Patent Publication Number: US-2021188154-A1

Title: Embedded Light Sensors

Description:
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/762,545, filed Mar. 22, 2018, which is a 371 of PCT Application No. PCT/US2016/053170, filed Sep. 22, 2016, which claims benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/232,822, filed Sep. 25, 2015. The above applications are incorporated herein by reference. To the extent that any material in the incorporated application conflicts with material expressly set forth herein, the material expressly set forth herein controls. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     This disclosure relates generally to vehicle sensors, and in particular to sensors which are embedded in light assemblies included in a vehicle. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     Vehicles are often navigated through environment in which various elements are located, where vehicles are navigated to avoid collisions with such elements. Elements in an environment can include static elements which do not change location within an environment, including plant life structures, etc. Elements in an environment can include dynamic elements which can change location within an environment, including vehicles, humans, animal life, etc. 
     In some cases, vehicles include sensors which monitor one or more portions of an environment in which the vehicle is located. The sensors can generate sensor data which can be utilized to augment navigation of a vehicle through an environment. For example, sensor data generated by sensors of a vehicle which are configured to monitor a portion of an environment proximate to a rear end of the vehicle can be utilized to provide, to an occupant of the vehicle that is a driver of the vehicle, a graphical representation of the portion of the environment via a user interface, and the driver can utilize the graphical representation to augment situational awareness of the environment when manually navigating the vehicle through the environment. In another example, an autonomous navigation system included in a vehicle can utilize sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the vehicle to autonomously navigate the vehicle through the environment. 
     SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Some embodiments provide a vehicle which includes one or more element assemblies which can provide concurrent light emission and environment monitoring via a common window element in the vehicle. An element assembly includes a housing configured to be installed in a vehicle, wherein the housing comprises an interior space which is at least partially enclosed by the housing and is configured to support at least one light emitter device and at least one sensor device coupled to the housing within the interior space; and a window element coupled to the housing, wherein the window element completes an enclosure of the interior space and establishes a transparent barrier between the interior space and an external environment, such that the at least one at least one light emitter device and at least one sensor device coupled to the housing within the interior space are configured to interact with the external environment via a common window element. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a vehicle which includes a vehicle navigation system communicatively coupled to multiple sensor devices and vehicle control elements, according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a vehicle which includes a vehicle navigation system communicatively coupled to multiple element assemblies which each include one or more light emitter devices and one or more sensor devices, according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a schematic diagram of an element assembly which includes one or more lamp devices and one or more sensor devices included in one or more portions of an assembly housing and configured to interact with an external environment via a common window element, according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates fabricating an element assembly, according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a computer system that may be configured to include or execute any or all of the embodiments described herein. 
     
    
    
