Patent ID: 11874400
Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 1:
2. A lidar device comprising:
a phototransmitter including at least first and second light sources, each of the first and second light sources being configured to transmit a light beam having an optical axis;
a photoreceiver configured to receive light arriving from a predetermined direction;
a scanner that has a rotational axis and a plurality of reflection surfaces that are parallel to a direction of the rotational axis,
the scanner being configured to rotate the plurality of reflection surfaces about the rotational axis to thereby:
change a direction of each of the light beams transmitted from the phototransmitter and incident on the scanner to thereby output changed light beams in a main scanning direction that is orthogonal to the direction of the rotational axis; and
reflect light beams arriving from a target object based on reflection of the changed light beams to thereby cause the light beams to be directed toward the photoreceiver,

the first and second light sources being arranged such that the optical axis of at least one of the light beams transmitted from the first and second light sources is obliquely inclined with respect to a reference plane that is orthogonal to the rotational axis,
the lidar device further comprising a control device configured to cause each of the first and second light sources to transmit, in synchronization with rotation of the scanner, the light beam so that the transmitted light beam from each of the first and second light sources is incident on a corresponding one of the plurality of reflection surfaces.