to the second type pulse becomes relatively weak and negligible, thereby avoiding the generation of a detection blind area corresponding to the second type pulse. However, if the second type pulse in the LiDAR actually has a corresponding detection blind area due to several factors, the time interval between the second type pulse and the adjacent first type pulse may be further set with reference to the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the second type pulse, for example, it may be set as the sum of the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the second type pulse and the random interference duration. For details regarding the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the second type pulse, please refer to the description regarding the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the first type pulse. Details will not be described again in this specification.
[0097] Furthermore, the time interval between any two adjacent pulses other than the first type pulse and adjacent second type pulses, for example, any two adjacent second type pulses in any pulse train in the third pulse train set, any two adjacent first type pulses in a pulse train in the first pulse train set that includes a first type pulse but does not include a second type pulse, or any two adjacent second type pulses in a pulse train in the second pulse train set that includes a second type pulse but does not include a first type pulse, as well as the time interval between the start of any detection cycle in any pulse train and the first type pulse in the detection cycle, can be obtained through coding. Coding means that random numbers are generated within a range of values by using a method for generating random numbers as time intervals. For example, the detection cycle shown in Figure 6(A) is used as an example. The control device may generate a random number through coding and set this random number as the time interval between the start of the detection cycle and the first pulse Tx1, and generate another random number through coding and set this another random number as the time interval between the second pulse Tx22 of type 2 and the second pulse TX21 of type 1. These two random numbers are generated randomly and may be the same or different, and are not particularly limited.
[0098] Time interval between pulse trains
[0099] In possible examples, the time interval of the first type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains in a first pulse train set can be determined based on the far-field angular resolution. The time interval of the first type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains may be the time interval between the central transmission moments of all first type pulses contained in either of the two pulse trains. For example, suppose there are pulse trains 1 and 2, pulse train 1 contains first type pulse 1 and first type pulse 2, with the transmission moment of first type pulse 1 being 5 ns and the transmission moment of first type pulse 2 being 10 ns, and pulse train 2 contains first type pulse 3, first type pulse 4, and first type pulse 5, with the transmission moment of first type pulse 3 being 20 ns, the transmission moment of first type pulse 4 being 22 ns and the transmission moment of first type pulse 5 being 26 ns. In this case, the central transmission moment of the two first-type pulses in pulse train 1 is 7.5 ns, and the central transmission moment of the three first-type pulses in pulse train 2 is 23 ns. The time interval of the first-type pulses corresponding to pulse trains 1 and 2 can be determined to be 23 ns minus 7.5 ns, i.e., 15.5 ns. In another example, if any two pulse trains in a first set of pulse trains contain the same pulses and pulse arrangement scheme, the time interval of the first-type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains may, alternatively, be the time interval between the transmission moments of the I1 first-type pulse in any two pulse trains, where I1 is any positive integer less than or equal to the number of pulses in any pulse train.
[0100] In a possible example, the time interval of the first type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains in a first pulse train set may be the ratio of the far-field angular resolution to the scanning speed. The scanning speed may be a preset parameter in the LiDAR or may be obtained through calculation based on another parameter in the LiDAR. This other parameter may include, but is not limited to, the frame frequency and repetition frequency of the LiDAR. In addition, the scanning speed may be implemented by using the scanning mechanism in the LiDAR or by using the array design and array control device in the transmitting or receiving module in the LiDAR. For example, when the far-field angular resolution is 1° and the scanning speed is 1° / ms, the time interval of the first type pulses corresponding to any two adjacent pulse trains may be 1 ms. When the time interval is the time interval between the central transmission moments of all first type pulses contained in any two adjacent pulse trains, if the central transmission moments of all first type pulses in the former pulse train are 7.5 ms, then the central transmission moments of all first type pulses in the latter pulse train are 8.5 ms. When the time interval is the time interval between the transmission moments of the first type pulses contained in any two adjacent pulse trains, if the transmission moment of the first type pulse in the former pulse train is 5 ns, then the transmission moment of the first type pulse in the latter pulse train is 1 ms + 5 ns. In addition, since the far-field angular resolution remains a fixed value after selection, the time intervals of the first type pulses corresponding to any two adjacent pulse trains in the first pulse train set are the same, i.e., the time interval between the transmission moments of the first type pulses corresponding to any two adjacent pulse trains is the same. "Same time interval" is identity in an ideal state. This identity may further include identity with certain deviations caused by environmental factors or other factors. In other words, as long as the value of the time interval falls within the range between positive and negative deviations, the time intervals are considered to be the same in this embodiment of the present application.
[0101] In possible examples, the time interval of the second type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains in a second pulse train set is determined based on the near-field angular resolution, which may be, for example, the ratio of the near-field angular resolution to the scanning speed. For example, if the scanning speed of the LiDAR is 1° / ms and the near-field angular resolution is 3°, the time interval of the second type pulses corresponding to any two adjacent pulse trains may be 3ms. The time interval of the second type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains may be the time interval between the central transmission moments of all the second type pulses contained in either of the two pulse trains, or, if the pulses and pulse arrangement schemes contained in either of the two pulse trains are the same, the time interval of the first type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains may, alternatively, be the time interval between the transmission moments of the I2 second type pulse in either of the two pulse trains, where I2 is any positive integer less than or equal to the number of pulses contained in any pulse train. In addition, since the near-field angular resolution remains a fixed value after selection, the time intervals of the second type pulses corresponding to any two adjacent pulse trains in the second pulse train set are the same.
