US 12,461,238 B2
Detector for identifying at least one material property
Friedrich Schick, Ludwigshafen (DE); Peter Schillen, Ludwigshafen (DE); Patrick Schindler, Ludwigshafen (DE); Andre Schmidt, Ludwigshafen (DE); Michael Eberspach, Ludwigshafen (DE); Christian Lennartz, Ludwigshafen (DE); Robert Send, Karlsruhe (DE); Lars Diesselberg, Karlsruhe (DE); Heiko Hengen, Steinweiler (DE); Ingmar Bruder, Ludwigshafen (DE); Jakob Unger, Ludwigshafen (DE); and Christian Bonsignore, Ludwigshafen (DE)
Assigned to TRINAMIX GMBH, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE)
Filed by trinamiX GmbH, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (DE)
Filed on Jan. 30, 2025, as Appl. No. 19/041,010.
Application 19/041,010 is a continuation of application No. 18/425,144, filed on Jan. 29, 2024, granted, now 12,298,394.
Application 18/425,144 is a continuation of application No. 17/439,492, granted, now 11,947,013, issued on Apr. 2, 2024, previously published as PCT/EP2020/056759, filed on Mar. 13, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 19163250 (EP), filed on Mar. 15, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2025/0334695 A1, Oct. 30, 2025
Int. Cl. G01S 17/46 (2006.01); G01B 11/22 (2006.01); G01C 21/16 (2006.01); G01S 17/66 (2006.01); G06T 5/20 (2006.01); G06T 5/70 (2024.01); G06T 7/20 (2017.01); G06T 7/521 (2017.01); G06T 7/73 (2017.01); G06V 10/145 (2022.01); G06V 10/60 (2022.01); G06V 10/764 (2022.01); H04N 23/56 (2023.01); H04N 23/74 (2023.01)
CPC G01S 17/46 (2013.01) [G01B 11/22 (2013.01); G01C 21/16 (2013.01); G01S 17/66 (2013.01); G06T 5/20 (2013.01); G06T 5/70 (2024.01); G06T 7/20 (2013.01); G06T 7/521 (2017.01); G06T 7/73 (2017.01); G06V 10/145 (2022.01); G06V 10/60 (2022.01); G06V 10/764 (2022.01); H04N 23/56 (2023.01); H04N 23/74 (2023.01)] 26 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system, comprising:
a near infrared (NIR) camera configured to capture a scene, the NIR camera comprising a CMOS sensor, wherein the NIR camera is sensitive to NIR light in a range of 700 nm to 1100 nm in wavelength;
a first vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) configured to output a first plurality of NIR light beams toward the scene, the first plurality of NIR light beams comprising a pseudo-random arrangement;
a second VCSEL configured to output a second plurality of NIR light beams toward the scene, the second plurality of NIR light beams comprising a periodic arrangement, wherein the second VCSEL is offset from the first VCSEL;
a diffractive optical element (DOE),
wherein the first plurality of NIR light beams and the second plurality of NIR light beams pass through at least one lens toward the DOE,
wherein the DOE is configured to diffract the first plurality of NIR light beams in a pseudo-random structured light pattern, wherein surfaces in the scene reflect the pseudo-random structured light pattern into a first reflective light pattern,
wherein the CMOS sensor is configured to output an image corresponding to the first reflective light pattern in response to receiving the first reflective light pattern, and
wherein light of each of the first plurality of NIR light beams and the second plurality of NIR light beams is in the range; and
a processor configured to:
determine a distribution of light intensity of a region from the image;
compare the distribution of light intensity of the region of the image to a distribution of light intensity of a corresponding region in reference image data derived from a reference image;
determine a classification of an object in the scene based on the distribution of light intensity comparison of the region of the image and the corresponding region; and
output a signal comprising information related to the classification of the object.