US 11,994,590 B2
High dynamic range lidar
Nathaniel W. Hart, Beverly Hills, MI (US); and Adam L. Wright, Livonia, MI (US)
Assigned to GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC, Detroit, MI (US)
Filed by GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC, Detroit, MI (US)
Filed on Oct. 10, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/598,020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0109225 A1, Apr. 15, 2021
Int. Cl. G01S 17/89 (2020.01); G01S 7/486 (2020.01); G01S 7/4863 (2020.01); G01S 7/487 (2006.01); G01S 17/93 (2020.01)
CPC G01S 17/93 (2013.01) [G01S 7/4863 (2013.01); G01S 7/4868 (2013.01); G01S 7/487 (2013.01); G01S 17/89 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of controlling a vehicle, the method comprising:
initiating, by a controller onboard the vehicle, a first laser pulse or chirp from a lidar device based on a first power;
initiating, by the controller, a second laser pulse or chirp from the lidar device based on a second power, wherein the first power is greater than the second power, a first return data is a result of the first laser pulse or chirp, and a second return data is a result of the second laser pulse or chirp;
receiving, by the controller, the first return data detected by a first detector of the lidar device as the result of the first laser pulse or chirp associated with a first distance range;
receiving, by the controller, the second return data detected by a second detector of the lidar device as the result of the second laser pulse or chirp associated with a second distance range, wherein the first distance range is greater than the second distance range;
removing short range noise from a long range waveform of the first return data by combining, by the controller, the long range waveform of the first return data and a short range waveform of the second return data to generate a combined waveform;
forming a point cloud including a three-dimensional cloud of points based on the combined waveform; and
controlling, by the controller, the vehicle based on the point cloud,
wherein the lidar device is configured to horizontally and rotatably scan an environment in a vicinity of the vehicle in accordance with a first angular velocity at a first scan rate to complete a first revolution and the first and second detectors are spaced laterally apart based on the first scan rate,
wherein the first detector is configured to process the first return data associated with the first distance range and the first return data is reflected from the first laser pulse or chirp based on the first power that is greater than 75 W and less than a 5 ns width, and
wherein the second detector is configured to process the second return data associated with the second distance range and the second return data is reflected from the second laser pulse or chirp based on the second power that is less than 10 W at a 5 ns width.