[0102] In possible examples, when the ratio of far-field angular resolution to near-field angular resolution is an integer, the time interval offsets of the first-type and second-type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains in a third pulse train set are the same. The time interval offset of the first-type and second-type pulses corresponding to two pulse trains is the difference between the time interval between the transmission moment of the first-type pulse and the transmission moment of the second-type pulse in the first pulse train, and the time interval between the transmission moment of the first-type pulse and the transmission moment of the second-type pulse in the second pulse train. For example, the moment of transmission of a first-type pulse in any pulse train may be the central transmission moment of all first-type pulses in the pulse train, the moment of transmission of a second-type pulse in any pulse train may be the central transmission moment of all second-type pulses in the pulse train, or, when the pulses and pulse arrangement schemes in any two pulse trains are the same, the moment of transmission of a first-type pulse in any pulse train may be the moment of transmission of the first first-type pulse in the pulse train, the moment of transmission of a second-type pulse in any pulse train may be the moment of transmission of the first second-type pulse in the pulse train, or, when the pulses and pulse arrangement schemes in any two pulse trains are the same, the moment of transmission of a first-type pulse in any pulse train may be the moment of transmission of the last first-type pulse in the pulse train, and the moment of transmission of a second-type pulse in any pulse train may be the moment of transmission of the last second-type pulse in the pulse train, and so on. This is not particularly limited.
[0103] In the above example, “same time interval offset” refers to identity in an ideal state. This identity may further include identity with certain deviations caused by environmental factors or other factors. In other words, as long as the value of the time interval offset falls within the range between positive and negative deviations, the time interval offsets are considered identical in this embodiment of the present application. The time interval offsets of the first type pulse and the second type pulse corresponding to two pulse trains may be set based on an integer relationship between the far-field angular resolution and the near-field angular resolution. For example, based on the correlation between the far-field angular resolution and the time interval of the first type pulse, and the correlation between the near-field angular resolution and the time interval of the second type pulse in the above example, if the scanning speed is 1° / ms, the far-field angular resolution is 1°, and the near-field angular resolution is 3°, then the time interval of the first type pulse in any two adjacent pulse trains is 1 ms, and the time interval of the second type pulse in any two adjacent pulse trains is 3 ms. For specific arrangements, see Figure 7(A). Any 3 × M1 first-type pulses may correspond to 1 × M2 second-type pulses, each pulse train containing M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses may be configured by reference to configuration 1 in Figure 7(A), and each pulse train containing M1 first-type pulses but not M2 second-type pulses may be configured by reference to configuration 2 in Figure 7(A). When there are multiple relationships between the time intervals of the first-type pulses and the second-type pulses in any two adjacent pulse trains, it can be seen that the positional relationship between the first-type pulses and the second-type pulses in any two adjacent pulse trains is the same, i.e., the time interval offsets of the first-type pulses and the second-type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains are the same, i.e., the positional relationship between the second-type pulses and the first-type pulses in different pulse trains shown in Figure 7(A) is fixed.
[0104] In possible examples, when the ratio of the far-field angular resolution to the near-field angular resolution is not an integer, the time interval offsets of the first-type and second-type pulses corresponding to at least two pulse trains in the third pulse train set are different. "Different time interval offsets," corresponding to "same time interval offsets," are also differences in an ideal state. This difference may allow for certain deviations caused by environmental factors or other factors. In other words, in this embodiment of the present application, the time interval offsets are considered different only when the value of the time interval offset falls outside the range between positive and negative deviations. Based on the correlation between the far-field angular resolution and the time interval of the first-type pulse, and the correlation between the near-field angular resolution and the time interval of the second-type pulse in the above example, when the scanning speed is 1° / ms, the far-field angular resolution is 1°, and the near-field angular resolution is 1.8°, then the time interval of the first-type pulse in any two adjacent pulse trains is 1 ms, and the time interval of the second-type pulse in any two adjacent pulse trains is 1.8 ms. See Figure 7(B) for specific arrangements. Any 1.8 × M1 first-type pulses may correspond to 1 × M2 second-type pulses, each pulse train containing M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses may be configured by reference to configuration 3 in Figure 7(B), and each pulse train containing M1 first-type pulses but not M2 second-type pulses may be configured by reference to configuration 2 in Figure 7(B). When the time intervals of the first-type pulses and second-type pulses in any two adjacent pulse trains are not in a plurality relationship, it can be understood that the non-integer ratio makes it impossible for the first-type pulses in different pulse trains to be aligned in time series. As a result, the time interval offsets of the first-type pulses and second-type pulses in some pulse trains are different, i.e., the ratio of tg to tr in different pulse trains shown in Figure 7(B) is different.