     This specification includes references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment.” The appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner consistent with this disclosure. 
     “Comprising.” This term is open-ended. As used in the appended claims, this term does not foreclose additional structure or steps. Consider a claim that recites: “An apparatus comprising one or more processor units . . . .” Such a claim does not foreclose the apparatus from including additional components (e.g., a network interface unit, graphics circuitry, etc.). 
     “Configured To.” Various units, circuits, or other components may be described or claimed as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is used to connote structure by indicating that the units/circuits/components include structure (e.g., circuitry) that performs those task or tasks during operation. As such, the unit/circuit/component can be said to be configured to perform the task even when the specified unit/circuit/component is not currently operational (e.g., is not on). The units/circuits/components used with the “configured to” language include hardware—for example, circuits, memory storing program instructions executable to implement the operation, etc. Reciting that a unit/circuit/component is “configured to” perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, for that unit/circuit/component. Additionally, “configured to” can include generic structure (e.g., generic circuitry) that is manipulated by software and/or firmware (e.g., an FPGA or a general-purpose processor executing software) to operate in manner that is capable of performing the task(s) at issue. “Configure to” may also include adapting a manufacturing process (e.g., a semiconductor fabrication facility) to fabricate devices (e.g., integrated circuits) that are adapted to implement or perform one or more tasks. 
     “First,” “Second,” etc. As used herein, these terms are used as labels for nouns that they precede, and do not imply any type of ordering (e.g., spatial, temporal, logical, etc.). For example, a buffer circuit may be described herein as performing write operations for “first” and “second” values. The terms “first” and “second” do not necessarily imply that the first value must be written before the second value. 
     “Based On.” As used herein, this term is used to describe one or more factors that affect a determination. This term does not foreclose additional factors that may affect a determination. That is, a determination may be solely based on those factors or based, at least in part, on those factors. Consider the phrase “determine A based on B.” While in this case, B is a factor that affects the determination of A, such a phrase does not foreclose the determination of A from also being based on C. In other instances, A may be determined based solely on B. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that some embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments. 
     It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed a second contact, and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a first contact, without departing from the intended scope. The first contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are not the same contact. 
     The terminology used in the description herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
     As used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],” depending on the context. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a vehicle which includes a vehicle navigation system communicatively coupled to multiple sensor devices and vehicle control elements, according to some embodiments. 
     Vehicle  100  will be understood to encompass one or more vehicles of one or more various configurations which can accommodate one or more occupants, including, without limitation, one or more automobiles, trucks, vans, etc. Vehicle  100  can include one or more interior cabins configured to accommodate one or more human occupants (e.g., passengers, drivers, etc.), which are collectively referred to herein as vehicle “users”. An interior cabin can include one or more user interfaces, including vehicle control interfaces (e.g., steering wheel, throttle control device, brake control device), display interfaces, multimedia interfaces, climate control interfaces, some combination thereof, or the like. Vehicle  100  includes various control elements  120  which can be controlled to navigate (“drive”) the vehicle  100  through the world, including navigate the vehicle  100  along one or more routes. In some embodiments, one or more control elements  120  are communicatively coupled to one or more user interfaces included in an interior cabin of the vehicle  100 , such that the vehicle  100  is configured to enable a user to interact with one or more user interfaces to control at least some of the control elements  120  and manually navigate the vehicle  100 . For example, vehicle  100  can include, in the interior cabin, a steering device, throttle device, and brake device which can be interacted with by a user to control various control elements  120  to manually navigate the vehicle  100 . 
     Vehicle  100  includes a vehicle navigation system (VNS)  110  which is configured to navigate vehicle  100  based on driving commands generated at one or more of the user interfaces  130 , the VNS  110  itself, some combination thereof, etc. VNS  110  is communicatively coupled to at least some of the control elements  120  of the vehicle and is configured to control one or more of the elements  120  to navigate the vehicle  100  based on one or more driving commands. As used herein, navigation of the vehicle  100 , including one or more of manual navigation and autonomous navigation, refers to controlled navigation (“driving”) of vehicle  100  along at least a portion of a route based upon active control of the control elements  120  of the vehicle  100 , including steering control elements, throttle control elements, braking control elements, transmission control elements, etc. independently of control element input commands from a user of the vehicle. Autonomous navigation can include the VNS  110  executing active control of driving control elements  120  while enabling manual override of control of elements  120  via manual input from a user via user interaction with one or more user interfaces  130  included in the vehicle. For example, VNS  110  can autonomously navigate vehicle  100  in the absence of input commands from a vehicle user via one or more user interfaces  130  of the vehicle  100 , and VNS  110  can cease control of one or more elements  120  in response to a user-initiated input command to the one or more elements  120  from one or more user interfaces  130  of the vehicle  100 . 
     Vehicle  100  includes a set of one or more external sensor devices  116 , also referred to as external sensors  116 , which can monitor one or more aspects of an external environment relative to the vehicle  100 . Such sensor devices can include one or more camera devices, video recording devices, infrared sensor devices, radar devices, ultrasonic sensor devices, stereo sensor devices, light-scanning devices including LIDAR devices, precipitation sensor devices, ambient wind sensor devices, ambient temperature sensor devices, position-monitoring devices which can include one or more global navigation satellite system devices (e.g., GPS, BeiDou, DORIS, Galileo, GLONASS, etc.), some combination thereof, or the like. 
     Camera devices can include camera devices configured to capture images of an environment within one or more various sets of light wavelengths. For example, some camera devices are configured to capture images of an environment within a range of wavelengths which correspond to the wavelengths which can be visually observed by humans; such camera devices can include visible light cameras. In another example, some camera devices are configured to capture images of an environment within a range of wavelengths which are longer than wavelengths which correspond to the wavelengths which can be visually observed by humans; such camera devices can include infrared light cameras, IR cameras, near-IR cameras, etc. 
     One or more of external sensor devices  116  can generate sensor data associated with an environment as the vehicle  100  navigates through the environment. Sensor data generated by one or more sensor devices  116  can be communicated to ANS  110  as input data, where the input data can be used by the route characterization module  112  to develop, update, maintain, etc. a virtual characterization of one or more portions of the routes through which the vehicle  100  is being navigated. External sensor devices  116  can generate sensor data when the vehicle  100  is being manually navigated, autonomously navigated, etc. 
