LIDAR systems and methods for generating a variable density point cloud

1 . A LIDAR system, comprising:

at least one processor programmed to:

control at least one light source to emit a plurality of light bursts, wherein each of the plurality of light bursts includes a plurality of light pulses and wherein the plurality of light bursts emitted from the at least one light source are directed to at least one light deflector for scanning a field of view;

control movement of the at least one light deflector to deflect the plurality of light bursts toward different portions of the field of view, wherein a first light burst of the plurality of light bursts is directed to an object in a first portion of the field of view and a second light burst of the plurality of light bursts is directed to an object in a second portion of the field of view, wherein the first light burst and the second light burst include the same number of light pulses;

receive, from at least one sensor, first reflection signals associated with the first light burst and second reflection signals associated with the second light burst;

determine, for the first light burst, a number of point cloud data points to generate based on the first reflection signals;

determine, for the second light burst, a number of point cloud data points to generate based on the second reflection signals;

generate a first set of point cloud data points comprising the number of point cloud data points determined for the first light burst;

generate a second set of point cloud data points comprising the number of point cloud data points determined for the second light burst, wherein the number of point cloud data points in the first set is greater than the number of point cloud data points in the second set; and

output the first set of point cloud data points and the second set of point cloud data points.

2 . The LIDAR system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to coordinate control of the at least one light source and the at least one light deflector such that, during emission of a single light burst, the at least one light deflector moves through a plurality of instantaneous positions.

3 . The LIDAR system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to coordinate control of the at least one light source and the at least one light deflector to selectively determine a number of light bursts to emit for each portion of the field of view based on a desired point cloud resolution for each portion of the field of view.

4 . The LIDAR system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to coordinate control of the at least one light source and the at least one light deflector to selectively determine a number of light bursts to emit for each portion of the field of view based on estimated distances of objects in different portions of the field of view.

5 . The LIDAR system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to control the at least one light source such that at least some of the plurality of light bursts are separated by a first increment, and the plurality of light pulses are separated by a second increment at least 10 times shorter than the first scan increment.

6 . The LIDAR system of claim 1 , wherein the number of point cloud data points determined for the first light burst ranges between one and a total number of combinations of the first reflection signals.

7 . The LIDAR system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to determine that the number of point cloud data points in the first set is greater than the number of point cloud data points in the second set based on the object in the first portion of the field of view being more reflective than the object in the second portion of the field of view.

8 . The LIDAR system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to determine that the number of point cloud data points in the first set is greater than the number of point cloud data points in the second set based on the object in the first portion of the field of view being closer than the object in the second portion of the field of view.

9 . The LIDAR system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

determine that a point cloud resolution associated with an object detected in a certain portion of the field of view is below a resolution threshold; and

coordinate control of the at least one light source and the at least one light deflector to increase light flux projected toward the certain portion of the field of view in a subsequent scan.

10 . The LIDAR system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

determine that a point cloud resolution associated with an object detected in a certain portion of the field of view is greater than a resolution threshold; and

coordinate control of the at least one light source and the at least one light deflector to increase light flux projected toward portions of the field of view other than the certain portion of the field of view in a subsequent scan.

11 . A method for generating point cloud data points using a LIDAR system, the method comprising:

controlling at least one light source to emit a plurality of light bursts, wherein each of the plurality of light bursts includes a plurality of light pulses and wherein the plurality of light bursts emitted from the at least one light source are directed to at least one light deflector for scanning a field of view;

controlling movement of the at least one light deflector to deflect the plurality of light bursts toward different portions of the field of view, wherein a first light burst of the plurality of the light bursts is directed to an object in a first portion of the field of view and a second light burst of the plurality of light bursts is directed to an object in a second portion of the field of view, wherein the first light burst and the second light burst include the same number of light pulses;

receiving, from at least one sensor, first reflection signals associated with the first light burst and second reflection signals associated with the second light burst;

determining, for the first light burst, a number of point cloud data points to generate based on the first reflection signals;

determining, for the second light burst, a number of point cloud data points to generate based on the second reflection signals;

generating a first set of point cloud data points comprising the number of point cloud data points determined for the first light burst;

generating a second set of point cloud data points comprising the number of point cloud data points determined for the second light burst, wherein the number of point cloud data points in the first set is greater than the number of point cloud data points in the second set; and

outputting the first set of point cloud data points and the second set of point cloud data points.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the first reflection signals include a sequence of signal pulses, and the method further comprises:

calculating a confidence level for correlating a signal pulse in the sequence of signal pulses with a light pulse included in the light burst, wherein the number of point cloud data points to generate in the first set is determined based on the calculated confidence level for each signal pulse included in the sequence of signal pulses.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

generating point cloud data points from signal pulses having confidence levels greater than a confidence threshold.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

determining a value for the confidence threshold based on ambient light conditions.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

determining a value for the confidence threshold based on an estimated distance of an object detected in the first reflection signals.

16 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

determining a value for the confidence threshold based on a portion of the field of view associated with the first reflection signals.

17 . A LIDAR system, comprising:

a housing mountable on a vehicle;

at least one light source within the housing configured to emit a plurality of light bursts, wherein each of the plurality of light bursts includes a plurality of light pulses;

at least one light deflector within the housing configured to scan a field of view by deflecting the plurality of light bursts toward different portions of the field of view, wherein a first light burst of the plurality of light bursts is directed to an object in a first portion of the field of view and a second light burst of the plurality of light bursts is directed to an object in a second portion of the field of view, wherein the first light burst and the second light burst include the same number of light pulses;

at least one sensor configured to detect reflections of the projected light and to generate first reflection signals associated with the the first light burst and second reflection signals associated with the second light burst; and

at least one processor programmed to:

determine, for the first light burst, a number of point cloud data points to generate based on the first reflection signals;

determine, for the second light burst, a number of point cloud data points to generate based on the second reflection signals;

generate a first set of point cloud data points comprising the number of point cloud data points determined for the first light burst;

generate a second set of point cloud data points comprising the number of point cloud data points determined for the second light burst, wherein the number of point cloud data points in the first set is greater than the number of point cloud data points in the second set; and

output the first set of point cloud data points and the second set of point cloud data points.