[0105] It should be noted that Configuration 1 above uses a combination of the two pulse configurations (G) and (J) in Figure 6, and Configuration 3 above uses a combination of the two pulse configurations (G) and (A) in Figure 6. This is merely an example of a configuration. In another example, other pulses shown in Figure 6 may be used as substitutes for the combined configuration, provided that the time intervals shown in Figure 7 are met. Details are not listed one by one in this application.
[0106] In the above implementation, the time interval between the first type pulse and / or the second type pulse is determined by referring to the far-field angular resolution and / or near-field angular resolution, so that the relative position of each pulse in the pulse train can be precisely configured based on the actual requirements of the angular resolution, and so that each pulse is transmitted based on the detection requirements in each detection cycle, thereby improving the detection effect.
[0107] Embodiment 1 described above describes a specific implementation process for a transmit pulse control method. This application further provides a transmit pulse adjustment method. Hereinafter, the first pulse train in Embodiment 1 above may be used as an example for illustrative purposes, and another pulse train may be implemented with reference to the first pulse train. [Embodiment 2]
[0108] Figure 8 shows an example of a schematic flowchart of a transmission pulse adjustment method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the method includes the following steps.
[0109] Step 801: The control unit controls the transmitting module to transmit a first pulse train, the first pulse train comprising M1 first-type pulses and M2 second-type pulses, where the power of the first-type pulses is greater than the power of the second-type pulses, M1 is a positive integer greater than 1, and M2 is a positive integer.
[0110] Step 802: The control unit controls the receiving module to receive the first echo signal.
[0111] In an optional implementation, Figure 9 shows an example schematic diagram of a presentation mode for the first pulse train and the first echo signal according to an embodiment of the present application. In this example, it is assumed that the pulses included in the first pulse train are transmitted over R detection cycles (where R is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2), and that the amount, type, and time interval of pulses transmitted in any two of the R detection cycles are the same. For example, the pulses transmitted in each detection cycle include a first pulse TX1, a second second pulse TX22, and a first second second pulse TX21, with a time interval of Δt1 between the first pulse TX1 and the second second pulse TX22, and a time interval of Δt2 between the second second pulse TX22 and the first second pulse TX21. In this case, the control unit can control the receiving module to continuously receive the sub-echo signal over the R detection cycles, and then accumulate the pulses that have been successfully detected in the sub-echo signal over the R detection cycles to obtain the first echo signal. In this way, the first echo signal is acquired through storage, and therefore all information regarding the echo signal during all detection cycles of the first pulse train can be comprehensively analyzed, eliminating the need to perform multiple analyses using small amounts of one-sided information, thereby improving the efficiency of subsequent analyses.
[0112] Step 803: The control unit determines whether the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is abnormal, and if not, performs step 804, or if yes, performs step 805.
[0113] In step 803 above, an anomaly in the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal means that a pixel or field of view on the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal appears as an anomaly, for example, as an interference point, a noise point, or an empty point, or that the distance, intensity, or reflectance reported by the pixel or field of view is inaccurate through subsequent measurements.
[0114] In possible implementations, after the first pulse train has been sent, the received first echo signal may include sub-echo signals corresponding to the first pulse train, and further sub-echo signals corresponding to interfering pulses. Therefore, the control device may perform the following analysis on each of the sub-echo signals in the first echo signal to determine whether the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is abnormal.
[0115] Comparison of time intervals in pulse trains
[0116] In comparing time intervals in pulse trains, for each sub-echo signal in the first echo signal, the control unit may compare the time interval between any two adjacent pulses in any detection cycle in the first pulse train with the time interval between any two adjacent pulses in each sub-echo signal. If the comparison is successful, it indicates that the sub-echo signal can perfectly match the first pulse train, further indicating that the sub-echo signal is the sub-echo signal corresponding to the first pulse train, and that the point cloud corresponding to the sub-echo signal is normal. If the comparison fails, it indicates that the sub-echo signal cannot perfectly match the first pulse train, further indicating that the sub-echo signal may be an abnormal echo signal. For example, the sub-echo signal may be the sub-echo signal corresponding to an interference pulse, or it may be the sub-echo signal corresponding to the first pulse train, but with a slight deviation. In this case, the control unit may label the sub-echo signal as a "potential interference signal".
