Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies, Inc. et al

Filing 1

COMPLAINT for Violation of Defense of Trade Secret Act; Demand for Jury Trial against Otto Trucking LLC, Ottomotto LLC, Uber Technologies, Inc. (Filing Fee $ 400.00, receipt number 0971-11180330.). Filed by Waymo LLC. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit A, #2 Exhibit B, #3 Exhibit C, #4 Civil Cover Sheet)(Verhoeven, Charles) (Filed on 2/23/2017) Modified on 2/28/2017 (gbaS, COURT STAFF).

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EXHIBIT A

Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 2 of 24
US008836922B1

(12) United States Patent

(10) Patent No.:
(45) Date of Patent:

Pennecot et al.
(54) DEVICES AND METHODS FOR A ROTATING

US 8,836,922 B1
Sep. 16, 2014

USPC ........ 356/4.01, 3.01, 4.07, 5.01, 5.09, 9, 625,

LIDAR PLATFORM WITH A SHARED

356/337–342, 28, 28.5

TRANSMIT/RECEIVE PATH

See application file for complete search history.

(71) Applicant: Google Inc., Mountain View, CA (US)

(56)

References Cited

-

|U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

(72) Inventors: Gaetan Pennecot, San Francisco, CA
(US); Pierre-Yves Droz, Los Altos, CA
(US); Drew Eugene Ulrich, San

3,790,277 A
2/1974 Hogan
4,516,158 A * 5/1985 Grainge et al. ............... 348/145

Francisco, CA (US); Daniel Gruver,

º*

|: #.

$ºn Fºnciscº, CA (US)/ashay
Morriss, San Francisco, CA (US). CA
Anthony Levandowski, Berkeley,

5,202,742 A
5,703,351 A
6,046,800 A

4/1993 Frank et al.
12/1997 Ohtomo et al.
Meyers
4/2000

-

-

3 * ~~~ 3

*
6,778,732 B1*

(US)

(*) Notice:

-

-

-

-

............ 356/141.1
8/2004 Fermann ......................... 385/31
Continued

(73) Assignee: Google Inc., Mountain View, CA (US)
-

tal

ellekSOIn et al.

(
-

)

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35

EP

U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

Primary Examiner – Isam Alsomiri

(21) Appl. No.: 13/971,606

s

(22) Filed:
Aug. 20, 2013
(51) Int. Cl.
G0IC 3/08
(2006.01)
G0IS 17/92
(2006.01)
(52) U.S. CI.

CPC ..…. Gois 1702 (2013.01)

USPC ....... 356/4.01: 356/3.01: 356/5.01: 356/5.09:

2410358 A1

1/2012

Assistant Examiner – Samantha KAbraham

(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — McDonnell Boehnen

Hulbert & Berghoff LLP
(57)
ABSTRACT
A LIDAR device may transmit light pulses originating from
one or more light sources and may receive reflected light
pulses that are then detected by one or more detectors. The

LIDAR device may include a lens that both (i) collimates the

light from the one or more light sources to provide collimated

356/4.07: 356/9: 356/625: 356/337: 356/342:

light for transmission into an environment of the LIDAR

s
s
s 35628. 356/28 s
(58) Field of Classification Search
s
CPC ...... GO1C 3/08; GO1C 15/002; GO1C 11/025;
GO1C 15/02; GO1C 21/30; G01S 17/89:
G01S 7/4817: G01S 17/42; G01S 17/50:
G01S 17/158; G01N 15/0205; G01N 15/1459:
G01N 21/29: G01N 2015/1486; G01N 21/53;
G01N 21/538; G01N 2021/4709; G01N 21/21;
G01P 3/36; G01P 5/26: G01P 3/366

device and (ii) focuses the reflected light onto the one or more
detectors. The lens may define a curved focal surface in a

transmit path of the light from the one or more light sources
and a curved focal surface in a receive path of the one or more
detectors. The one or more light sources may be arranged
along the curved focal surface in the transmit path. The one or
more detectors may be arranged along the curved focal sur
face in the receive path.
18 Claims, 11 Drawing Sheets

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US 8,836,922 B1
Page 2
(56)

References Cited
|U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

7,361,948 B2 * 4/2008 Hirano et al. ................. 257/294
7,417,716 B2 8/2008 Nagasaka et al.
7,544,945 B2

6/2009 Tan et al.

7,969,558 B2

6/2011 Hall

7,089,114 B1

8/2006 Huang

2002/0140924 A1* 10/2002 Wangler et al. ................. 356/28

7,248.342 B1

7/2007 Degnan

2010/0220,141 A1*

9/2010 Ozawa ............................ 347/18

7,255,275 B2

8/2007 Gurevich et al.

2011/0216304 A1

9/2011 Hall

7,259,838 B2 *

8/2007 Carlhoffet al. .............. 356/5.04

7,311,000 B2 * 12/2007 Smith et al. ................ 73/170.11

* cited by examiner

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

Sheet 1 of 11

US 8,836,922 B1

100

Housing 110
Transmit B?ock 120
20

Receive Block 130

?ight Sources 122
T

104

i

#
FIG. 1

:

106

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

Sheet 2 of 11

US 8,836,922 B1

200

\,

206

#

:

#

:

228

220

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

Sheet 3 of 11

US 8,836,922 B1

Ç
co
cr)

:
:

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

Sheet 4 of 11

FIG. 3B

US 8,836,922 B1

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

Sheet 5 of 11

US 8,836,922 B1

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

FIG. 5A

Sheet 6 of 11

506

US 8,836,922 B1

508
`

FIG. 5B

508-

504

:

<---------. 500

506

FIG. 5C

510 |
506

504

<---------, 500
;

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

Sheet 7 of 11

690

FIG. 6B

US 8,836,922 B1

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

Sheet 8 of 11

US 8,836,922 B1

750

752

×

FIG. 7A
752

754

FIG. 7B

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

840

Sheet 9 of 11

US 8,836,922 B1

Right Side View

Back View

Top View

FIG. 8A

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

Sheet 10 of 11

FIG. 8B

US 8,836,922 B1

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U.S. Patent

Sep. 16, 2014

Sheet 11 of 11

,

US 8,836,922 B1

900

ROTATING A HOUSENG OF A LIGHT DETECTION AND

902

RANGING (LIDAR) DEVICE ABOUT AN AXIS, WHEREIN

THE HOUSING HAS AN INTERIOR SPACE THAT INCLUDES
A TRANSMIT BLOCK, A RECEIVE BLOCK, AND A SHARED
SPACE, WHEREIN THE TRANSMIT BLOCK HAS AN EXIT
APERTURE, AND WHEREIN THE RECEIVE BLOCK HAS AN
ENTRANCE APERTURE

904

EMITTING, BY A PLURALITY OF LIGHT SOURCES IN THE
TRANSMIT BLOCK, A PLURALITY OF LIGHT BEAMS THAT
ENTER THE SHARED SPACE VIA A TRANSMIT PATH, THE
?|GHT BEAMS COMPRISING LIGHT HAVING
WAVELENGTHS IN A WAVELENGTH RANGE

