Lidar system and method
A Lidar system is provided. The Lidar system comprises: a set of light sources configured to emit a plurality of light beams; a set of optical fiber elements, wherein each of the set of light sources is optically coupled to a first end of one or more optical fiber elements from the set of optical fiber elements; and at least one mounting unit comprising a structure configured to receive a second end of the set of optical fiber elements at one or more directions thereby affecting a direction of the plurality of light beams individually.
1. A Lidar system comprising:
a set of light sources configured to emit a plurality of light beams;
a set of optical fiber elements, wherein each of the set of light sources is optically coupled to a first end of one or more optical fiber elements from the set of optical fiber elements; and
at least one mounting unit comprising a structure configured to receive a second end of one or more optical fiber elements from the set of optical fiber elements at one or more directions thereby affecting a direction of each of the plurality of light beams individually, and wherein the structure comprises a set of slots arranged along a vertical direction.
2. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein the set of light sources, the set of optical fiber elements and the at least one mounting unit are configured to rotate about a vertical axis.
3. The Lidar system of claim 2 , wherein the set of light sources, the set of optical fiber elements or the at least one mounting unit is disposed on a supporting body connected to a rotor of the LiDAR system.
4. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one mounting unit is configured to rotate about a vertical axis.
5. The Lidar system of claim 4 , wherein the set of light sources is disposed on a stator of the Lidar system and the at least one mounting unit is disposed on a rotor of the LiDAR system, and wherein the set of light sources and the at least one mounting unit are rotatably coupled via the set of optical fiber elements.
6. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein each of the set of light sources is optically coupled to one or more optical fiber elements using an optical coupling element.
7. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the set of light sources is optically coupled to two or more optical fiber elements using an optical coupling element.
8. The Lidar system of claim 7 , wherein a fraction of light coupled to one of the two or more optical fiber elements is different from a fraction of light coupled to another one of the two or more optical fiber elements.
9. The Lidar system of claim 7 , wherein the two or more optical fiber elements have different optical properties.
10. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein the structure comprises a set of slots arranged in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction.
11. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein the set of slots have a cross-section in a shape selected from a group consisting of a V shape, D shape, W shape and C shape.
12. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the set of slots has a tilt angle such that the second end of optical fiber element received in the at least one slot is angled along a horizontal direction.
13. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein a subset of the set of the slots has a tilt angle different from a tilt angle of another subset of the set of the slots.
14. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein the number of the set of slots is greater than the number of the set of optical fiber elements.
15. The Lidar system of claim 14 , wherein the second ends of the set of optical fiber elements are non-uniformly arranged along the vertical direction by selecting a subset of slots from the set of slots.
16. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein the set of slots are non-uniformly spaced along the vertical direction.
17. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein the second end of the set of optical fiber elements has an angled light emitting surface to affect a direction of the corresponding light beams.
18. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of light beams emitted from the second ends of the set of optical fiber elements are directed to an optical element to collimate the plurality of light beams into collimated light beams to propagate in different directions.
19. The Lidar system of claim 1 , further comprising a receiving device to receive echo light beams and wherein the receiving device is disposed on a rotor of the Lidar system.
20. The Lidar system of claim 1 , further comprising a second mounting unit stacked to the at least one mounting unit along a horizontal direction.
21. The Lidar system of claim 1 , wherein the set of light sources are located in close proximity to at least one heat sink to facilitate heat dissipation.
22. A Lidar system comprising:
an emitting apparatus comprising a set of light sources configured to emit a plurality of light beams, a set of optical fiber elements optically coupled to the set of light sources, and at least one mounting unit, wherein the at least one mounting unit is configured to position a light emitting end of the optical fiber elements into an angle thereby affecting a direction of each of the plurality of light beams individually, and wherein the at least one mounting unit comprises a set of slots arranged along a vertical direction to receive the light emitting ends of the set of optical fiber elements at one or more directions; and
a receiving apparatus configured to receive echo light beams to detect a target, wherein the echo light beams are a portion of the light beams reflected by the target.
23. The Lidar system of claim 22 , wherein the at least one mounting unit and the receiving apparatus are configured to rotate about a vertical axis.
24. The Lidar system of claim 22 , wherein the at least one mounting unit and the receiving apparatus are disposed on a supporting body connected to a rotor of the LiDAR system.
25. The Lidar system of claim 22 , wherein each of the set of light sources is optically coupled to one or more optical fiber elements with aid of an optical coupling element.
26. The Lidar system of claim 22 , wherein at least one of the set of light sources is optically coupled to two or more optical fiber elements with aid of an optical coupling element.
27. The Lidar system of claim 22 , wherein at least one of the set of slots has a tilt angle such that the axial direction at the light emitting end of an optical fiber element received in the at least one slot is along the tilt angle.
28. The Lidar system of claim 22 , wherein the emitting apparatus is located in close proximity to at least one heat sink.