     Vehicle  100  includes a set of one or more internal sensors  118 , also referred to as internal sensor devices  118 , which can monitor one or more aspects of vehicle  100 . Such sensors can include camera devices configured to collect image data of one or more users in the interior cabin of the vehicle, control element sensors which monitor operating states of various control elements  120  of the vehicle, accelerometers, velocity sensors, component sensors which monitor states of various automotive components (e.g., sensors which monitor wheel-turning dynamics of one or more wheels of the vehicle), etc. One or more of internal sensor devices  118  can generate sensor data associated with the vehicle  100  as the vehicle  100  navigates through the environment. 
     Vehicle  100  includes one or more sets of user interfaces  130 . One or more interfaces  130  can include one or more user interface devices, also referred to as user interfaces, with which a user of vehicle  100  can interact to interact with one or more portions of VNS  110 , control elements  120 , etc. For example, an interface  130  can include a display interface with which a user can interact to command VNS  110  to engage autonomous navigation of vehicle  100  along one or more particular routes, based at least in part upon one or more virtual characterizations of one or more portions of the route. In another example, an interface  130  can include a display interface which provides, to a user, a graphical representation of one or more portions of an external environment in which the vehicle  100  is located based on sensor data generated by one or more external sensor devices  116 . 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a vehicle which includes a vehicle navigation system communicatively coupled to multiple element assemblies which each include one or more light emitter devices and one or more sensor devices, according to some embodiments. The vehicle  200  illustrated in  FIG. 2  can be included in any of the embodiments of vehicles included herein, including the vehicle  100  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
     In some embodiments, a vehicle includes one or more vehicle control element assemblies, also referred to herein as element assemblies, which comprise a set of elements, including one or more vehicle control elements, sensor devices, etc. which interact with one or more portions of an external environment via a common window of the assembly. An element assembly can be installed in a gap within a body of the vehicle where a window of the element assembly enables interaction between multiple elements, including one or more vehicle control elements, sensor devices, etc. with the external environment without requiring additional gaps in the body of the vehicle to accommodate separate vehicle control elements, sensor devices, etc. 
     In some embodiments, element assemblies included in a vehicle include one or more light assemblies which each include one or more light emitter devices. A light emitter device can include one or more of a headlight device, a brake light device, a turn light device, a hazard light device, a reverse-drive light device, some combination thereof, etc. A light emitter device emits a beam of light, through a window in the element assembly in which the light emitter device is located, and into a portion of the external environment in which the vehicle is located. Various light emitter devices included in various element assemblies provide various functionalities. For example, a headlight device, installed in an element assembly which is itself installed proximate to a front end of a vehicle and includes a window which is oriented at least partially towards a forward direction relative to the vehicle, can emit a light beam which illuminates a portion of the external environment which is “ahead” of the vehicle and enables one or more of manual perception of various illuminated elements in the environment, by a driver of the vehicle, when the vehicle is being manually navigated through the environment, autonomous characterization of various illuminated elements of the environment, by a VNS included in the vehicle, when the vehicle is being autonomously navigated through the environment, etc. In another example, various brake light devices, turn light devices, reverse-drive light devices, etc. can provide visually-observable indications, to various traffic participants, pedestrians, drivers, etc. located in the environment proximate to the vehicle, of one or more various navigation actions when are presently being executed by the vehicle, may be imminently executed by the vehicle, etc. 
     In some embodiments, an element assembly which includes a light emitter device includes one or more cleaning elements which are configured to remove environmental elements, including particulate matter, precipitation, etc. from a window of the assembly through which the light emitter device is configured to direct an emitted light beam, thereby mitigating degradation of the beam as a result of at least partial obstruction of the window element by environmental elements. 
     In some embodiments, sensor data generated by a sensor device can be at least partially degraded as a result of the sensor device interacting with the external environment via an element which is at least partially obstructed by environmental elements. For example, where a sensor device includes a light beam scanning device, which can include a LIDAR device, which directs a light beam into the environment via an aperture and receives reflected light beams at an aperture, transmission of emitted and reflected light beams across one or more apertures of the sensor device can be at last partially obstructed as a result of one or more environmental elements at least partially obstructing the one or more apertures. 
     In some embodiments, an element assembly which includes one or more sensor devices which are configured to interact with the environment via a common window with one or more light emitter devices in the element assembly mitigates degradation of sensor monitoring of the environment based on a cleaning element which is configured to remove environmental elements from a surface of the common window. The cleaning element, which can be associated with the light emitter device included in the assembly, mitigates effects of environmental element buildup on an external surface of the assembly window upon performance of both the one or more light emitter devices and sensor devices included in the assembly. 
     In some embodiments, including one or more sensor devices in one or more element assemblies which include one or more light emitter devices results in augmented sensor device coverage of an external environment around the vehicle. For example, a vehicle can include element assemblies positioned at various locations around the exterior of the vehicle which result in visual indications provided by various light emitter devices included therein to be visually observable by traffic participants, pedestrians, etc. located at various positions in the external environment relative to the vehicle. Element assemblies which include light emitter devices can be installed in various gaps of the vehicle body at various locations on various ends of the vehicle, and including sensor devices in the element assemblies can result in sensor devices being positioned at the various locations without requiring additional gaps in the vehicle body. 
     In the illustrated embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , vehicle  200  is located within external environment  201  and includes a body  202 , at least one computer system  210 , and a set of element assemblies  220 A-D installed in various separate gaps  206  in the body  202  which are proximate to various ends  204 A-D of the vehicle  200 . 