906

RECEIVING THE LIGHT BEAMS AT A LENS MOUNTED TO
THE HOUSING ALONG THE TRANSMHT PATH
908

COLLIMATING, BY THE LENS, THE LIGHT BEAMS FOR
TRANSMHSS}ON INTO AN ENVIRONMENT OF THE {_{DAR
DEVICE

g40

FOCUSING, BY THE LENS, THE COLLECTED LIGHT ONTO

A Pi_URALITY OF DETECTORS N THE RECEIVE BLOCK
VIA A RECEIVE PATH THAT EXTENDS THROUGH THE
SHARED SPACE AND THE ENTRANCE APERTURE OF THE
RECEIVE B? OCK

912

DETECTING, BY THE PLURALITY OF DETECTORS IN THE
RECEIVE BLOCK, LIGHT FROM THE FOCUSED LIGHT
HAVENG WAVELENGTHS N THE WAVELENGTH RANGE

Figure 9

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US 8,836,922 B1
1

2
shared space via a transmit path. The light beams include light
having wavelengths in a wavelength range. The method fur
ther involves receiving the light beams at a lens mounted to
the housing along the transmit path. The method further
involves collimating, by the lens, the light beams for trans

DEVICES AND METHODS FOR A ROTATING
LIDAR PLATFORM WITH A SHARED
TRANSMIT/RECEIVE PATH
BACKGROUND

mission into an environment of the LIDAR device. The

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described

in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application
and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Vehicles can be configured to operate in an autonomous
mode in which the vehicle navigates through an environment
with little or no input from a driver. Such autonomous
vehicles can include one or more sensors that are configured

10

ture of the receive block. The method further involves detect

to detect information about the environment in which the

vehicle operates.
One such sensor is a light detection and ranging (LIDAR)

15

ing, by the plurality of detectors in the receive block, light
from the focused light having wavelengths in the wavelength
range.

device. A LIDAR can estimates distance to environmental

features while scanning through a scene to assemble a “point
cloud” indicative of reflective surfaces in the environment.

Individual points in the point cloud can be determined by
transmitting a laser pulse and detecting a returning pulse, if
any, reflected from an object in the environment, and deter
mining the distance to the object according to the time delay
between the transmitted pulse and the reception of the
reflected pulse. A laser, or set of lasers, can be rapidly and
repeatedly scanned across a scene to provide continuous real
time information on distances to reflective objects in the
scene. Combining the measured distances and the orientation
of the laser(s) while measuring each distance allows for asso
ciating a three-dimensional position with each returning
pulse. In this way, a three-dimensional map of points indica

method further involves collecting, by the lens, light from one
or more of the collimated light beams reflected by one or more
objects in the environment of the LIDAR device. The method
further involves focusing, by the lens, the collected light onto
a plurality of detectors in the receive block via a receive path
that extends through the shared space and the entrance aper

20

These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alterna
tives, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art
by reading the following detailed description, with reference
where appropriate to the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

25

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example LIDAR device.
FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of an example LIDAR
device.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an example LIDAR device
fitted with various components, in accordance with at least
some embodiments described herein
30

tive of locations of reflective features in the environment can

be generated for the entire scanning zone.

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the example LIDAR
device shown in FIG. 3A with the various components
removed to illustrate interior space of the housing.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example transmit block, in accordance
with at least some embodiments described herein.

SUMMARY

In one example, a light detection and ranging (LIDAR)
device is provided that includes a housing configured to rotate
about an axis. The housing has an interior space that includes
a transmit block, a receive block, and a shared space. The
transmit block has an exit aperture and the receive block has
an entrance aperture. The LIDAR device also includes a plu
rality of light sources in the transmit block. The plurality of
light sources is configured to emit a plurality of light beams
that enter the shared space through the exit aperture and
traverse the shared space via a transmit path. The light beams
include light having wavelengths in a wavelength range. The
LIDAR device also includes a plurality of detectors in the
receive block. The plurality of detectors is configured to
detect light having wavelengths in the wavelength range. The
LIDAR device also includes a lens mounted to the housing.
The lens is configured to (i) receive the light beams via the
transmit path, (ii) collimate the light beams for transmission
into an environment of the LIDAR device, (iii) collect light
that includes light from one or more of the collimated light
beams reflected by one or more objects in the environment of
the LIDAR device, and (iv) focus the collected light onto the
detectors via a receive path that extends through the shared
space and the entrance aperture of the receive block.
In another example, a method is provided that involves
rotating a housing of a light detection and ranging (LIDAR)
device about an axis. The housing has an interior space that
includes a transmit block, a receive block, and a shared space.
The transmit block has an exit aperture and the receive block
has an entrance aperture. The method further involves emit
ting a plurality of light beams by a plurality of light sources in
the transmit block. The plurality of light beams enter the

35

FIG. 5A is a view of an example light source, in accordance
with an example embodiment.
FIG. 5B is a view of the light source of FIG. 5A in combi
nation with a cylindrical lens, in accordance with an example
embodiment.

40

FIG. 5C is another view of the light source and cylindrical
lens combination of FIG. 5B, in accordance with an example
embodiment.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example receive block, in accor
45

dance with at least some embodiments described herein.
FIG. 6B illustrates a side view of three detectors included
in the receive block of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example lens with an aspheric sur
face and a toroidal surface, in accordance with at least some
embodiments described herein.
50

FIG. 7B illustrates a cross-section view of the example lens
750 shown in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8A illustrates an example LIDAR device mounted on
a vehicle, in accordance with at least some embodiments
55

described herein.
FIG. 8B illustrates a scenario where the LIDAR device

shown in FIG. 8A is scanning an environment that includes
one or more objects, in accordance with at least some embodi
ments described herein.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method, in accordance with at
60

least some embodiments described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

65

The following detailed description describes various fea
tures and functions of the disclosed systems, devices and
methods with reference to the accompanying figures. In the
figures, similar symbols identify similar components, unless

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US 8,836,922 B1
3
context dictates otherwise. The illustrative system, device and
method embodiments described herein are not meant to be

limiting. It may be readily understood by those skilled in the
art that certain aspects of the disclosed systems, devices and
methods can be arranged and combined in a wide variety of 5
different configurations, all of which are contemplated
herein.