[0117] For example, the first pulse train and first echo signal shown in Figure 9 are still used as examples. It is assumed that the first pulse train corresponds only to the first echo signal shown in Figure 9 and not to any other echo signal. In this case, after acquiring the first echo signal through storage, the control unit can calculate the time interval between any two adjacent pulses in the first echo signal. The time interval between the first pulse and the second pulse in the first echo signal is Δt 31 The time interval between the second pulse and the third pulse is Δt 41 It is assumed that this is the case. In this case, the control device compares the time interval between any two adjacent pulses in any detection cycle in the first pulse train with the time interval between any two adjacent pulses in the first echo signal, that is, the time interval Δt1 between the first pulse TX1 and the second pulse TX22 in any detection cycle in the first pulse train with the time interval Δt between the first pulse and the second pulse in the first echo signal. 31 Compared to the time interval Δt2 between the second second pulse TX22 and the first second second pulse TX21 during any detection cycle of the first pulse train, the time interval Δt between the second pulse and the third pulse in the first echo signal is compared to the time interval Δt 41 This can be compared. If the time intervals in the two comparisons are the same, it indicates that the time intervals between pulses in the first echo signal are the same as the time intervals between pulses in the first pulse train, the first echo signal can perfectly match the first pulse train, the first echo signal is a valid echo signal corresponding to the first pulse train, and the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is normal. Conversely, if the time intervals in at least one of the two comparisons are different, it indicates that the time intervals between at least two pulses in the first echo signal are different from the time intervals between at least two pulses in the first pulse train, the first echo signal cannot perfectly match the first pulse train. In this case, the label "potential interference signal" may be added to the first echo signal, and then it is necessary to determine whether the first echo signal is a valid echo signal or an interference signal by comparing the time intervals between pulse trains.
[0118] It should be noted that labeling a signal as a potential interference signal in the above design is merely one example of an identification method. This application does not limit any implementation of identifying potential interference signals, provided that the LiDAR can identify the sub-echo signal determined to be a potential interference signal through matching.
[0119] Comparison of time intervals between pulse trains
[0120] After comparing all sub-echo signals in the first echo signal, the control unit may perform a time interval comparison between pulse trains for each of the sub-echo signals labeled as "suspicious interference signals." The specific process is as follows:
[0121] The control unit calculates the difference between the time interval between each of the first type pulses in each sub-echo signal labeled as a "potential interference signal" and the start moment of the sub-echo signal, and the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the adjacent echo signal of the first echo signal and the start moment of the adjacent echo signal, and calculates the difference between the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the first pulse train and the start moment of the first pulse train, and the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the adjacent pulse train of the first pulse train and the start moment of the adjacent pulse train, and these two differences are preset When the first deviation threshold is not exceeded, the time interval between each of the first type pulses in each sub-echo signal labeled as a "potential interference signal" and the start moment of the sub-echo signal may be compared with the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the first pulse train and the start moment of the first pulse train (or, the time interval between each of the first type pulses in an adjacent echo signal of the first echo signal and the start moment of the adjacent echo signal may be compared with the time interval between each of the first type pulses in an adjacent pulse train of the first pulse train and the start moment of the adjacent pulse train). If the difference between these two time intervals does not exceed a preset second deviation threshold, the control unit corrects the label of the sub-echo signal to a "valid signal". Note that in this operation, if an adjacent echo signal contains only one sub-echo signal, only one sub-echo signal of the adjacent echo signal needs to be compared, or if an adjacent echo signal contains multiple sub-echo signals, each of the sub-echo signals of the adjacent echo signal needs to be compared. A sub-echo signal can be labeled as long as its difference does not exceed a preset first deviation threshold and does not exceed a preset second deviation threshold. The preset first and second deviation thresholds may be the same or different, and may be set empirically by those skilled in the art or determined experimentally. This is not particularly limited.
[0122] For example, it is assumed that the control device transmits pulse train 1 and pulse train 2 in succession, and the echo signal corresponding to pulse train 1 includes sub-echo signal 1 and sub-echo signal 2, while the echo signal corresponding to pulse train 2 includes only sub-echo signal 3. In this case, for sub-echo signal 1, the control device calculates the difference between the time interval between each of the first type pulses in sub-echo signal 1 and the start moment of sub-echo signal 1, and between each of the first type pulses in sub-echo signal 3 and the start moment of sub-echo signal 3. It also calculates the difference between the time interval between each of the first type pulses in pulse train 1 and the start moment of pulse train 1, and between each of the first type pulses in pulse train 2 and the start moment of pulse train 2. If both differences are greater than or equal to a preset first deviation threshold, the time interval between each first-type pulse in sub-echo signal 1 and the start moment of sub-echo signal 1 is compared with the time interval between each first-type pulse in pulse train 1 and the start moment of pulse train 1 (or the time interval between each first-type pulse in sub-echo signal 3 and the start moment of sub-echo signal 3 is compared with the time interval between each first-type pulse in pulse train 2 and the start moment of pulse train 2). If the two differences do not exceed a preset second deviation threshold, the label of sub-echo signal 1 is corrected to "effective signal". Note that the comparison process for sub-echo signal 2 is the same as that for sub-echo signal 1 and is not described in detail again herein.