     Each element assembly  220 A-D includes a separate window element  226 A-D and a separate set of light emitter devices  224 A-D and sensor devices  222 A-D which are configured to interact with various portions of the environment  201  via a common window  226 A-D included in the respective element assembly  220 A-D. As further shown, one or more portions of each assembly  220 A-D, including one or more light emitter devices  224 A-D, sensor devices  222 A-D, etc. can be communicatively coupled to the at least one computer system  210  included in the vehicle via one or more communication links  230 A-D. A communication link can include one or more communication conduits which communicatively couple one or more computer systems  210  with one or more portions, including one or more light emitter devices  224 , sensor devices  222 , etc., of one or more element assemblies  220 A-D. In some embodiments, a window, also referred to herein as a window element, can be comprised of one or more of glass, one or more transparent polymer materials, one or more polycarbonate materials, some combination thereof, etc. 
     As shown, each element assembly  220  is positioned proximate to a separate set of ends  204  of the vehicle  200 . As a result, while separate light emitter devices  224  included in the separate assemblies  220  can emit one or more light beams into separate portions of the environment  201  which are proximate to separate ends  204  of the vehicle  200 , the separate sensor devices  222  included in the separate assemblies  220  can monitor separate portions of the environment  201  which are proximate to separate ends  204  of the vehicle  200 . For example, sensor devices  222 A included in assembly  220 A can monitor portions of environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 A,  204 D of vehicle  200 , while sensor devices  222 B included in assembly  220 B can monitor portions of environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 B,  204 C of vehicle  200 . Separate element assemblies  220  can include separate sets of light emitter devices  224 , sensor devices  222 , some combination thereof, etc. For example, assembly  220 A can include a set of light emitter devices  224 A which include a headlight device configured to emit one or more light beams into a portion of environment  201  which is proximate to end  204 A and a turn light device configured to emit one or more light beams into portions of the environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 A and  204 D, and assembly  220 A can further include a set of sensor devices  222 A which include an IR camera device configured to monitor a portion of environment  201  which is proximate to end  204 A of vehicle  200 , one or more visible light camera devices configured to monitor portions of environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 A,  204 D of vehicle, one or more light beam scanning devices configured to monitor portions of environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 A,  204 D of vehicle, etc. In another example, assembly  220 D can include a set of light emitter devices  224 D which include a tail light device configured to emit one or more light beams into a portion of environment  201  which is proximate to end  204 D and a turn light device configured to emit one or more light beams into portions of the environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 B and  204 D, and assembly  220 D can further include a set of sensor devices  222 D which include one or more visible light camera devices configured to monitor portions of environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 A,  204 D of vehicle. 
     In some embodiments, a window  226  included in an assembly  220  provides a common individual aperture via which each of the sensor devices  222  and light emitter devices  224  installed therein can interact with the external environment. A light emitter device  224  interacting with the environment  201  includes the device  224  directing an emitted light beam into a portion of the environment  201 , such that the portion of the environment  201  is illuminated by the beam. A sensor device  222  interacting with the environment  201  includes the device  222  monitoring a portion of the environment  201 , such that the sensor device  222  generates a sensor data representation of the portion of the environment  201  based on the monitoring. As a result, where an assembly  220  is installed in a gap  206  in the vehicle body  202 , the window  226  included in an assembly  220  enables monitoring and illumination of one or more portions of the environment  201  via an individual aperture in the vehicle body  202 , thereby reducing the quantity of body apertures included in the vehicle  200 . 
     Sensor data generated by various sensor devices  222 A-D, as a result of the sensor devices  222 A-D monitoring various portions of the environment  201  which are proximate to various ends  204 A-D of vehicle  200 , can be communicated to the one or more computer systems  210  via the various communication links  230 A-D. The one or more computer systems  210 , which can include one or more vehicle navigation systems (VNS), can, based on processing sensor data generated by the various sets of sensor devices  222 A-D included in the various assemblies  220 A-D, generate one or more characterizations of one the external environment  201 , where a characterization includes a characterization of relative velocities, positions, etc. of various static elements and dynamic elements in the environment  201 , determining predicted trajectories of various dynamic elements through the environment  201 , determining whether a trajectory of the vehicle  200  intersects one or more static elements, dynamic elements, dynamic element predicted trajectories, etc. in the environment, etc. In some embodiments, based on processing the sensor data, generating one or more environment characterizations, etc. the one or more computer systems  210  can provide one or more representations of one or more portions of the environment  201  to one or more users of the vehicle  200 , via one or more user interfaces included in the vehicle  200 . In some embodiments, based on processing the sensor data, generating one or more environment characterizations, etc., the one or more computer systems  210  can autonomously navigate the vehicle  200  along one or more trajectories which avoid intersections with various static elements, dynamic elements, dynamic element predicted trajectories, etc. in the environment  201 . 
     In some embodiments, separate sensor devices  222  included in separate element assemblies  220  monitor overlapping portions of the environment  201 , thereby enabling one or more computer systems  210  which receive and process sensor data generated by separate sensor devices  222  in separate assemblies  220  to generate a characterization of some or all of the environment  201  surrounding the vehicle  200 . For example, where assembly  220 A includes a sensor device  222 A, including a camera device, which generates sensor data representations of portions of environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 A,  204 D of vehicle  200 , and where assembly  220 D includes a sensor device  222 D, including a camera device, which generates sensor data representations of portions of environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 B,  204 D of vehicle  200 , one or more computer systems  210  which receive and process sensor data representations generated by the sensor devices  222 A,  222 D in the separate assemblies  220 A,  220 D can synthesize the sensor data representations to generate a continuous sensor data representation of the portions of environment  201  which are proximate to ends  204 A,  204 D, and  204 B of the vehicle  200 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a schematic diagram of an element assembly which includes one or more light emitter devices and one or more sensor devices included in one or more portions of an assembly housing and configured to interact with an external environment via a common window element, according to some embodiments. The element assembly  300  illustrated in  FIG. 3  can be included in any of the embodiments of element assemblies included herein, including the element assembly  200  illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