A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device may trans
mit light pulses originating from a plurality of light sources
and may receive reflected light pulses that are then detected
by a plurality of detectors. Within examples described herein,
a LIDAR device is provided that includes a transmit/receive
lens that both collimates the light from the plurality of light
sources and focuses the reflected light onto the plurality of
detectors. By using a transmit/receive lens that performs both
of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating
and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to
size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided.
The LIDAR device comprises a housing that is configured
to rotate about an axis. In some examples, the axis is substantially vertical. The housing may have an interior space that
includes various components such as a transmit block that
includes the plurality of light sources, a receive block that
includes the plurality of detectors, a shared space where emit
ted light traverses from the transmit block to the transmit?
receive lens and reflected light traverses from the transmit/

10

15

20

25

receive lens to the receive block, and the transmit/receive lens

that collimates the emitted light and focuses the reflected
light. By rotating the housing that includes the various com
ponents, in some examples, a three-dimensional map of a
360-degree field of view of an environment of the LIDAR
device can be determined without frequent recalibration of
the arrangement of the various components.
In some examples, the housing may include radio fre
quency (RF) and optical shielding between the transmit block
and the receive block. For example, the housing can be
formed from and/or coated by a metal, metallic ink, or metal
lic foam to provide the RF shielding. Metals used for shield
ing can include, for example, copper or nickel.
The plurality of light sources included in the transmit block
can include, for example, laser diodes. In one example, the
light sources emit light with wavelengths of approximately
905 nm. In some examples, a transmit path through which the
transmit/receive lens receives the light emitted by the light
sources may include a reflective element, such as a mirror or
prism. By including the reflective element, the transmit path
can be folded to provide a smaller size of the transmit block
and, hence, a smaller housing of the LIDAR device. Addi
tionally, the transmit path includes an exit aperture of the
transmit block through which the emitted light enters the
shared space and traverses to the transmit/receive lens.
In some examples, each light source of the plurality of light
sources includes a respective lens, such as a cylindrical or
acylindrical lens. The light source may emit an uncollimated
light beam that diverges more in a first direction than in a
second direction. In these examples, the light source’s respec
tive lens may pre-collimate the uncollimated light beam in the
first direction to provide a partially collimated light beam,
thereby reducing the divergence in the first direction. In some
examples, the partially collimated light beam diverges less in

30

35

40

45

4
may have a greater divergence in the second direction than in
the first direction, and the exit aperture can accommodate
vertical and horizontal extents of the beams of light from the
light sources.
The housing mounts the transmit/receive lens through
which light from the plurality of light sources can exit the
housing, and reflected light can enter the housing to reach the
receive block. The transmit/receive lens can have an optical
power that is sufficient to collimate the light emitted by the
plurality of light sources and to focus the reflected light onto
the plurality of detectors in the receive block. In one example,
the transmit/receive lens has a surface with an aspheric shape
that is at the outside of the housing, a surface with a toroidal
shape that is inside the housing, and a focal length of approxi
mately 120 mm.
The plurality of detectors included in the receive block can
include, for example, avalanche photodiodes in a sealed envi
ronment that is filled with an inert gas, such as nitrogen. The
receive block can include an entrance aperture through which
focused light from the transmit/receive lens traverses towards
the detectors. In some examples, the entrance aperture can
include a filtering window that passes light having wave
lengths within the wavelength range emitted by the plurality
of light sources and attenuates light having other wave
lengths.
The collimated light transmitted from the LIDAR device
into the environment may reflect from one or more objects in
the environment to provide object-reflected light. The trans
mit/receive lens may collect the object-reflected light and
focus the object-reflected light through a focusing path (“re
ceive path”) onto the plurality of detectors. In some examples,
the receive path may include a reflective surface that directs
the focused light to the plurality of detectors. Additionally or
alternatively, the reflective surface can fold the focused light
towards the receive block and thus provide space savings for
the shared space and the housing of the LIDAR device.
In some examples, the reflective surface may define a wall
that includes the exit aperture between the transmit block and
the shared space. In this case, the exit aperture of the transmit
block corresponds to a transparent and/or non-reflective por
tion of the reflective surface. The transparent portion can be a
hole or cut-away portion of the reflective surface. Alterna
tively, the reflective surface can be formed by forming a layer
of reflective material on a transparent substrate (e.g., glass)
and the transparent portion can be a portion of the substrate
that is not coated with the reflective material. Thus, the shared

space can be used for both the transmit path and the receive
path. In some examples, the transmit path at least partially
overlaps the receive path in the shared space.
50 The vertical and horizontal extents of the exit aperture are
sufficient to accommodate the beam widths of the emitted

light beams from the light sources. However, the non-reflec
tive nature of the exit aperture prevents a portion of the
collected and focused light in the receive path from reflecting,
55 at the reflective surface, towards the detectors in the receive
block. Thus, reducing the beam widths of the emitted light
beams from the transmit blocks is desirable to minimize the

size of the exit aperture and reduce the lost portion of the
collected light. In some examples noted above, the reduction
60 of the beam widths traversing through the exit aperture can be
the first direction than in the second direction. The transmit/
achieved by partially collimating the emitted light beams by
receive lens receives the partially collimated light beams from including a respective lens, such as a cylindrical or acylindri
the one or more light sources via an exit aperture of the cal lens, adjacent to each light source.
transmit block and the transmit/receive lens collimates the
Additionally or alternatively, to reduce the beam widths of
partially collimated light beams to provide collimated light 65 the emitted light beams, in some examples, the transmit/
beams that are transmitted into the environment of the LIDAR
receive lens can be configured to define a focal surface that
device. In this example, the light emitted by the light sources has a substantial curvature in a vertical plane and/or a hori

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US 8,836,922 B1
5
zontal plane. For example, the transmit/receive lens can be
configured to have the aspheric surface and the toroidal sur
face described above that provides the curved focal surface
along the vertical plane and/or the horizontal plane. In this
configuration, the light sources in the transmit block can be
arranged along the transmit/receive lens’ curved focal surface
in the transmit block, and the detectors in the receive block

can be arranged on the transmit/receive lens’ curved focal
surface in the receive block. Thus, the emitted light beams
from the light sources arranged along the curved focal surface
can converge into the exit aperture having a smaller size than
an aperture for light beams that are substantially parallel
and/or diverging.
To facilitate such curved arrangement of the light sources,
in some examples, the light sources can be mounted on a
curved edge of one or more vertically-oriented printed circuit
boards (PCBs), such that the curved edge of the PCB substan
tially matches the curvature of the focal surface in the vertical
plane of the PCB. In this example, the one or more PCBs can
be mounted in the transmit block along a horizontal curvature
that substantially matches the curvature of the focal surface in
the horizontal plane of the one or more PCBs. For example,

10

15

receive block 130 and determine the distance between the one
20

the transmit block can include four PCBs, with each PCB

mounting sixteen light sources, so as to provide 64 light
sources along the curved focal plane of the transmit/receive
lens in the transmit block. In this example, the 64 light sources
are arranged in a pattern substantially corresponding to the
curved focal surface defined by the transmit/receive lens such
that the emitted light beams converge towards the exit aper
ture of the transmit block.

