US 11,686,817 B2
Mitigating interference for LIDAR systems of autonomous vehicles
Matt Cox, San Francisco, CA (US); Robert Vets, Seattle, WA (US); Peter Megson, San Francisco, CA (US); and Cornelis Jacob Lekkerkerker, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to GM CRUISE HOLDINGS LLC, San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by GM Cruise Holdings LLC, San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 31, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/731,230.
Application 16/731,230 is a continuation of application No. 16/586,036, filed on Sep. 27, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0096219 A1, Apr. 1, 2021
Int. Cl. G01S 7/48 (2006.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G01S 17/42 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01); G05D 1/02 (2020.01)
CPC G01S 7/4804 (2013.01) [G01S 17/42 (2013.01); G01S 17/931 (2020.01); G05D 1/0088 (2013.01); G05D 1/0231 (2013.01); G05D 2201/0213 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A lidar sensor system, comprising:
a light emitter;
a light detector;
a processor; and
memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
causing the light emitter to emit light signals with a first emission pattern therein into an environment, wherein the first emission pattern is a function of a geospatial direction towards which an autonomous vehicle comprising the lidar sensor system is facing in the environment such that the emission pattern is identified based on a direction of travel of the autonomous vehicle, wherein a light signal in the light signals reflects off an object in the environment to provide a reflected light signal, and wherein the light detector detects the reflected light signal;
responsive to detection of the reflected light signal by the light detector, determining that the reflected light signal includes the first emission pattern; and
generating a point cloud based in part on the reflected light signal in response to determining that the reflected light signal includes the first emission pattern, wherein a differing light signal detected by the light detector determined to lack the first emission pattern is identified as being interference such that the differing light signal is filtered and not used to generate the point cloud.