Patent ID: 11867790
Assignee: VELODYNE LIDAR USA, INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 13:
14. A light emission and collection engine, comprising:
a rotating electronics board having a planar surface arranged perpendicular to an axis of rotation;
two or more electronics boards each mechanically coupled to the rotating board; a plurality of light emitting elements mounted to the a first of the two or more electronics board configured to rotate about the axis of rotation, each configured to emit a beam of illumination light from the light emission and collection engine, wherein at least one of the plurality of light emitting elements is configured to emit a beam of illumination light, from the light emission and collection engine into a three-dimensional environment, that is parallel or substantially parallel with the axis of rotation, wherein each beam of illumination light emitted from the light emission and collection engine illuminates a respective portion of the three-dimensional environment;
a plurality of light detecting elements mounted to a second of the two or more electronics board and configured to rotate around the axis of rotation, wherein each of the plurality of light detecting elements is configured to detect a beam of return light reflected from a respective surface of the three dimensional environment and to generate a respective output signal indicative of the detected beam of return light; and
a computing system configured to determine, based on a particular one of the output signals, a distance from the light emission and collection engine to the surface of the three dimensional environment that reflected the return light corresponding to the particular output signal.