For the receive block, in some examples, the plurality of
detectors can be disposed on a flexible PCB that is mounted to
the receive block to conform with the shape of the transmit/
receive lens’ focal surface. For example, the flexible PCB
may be held between two clamping pieces that have surfaces
corresponding to the shape of the focal surface. Additionally,
in this example, each of the plurality of detectors can be
arranged on the flexible PCB so as to receive focused light
from the transmit/receive lens that corresponds to a respective
light source of the plurality of light sources. In this example,
the detectors can be arranged in a pattern substantially corre
sponding to the curved focal surface of the transmit/receive
lens in the receive block. Thus, in this example, the transmit/
receive lens can be configured to focus onto each detector of
the plurality of detectors a respective portion of the collected
light that comprises light from the detector’s corresponding
light source.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure therefore pro
vide systems and methods for a LIDAR device that uses a
shared transmit/receive lens. In some examples, such LIDAR
device can include the shared lens configured to provide a
curved focal plane for transmitting light sources and receiv
ing detectors such that light from the light sources passes
through a small exit aperture included in a reflective surface
that reflects collected light towards the detectors.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example LIDAR device
100. The LIDAR device 100 comprises a housing 110 that
houses an arrangement of various components included in the

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

to an environment of the LIDAR device 100 as collimated

light beams 104, and collect reflected light 106 from one or
more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 100 by
the lens 150 for focusing towards the receive block 130 as

or more objects and the LIDAR device 100 based on the
comparison.
The housing 110 included in the LIDAR device 100 can
provide a platform for mounting the various components
included in the LIDAR device 100. The housing 110 can be
formed from any material capable of supporting the various
components of the LIDAR device 100 included in an interior
space of the housing 110. For example, the housing 110 may
be formed from a structural material such as plastic or metal.
In some examples, the housing 110 can be configured for
optical shielding to reduce ambient light and/or unintentional
transmission of the emitted light beams 102 from the transmit
block 120 to the receive block 130. Optical shielding from
ambient light of the environment of the LIDAR device 100
can be achieved by forming and/or coating the outer surface
of the housing 110 with a material that blocks the ambient
light from the environment. Additionally, inner surfaces of
the housing 110 can include and/or be coated with the mate
rial described above to optically isolate the transmit block 120
from the receive block 130 to prevent the receive block 130
from receiving the emitted light beams 102 before the emitted
light beams 102 reach the lens 150.
In some examples, the housing 110 can be configured for
electromagnetic shielding to reduce electromagnetic noise
(e.g., Radio Frequency (RF) Noise, etc.) from ambient envi
ronment of the LIDAR device 110 and/or electromagnetic
noise between the transmit block 120 and the receive block

LIDAR device 100 such as a transmit block 120, a receive

block 130, a shared space 140, and a lens 150. The LIDAR
device 100 includes the arrangement of the various compo
ments that provide emitted light beams 102 from the transmit
block 120 that are collimated by the lens 150 and transmitted

6
focused light 108. The reflected light 106 comprises light
from the collimated light beams 104 that was reflected by the
one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device
100. The emitted light beams 102 and the focused light 108
traverse in the shared space 140 also included in the housing
110. In some examples, the emitted light beams 102 are
propagating in a transmit path through the shared space 140
and the focused light 108 are propagating in a receive path
through the shared space 140. In some examples, the transmit
path at least partially overlaps the receive path in the shared
space 140. The LIDAR device 100 can determine an aspect of
the one or more objects (e.g., location, shape, etc.) in the
environment of the LIDAR device 100 by processing the
focused light 108 received by the receive block 130. For
example, the LIDAR device 100 can compare a time when
pulses included in the emitted light beams 102 were emitted
by the transmit block 120 with a time when corresponding
pulses included in the focused light 108 were received by the

65

130. Electromagnetic shielding can improve quality of the
emitted light beams 102 emitted by the transmit block 120
and reduce noise in signals received and/or provided by the
receive block 130. Electromagnetic shielding can be achieved
by forming and/or coating the housing 110 with a material
that absorbs electromagnetic radiation such as a metal, metal
lic ink, metallic foam, carbon foam, or any other material
configured to absorb electromagnetic radiation. Metals that
can be used for the electromagnetic shielding can include for
example, copper or nickel.
In some examples, the housing 110 can be configured to
have a substantially cylindrical shape and to rotate about an
axis of the LIDAR device 100. For example, the housing 110
can have the substantially cylindrical shape with a diameter of
approximately 10 centimeters. In some examples, the axis is
substantially vertical. By rotating the housing 110 that
includes the various components, in some examples, a three
dimensional map of a 360 degree view of the environment of
the LIDAR device 100 can be determined without frequent
recalibration of the arrangement of the various components of
the LIDAR device 100. Additionally or alternatively, the

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US 8,836,922 B1
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LIDAR device 100 can be configured to tilt the axis of rota
tion of the housing 110 to control the field of view of the
LIDAR device 100.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 1, the LIDAR device 100
can optionally include a mounting structure for the housing
110. The mounting structure can include a motor or other
means for rotating the housing 110 about the axis of the
LIDAR device 100. Alternatively, the mounting structure can
be included in a device and/or system other than the LIDAR
device 100.

5

10

In some examples, the various components of the LIDAR
device 100 such as the transmit block 120, receive block 130,

and the lens 150 can be removably mounted to the housing
110 in predetermined positions to reduce burden of calibrat
ing the arrangement of each component and/or subcompo
ments included in each component. Thus, the housing 110
provides the platform for the various components of the
LIDAR device 100 for ease of assembly, maintenance, cali

15

bration, and manufacture of the LIDAR device 100.

The transmit block 120 includes a plurality of light sources
122 that can be configured to emit the plurality of emitted
light beams 102 via an exit aperture 124. In some examples,
each of the plurality of emitted light beams 102 corresponds
to one of the plurality of light sources 122. The transmit block
120 can optionally include a mirror 126 along the transmit
path of the emitted light beams 102 between the light sources
122 and the exit aperture 124.
The light sources 122 can include laser diodes, light emit
ting diodes (LED), vertical cavity surface emitting lasers
(VCSEL), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), polymer
light emitting diodes (PLED), light emitting polymers (LEP),
liquid crystal displays (LCD), microelectromechanical sys
tems (MEMS), or any other device configured to selectively
transmit, reflect, and/or emit light to provide the plurality of
emitted light beams 102. In some examples, the light sources
122 can be configured to emit the emitted light beams 102 in
a wavelength range that can be detected by detectors 132
included in the receive block 130. The wavelength range
could, for example, be in the ultraviolet, visible, and/or infra
red portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some
examples, the wavelength range can be a narrow wavelength
range, such as provided by lasers. In one example, the wave
length range includes wavelengths that are approximately
905 nm. Additionally, the light sources 122 can be configured
to emit the emitted light beams 102 in the form of pulses. In
some examples, the plurality of light sources 122 can be
disposed on one or more substrates (e.g., printed circuit
boards (PCB), flexible PCBs, etc.) and arranged to emit the
plurality of light beams 102 towards the exit aperture 124.
In some examples, the plurality of light sources 122 can be
configured to emit uncollimated light beams included in the
emitted light beams 102. For example, the emitted light
beams 102 can diverge in one or more directions along the
transmit path due to the uncollimated light beams emitted by
the plurality of light sources 122. In some examples, vertical
and horizontal extents of the emitted light beams 102 at any
position along the transmit path can be based on an extent of
the divergence of the uncollimated light beams emitted by the
plurality of light sources 122.
The exit aperture 124 arranged along the transmit path of
the emitted light beams 102 can be configured to accommo
date the vertical and horizontal extents of the plurality of light
beams 102 emitted by the plurality of light sources 122 at the
exit aperture 124. It is noted that the block diagram shown in
FIG. 1 is described in connection with functional modules for

convenience in description. However, the functional modules
in the block diagram of FIG. 1 can be physically implemented

