US 12,146,955 B2
Range-information acquiring apparatus, range-information acquiring method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium
Yumiko Kato, Osaka (JP); Satoshi Sato, Kyoto (JP); Yasuhisa Inada, Osaka (JP); and Yoshihide Sawada, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD., Osaka (JP)
Filed by Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd., Osaka (JP)
Filed on Feb. 9, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/171,934.
Application 17/171,934 is a continuation of application No. PCT/JP2019/040822, filed on Oct. 17, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 2018-229250 (JP), filed on Dec. 6, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0165096 A1, Jun. 3, 2021
Int. Cl. G01C 3/08 (2006.01); G01S 7/4912 (2020.01); G01S 17/18 (2020.01)
CPC G01S 17/18 (2020.01) [G01S 7/4917 (2013.01); G01S 7/4918 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A range-information acquiring apparatus comprising:
a light source;
a photodetector device including a plurality of photodetector elements;
a control circuit that:
controls the light source and the photodetector device,
causes the light source to emit first light toward a scene and subsequently emit second light toward the scene, the first light having a first spatial distribution, the second light having a second spatial distribution, and
causes at least a portion of the plurality of photodetector elements of the photodetector device to detect first reflected light and second reflected light in a same exposure period, the first reflected light being caused by reflection of the first light from the scene, the second reflected light being caused by reflection of the second light from the scene; and
a signal processing circuit that, based on photodetection data output from the plurality of photodetector elements of the photodetector device, generates and outputs range data derived from the first reflected light and the second reflected light,
wherein the signal processing circuit generates the range data from the photodetection data by use of preset weight information.