Patent ID: 11933895
Assignee: LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Optics (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 27:
28. A lidar system comprising:
one or more light sources configured to generate a first beam of light and a second beam of light;
a scanner configured to scan the first and second beams of light across a field of regard of the lidar system, the scanner comprising:
a rotatable polygon mirror comprising a plurality of reflective surfaces angularly offset from one another along a periphery of the polygon mirror, the reflective surfaces configured to reflect the first and second beams of light to produce a series of scan lines as the polygon mirror rotates; and
a pivotable scan mirror configured to (i) reflect the first and second beams of light and (ii) pivot to distribute the scan lines across the field of regard;

a controller configured to vary a range within which the scan mirror pivots to modify at least one of a horizontal or vertical angular dimension of the field of regard, wherein the scan mirror is configured so as to pivot over a range of allowable motion larger than a range corresponding to at least one of the horizontal or vertical angular dimension of the field of regard, so as to define a maximum range of allowable motion larger than a range within which the scan mirror pivots during a scan, wherein the controller selects different portions of the maximum range of allowable motion as the range within which the scan mirror pivots; and
a receiver configured to detect the first beam of light and the second beam of light scattered by one or more remote targets, wherein the receiver comprises:
a first detector configured to detect the first beam of scattered light, and
a second detector configured to detect the second beam of scattered light.