20

25

8
in other locations. For example, although illustrated that the
exit aperture 124 is included in the transmit block 120, the exit
aperture 124 can be physically included in both the transmit
block 120 and the shared space 140. For example, the transmit
block 120 and the shared space 140 can be separated by a wall
that includes the exit aperture 124. In this case, the exit
aperture 124 can correspond to a transparent portion of the
wall. In one example, the transparent portion can be a hole or
cut-away portion of the wall. In another example, the wall can
be formed from a transparent substrate (e.g., glass) coated
with a non-transparent material, and the exit aperture 124 can
be a portion of the substrate that is not coated with the non
transparent material.
In some examples of the LIDAR device 100, it may be
desirable to minimize size of the exit aperture 124 while
accommodating the vertical and horizontal extents of the
plurality of light beams 102. For example, minimizing the
size of the exit aperture 124 can improve the optical shielding
of the light sources 122 described above in the functions of the
housing 110. Additionally or alternatively, the wall separating
the transmit block 120 and the shared space 140 can be
arranged along the receive path of the focused light 108, and
thus, the exit aperture 124 can be minimized to allow a larger
portion of the focused light 108 to reach the wall. For
example, the wall can be coated with a reflective material
(e.g., reflective surface 142 in shared space 140) and the
receive path can include reflecting the focused light 108 by
the reflective material towards the receive block 130. In this

30

case, minimizing the size of the exit aperture 124 can allow a
larger portion of the focused light 108 to reflect off the reflec
tive material that the wall is coated with.

35

40

45

To minimize the size of the exit aperture 124, in some
examples, the divergence of the emitted light beams 102 can
be reduced by partially collimating the uncollimated light
beams emitted by the light sources 122 to minimize the ver
tical and horizontal extents of the emitted light beams 102 and
thus minimize the size of the exit aperture 124. For example,
each light source of the plurality of light sources 122 can
include a cylindrical lens arranged adjacent to the light
source. The light source may emit a corresponding uncolli
mated light beam that diverges more in a first direction than in
a second direction. The cylindrical lens may pre-collimate the
uncollimated light beam in the first direction to provide a
partially collimated light beam, thereby reducing the diver
gence in the first direction. In some examples, the partially
collimated light beam diverges less in the first direction than
in the second direction. Similarly, uncollimated light beams
from other light sources of the plurality of light sources 122
can have a reduced beam width in the first direction and thus

50

the emitted light beams 102 can have a smaller divergence
due to the partially collimated light beams. In this example, at
least one of the vertical and horizontal extents of the exit

55

60

aperture 124 can be reduced due to partially collimating the
light beams 102.
Additionally or alternatively, to minimize the size of the
exit aperture 124, in some examples, the light sources 122 can
be arranged along a substantially curved surface defined by
the transmit block 120. The curved surface can be configured
such that the emitted light beams 102 converge towards the
exit aperture 124, and thus the vertical and horizontal extents
of the emitted light beams 102 at the exit aperture 124 can be
reduced due to the arrangement of the light sources 122 along
the curved surface of the transmit block 120. In some

65

examples, the curved surface of the transmit block 120 can
include a curvature along the first direction of divergence of
the emitted light beams 102 and a curvature along the second
direction of divergence of the emitted light beams 102, such

Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 19 of 24

US 8,836,922 B1
9
that the plurality of light beams 102 converge towards a
central area in front of the plurality of light sources 122 along
the transmit path.
To facilitate such curved arrangement of the light sources
122, in some examples, the light sources 122 can be disposed
on a flexible substrate (e.g., flexible PCB) having a curvature
along one or more directions. For example, the curved flex
ible substrate can be curved along the first direction of diver
gence of the emitted light beams 102 and the second direction
of divergence of the emitted light beams 102. Additionally or
alternatively, to facilitate such curved arrangement of the
light sources 122, in some examples, the light sources 122 can
be disposed on a curved edge of one or more vertically
oriented printed circuit boards (PCBs), such that the curved
edge of the PCB substantially matches the curvature of the
first direction (e.g., the vertical plane of the PCB). In this
example, the one or more PCBs can be mounted in the trans
mit block 120 along a horizontal curvature that substantially
matches the curvature of the second direction (e.g., the hori
zontal plane of the one or more PCBs). For example, the

10
a flexible substrate (e.g., flexible PCB) and arranged along the
curved surface of the flexible substrate to each receive
5

10

15

20

transmit block 120 can include four PCBs, with each PCB

mounting sixteen light sources, so as to provide 64 light
sources along the curved surface of the transmit block 120. In
this example, the 64 light sources are arranged in a pattern
such that the emitted light beams 102 converge towards the
exit aperture 124 of the transmit block 120.
The transmit block 120 can optionally include the mirror
126 along the transmit path of the emitted light beams 102
between the light sources 122 and the exit aperture 124. By
including the mirror 126 in the transmit block 120, the trans
mit path of the emitted light beams 102 can be folded to
provide a smaller size of the transmit block 120 and the
housing 110 of the LIDAR device 100 than a size of another
transmit block where the transmit path that is not folded.
The receive block 130 includes a plurality of detectors 132
that can be configured to receive the focused light 108 via an
entrance aperture 134. In some examples, each of the plurality
of detectors 132 is configured and arranged to receive a por
tion of the focused light 108 corresponding to a light beam
emitted by a corresponding light source of the plurality of
light sources 122 and reflected of the one or more objects in

25

108 from the lens 150 to the receive block 130. In some
30

35

40

45

50

55

of the receive block 130. The curved surface of the receive

block 130 can similarly be curved along one or more axes of
the curved surface of the receive block 130. Thus, each of the

detectors 132 are configured to receive light that was origi
nally emitted by a corresponding light source of the plurality
of light sources 122.
To provide the curved surface of the receive block 130, the
detectors 132 can be disposed on the one or more substrates
similarly to the light sources 122 disposed in the transmit
block 120. For example, the detectors 132 can be disposed on

examples, the transmit path at least partially overlaps with the
receive path in the shared space 140. By including the trans
mit path and the receive path in the shared space 140, advan
tages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity of assem
bly, manufacture, and/or maintenance of the LIDAR device
100 can be provided.
In some examples, the shared space 140 can include a
reflective surface 142. The reflective surface 142 can be

the environment of the LIDAR device 100. The receive block

130 can optionally include the detectors 132 in a sealed envi
ronment having an inert gas 136.
The detectors 132 may comprise photodiodes, avalanche
photodiodes, phototransistors, cameras, active pixel sensors
(APS), charge coupled devices (CCD), cryogenic detectors,
orany other sensoroflight configured to receive focused light
108 having wavelengths in the wavelength range of the emit
ted light beams 102.
To facilitate receiving, by each of the detectors 132, the
portion of the focused light 108 from the corresponding light
source of the plurality of light sources 122, the detectors 132
can be disposed on one or more substrates and arranged
accordingly. For example, the light sources 122 can be
arranged alonga curved surface of the transmit block120, and
the detectors 132 can also be arranged along a curved surface

focused light originating from a corresponding light source of
the light sources 122. In this example, the flexible substrate
may be held between two clamping pieces that have surfaces
corresponding to the shape of the curved surface of the
receive block 130. Thus, in this example, assembly of the
receive block 130 can be simplified by sliding the flexible
substrate onto the receive block 130 and using the two clamp
ing pieces to hold it at the correct curvature.
The focused light 108 traversing along the receive path can
be received by the detectors 132 via the entrance aperture 134.
In some examples, the entrance aperture 134 can include a
filtering window that passes light having wavelengths within
the wavelength range emitted by the plurality of light sources
122 and attenuates light having other wavelengths. In this
example, the detectors 132 receive the focused light 108
substantially comprising light having the wavelengths within
the wavelength range.
In some examples, the plurality of detectors 132 included
in the receive block 130 can include, for example, avalanche
photodiodes in a sealed environment that is filled with the
inert gas 136. The inert gas 136 may comprise, for example,
nitrogen.
The shared space 140 includes the transmit path for the
emitted light beams 102 from the transmit block 120 to the
lens 150, and includes the receive path for the focused light