     Element assembly  300  includes a housing  301  which at least partially encloses a housing interior space  303  in which various vehicle control elements, sensor devices, etc. can be installed. The assembly  300  includes a window element  340  which encloses a portion of the housing interior space  303  which is encompassed by the housing  301 . The portion can be referred to as a gap in the housing  301 , and the window element  340  can be referred to as encompassing the gap in the housing  301 . The window element  340  can comprise one or more various materials which are at least partially transparent, and the housing  301  can comprise one or more various materials which are at least partially opaque. The assembly  300  is configured to be installed in a gap in a body of a vehicle in an orientation which positions the window element  340  of the assembly  300  to face towards an external environment  390  in which the vehicle is located. As referred to herein, a gap in a body of a vehicle can include a boundary of the interior volume of the vehicle which is not encompassed by one or more body panels, devices, windows, etc. which enclose one or more portions of the vehicle interior, where one or more portions of the vehicle interior includes one or more vehicle cabins, cargo storage spaces, engine spaces, energy storage system spaces, fuel storage system spaces, etc. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , some embodiments of an element assembly  300  include one or more light emitter devices  310  and one or more sensor devices  320  installed within an interior space  303  of the assembly  300 . Each of the light emitter devices  310  and sensor devices  320  included in the element assembly are configured to interact with an external environment  390  via a common window element  340  included in the element assembly  300 . For example, where the light emitter devices  310  include a headlight device and the sensor devices  320  include a camera device, the headlight device can interact with the environment  390  via the window element  340  based on the headlight device emitting and directing a light beam into the environment  390  through the window element  340 , and the camera device can interact with the environment  390  via the window element  340  based on the camera device capturing an image of a portion of the environment  390  which is encompassed within a field of view of the camera device which extends through the same window element  340 . 
     As shown, each of the sensor devices  320  and light emitter devices  310  are associated with one or more respective fields  322 ,  312  which represent the respective portions of the external environment  390  with which the respective devices are configured to interact via one or more portions of the common window element  340 . In some embodiments, where a sensor device  320  includes a camera device, the corresponding field  322  comprises a field of view of the camera device. In some embodiments, where a sensor device  320  includes a light beam scanning device, the corresponding field  322  comprises a field of view which encompasses a portion of the environment  390  through which an emitted light beam can be directed from the light beam scanning device. In some embodiments, a field  312  associated with a light emitter device  310  comprises a portion of the environment  390  through which a light beam generated at the device  310  can be directed. 
     In some embodiments, the element assembly  300  is configured to mitigate interference between certain portions of the light emitter devices  310  and sensor devices  320  included therein. For example, where an element assembly  300  includes a light emitter device  310  which is configured to emit a light beam which comprises visible light and a sensor device  320  which is configured to capture visible-light images, the assembly  300  is configured to mitigate interference of the light beam emitted by the light emitter device  310  with the images of environment  390  captured by the sensor device  320 . 
     In some embodiments, to mitigate interference between light emitter devices  310  and sensor devices  320  included therein, an element assembly  300  includes a baffle element  304 , also referred to herein as a partition element, which partitions the interior space  303  into separate spaces  305 A-B in which separate devices  310 ,  320  are located. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the assembly  300  includes a baffle element  304  which partitions the interior space  303  based on the positions of the light emitter devices  310  and sensor devices  320  located in the space, so that the interior space  303  is partitioned into a first space  305 A in which the light emitter devices  310  are located and a separate second space  305 B in which the sensor devices  320  are located. The baffle element  304 , based on partitioning the space  303 , can be comprised of at least partially opaque materials, including materials which are at least translucent in at least a range of light wavelengths. The baffle element  304  can establish a physical barrier between separate light emitter devices  310  from sensor devices  320  and mitigate the propagation of light emitted by one or more light emitter devices  310  to one or more sensing elements of one or more sensor devices  320 . 
     In some embodiments, the window element included in the element assembly includes one or more layers, coatings, etc. which mitigate reflection of light emitted by one or more light emitter devices within the housing interior space back to a sensor element of one or more sensor devices included within the housing interior space. Reflected emitted light, particularly reflected light which is in a wavelength that a sensor element included in a sensor device is configured to detect, can interfere with the sensor device monitoring the external environment based on the reflected light being detected at the sensor element and interfering with sensor data generated as a result of the monitoring. 
     A window layer which includes one or more layers, coatings, etc. can include one or more layers, coatings, etc. configured to mitigate reflection of light having one or more various wavelengths. The one or more layers, coatings, etc. can be located on an interior surface of the window element which faces away from the external environment and faces towards an interior space of the assembly housing, so that the one or more layers, coatings, etc. are protected against damage by environmental elements in the external environment. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , assembly  300  can include, on an interior surface of window element  340 , a reflection mitigation layer  330  which is configured to mitigate reflection  316  of light emitted by one or more light emitter devices  310  located in the interior space  303 , thereby mitigating detection of reflected light  316  at one or more sensor elements of one or more sensor devices  320  located in the interior space  303 . 
     In some embodiments, as shown in  FIG. 3 , a baffle element  304  included in the interior space  303  can sufficiently partition the space  330  into separate portions to block light emitted by one or more light emitter devices  310  which is reflected from an interior surface of the window element  340  back into the interior space  303 . 
     In some embodiments, an element assembly includes one or more window element cleaner devices which are configured to remove environmental elements from an exterior surface of the window element included in the element assembly to mitigate obstruction of light beams emitted by one or more light emitter devices by the environmental elements. As shown in  FIG. 3 , assembly  300  can include a cleaner device  350  which is configured to remove environmental elements from the exterior surface of the window element  340  which faces towards the external environment  390 . Because the assembly can include one or more sensor devices which are configured to monitor an external environment via the same window element via which the one or more light emitter devices emit light beams into the external environment, interference of environmental elements on the exterior surface of the window element with monitoring of the external environment by the one or more sensor devices can be mitigated as a result of the cleaner device removing the environmental elements from the exterior surface of the window elements. 
     In some embodiments, one or more light emitter devices in an element assembly are communicatively coupled, via one or more communication conduits, to one or more sensor devices included in the element assembly, where a particular one or more of the light emitter devices and the sensor devices are configured to be adjustably controlled based on another one or more of the light emitter devices and the sensor devices. For example, as shown in  FIG. 3 , a light emitter device  310  and a sensor device  320  can be communicatively coupled via a communication link  380 , and the emission of light beams  312  by the light emitter device  310  can be adjustably controlled based on the sensor device  320  monitoring the external environment  390 , so that the device  310  is precluded from emitting the light beam  312  concurrently with the sensor device  320  monitoring the external environment  390 . The device  310  can emit a light beam in one or more series of pulses, where the gaps between light pulses are synchronized with separate individual monitoring actions by the sensor device  320 . As a result, interference by the light emitted by one or more light emitter devices  310  with monitoring of environment  390  by one or more sensor devices  320  can be at least partially mitigated, thereby augmenting the sensor data representations of the environment  390  generated by the sensor device  320  as a result of monitoring the environment  390 . 
