Patent ID: 11859961
Assignee: NEONODE INC.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B  H | IPC B  G  H

Claim 5:
6. A spherical coordinate sensor comprising:
a circuit board;
at least one light emitter mounted on said circuit board, each light emitter operable when activated to project light across a detection zone;
a focusing optical part mounted on said circuit board and receiving light from the detection zone, comprising;
a concave mirror comprising a center aperture input surface through which light enters the focusing optical part;
a convex mirror opposite the center aperture, wherein said concave mirror and the convex mirror form a reflective objective that reflects and focuses the light inside the focusing optical part; and
an exit surface surrounding said convex mirror, through which focused light exits the focusing optical part;

a camera comprising a plurality of pixel sensors, mounted on said circuit board beneath said focusing optical part such that when the received light enters said focusing optical part at a three-dimensional angle of incidence, comprising a polar angle and an azimuth angle, denoted (θi, φj), more light arrives at a respective camera pixel sensor than at any of the other camera pixel sensors; and
a processor connected to said at least one light emitter and to said camera, the processor being configured to determine a polar angle, θ, and an azimuth angle, φ, of a reflective object within the detection zone relative to said focusing optical part, based on the camera pixel sensor that detects the greatest amount of the object's reflection.