60

arranged along the receive path and configured to reflect the
focused light 108 towards the entrance aperture 134 and onto
the detectors 132. The reflective surface 142 may comprise a
prism, mirror or any other optical element configured to
reflect the focused light 108 towards the entrance aperture
134 in the receive block 130. In some examples where a wall
separates the shared space 140 from the transmit block 120. In
these examples, the wall may comprise a transparent sub
strate (e.g., glass) and the reflective surface 142 may comprise
a reflective coating on the wall with an uncoated portion for
the exit aperture 124.
In embodiments including the reflective surface 142, the
reflective surface 142 can reduce size of the shared space 140
by folding the receive path similarly to the mirror 126 in the
transmit block 120. Additionally or alternatively, in some
examples, the reflective surface 142 can direct the focused
light 103 to the receive block 130 further providing flexibility
to the placement of the receive block 130 in the housing 110.
For example, varying the tilt of the reflective surface 142 can
cause the focused light 108 to be reflected to various portions
of the interior space of the housing 110, and thus the receive
block 130 can be placed in a corresponding position in the
housing 110. Additionally or alternatively, in this example,
the LIDAR device 100 can be calibrated by varying the tilt of
the reflective surface 142.

65

The lens 150 mounted to the housing 110 can have an
optical power to both collimate the emitted light beams 102
from the light sources 122 in the transmit block 120, and
focus the reflected light 106 from the one or more objects in
the environment of the LIDAR device 100 onto the detectors

132 in the receive block 130. In one example, the lens 150 has

Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 20 of 24

US 8,836,922 B1
11
a focal length of approximately 120 mm. By using the same
lens 150 to perform both of these functions, instead of a
transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for focusing,
advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or complexity can
be provided. In some examples, collimating the emitted light
beams 102 to provide the collimated light beams 104 allows
determining the distance travelled by the collimated light
beams 104 to the one or more objects in the environment of

5

the LIDAR device 100.

In an example scenario, the emitted light beams 102 from
the light sources 122 traversing along the transmit path can be
collimated by the lens 150 to provide the collimated light

10

beams 104 to the environment of the LIDAR device 100. The

collimated light beams 104 may then reflect off the one or
more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 100 and
return to the lens 150 as the reflected light 106. The lens 150
may then collect and focus the reflected light 106 as the
focused light 108 onto the detectors 132 included in the
receive block 130. In some examples, aspects of the one or
more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device 100 can
be determined by comparing the emitted light beams 102 with
the focused light beams 108. The aspects can include, for
example, distance, shape, color, and/or material of the one or
more objects. Additionally, in some examples, rotating the
housing 110, a three dimensional map of the surroundings of

15

20

25

the LIDAR device 100 can be determined.

In some examples where the plurality of light sources 122
are arranged along the curved surface of the transmit block
120, the lens 150 can be configured to have a focal surface
corresponding to the curved surface of the transmit block 120.
For example, the lens 150 can include an aspheric surface
outside the housing 110 and a toroidal surface inside the
housing 110 facing the shared space 140. In this example, the
shape of the lens 150 allows the lens 150 to both collimate the
emitted light beams 102 and focus the reflected light 106.
Additionally, in this example, the shape of the lens 150 allows
the lens 150 to have the focal surface corresponding to the
curved surface of the transmit block 120. In some examples,
the focal surface provided by the lens 150 substantially
matches the curved shape of the transmit block 120. Addi
tionally, in some examples, the detectors 132 can be arranged
similarly in the curved shape of the receive block 130 to
receive the focused light 108 along the curved focal surface
provided by the lens 150. Thus, in some examples, the curved
surface of the receive block 130 may also substantially match
the curved focal surface provided by the lens 150.
FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of an example LIDAR device
200. In this example, the LIDAR device 200 includes a hous
ing 210 that houses a transmit block 220, a receive block 230,
a shared space 240, and a lens 250. For purposes of illustra
tion, FIG. 2 shows an x-y-Z axis, in which the z-axis is in a
substantially vertical direction and the x-axis and y-axis
define a substantially horizontal plane.
The structure, function, and operation of various compo
nents included in the LIDAR device 200 are similar to corre

30

space 140 described in FIG. 1.
The transmit block 220 includes a plurality of light sources
222a-c arranged along a curved focal surface 228 defined by
the lens 250. The plurality of light sources 222a-c can be
configured to emit, respectively, the plurality of light beams
202a-c having wavelengths within a wavelength range. For
example, the plurality of light sources 222a-c may comprise

1.

Although FIG. 2 shows that the curved focal surface 228 is
curved in the x-y plane (horizontal plane), additionally or
alternatively, the plurality of light sources 222a-c may be
arranged along a focal surface that is curved in a vertical
plane. For example, the curved focal surface 228 can have a
curvature in a vertical plane, and the plurality of light sources
222a-c can include additional light sources arranged verti
cally along the curved focal surface 228 and configured to
emit light beams directed at the mirror 224 and reflected
through the exit aperture 226.
Due to the arrangement of the plurality of light sources
222a-c along the curved focal surface 228, the plurality of
light beams 202a-c, in some examples, may converge towards
the exit aperture 226. Thus, in these examples, the exit aper
ture 226 may be minimally sized while being capable of
accommodating vertical and horizontal extents of the plural
ity of light beams 202a-c. Additionally, in some examples, the
curved focal surface 228 can be defined by the lens 250. For
example, the curved focal surface 228 may correspond to a
focal surface of the lens 250 due to shape and composition of
the lens 250. In this example, the plurality of light sources
222a-c can be arranged along the focal surface defined by the
lens 250 at the transmit block.

35

40

45

The plurality of light beams 202a-c propagate in a transmit
path that extends through the transmit block 220, the exit
aperture 226, and the shared space 240 towards the lens 250.
The lens 250 collimates the plurality of light beams 202a-c to
provide collimated light beams 204a-c into an environment of
the LIDAR device 200. The collimated light beams 204a-c
correspond, respectively, to the plurality of light beams 202a
c. In some examples, the collimated light beams 204a-c
reflect off one or more objects in the environment of the
LIDAR device 200 as reflected light 206. The reflected light
206 may be focused by the lens 250 into the shared space 240
as focused light 208 traveling along a receive path that
extends through the shared space 240 onto the receive block
230. For example, the focused light 208 may be reflected by
the reflective surface 242 as focused light 208a-c propagating
towards the receive block 230.

