Traffic scanning LIDAR

1. A system for determining the position and speed of a plurality of objects within a field of view, the system comprising:

a beam source operable to generate a beam;

a transmit reflection device operable to reflect the beam at the plurality of objects, the transmit reflection device including a plurality of transmit faces, at least a portion of the transmit faces oriented at a different angle and operable to reflect the beam at a different height,

wherein the beam reflection off each transmit face creates a sweep;

wherein the transmit reflection device further includes a disc-shaped base and a disc-shape upper stage spaced apart from and of a smaller diameter than the base, the plurality of transmit faces being positioned in a circle between the upper stage and the base at an angle therebetween;

a beam receiver operable to detect the beam;

a receive reflection device including a plurality of receive faces, at least a portion of the receive faces oriented at a different angle and operable to focus the beam reflected from the plurality of objects at different heights onto the beam receiver; and

a controller operable to (1) repeatedly perform a plurality of sweeps within the field of view to track each of the plurality of objects within the field of view, and (2) determine the position of each of the plurality of objects over time and calculate the speed of each of the plurality of objects based on a change in the position of the objects.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmit faces are oriented at consecutively varying angles from a first transmit face to a last transmit face to reflect the beam at consecutively varying heights.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the angle of each transmit face changes by the same amount for consecutively positioned transmit faces.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein each transmit face is oriented at an angle different from each of the other transmit faces.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmit reflection device is rotatable about a central axis such that the beam reflects off each transmit face in turn as the transmit reflection device rotates to create said sweep.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the sweep reflected from a first transmit face to a last transmit face overlap one another.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein each receive face includes an outer surface with a shape operable to focus beams reflecting from the plurality of objects.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the shape of the outer surface of each receive face is a partial circular paraboloid.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the receive reflection device further includes a disc-shaped base and a disc-shaped upper stage spaced apart from and of a smaller diameter than the base, the receive faces being positioned in a circle between the upper stage and the base at an angle therebetween and the angle changes by the same amount for consecutively positioned receive faces.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the receive reflection device is rotatable about a central axis of the base and the upper stage, such that each receive face focuses beams at different heights as the receive reflection device rotates.

11. A system for determining the position and speed of an object within a field of view, the system comprising:

a beam source operable to generate a beam;

a transmit reflection device operable to reflect the beam at the object,

wherein each transmit reflection device includes a plurality of transmit faces,

wherein each transmit face is oriented at an angle,

wherein at least a first portion of the transmit faces is oriented at a different angle than a second portion of the transmit faces, such that the first portion of the transmit faces is operable to reflect the beam at a different height than the second portion of the transmit faces,

wherein the transmit reflection device is rotatable about a central axis such that the beam reflects off each transmit face in turn as the transmit reflection device rotates, and the beam reflection off each transmit face creates a sweep,

wherein the sweep reflected from a first transmit face to a last transmit face overlap one another;

a beam receiver operable to detect the beam;

a receive reflection device including a plurality of receive faces,

wherein each receive face is oriented at an angle,

wherein at least a first portion of the receive faces is oriented at an angle corresponding to the angle at which the first portion of the transmit faces is oriented, and a second portion of the receive faces is oriented at an angle corresponding to the angle at which the second portion of transmit faces is oriented, such that the receive reflection device is operable to focus the beam reflected from the plurality of objects at different heights onto the beam receiver,

wherein the receive reflection device is rotatable about a central axis of the base and the upper stage, such that each receive face focuses beams at different heights as the receive reflection device rotates; and

a controller operable to determine the position of the object over time and calculate the speed of the object based on a change in the position of the object.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the transmit faces are oriented at consecutively varying angles from the first transmit face to the last transmit face to reflect the beam at consecutively varying heights.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the angle of each transmit face changes by the same amount for consecutively positioned transmit faces.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein each transmit face is oriented at an angle different from each of the other transmit faces.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein each receive face includes an outer surface with a partial circular paraboloid shape operable to focus beams reflecting from the plurality of objects.

16. A method for determining the position and speed of an object within a field of view, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a beam;

projecting the beam towards a transmit reflection device operable to reflect the beam at the object,

wherein said transmit reflection device includes a plurality of transmit faces,

wherein each transmit face is oriented at an angle, and at least a first portion of the transmit faces is oriented at an angle different from an angle of orientation of a second portion of the transmit faces;

receiving , at a receive reflection device having a plurality of receive faces and wherein at least a portion of the received faces is oriented at a different angle, the beam reflected by the transmit reflection device;

focusing the beam received at the receive reflection device at different heights onto a beam receiver;

detecting a reflection of the beam at different heights dependent on the transmit face off of which the beam reflected;

generating a sweep of the object by rotating the transmit faces as the beam is projected towards the object;

repeatedly generating a plurality of sweeps within the field of view to track the object within the field of view;

determining the position of the object over time based on the plurality of generated sweeps; and

calculating the speed of the object based on a change in the position of the object.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein a portion of each sweep reflected from a first transmit faces to a last transmit face overlaps the sweeps adjacent thereto.

18. The method of claim 17 ,

wherein the transmit faces are oriented at consecutively varying angles from a first transmit face to a last transmit face to reflect the beam at consecutively varying heights, and

wherein the angle of each transmit face changes by the same amount for consecutively positioned transmit faces.

19. A system for determining the position and speed of a plurality of objects within a field of view, the system comprising:

a beam source operable to generate a beam;

a transmit reflection device operable to reflect the beam at the plurality of objects, the transmit reflection device including a plurality of transmit faces, at least a portion of the transmit faces oriented at a different angle and operable to reflect the beam different height,

wherein the reflection off each transmit face creates a sweep;

a beam receiver operable to detect the beam;

a receive reflection device including a plurality of receive faces, at least a portion of the receive faces oriented at a different angle and operable to focus the beam reflected from the plurality of objects at different heights onto the beam receiver,

wherein the receive reflection device further includes a disc-shaped base and a disc-shaped upper stage spaced apart from and of a smaller diameter than the base, the receive faces being positioned in a circle between the upper stage and the base at an angle therebetween and the angle changes by the same amount for consecutively positioned receive faces; and

a controller operable to (1 ) repeatedly perform a plurality of sweeps within the field of view to track each of the plurality of objects within the field of view, and (2 ) determine the position of each of the plurality of objects over time and calculate the speed of each of the plurality of objects based on a change in the position of the objects.

20. The system of claim 19 ,

wherein the transmit faces are oriented at consecutively varying angles from a first transmit face to a last transmit face to reflect the beam at consecutively varying heights,

wherein the angle of each transmit face changes by the same amount for consecutively positioned transmit faces,

wherein each transmit face is oriented at an angle different from each of the other transmit faces.

21. The system of claim 19 ,

wherein each receive face includes an outer surface with a shape operable to focus beams reflecting from the plurality of objects,

wherein the shape of the outer surface of each receive face is a partial circular paraboloid.

22. The system of claim 19 , wherein the receive reflection device is rotatable about a central axis of the base and the upper stage, such that each receive face focuses beams at different heights as the receive reflection device rotates.

23. The system of claim 19 , wherein the transmit reflection device further includes a disc-shaped base and a disc-shaped upper stage spaced apart from and of a smaller diameter than the base, the plurality of transmit faces being positioned in a circle between the upper stage and the base at an angle therebetween.

24. The system of claim 23 ,

wherein the transmit reflection device is rotatable about a central axis such that the beam reflects off each transmit face in turn as the transmit reflection device rotates to create said sweep,

wherein the sweep reflected from the first transmit face to the last transmit face overlap one another.