Granted Patent B2

US 12,320,696 · App. 18/770,086 · Granted Jun 3, 2025

Inventors: Angus Pacala (San Francisco, CA); Mark Frichtl (San Francisco, CA)

Assignee: Ouster, Inc.

G01J1/4204G01J3/0224G01J3/46G01J3/51G01S7/4815G01S7/4817G01S7/4863G01S7/4865G01S17/86G01S17/89G01S17/931H10F77/959G01S17/88

Abstract

Claims (56)

1. A sensor array having a plurality of sensor rows, each sensor row comprising:

a LIDAR sensor channel including:

a LIDAR channel input aperture;

a photosensor;

a collimating lens element between the LIDAR channel input aperture and the photosensor; and

a LIDAR optical filter to pass light at the LIDAR signaling wavelength; and

a set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels, wherein each ambient-light sensor channel includes:

an ambient-light channel input aperture;

a photosensor;

a light guide disposed between the ambient-light channel input aperture and the photosensor; and

a channel-specific optical filter that selectively passes ambient light having a channel-specific property to the photosensor.

2. The sensor array of claim 1 wherein, for each of the one or more ambient-light sensor channels, the channel-specific optical filter is disposed on an end of the light guide proximate to the ambient-light channel input aperture.

3. The sensor array of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels includes at least two ambient-light sensor channels having respective channel-specific optical filters that are different from each other.

4. The sensor array of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels includes a white channel in which the channel-specific optical filter has a passband that encompasses at least the visible light spectrum.

5. The sensor array of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels includes:

a first color channel having a first channel-specific optical filter that selectively passes light having a first range of wavelengths; and

a second color channel having a second channel-specific optical filter that selectively passes light having a second range of wavelengths,

wherein the first range and the second range are overlapping ranges.

6. The sensor array of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels includes one or more polarization channels in which the channel-specific optical filter selectively passes light having a particular polarization property.

7. The sensor array of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels includes:

one or more color channels, wherein the channel-specific optical filter for each of the one or more color channels selectively passes light having a different range of wavelengths; and

one or more polarization channels in which the channel-specific optical filter selectively passes light having a particular polarization property.

8. The sensor array of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels includes at least two ambient-light sensor channels, each having a different channel-specific optical filter, and wherein the ambient-light sensor channels in a given sensor row are spaced apart from each other by a uniform pitch.

9. The sensor array of claim 8 wherein the LIDAR sensor channel in a given sensor row is spaced apart from a nearest one of the ambient-light sensor channels in the given sensor row by the uniform pitch or by a distance that is an integer multiple of the uniform pitch.

10. The sensor array of claim 9 wherein adjacent sensor rows are spaced apart from each other by the uniform pitch.

11. The sensor array of claim 1 wherein the photosensor of each of the one or more ambient-light sensor channels includes one or more single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) operated in a photon-counting mode and wherein each LIDAR sensor channel also includes one or more SPADs operated in a photon-counting mode.

12. The sensor array of claim 1 wherein the sensor array is fabricated as a single ASIC.

13. The sensor array of claim 12 further comprising:

a data buffer disposed within the ASIC and configured to store data from two or more of the LIDAR sensor channels and two or more of the ambient-light sensor channels; and

a processing circuit disposed within the ASIC and configured to perform an image processing operation on the data stored in the data buffer.

14. A ranging/imaging system comprising:

a stationary base;

a sensor array rotationally coupled to the stationary base, the sensor array having a plurality of sensor rows, each sensor row including:

a LIDAR sensor channel including:

a LIDAR channel input aperture;

a photosensor;

a collimating lens element between the LIDAR channel input aperture and the photosensor; and

a LIDAR optical filter to pass light at the LIDAR signaling wavelength; and

a set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels, wherein each ambient-light sensor channel includes:

an ambient-light channel input aperture;

a photosensor;

a light guide disposed between the ambient-light channel input aperture and the photosensor; and

a channel-specific optical filter that selectively passes ambient light having a channel-specific property to the photosensor;

a bulk optical module disposed in front of the sensor array and configured to focus incident light on an aperture plane common to the LIDAR sensor channels and the ambient-light sensor channels; and

a controller to synchronize rotation of the sensor array and operation of the photosensors such that a given location in space relative to the stationary base is successively imaged by the LIDAR sensor channel and each of the ambient-light sensor channels in one of the sensor rows.

15. The ranging/imaging system of claim 14 wherein the controller is further configured to generate multispectral image pixel data that includes per-pixel light intensity data determined using the ambient-light sensor channels of the sensor array and per-pixel depth data determined using the LIDAR sensor channels of the sensor array.

16. The ranging/imaging system of claim 14 wherein:

the one or more ambient-light sensor channels in a given sensor row include at least two ambient-light sensor channels, each having a different channel-specific optical filter and being spaced apart from each other by a uniform pitch; and

the LIDAR sensor channel in the given sensor row is spaced apart from a nearest one of the at least two ambient-light sensor channels in the given sensor row by the uniform pitch or by a distance that is an integer multiple of the uniform pitch.

17. The ranging/imaging system of claim 16 wherein adjacent sensor rows are spaced apart from each other by the uniform pitch.

18. The ranging/imaging system of claim 14 wherein the set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels includes at least two ambient-light sensor channels, each having a different channel-specific optical filter.

19. The ranging/imaging system of claim 14 wherein the set of one or more ambient-light sensor channels includes:

a first color channel having a first channel-specific optical filter that selectively passes light having a first range of wavelengths; and

a second color channel having a second channel-specific optical filter that selectively passes light having a second range of wavelengths,

wherein the first range and the second range are overlapping ranges.

20. The ranging/imaging system of claim 14 wherein the sensor array is fabricated as a single ASIC.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (8)

References Cited (314)