[0123] Furthermore, for example, the first pulse train and first echo signal shown in Figure 9 are still used as examples. The label “Potential Interference Signal” is attached to the first echo signal according to the method described above for comparing time intervals in the pulse train, and it is assumed that both the preset first deviation threshold and the preset second deviation threshold are 6 ns. Figure 10 shows an example schematic flowchart of the time interval comparison between pulse trains according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, in the implementation, the control device may first acquire the adjacent echo signal of the first echo signal. The adjacent echo signal includes the previous echo signal (corresponding to the last pulse train transmitted before the first pulse train) formed by the last batch of sub-echo signals received before the first echo signal, and the next echo signal (corresponding to the first pulse train transmitted after the first pulse train) formed by the first batch of sub-echo signals received after the first echo signal. The control device then calculates the time interval Δt between each of the first type pulses in the first echo signal and the moment of the start of the first echo signal. 51 Then, calculate the difference between the time interval between each of the first type pulses in any adjacent echo signal and the start moment of the adjacent echo signal (if the adjacent echo signal is the previous echo signal, the difference is Δt). 51 -Δt 52 If either the adjacent echo signal is the next echo signal, the difference is Δt 51 -Δt 53(i.e., ) the difference between the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the transmit pulse train corresponding to the first echo signal and the start moment of the transmit pulse train, and the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the adjacent pulse train and the start moment of the adjacent pulse train can be calculated. Furthermore, if the time interval between the first type pulse of the first echo signal and the start moment of the first echo signal is 50 ns, and the time interval between the first type pulse of the adjacent echo signal of the first echo signal and the start moment of the adjacent echo signal is 100 ns, the difference can be calculated as 50 ns. Correspondingly, if the time interval between the first type pulse of the transmit pulse train corresponding to the first echo signal and the start moment of the transmit pulse train is 55 ns, and the time interval between the first type pulse in the adjacent transmit pulse train of the transmit pulse train and the start moment of the adjacent transmit pulse train is 101 ns, the difference can be calculated as 46 ns. It can be seen that the difference between the two is 4 ns, which is less than 6 ns. Thus, it is determined that the two differences do not exceed the preset first deviation threshold. Furthermore, the control device may compare the time interval between each of the first type pulses of the first echo signal and the start moment of the first echo signal with the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the transmit pulse train corresponding to the first echo signal and the start moment of the transmit pulse train (or compare the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the adjacent echo signals corresponding to the first echo signal and the start moment of the adjacent echo signals with the time interval between each of the first type pulses in the adjacent pulse trains of the transmit pulse train corresponding to the first echo signal and the start moment of the adjacent pulse train), that is, the time interval of 50 ns between the first type pulse of the first echo signal and the start moment of the first echo signal may be compared with the time interval of 55 ns between the first type pulse of the transmit pulse train corresponding to the first echo signal and the start moment of the transmit pulse train. It can be found that the difference between the two time intervals is 5 ns, which is less than 6 ns. Therefore, it is determined that the two time intervals do not exceed the preset second deviation threshold. Thus, the control device may correct the label of the first echo signal to "valid signal".
[0124] It should be noted that labeling the active signal in the above design is merely one example of an identification method. This application does not limit any implementation of identifying the active signal, provided that the LiDAR can identify the sub-echo signal determined as the active signal through matching.
[0125] Point Cloud Check
[0126] If, after all sub-echo signals labeled as "potential interference signals" are compared and analyzed based on the time intervals between pulse trains, and the labels of all sub-echo signals are not corrected, it indicates that the first echo signal has no valid signal and cannot match the first pulse train. Thus, it indicates that the anti-interference effect of the first pulse train is insufficient, and consequently, the echo signal corresponding to the first pulse train is theoretically covered by the interference signal. In this case, the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal will appear as an abnormal state. If the label of only one sub-echo signal is corrected to "valid signal," it indicates that the first echo signal has a single valid signal and further indicates that the first echo signal can exactly match the first pulse train. In this case, the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal will appear as a normal state. If the labels of at least two sub-echo signals are corrected to "valid signal," the interference signal may also match as a valid signal due to errors in the matching process described above. Theoretically, the matching result is inaccurate. Since the point cloud displays at least two sub-echo signals labeled as "valid signals," the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal will also be displayed as an abnormal state.
[0127] Step 804: The control unit controls the transmitting module to continue transmitting the first pulse train, and then performs step 802.
[0128] In step 804, when the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is normal, for example, when the first echo signal has a single valid signal, it indicates that the time interval of the first pulse train is set appropriately and essentially no echo signal interference is caused. In this case, the control unit may then continue transmitting the first pulse train and may receive the echo signal again after transmitting the first pulse train. If the point cloud of the echo signal remains normal, the control unit may continue transmitting the first pulse train.
[0129] Step 805: The control unit controls the transmitting module to transmit a third pulse train, which is different from the first pulse train, and then performs step 802.
[0130] In step 805, if the point cloud corresponding to the first echo signal is abnormal, for example, if the first echo signal has no valid signals or has multiple valid signals, it indicates that the time interval of the first pulse train is not set properly, resulting in more severe echo signal interference. In this case, the control unit may then transmit a third pulse train different from the first pulse train, and after transmitting the third pulse train, it may receive an echo signal. If the point cloud of the echo signal is still abnormal, the control unit may continue to adjust the transmitted pulse train until an echo signal with a normal point cloud is received. In this way, the transmitted pulse train is adjusted to help find a transmitted pulse train that can generate a normal point cloud, thereby improving detection accuracy.