50

55

sponding components included in the LIDAR device 100
described in FIG. 1. For example, the housing 210, the trans
mit block 220, the receive block 230, the shared space 240,
and the lens 250 are similar, respectively, to the housing 110,
the transmit block 120, the receive block 130, and the shared

12
laser diodes that emit the plurality of light beams 202a-c
having the wavelengths within the wavelength range. The
plurality of light beams 202a-c are reflected by mirror 224
through an exit aperture 226 into the shared space 240 and
towards the lens 250. The structure, function, and operation of
the plurality of light sources 222a-c, the mirror 224, and the
exit aperture 226 can be similar, respectively, to the plurality
of light sources 122, the mirror 124, and the exit aperture 226
discussed in the description of the LIDAR device 100 of FIG.

60

65

The lens 250 may be capable of both collimating the plu
rality of light beams 202a-c and focusing the reflected light
206 along the receive path 208 towards the receive block 230
due to shape and composition of the lens 250. For example,
the lens 250 can have an aspheric surface 252 facing outside
of the housing 210 and a toroidal surface 254 facing the
shared space 240. By using the same lens 250 to perform both
of these functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating
and a receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to
size, cost, and/or complexity can be provided.
The exit aperture 226 is included in a wall 244 that sepa
rates the transmit block 220 from the shared space 240. In
some examples, the wall 244 can be formed from a transpar
ent material (e.g., glass) that is coated with a reflective mate
rial 242. In this example, the exit aperture 226 may corre
spond to the portion of the wall 244 that is not coated by the
reflective material 242. Additionally or alternatively, the exit
aperture 226 may comprise a hole or cut-away in the wall 244.

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Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 22 of 24

US 8,836,922 B1
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As noted above in the description of FIG. 1, the light from
light sources 122 could be partially collimated to fit through
the exit aperture 124. FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C illustrate an
example of how such partial collimation could beachieved. In
this example, a light source 500 is made up of a laser diode
502 and a cylindrical lens 504. As shown in FIG. 5A, laser
diode 502 has an aperture 506 with a shorter dimension cor
responding to a fast axis 508 and a longer dimension corre
sponding to a slow axis 510. FIGS. 5B and 5C show an
uncollimated laser beam 512 being emitted from laser diode
502. Laser beam 512 diverges in two directions, one direction
defined by fast axis 508 and another, generally orthogonal
direction defined by slow axis 510. FIG. 5B shows the diver
gence of laser beam 512 along fast axis 508, whereas FIG. 5C
shows the divergence of laser beam 512 along slow axis 510.
Laser beam 512 diverges more quickly along fast axis 508
than along slow axis 510.
In one specific example, laser diode 502 is an Osram SPL
DL90 3 nanostack pulsed laser diode that emits pulses of
light with a range of wavelengths from about 896 nm to about
910 nm (a nominal wavelength of 905 nm). In this specific
example, the aperture has a shorter dimension of about 10
microns, corresponding to its fast axis, and a longer dimen
sion of about 200 microns, corresponding to its slow axis. The
divergence of the laser beam in this specific example is about
25 degrees along the fast axis and about 11 degrees along the
slow axis. It is to be understood that this specific example is
illustrative only. Laser diode 502 could have a different con
figuration, different aperture sizes, different beam diver
gences, and/or emit different wavelengths.
As shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, cylindrical lens 504 may be
positioned in front of aperture 506 with its cylinder axis 514
generally parallel to slow axis 510 and perpendicular to fast
axis 508. In this arrangement, cylindrical lens 504 can pre
collimate laser beam 512 along fast axis 508, resulting in
partially collimated laser beam 516. In some examples, this
pre-collimation may reduce the divergence along fast axis
508 to about one degree or less. Nonetheless, laser beam 516
is only partially collimated because the divergence along slow
axis 510 may be largely unchanged by cylindrical lens 504.
Thus, whereas uncollimated laser beam 512 emitted by laser
diode has a higher divergence along fast axis 508 than along
slow axis 510, partially collimated laser beam 516 provided
by cylindrical lens 504 may have a higher divergence along
slow axis 510 than along fast axis 508. Further, the diver
gences along slow axis 510 in uncollimated laser beam 512
and in partially collimated laser beam 516 may be substan
tially equal.
In one example, cylindrical lens 504 is a microrod lens with
a diameter of about 600 microns that is placed about 250
microns in front of aperture 506. The material of the microrod
lens could be, for example, fused silica or a borosilicate
crown glass, such as Schott BK7. Alternatively, the microrod
lens could be a molded plastic cylinder or acylinder. Cylin
drical lens 504 could also be used to provide magnification
along fast axis 508. For example, if the dimensions of aper
ture 506 are 10 microns by 200 microns, as previously
described, and cylindrical lens 504 is a microrod lens as
described above, then cylindrical lens 504 may magnify the
shorter dimension (corresponding to fast axis 508) by about
20 times. This magnification effectively stretches out the
shorter dimension of aperture 506 to about the same as the
longer dimension. As a result, when light from laserbeam 516
is focused, for example, focused onto a detector, the focused
spot could have a substantially square shape instead of the
rectangular slit shape of aperture 506.

16
FIG. 6A illustrates an example receive block 630, in accor
dance with at least some embodiments described herein. FIG.
6Billustrates aside view of three detectors 632a-cincluded in
the receive block 630 of FIG. 6A. Receive block 630 can
5

10

correspond to the receive blocks 130, 230, and 330 described
in FIGS. 1-3. For example, the receive block 630 includes a
plurality of detectors 632a-c arranged along a curved surface
638 defined by a lens 650 similarly to the receive block 230,
the detectors 232 and the curved plane 238 described in FIG.
2. Focused light 608a-c from lens 650 propagates along a
receive path that includes a reflective surface 642 onto the
detectors 632a-c similar, respectively, to the focused light
208a-c, the lens 250, the reflective surface 242, and the detec

15

tors 232a-c described in FIG. 2.

The receive block 630 comprises a flexible substrate 680
on which the plurality of detectors 632a-c are arranged along
the curved surface 638. The flexible substrate 680 conforms

20

to the curved surface 638 by being mounted to a receive block
housing 690 having the curved surface 638. As illustrated in
FIG. 6, the curved surface 638 includes the arrangement of
the detectors 632a-c curved along a vertical and horizontal
axis of the receive block 630.

25

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate an example lens 750 with an
aspheric surface 752 and a toroidal surface 754, in accordance
with at least some embodiments described herein. FIG. 7B

30

35

40

45

50

illustrates a cross-section view of the example lens 750 shown
in FIG. 7A. The lens 750 can correspond to lens 150,250, and
350 included in FIGS. 1-3. For example, the lens 750 can be
configured to both collimate light incident on the toroidal
surface 754 from a light source into collimated light propa
gating out of the aspheric surface 752, and focus reflected
light entering from the aspheric surface 752 onto a detector.
The structure of the lens 750 including the aspheric surface
752 and the toroidal surface 754 allows the lens 750 to per
form both functions of collimating and focusing described in
the example above.
In some examples, the lens 750 defines a focal surface of
the light propagating through the lens 750 due to the aspheric
surface 752 and the toroidal surface 754. In these examples,
the light sources providing the light entering the toroidal
surface 754 can be arranged along the defined focal surface,
and the detectors receiving the light focused from the light
entering the aspheric surface 752 can also be arranged along
the defined focal surface.

