Patent ID: 11947050
Assignee: BEIJING VOYAGER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  B  H | IPC B  G  H

Claim 0:
1. An apparatus for beam steering in a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system of an autonomous vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
a printed circuit board;
at least one of a laser and a mirror assembly mounted on the printed circuit board;
a thermistor mounted adjacent the one of a laser and a mirror assembly and having a temperature output;
a LiDAR chip, mounted on the printed circuit board, which produces excess heat;
a heat sink;
a heat conduction path coupled to the LiDAR chip and to the one of a laser and a mirror assembly;
a thermal switch coupled between the heat conduction path and the heat sink; and
a temperature controller having an input coupled to the temperature output of the thermistor and having an output control line coupled to an input of the thermal switch, the temperature controller being configured to switch off the thermal switch, in response to detecting a temperature below a temperature threshold from the temperature output of the thermistor, to impede heat flow from the LiDAR chip to the heat sink, and increase heat flow from the LiDAR chip to the one of a laser and a mirror assembly.