[0131] In possible implementations, when there is no valid signal in the first echo signal, the control unit may, in order to improve the anti-interference performance of the transmitted pulse train, proportionally increase the amount of time intervals between pulses in the pulse train by increasing the amount of first-type pulses included in the transmitted pulse train. Since the time intervals between pulses are related to random numbers generated during coding, this is equivalent to increasing the amount of time intervals included in the pulse train and obtained by using random numbers, which helps to improve the anti-interference performance of the transmitted pulse train. For example, when the first pulse train contains M1 first-type pulses and M2 first-type pulses, the third pulse train transmitted under the control of the control unit may contain M5 first-type pulses and M2 first-type pulses, where the value of M5 is greater than the value of M1. A third pulse train may be generated by increasing the amount of detection cycles based on the first pulse train and / or by increasing the amount of first-type pulses in one or more detection cycles, the newly added detection cycles may be held in accordance with the detection cycles in the first pulse train, and the interval between the newly added first-type pulses and other pulses may be constrained by certain interference. For example, Figure 11 shows an example schematic diagram of an implementation of adding first-type pulses according to embodiments of the present application. Figure 11(A) shows the first pulse train. The first pulse train can be understood to include three detection cycles, each of which includes one first-type pulse and two second-type pulses. Figure 11(B) shows a third pulse train generated by increasing the amount of detection cycles. The third pulse train can be understood to include four detection cycles, each of which includes one first-type pulse and two second-type pulses. Figure 11(C) shows a third pulse train generated by increasing the amount of first-type pulses contained in one or more detection cycles. The third pulse train can be understood as still containing three detection cycles, but with the first and third detection cycles each containing two first-type pulses and two second-type pulses, and the second detection cycle still containing one first-type pulse.
[0132] In possible implementations, when the first echo signal has multiple valid signals, the control device may refresh the time interval between the first type pulse in any detection cycle corresponding to the first pulse train and the start of the detection cycle, for example, by refreshing the time interval between the first type pulse in any detection cycle of the first pulse train and the start of the detection cycle, to generate the third pulse train and the adjacent pulse train of the third pulse train. Furthermore, for example, three random numbers may be re-determined in a coding scheme, one of which is the time interval between the first type pulse in any detection cycle of the previous pulse train and the start of the detection cycle (as shown in Figure 10 when the previous echo signal and the previous pulse train have the same time interval Δt 52 Assigned to a time interval corresponding to ( ), obtain the pulse train preceding the third pulse train, and another random number is used to obtain the first type pulse during any detection cycle of the first pulse train and the moment of the start of the detection cycle (as shown in Figure 10 when the first echo signal and the first pulse train have the same time interval Δt 51 The third pulse train is assigned to a time interval corresponding to the next pulse train, and the last random number is Δt shown in Figure 10 between the first type pulse in the detection cycle and the start of the detection cycle (when the next echo signal and the next pulse train have the same time interval). 53 The next pulse train of the third pulse train is acquired by assigning it to a time interval corresponding to the previous one. In this way, the control unit can continue the detection until a target pulse train is found in which the echo signal can perfectly match the transmitted pulse train, by then using the third pulse train and the adjacent pulse trains of the third pulse train, whose time intervals are refreshed.
[0133] It should be noted that when a detection cycle includes multiple first-type pulses, the control unit may refresh the time interval between any one or more first-type pulses in the detection cycle and the moment the detection cycle begins. For example, the control unit may refresh only the time interval between a first-type pulse in the detection cycle (e.g., the first first-type pulse) and the moment the detection cycle begins. In this way, the time interval between a first-type pulse in the detection cycle and the moment the detection cycle begins changes, but the time interval between any two other pulses remains unchanged, and therefore the time interval between each of the first-type pulses in the detection cycle and the moment the detection cycle begins changes. In addition, the time intervals in the detection cycle include the time interval between a first-type pulse in the detection cycle and the moment the detection cycle begins, the time interval between a first-type pulse in the detection cycle and an adjacent second-type pulse in the detection cycle, and the time interval between a second-type pulse in the detection cycle and the moment the detection cycle begins. After the time interval between the first type pulse in a detection cycle and the start of the detection cycle is refreshed, the time interval between the first type pulse in a detection cycle and the start of the detection cycle changes, but the time interval between the second type pulse in a detection cycle and the start of the detection cycle remains unchanged. Therefore, the time interval between the first type pulse and the adjacent second type pulse in a detection cycle also changes. That is, when there are multiple valid signals in the first echo signal, the time interval between the first type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the third pulse train and the start of each detection cycle may be different from the time interval between the first type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the first pulse train and the start of each detection cycle, and / or the time interval between the first type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the third pulse train and the adjacent second type pulse may be different from the time interval between the first type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the first pulse train and the adjacent second type pulse.