     In another example, sensor device  320  can receive a command from a remote computer system, which can include a VNS included in a vehicle in which assembly  300  is installed and to which the sensor device  320  is communicatively coupled, to monitor a portion of the external environment  390 . Based on receiving the command, device  320  can control the light emitter device  310  to at least partially restrict light beam emission during a limited period of time and device  320  can further monitor the external environment  390  during the limited period of time. The limited period of time can be a series of points in time, such that device  320  controls the device  310  to “pulse” the emitted light beam  312  at a frequency which can exceed a threshold frequency of human observation, including a frequency of 60 Hz, and device  320  can monitor the environment  390  in a series of pulses which are at the same frequency and at 180 degrees out of phase with the pulsed light beam emitted by the device  310 . As a result, device  310  can be controlled to pulse the emitted beam  312  and device  320  can monitor the environment  390  between separate light beam  312  pulses, so that interference between the light beam  312  and the monitoring  322  is at least partially mitigated. In some embodiments, one or more of devices  310  and  320  are adjustably controlled, to mitigate concurrent light beam emission  312  and environment monitoring  322 , at one or more remote computer systems external to the assembly  330  can be communicatively coupled to the devices  310 ,  320  via one or more communication links. 
     An individual monitoring of the external environment  390  by a sensor device  320  can include the device  320  capturing a set of one or more images of the environment  390 , emitting one or more light beams into the environment and detecting one or more reflections of the one or more light beams off of one or more objects in the environment  390 , etc. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates fabricating an element assembly, according to some embodiments. The fabricating can be implemented with regard to any of the embodiments of element assemblies described herein, including the assembly  300  shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     At  402 , a housing of the element assembly is provided. The element assembly housing can include one or more interior spaces which are at least partially enclosed by the housing. 
     At  404 , one or more light emitter devices are installed in one or more interior spaces of the housing. The installing at  404  can include coupling the one or more light emitter devices to one or more structural mounting interfaces, electrical connection interfaces, communication connection interfaces, some combination thereof, etc. 
     At  406 , one or more sensor devices are installed in one or more interior spaces of the housing. The installing at  406  can include coupling the one or more sensor devices to one or more structural mounting interfaces, electrical connection interfaces, communication connection interfaces, some combination thereof, etc. The installing at  406  can include communicatively coupling one or more sensor devices with one or more light emitter devices installed in one or more interior spaces at  404 . 
     At  408 , one or more layers, coatings, etc. are applied to a particular surface of a window element which is configured to be coupled to the assembly housing. The one or more layers, coatings, etc. can include one or more non-reflective layers, coatings, etc. configured to at least partially mitigate reflection of incident light at one or more sets of wavelengths. In some embodiments, the application at  408  includes applying multiple layers, coatings, etc. to a particular surface of the window element. The particular surface can include an interior surface configured to be partitioned from an external environment when the window element is coupled to the element assembly housing. 
     At  410 , the window element is coupled to the housing. Coupling the window element to the housing can include coupling the window element to the housing in a particular configuration which results in the interior surface of the window element, on which one or more layers, coatings, etc. are applied at  408 , facing into the housing interior spaces in which the one or more sensor devices and light emitter devices are installed. 
     At  412 , the element assembly is installed in a vehicle. The installing can include physically coupling the assembly housing with one or more portions of the vehicle, electrically coupling the one or more light emitter devices and one or more sensor devices installed in the assembly to one or more power transmission lines, communication links, etc., included in the vehicle, some combination thereof, etc. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an example computer system  500  that may be configured to include or execute any or all of the embodiments described above. In different embodiments, computer system  500  may be any of various types of devices, including, but not limited to, a personal computer system, desktop computer, laptop, notebook, tablet, slate, pad, or netbook computer, cell phone, smartphone, PDA, portable media device, mainframe computer system, handheld computer, workstation, network computer, a camera or video camera, a set top box, a mobile device, a consumer device, video game console, handheld video game device, application server, storage device, a television, a video recording device, a peripheral device such as a switch, modem, router, or in general any type of computing or electronic device. 
     Various embodiments of a VNS, sensor device, light emitter device, some combination thereof, etc., as described herein, may be executed in one or more computer systems  500 , which may interact with various other devices. Note that any component, action, or functionality described above with respect to  FIG. 1 through 4  may be implemented on one or more computers configured as computer system  500  of  FIG. 5 , according to various embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, computer system  500  includes one or more processors  510  coupled to a system memory  520  via an input/output (I/O) interface  530 . Computer system  500  further includes a network interface  540  coupled to I/O interface  530 , and one or more input/output devices, which can include one or more user interface devices. In some cases, it is contemplated that embodiments may be implemented using a single instance of computer system  500 , while in other embodiments multiple such systems, or multiple nodes making up computer system  500 , may be configured to host different portions or instances of embodiments. For example, in one embodiment some elements may be implemented via one or more nodes of computer system  500  that are distinct from those nodes implementing other elements. 
     In various embodiments, computer system  500  may be a uniprocessor system including one processor  510 , or a multiprocessor system including several processors  510  (e.g., two, four, eight, or another suitable number). Processors  510  may be any suitable processor capable of executing instructions. For example, in various embodiments processors  510  may be general-purpose or embedded processors implementing any of a variety of instruction set architectures (ISAs), such as the x86, PowerPC, SPARC, or MIPS ISAs, or any other suitable ISA. In multiprocessor systems, each of processors  510  may commonly, but not necessarily, implement the same ISA. 
