Patent ID: 11953600
Assignee: OUSTER, INC.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 19:
20. A solid state optical system comprising:
a light detection system comprising a first bulk optic having a focal length, an aperture layer including a plurality of apertures spaced apart from the first bulk optic by the focal length, a lidar sensor array comprising a first plurality of photosensors, a lens layer including a plurality of lenses disposed behind the aperture layer, and an optical filter operable to pass a narrow band of light centered at a first wavelength and disposed between the first bulk optic and the lidar sensor array, wherein the aperture layer, lens layer and lidar sensor array are arranged to form a plurality of lidar channels with each lidar channel in the plurality of lidar channels including an aperture from the plurality of apertures, a lens from the plurality of lenses and a photosensor from the first plurality of photosensors, and wherein each photosensor in the first plurality of photosensors comprises a plurality of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) and each lidar channel in the plurality of lidar channels defines a discrete field of view in a field ahead of the optical system that is non-overlapping beyond a threshold distance from the optical system with all other lidar channels in the plurality of lidar channels and wherein each lidar channel communicates light incident on the first bulk optic to the plurality of SPADs of the lidar channel;
an image capturing system comprising a second bulk optic and an image sensor array comprising a second plurality of photosensors operable to detect ambient light in the field received through the second bulk optic, wherein the discrete fields of view of each photosensor in the first plurality of photosensors defines a field of view of the lidar sensor array and wherein a field of view of the image sensor array encompasses the field of view of the lidar sensor array;
a light emission system comprising a third bulk optic and an emitter array comprising a plurality of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) each of which is configured to emit a discrete beam of light at the first wavelength through the third bulk optic into a field external to the optical system such that the emitter array outputs a plurality of discrete beams of light according to an illumination pattern that substantially matches, in size and geometry across a range of distances from the system, the field of view of the lidar sensor array;
an emitter controller coupled to the emitter array and configured to activate the plurality of VCSELs in each emission cycle by activating a subset of the plurality of light emitters at a time;
a lidar sensor controller coupled to the lidar sensor array and configured to synchronize a readout of individual photosensors within the first plurality of photosensors concurrently with a firing of corresponding light emitters in the emitter array such that each light emitter in the emitter array can be activated and each photosensor in the first plurality of photosensors can be readout through the emission cycle; and
an image sensor controller coupled to the image sensor array and configured to readout at least a portion of the image sensor array having a field of view that overlaps with a field of view of the emitter array to capture an image that is representative of the field during the emission cycle.