[0134] In the above embodiment 2, when the point cloud of the first echo signal corresponding to the first pulse train is abnormal, the subsequently transmitted pulse train is adjusted so that the subsequently transmitted pulse train can generate a normal point cloud, thereby improving detection accuracy. In addition, by performing intra-series time interval comparisons and inter-series time interval comparisons on the echo signal, the intra-series anti-interference performance and inter-series anti-interference performance of the transmitted pulse train can be accurately determined. Therefore, the subsequently transmitted pulse train can be adjusted with reference to the intra-series anti-interference performance and inter-series anti-interference performance. Thus, the subsequently transmitted pulse train can achieve better intra-series anti-interference and better inter-series anti-interference effects, thereby effectively improving detection accuracy and the quality of the subsequently constructed point cloud.
[0135] It should be understood that the control methods provided in this application can be further extended to any information system that requires accurate detection of objects. It should be understood that all technical solutions for implementing accurate detection by using the control solutions provided in this application fall within the scope of protection of this application and are not listed one by one in this application.
[0136] According to the control solution provided in the embodiments of this application, the application further provides a control device comprising at least one processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to provide data or code instructions to at least one processor, and the at least one processor is configured to implement the methods carried out by the control device by using logic circuits or executing code instructions.
[0137] According to the control solution provided in the embodiments of this application, the application further provides a LiDAR including a control device and a transmitting module. The control device is configured to carry out a control method performed by the control device, and the transmitting module is configured to send pulse trains under the control of the control device.
[0138] In possible designs, the LiDAR further includes a scanning mechanism, which includes one or more of the following: a multi-faceted rotating mirror, a pendulum mirror, a MEMS scanning mirror, or a prism.
[0139] In a possible design, the LiDAR further includes a receiver module configured to receive echo signals, and a control unit further configured to determine target features based on the echo signals.
[0140] With respect to the control solutions provided in embodiments of this application, this application further provides terminal devices including LiDAR as described above. Examples of terminal devices include, but are not limited to, smart home devices (such as televisions, floor cleaning robots, smart desk lamps, sound systems, intelligent lighting systems, electrical control systems, home background music, home theater systems, intercom systems, and video surveillance systems), intelligent transport devices (such as cars, ships, unmanned aerial vehicles, trains, freight vehicles, and trucks), intelligent manufacturing devices (such as robots, industrial devices, intelligent logistics, and smart factories), and intelligent terminals (such as mobile phones, computers, tablet computers, palmtop computers, desktop computers, headsets, sound devices, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, virtual reality devices, and augmented reality devices).
[0141] According to the control solution provided in the embodiments of this application, this application further provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed, the method implemented by the control device described above is performed.
[0142] According to the control solutions provided in embodiments of this application, this application further provides a computer program product. When the computer program product runs on a processor, the method carried out by the control device described above is implemented.
[0143] As used herein, terms such as “component,” “module,” and “system” are used to describe computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, combinations of hardware and software, software, or running software. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process executed on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. As illustrated by the use of diagrams, both a computing device and an application running on a computing device can be components. One or more components may reside within a process and / or an execution thread, and components may reside on one computer and / or be distributed across two or more computers. In addition, these components may be executed by various computer-readable media that store various data structures. Components may communicate by using local and / or remote processing, and on the basis of signals having, for example, one or more data packets (for example, by using signals, data from two components interacting with another component in a local system, in a distributed system, and / or on a network such as the Internet interacting with other systems).
[0144] Those skilled in the art will notice, in combination with the illustrative logical blocks described in the embodiments disclosed herein, that steps may be implemented by electronic hardware, or by a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether a function is implemented by hardware or by software depends on the design constraints of the particular application and technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the functions described for each particular application, but the implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.
[0145] For the sake of convenience and simplicity, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that detailed working procedures of the above systems, apparatus, and units should be referred to in the corresponding procedures in the above-described method embodiments. Further details are not described herein.
[0146] It should be understood that in some embodiments provided in this application, the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the described device embodiments are merely illustrative. For example, the division into units is merely a logical functional division, and other divisions may be possible in actual implementations. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not implemented. In addition, the mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communication connection shown or described may be implemented through some interfaces. Indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be implemented electrically, mechanically, or in other forms.
[0147] Units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts shown as units may or may not be physical units, and may be located in one location or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on the actual requirements to achieve the objectives of the solution of the embodiment.
[0148] In addition, the functional units in the embodiments of this application may be integrated into a single processing unit, each unit may exist physically independently, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit.
[0149] When a function is implemented in the form of a software function unit and sold or used as an independent product, the function may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of this application, or parts of them that contribute to the prior art, or parts of the technical solutions, may be implemented in the form of a software product. The software product includes several instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to carry out all or part of the steps of the method described in embodiments of this application, which are stored on a storage medium. The storage medium includes any medium capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.
[0150] The above description is merely a specific implementation of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modification or substitution that is readily conceivable to a person skilled in the art within the scope of the art disclosed in this application falls within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application must be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.
Claims
1. A step of controlling a transmitting module to transmit a first pulse train, wherein the first pulse train is M 1 Individual first type pulses and M 2 Includes a second type pulse, M 1 is an integer greater than 1, and M 2 Step and are positive integers. A step of controlling the transmitting module to transmit a second pulse train, wherein the second pulse train is M 3 Individual first-type pulses and / or M 4 Includes a second type pulse, M 3 and M 4 The steps are positive integers. Includes, The power of the first type pulse is greater than the power of the second type pulse, and the second pulse train and the first pulse train have different transmission time periods, or correspond to different transmitting submodules, or correspond to different pixels in the detection field, or correspond to different detection fields, or correspond to different receiving submodules. Control method.
