Scanner for a lidar system and lidar systems and methods including a scanner
Scanner for a LIDAR system of an autonomous vehicle, the scanner comprising: a hub component comprising a hub body which is rotational about a hub rotation axis; at least three mirror components moveably connected to the hub component, each mirror component having: a front side having a reflective surface for directing incident light beams; and a back side having a connector for attaching the at least three mirror components to the hub component with the respective reflective surfaces facing outwardly, the connector configured to permit the mirror component to rotate with the hub component and to permit the mirror component to tilt along a mirror tilt axis which is transverse to the hub rotation axis.
1 . Scanner for a LIDAR system of an autonomous vehicle, the scanner comprising:
a hub component comprising a hub body which is rotational about a hub rotation axis;
at least three mirror components moveably connected to the hub component, a given mirror component of the at least three mirror components having:
a front side having a reflective surface for directing incident light beams;
a back side having a connector for attaching the given mirror component to the hub component with the respective reflective surfaces facing outwardly, the connector configured to permit the given mirror component to rotate with the hub component and to permit the given mirror component to tilt along a mirror tilt axis which is transverse to the hub rotation axis; and
a vertical movement driver for changing a tilt angle about the mirror tilt axis of each mirror component of the at least three mirror components, the vertical movement driver being configured to change the tilt angle of each mirror component, the vertical movement driver comprising:
a base component, having a radius which varies along its length, positioned circumferentially around a base of the hub component, the base component configured to reciprocate parallel to the hub rotation axis whilst being in contact with the back side of each of the at least three mirror components, to move the at least three mirror components about their respective mirror tilt axes as the base component reciprocates.
2 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein the hub component and the at least three mirror components form a polyhedral configuration with the at least three mirror components forming at least three sides of the polyhedron.
3 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein respective reflective surfaces of the at least three mirror components have a side-by-side configuration when connected to the hub component and are angled with respect to one another.
4 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein the at least three mirror components are positioned circumferentially with respect to the hub component about the hub rotation axis.
5 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein the respective mirror tilt axes of the at least three mirror components are positioned about a circumference of the hub component and lie on the same plane.
6 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein the connector of each mirror component of the at least three mirror components forms part of a hinge joint.
7 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein the at least three mirror components comprise six mirror components positioned circumferentially about the hub component to form a hexagonal prism configuration having six sides, with the reflective surfaces of the six mirror components forming the six sides of the hexagonal prism.
8 . The scanner of claim 1 , further comprising a roller provided at the back side of each of the at least three mirror components, the roller arranged to rotate about a roller rotation axis, and along a surface of the base component when the hub component rotates.
9 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein the base component is cone shaped and has a diameter at a lower end which is wider than the diameter at a higher end, such that moving the base component upwardly, causes the tilt angle, relative to a reference plane, of the mirror component to increase.
10 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein the hub component is communicatively coupled to a controller of the LIDAR system, the controller configured to control the rotation of the hub component.
11 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein the vertical movement driver is communicatively coupled to a controller of the LIDAR system, the controller configured to control a movement of the vertical movement driver which can cause the mirror component to tilt about the mirror tilt axis.
12 . The scanner of claim 1 , wherein the base component is communicatively coupled to a controller of the LIDAR system, the controller configured to control the reciprocating movement of the vertical movement driver which can cause the mirror component to tilt about the mirror tilt axis.
13 . A LIDAR system for detecting objects in a surrounding environment of an autonomous vehicle, the LIDAR system comprising:
a hub component comprising a hub body which is rotational about a hub rotation axis;
at least three mirror components moveably connected to the hub component, a given mirror component of the at least three mirror components having:
a front side having a reflective surface for directing incident light beams; and
a back side having a connector for attaching the given mirror component to the hub component with the respective reflective surfaces facing outwardly, the connector configured to permit the given mirror component to rotate with the hub component and to permit the given mirror component to tilt along a mirror tilt axis which is transverse to the hub rotation axis; and
a vertical movement driver for changing a tilt angle about the mirror tilt axis of each mirror component of the at least three mirror components, the vertical movement driver being configured to change the tilt angle of each mirror component, the vertical movement driver comprising:
a base component, having a radius which varies along its length, positioned circumferentially around a base of the hub component, the base component configured to reciprocate parallel to the hub rotation axis whilst being in contact with the back side of each of the at least three mirror components, to move the at least three mirror components about their respective mirror tilt axes as the base component reciprocates.
14 . The LIDAR system of claim 13 , further comprising a controller communicatively coupled to the scanner, the controller configured to cause rotation of the hub component about the rotation axis and/or tilting movement of the at least three mirror components about the respective mirror tilt axis.
15 . A method of generating a scan pattern in a region of interest by a scanner of a LIDAR system of an autonomous vehicle, the method executed by a controller of the LIDAR system which is communicatively coupled to the scanner, the method comprising:
the controller causing rotation of a hub component, about a hub rotation axis, to which is attached at least three mirror components, each mirror component having a reflective surface facing outwardly from the hub component, to position a given mirror component of the at least three mirror components so that an emitted light beam from the LIDAR system is incident on the given one mirror component to transmit a horizontal spread beam;
the controller causing a tilting of the given mirror component, relative to the hub component, by a predetermined first tilt angle to transmit a first vertical spread beam,
the tilting comprising using a vertical movement driver for changing a tilt angle about a respective mirror tilt axis of each mirror component of the at least three mirror components, the vertical movement driver being configured to change the tilt angle of each mirror component, the vertical movement driver comprising:
a base component, having a radius which varies along its length, positioned circumferentially around a base of the hub component, the base component configured to reciprocate parallel to the hub rotation axis whilst being in contact with the back side of each of the at least three mirror components, to move the at least three mirror components about their respective mirror tilt axes as the base component reciprocates.
16 . The method of claim 15 , the controller further comprising causing a further rotation of the hub component about the hub rotation axis to position a given other one of the at least three mirror components so that another emitted light beam from the LIDAR system is incident on the given other one of the at least three mirror components.
17 . The method of claim 16 , the controller further comprising causing a tilting of the given other one mirror component, relative to the hub component, by a predetermined second tilt angle to transmit a second vertical spread beam, wherein the predetermined first tilt angle and the predetermined second tilt angle may be the same or different.