     System memory  520  may be configured to store program instructions, data, etc. accessible by processor  510 . In various embodiments, system memory  520  may be implemented using any suitable memory technology, such as static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or any other type of memory. In the illustrated embodiment, program instructions included in memory  520  may be configured to implement some or all of a control system incorporating any of the functionality described above. Additionally, existing automotive component control data of memory  520  may include any of the information or data structures described above. In some embodiments, program instructions and/or data may be received, sent or stored upon different types of computer-accessible media or on similar media separate from system memory  520  or computer system  500 . While computer system  500  is described as implementing the functionality of functional blocks of previous Figures, any of the functionality described herein may be implemented via such a computer system. 
     In one embodiment, I/O interface  530  may be configured to coordinate I/O traffic between processor  510 , system memory  520 , and any peripheral devices in the device, including network interface  540  or other peripheral interfaces, such as input/output devices  550 . In some embodiments, I/O interface  530  may perform any necessary protocol, timing or other data transformations to convert data signals from one component (e.g., system memory  520 ) into a format suitable for use by another component (e.g., processor  510 ). In some embodiments, I/O interface  530  may include support for devices attached through various types of peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard, for example. In some embodiments, the function of I/O interface  530  may be split into two or more separate components, such as a north bridge and a south bridge, for example. Also, in some embodiments some or all of the functionality of I/O interface  530 , such as an interface to system memory  520 , may be incorporated directly into processor  510 . 
     Network interface  540  may be configured to allow data to be exchanged between computer system  500  and other devices attached to a network  585  (e.g., carrier or agent devices) or between nodes of computer system  500 . Network  585  may in various embodiments include one or more networks including but not limited to Local Area Networks (LANs) (e.g., an Ethernet or corporate network), Wide Area Networks (WANs) (e.g., the Internet), wireless data networks, some other electronic data network, or some combination thereof. In various embodiments, network interface  540  may support communication via wired or wireless general data networks, such as any suitable type of Ethernet network, for example; via telecommunications/telephony networks such as analog voice networks or digital fiber communications networks; via storage area networks such as Fibre Channel SANs, or via any other suitable type of network and/or protocol. 
     Input/output devices may, in some embodiments, include one or more display terminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices, voice or optical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable for entering or accessing data by one or more computer systems  500 . Multiple input/output devices may be present in computer system  500  or may be distributed on various nodes of computer system  500 . In some embodiments, similar input/output devices may be separate from computer system  500  and may interact with one or more nodes of computer system  500  through a wired or wireless connection, such as over network interface  540 . 
     Memory  520  may include program instructions, which may be processor-executable to implement any element or action described above. In one embodiment, the program instructions may implement the methods described above. In other embodiments, different elements and data may be included. Note that data may include any data or information described above. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that computer system  500  is merely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope of embodiments. In particular, the computer system and devices may include any combination of hardware or software that can perform the indicated functions, including computers, network devices, Internet appliances, PDAs, wireless phones, pagers, etc. Computer system  500  may also be connected to other devices that are not illustrated, or instead may operate as a stand-alone system. In addition, the functionality provided by the illustrated components may in some embodiments be combined in fewer components or distributed in additional components. Similarly, in some embodiments, the functionality of some of the illustrated components may not be provided and/or other additional functionality may be available. 
     Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various items are illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while being used, these items or portions of them may be transferred between memory and other storage devices for purposes of memory management and data integrity. Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of the software components may execute in memory on another device and communicate with the illustrated computer system via inter-computer communication. Some or all of the system components or data structures may also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on a computer-accessible medium or a portable article to be read by an appropriate drive, various examples of which are described above. In some embodiments, instructions stored on a computer-accessible medium separate from computer system  500  may be transmitted to computer system  500  via transmission media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as a network and/or a wireless link. Various embodiments may further include receiving, sending or storing instructions and/or data implemented in accordance with the foregoing description upon a computer-accessible medium. Generally speaking, a computer-accessible medium may include a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium or memory medium such as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk or DVD/CD-ROM, volatile or non-volatile media such as RAM (e.g. SDRAM, DDR, RDRAM, SRAM, etc.), ROM, etc. In some embodiments, a computer-accessible medium may include transmission media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as network and/or a wireless link. 
     The methods described herein may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof, in different embodiments. In addition, the order of the blocks of the methods may be changed, and various elements may be added, reordered, combined, omitted, modified, etc. Various modifications and changes may be made as would be obvious to a person skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. The various embodiments described herein are meant to be illustrative and not limiting. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are possible. Accordingly, plural instances may be provided for components described herein as a single instance. Boundaries between various components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary, and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specific illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality are envisioned and may fall within the scope of claims that follow. Finally, structures and functionality presented as discrete components in the example configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope of embodiments as defined in the claims that follow. 
     The following clauses include examples of embodiments of the systems and methods discussed above. 
     Clause 1. An apparatus, comprising:
         an element assembly configured to be installed in a vehicle and provide illumination of at least a portion of an external environment in which the vehicle is located and monitoring of at least a portion of the external environment via a common aperture, wherein the element assembly comprises:
           a housing which comprises an interior space which is at least partially enclosed by the housing and is configured to support at least one light emitter device and at least one sensor device coupled to the housing within the interior space; and   a window element coupled to the housing, wherein the window element completes an enclosure of the interior space and establishes a transparent barrier between the interior space and the external environment, such that the at least one at least one light emitter device is configured to direct a light beam into the external environment through the window element and the at least one sensor device is configured to monitor at least a portion of the external environment through the window element.
 
