US 11,861,857 B2
Determining pixels beyond nominal maximum sensor depth
Subasingha Shaminda Subasingha, San Ramon, CA (US); Yongzhe Chen, San Jose, CA (US); Mehran Ferdowsi, San Mateo, CA (US); Samuel Holladay, San Francisco, CA (US); Turhan Karadeniz, Oakland, CA (US); Robert Nicholas Moor, San Mateo, CA (US); Joseph Patrick Warga, San Francisco, CA (US); Harrison Thomas Waschura, Los Altos Hills, CA (US); and Silas Kogure Wilkinson, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to Zoox, Inc., Foster City, CA (US)
Filed by Zoox, Inc., Foster City, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 8, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/115,254.
Prior Publication US 2022/0180538 A1, Jun. 9, 2022
Int. Cl. G06T 7/521 (2017.01); G01S 17/894 (2020.01); G01B 11/22 (2006.01); B60W 60/00 (2020.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01)
CPC G06T 7/521 (2017.01) [B60W 60/00272 (2020.02); G01B 11/22 (2013.01); G01S 17/894 (2020.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G06T 2207/10028 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30241 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30252 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle comprising:
a time-of-flight sensor;
one or more processors; and
memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the vehicle to perform operations comprising:
receiving first depth information and first intensity information generated by the time-of-flight sensor, the first depth information being based, at least in part, on a first modulation frequency of the time-of-flight sensor;
receiving second depth information and second intensity information generated by the time-of-flight sensor, the second depth information being based, at least in part, on a second modulation frequency higher than the first modulation frequency;
determining, based at least in part on the first depth information, a plurality of first candidate depths for a surface;
determining, based at least in part on the second depth information, a plurality of second candidate depths for the surface;
determining, based on the plurality of first candidate depths and the plurality of second candidate depths, a disambiguated depth for the surface;
determining that the disambiguated depth is greater than a nominal maximum sensor depth associated with the time-of-flight sensor operating at the first modulation frequency;
determining, from at least one of the first intensity information or the second intensity information, an intensity associated with the surface; and
determining, based at least in part on the disambiguated depth being greater than the nominal maximum sensor depth and the intensity being equal to or greater than a threshold intensity, that an actual depth of the surface is beyond the nominal maximum sensor depth of the time-of-flight sensor operating at the first modulation frequency.