By using the lens 750 that performs both of these functions
(collimating transmitted light and focusing received light),
instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a receive lens for
focusing, advantages with respect to size, cost, and/or com
plexity can be provided.
FIG. 8A illustrates an example LIDAR device 810
mounted on a vehicle 800, in accordance with at least some

55

60

65

embodiments described herein. FIG. 8A shows a Right Side
View, Front View, Back View, and Top View of the vehicle
800. Although vehicle 800 is illustrated in FIG. 8 as a car,
other examples are possible. For instance, the vehicle 800
could represent a truck, a van, a semi-trailer truck, a motor
cycle, a golf cart, an off-road vehicle, or a farm vehicle,
among other examples.
The structure, function, and operation of the LIDAR device
810 shown in FIG. 8A is similar to the example LIDAR
devices 100, 200, and 300 shown in FIGS. 1-3. For example,
the LIDAR device 810 can be configured to rotate about an
axis and determine a three-dimensional map of a surrounding
environment of the LIDAR device 810. To facilitate the rota

tion, the LIDAR device 810 can be mounted on a platform
802. In some examples, the platform 802 may comprise a

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US 8,836,922 B1
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movable mount that allows the vehicle 800 to control the axis
of rotation of the LIDAR device 810.
While the LIDAR device 810 is shown to be mounted in a

particular location on the vehicle 800, in some examples, the
LIDAR device 810 may be mounted elsewhere on the vehicle
800. For example, the LIDAR device 810 may be mounted
anywhere on top of the vehicle 800, on a side of the vehicle

5

800, under the vehicle 800, on a hood of the vehicle 800,
and/or on a trunk of the vehicle 800.

The LIDAR device 810 includes a lens 812 through which
collimated light is transmitted from the LIDAR device 810 to
the surrounding environment of the LIDAR device 810, simi
larly to the lens 150, 250, and 350 described in FIGS. 1-3.
Similarly, the lens 812 can also be configured to receive
reflected light from the surrounding environment of the
LIDAR device 810 that were reflected off one or more objects
in the surrounding environment.

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FIG. 8B illustrates a scenario where the LIDAR device 810

shown in FIG. 8A and scanning an environment 830 that
includes one or more objects, in accordance with at least some
embodiments described herein. In this example scenario,
vehicle 800 can be traveling on a road 822 in the environment
830. By rotating the LIDAR device 810 about the axis defined
by the platform 802, the LIDAR device 810 may be able to
determine aspects of objects in the surrounding environment

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25

830, such as lane lines 824a–b, other vehicles 826a-c, and/or

street sign 828. Thus, the LIDAR device 810 can provide the
vehicle 800 with information about the objects in the sur
rounding environment 830, including distance, shape, color,
and/or material type of the objects.
FIG.9 is a flowchartofa method 900 of operating a LIDAR
device, in accordance with at least some embodiments
described herein. Method 900 shown in FIG. 9 presents an

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embodiment of a method that could be used with the LIDAR

devices 100, 200, and 300, for example. Method 900 may
include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illus
trated by one or more of blocks 902-912. Although the blocks
are illustrated in a sequential order, these blocks may in some
instances be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order
than those described herein. Also, the various blocks may be

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combined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks,

and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.
In addition, for the method 900 and other processes and
methods disclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality
and operation of one possible implementation of present
embodiments. In this regard, each block may represent a
module, a segment, or a portion of a manufacturing or opera
tion process.
At block 902, the method 900 includes rotating a housing
of a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device about an
axis, wherein the housing has an interior space that includes a
transmit block, a receive block, and a shared space, wherein
the transmit block has an exit aperture, and wherein the
receive block has an entrance aperture.
At block 904, the method 900 includes emitting, by a
plurality of light sources in the transmit block, a plurality of
light beams that enter the shared space via a transmit path, the
light beams comprising light having wavelengths in a wave
length range.
At block 906, the method 900 includes receiving the light
beams at a lens mounted to the housing along the transmit
path.
At block 908, the method 900 includes collimating, by the
lens, the light beams for transmission into an environment of
the LIDAR device.

At block 910, the method 900 includes focusing, by the
lens, the collected light onto a plurality of detectors in the

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18
receive block via a receive path that extends through the
shared space and the entrance aperture of the receive block.
At block 912, the method 900 includes detecting, by the
plurality of detectors in the receive block, light from the
focused light having wavelengths in the wavelength range.
For example, a LIDAR device such as the LIDAR device
200 can be rotated about an axis (block 902). A transmit
block, such as the transmit block 220, can include a plurality
of light sources that emit light beams having wavelengths in
a wavelength range, through an exit aperture and a shared
space to a lens (block 904). The light beams can be received
by the lens (block 906) and collimated for transmission to an
environment of the LIDAR device (block 908). The colli
mated light may then reflect off one or more objects in the
environment of the LIDAR device and return as reflected light
collected by the lens. The lens may then focus the collected
light onto a plurality of detectors in the receive block via a
receive path that extends through the shared space and an
entrance aperture of the receive block (block 910). The plu
rality of detectors in the receive block may then detect light
from the focused light having wavelengths in the wavelength
range of the emitted light beams from the light sources (block
912).
Within examples, devices and operation methods
described include a LIDAR device rotated about an axis and

configured to transmit collimated light and focus reflected
light. The collimation and focusing can be performed by a
shared lens. By using a shared lens that performs both of these
functions, instead of a transmit lens for collimating and a
receive lens for focusing, advantages with respect to size,
cost, and/or complexity can be provided. Additionally, in
some examples, the shared lens can define a curved focal
surface. In these examples, the light sources emitting light
through the shared lens and the detectors receiving light
focused by the shared lens can be arranged along the curved
focal surface defined by the shared lens.
It should be understood that arrangements described herein
are for purposes of example only. As such, those skilled in the
art will appreciate that other arrangements and otherelements
(e.g. machines, interfaces, functions, orders, and groupings of
functions, etc.) can be used instead, and some elements may
be omitted altogether according to the desired results. Fur
ther, many of the elements that are described are functional
entities that may be implemented as discrete or distributed
components or in conjunction with other components, in any
suitable combination and location, or other structural ele

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55

ments described as independent structures may be combined.
While various aspects and embodiments have been dis
closed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be appar
ent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodi
ments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are
not intended to be limiting, with the true scope being indi
cated by the following claims, along with the full scope of
equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is also to be
understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose
of describing particular embodiments only, and is not
intended to be limiting.
What is claimed is:

1. A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device, compris
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1ng:

a lens mounted to a housing, wherein the housing is con
figured to rotate about an axis and has an interior space
that includes a transmit block, a receive block, a transmit
65

path, and a receive path, wherein the transmit block has
an exit aperture in a wall that comprises a reflective
surface, wherein the receive block has an entrance aper
ture, wherein the transmit path extends from the exit

Case 3:17-cv-00939 Document 1-1 Filed 02/23/17 Page 24 of 24