Patent ID: 11879958
Assignee: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  Y | IPC G

Claim 15:
16. A method comprising:
(a) providing a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) unit comprising an optical transceiver, a robotic arm operatively coupled to the LiDAR unit and mounted on a vehicle, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) onboard the vehicle, and a processor unit onboard the vehicle, the processor unit in operative communication with the IMU and the robotic arm;
(b) receiving inertial data from the IMU, the inertial data comprising orientation and velocity measurements of the vehicle in body axes coordinates;
(c) calculating a required position for the robotic arm, based on the inertial data from the IMU, to maintain pointing of the optical transceiver in a direction of interest; and
(d) sending commands to the robotic arm to move to the calculated required position;
wherein the processor unit is operative to provide an active stabilization of the LiDAR unit using the IMU;
wherein the robotic arm has multiple degrees of freedom, allowing the LiDAR unit to be automatically manipulated and pointed in any direction;
wherein an umbilical cord is coupled to the optical transceiver and runs along the robotic arm, the umbilical cord providing power, optical seeding, cooling, and communication signals to the optical transceiver;
wherein when the LiDAR unit is in a measurement position, the optical transceiver transmits light into an external interaction air region adjacent to the vehicle, and collects a scattered portion of the transmitted light from the external interaction air region for use in atmospheric characterization.