Clause 2. The apparatus of clause 1, wherein the element assembly comprises:
   
           at least one non-reflective layer applied to an interior surface of the window element, wherein the at least one non-reflective layer is configured to mitigate reflection of light emitted by the at least one light emitter device to one or more sensing elements of the at least one sensor device.
 
Clause 3. The apparatus of clause 1, wherein the element assembly comprises:
   at least one partition element, comprised of at least one opaque material and located between the at least one light emitter device and the at least one sensor device, which is configured to at least partially block light emitted by one or more light emitter devices from reaching one or more sensing elements of one or more sensor devices.
 
Clause 4. The apparatus of clause 1, wherein the element assembly is configured to:
   adjustably control light beam emission by the at least one light emitter device, based on the at least one sensor device monitoring the at least one portion of the external environment, such that the at least one light emitter device is precluded from emitting light beams concurrently with the at least one sensor device monitoring the at least one portion of the external environment.
 
Clause 5. The apparatus of clause 4, wherein:
   the at least one light emitter device is configured to emit a light beam in one or more series of light pulses, wherein gaps between light pulses are synchronized with separate individual monitoring actions by the sensor device.
 
Clause 6. The apparatus of clause 4, comprising:
   at least one computer system which is communicatively coupled to the element assembly and is configured to control the at least one light emitter device and the at least one sensor device.
 
Clause 7. The apparatus of clause 1, wherein:
   the at least one light emitter device is configured to emit light at a different wavelength relative to a wavelength of light which the at least one sensor device is configured to detect.
 
Clause 8. The apparatus of clause 1, comprising:
   a plurality of the element assemblies, each installed in a separate portion of the vehicle, which are collectively configured to provide monitoring of the at least one portion of the external environment.
 
Clause 9. A method, comprising:
   configuring an element assembly to provide illumination of at least a portion of an external environment and monitoring of at least a portion of the external environment via a common aperture, wherein the configuring comprises:
           providing a housing which comprises an interior space which is at least partially enclosed by the housing and is configured to support at least one light emitter device and at least one sensor device coupled to the housing within the interior space; and   coupling a window element to the housing, wherein the window element completes an enclosure of the interior space and establishes a transparent barrier between the interior space and the external environment, such that the at least one at least one light emitter device is configured to direct a light beam into the external environment through the window element and the at least one sensor device is configured to monitor at least a portion of the external environment through the window element.
 
Clause 10. The method of clause 9, comprising:
   
           applying at least one non-reflective layer applied to an interior surface of the window element, wherein the at least one non-reflective layer is configured to mitigate reflection of light emitted by the at least one light emitter device to one or more sensing elements of the at least one sensor device.
 
Clause 11. The method of clause 9, comprising:
   coupling at least one partition element, comprised of at least one opaque material, between separate portions of the interior space configured to separately support the at least one light emitter device and the at least one sensor device,   wherein the at least one partition element is configured to at least partially block light emitted by one or more light emitter devices from reaching one or more sensing elements of one or more sensor devices.
 
Clause 12. The method of clause 9, comprising:
   adjustably controlling light beam emission by the at least one light emitter device, based on the at least one sensor device monitoring the at least one portion of the external environment, such that the at least one light emitter device is precluded from emitting light beams concurrently with the at least one sensor device monitoring the at least one portion of the external environment.
 
Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein:
   the at least one light emitter device is configured to emit a light beam in one or more series of light pulses, wherein gaps between light pulses are synchronized with separate individual monitoring actions by the sensor device.
 
Clause 14. The method of clause 8, wherein:
   the at least one light emitter device is configured to emit light at a different wavelength relative to a wavelength of light which the at least one sensor device is configured to detect.
 
Clause 15. A vehicle configured to be navigated through an external environment, wherein the vehicle comprises:
   a set of element assemblies which are each configured to provide illumination to at least one portion of the external environment and which are collectively configured to monitor an entirety of the external environment, wherein each element assembly comprises:
           a housing which comprises an interior space which is at least partially enclosed by the housing and which further comprises at least one light emitter device and at least one sensor device coupled to the housing within the interior space; and   a window element coupled to the housing, wherein the window element completes an enclosure of the interior space and establishes a transparent barrier between the interior space and the external environment, such that the at least one at least one light emitter device is configured to direct a light beam into the external environment through the window element and the at least one sensor device is configured to monitor at least a portion of the external environment through the window element.
 
Clause 16. The vehicle of clause 15, wherein at least one element assembly, of the set of element assemblies, comprises:
   
           at least one non-reflective layer applied to an interior surface of the window element, wherein the at least one non-reflective layer is configured to mitigate reflection of light emitted by the at least one light emitter device to one or more sensing elements of the at least one sensor device.
 
Clause 17. The vehicle of clause 15, wherein at least one element assembly, of the set of element assemblies, comprises:
   at least one partition element, comprised of at least one opaque material and located between the at least one light emitter device and the at least one sensor device, which is configured to at least partially block light emitted by one or more light emitter devices from reaching one or more sensing elements of one or more sensor devices.
 
Clause 18. The vehicle of clause 15, comprising:
   at least one computer system, communicatively coupled to each element assembly of the set of element assemblies, which is configured to adjustably control light beam emission by at least one light emitter device of at least one element assembly, based on at least one sensor device of at least one element assembly monitoring at least one portion of the external environment which the at least one light emitter device is configured to illuminate, such that the at least one light emitter device is precluded from emitting light beams concurrently with the at least one sensor device monitoring the at least one portion of the external environment.
 
Clause 19. The vehicle of clause 18, wherein:
   the at least one light emitter device is configured to emit a light beam in one or more series of light pulses, wherein gaps between light pulses are synchronized with separate individual monitoring actions by the sensor device.
 
Clause 20. The vehicle of clause 15, wherein at least one element assembly, of the set of element assemblies, comprises:
   at least one light emitter device is configured to emit light at a different wavelength relative to a wavelength of light which at least one sensor device is configured to detect.