2. The aforementioned method, Steps to generate a point cloud based on at least the first pulse train and the second pulse train. The invention further includes the first pulse train and the second pulse train corresponding to different point clouds. The control method according to claim 1.
3. The first pulse train belongs to a first pulse train set and a second pulse train set, each pulse train in the first pulse train set includes the first type pulse, and each pulse train in the second pulse train set includes the second type pulse. The time interval between first type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains in the first pulse set is determined based on far-field angular resolution. The time interval between second-type pulses corresponding to any two pulse trains in the second pulse train set is determined based on the near-field angular resolution. The control method according to claim 1 or 2.
4. The first pulse train belongs to a third pulse train set, and each pulse train in the third pulse train set includes the first type pulse and the second type pulse. When the ratio of the far-field angular resolution to the near-field angular resolution is an integer, the time interval offsets of the first type pulse and the second type pulse corresponding to any two pulse trains in the third pulse train set are the same, or When the ratio of the far-field angular resolution to the near-field angular resolution is not an integer, the time interval offsets of the first type pulse and the second type pulse corresponding to at least two pulse trains in the third pulse train set are different. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
5. For the first pulse train, the M 1 first type pulses include M pulses with the same power, and the M 1 second type pulses include K types of second pulses. The powers of the K types of second pulses are different, and the sum of the amounts of the K types of second pulses is M 2 . K is a positive integer. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 2 wherein.
6. Said M 1 The first type pulse and the M 2 The control method according to claim 5, wherein the number of second type pulses are transmitted in a plurality of detection cycles, and the pulse train transmitted in each detection cycle comprises the first pulse and / or one or more of the K types of second pulses.
7. The control method according to claim 6, wherein the pulse train transmitted during any two detection cycles is the same.
8. The control method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein when a pulse train transmitted during any detection cycle includes the first pulse and one or more of the K types of second pulses, the time interval between the first pulse and an adjacent second pulse is greater than or equal to the time interval corresponding to the detection blind area of the first pulse.
9. The control method described above is The steps include controlling a receiving module to receive a first echo signal, A step of controlling the transmitting module to transmit a third pulse train, wherein the third pulse train is different from the first pulse train. A control method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:
10. The third pulse train described above is M 5 It includes individual first-type pulses, M 5 The value of is M 1 The control method according to claim 9, which is greater than the value of .
11. The time interval between the first type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the third pulse train and the start of the detection cycle is different from the time interval between the first type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the first pulse train and the start of the detection cycle, and / or The time series interval between a first-type pulse and an adjacent second-type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the third pulse train is different from the time series interval between a first-type pulse and an adjacent second-type pulse transmitted in each detection cycle in the first pulse train. The control method according to claim 9 or 10.
12. Prior to the step of controlling the transmitting module to transmit a third pulse train, the method: Steps to determine whether the first echo signal does not contain a valid signal or contains multiple valid signals. The control method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising:
13. The control method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the time interval between the first type pulse of the first pulse train and the moment of the start of the first pulse train is obtained through coding.
14. The steps include controlling the transmitting module to transmit a fourth pulse train, The steps include controlling the transmitting module to transmit a fifth pulse train, The steps include controlling the transmitting module to transmit a sixth pulse train, and The pulse train includes, The fourth pulse train is M 1 The fifth pulse train includes a first type pulse, and the fifth pulse train is M 2 The sixth pulse train includes a second type of pulse, and the sixth pulse train is M 1 Including a number of first-type pulses, or The fourth pulse train is M 2 The fifth pulse train includes a second type of pulse, and the fifth pulse train is M 1 The sixth pulse train includes a first type pulse, and the sixth pulse train is M 2 Including a second type pulse, and Said M 1 The power of each first type pulse is M 2 The power of this second type pulse is greater than that of M 1 However, it is an integer greater than 1, M 2 However, it must be a positive integer. A control method that satisfies one of the following conditions.
15. A control device comprising at least one processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is configured to provide data or code instructions to the at least one processor, and the at least one processor is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 by using logic circuits or executing the code instructions.
16. A LiDAR comprising a control device and a transmitting module, wherein the control device is configured to implement the control method described in any one of claims 1 to 14, and the transmitting module is configured to transmit a pulse train under the control of the control device.
17. The LiDAR according to claim 16, further comprising a scanning mechanism, the scanning mechanism comprising one or more of a multifaceted rotating mirror, a pendulum mirror, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) scanning mirror, or a prism.
18. The LiDAR according to claim 16 or 17, further comprising a receiving module, the receiving module configured to receive an echo signal, and the control device further configured to determine a target feature based on the echo signal.
19. A terminal device comprising the LiDAR according to any one of claims 16 to 18.
20. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 is performed.
21. A computer program product wherein, when the computer program product is run on a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 is implemented.