US 11,852,753 B1
Laminate structures for maintaining clear apertures
William Grossman, East Palo Alto, CA (US); Troy Scott Storz, Manteca, CA (US); and Matthew Carroll, Menlo Park, CA (US)
Assigned to Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 4, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/593,531.
Int. Cl. G01S 7/497 (2006.01); G01S 7/481 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 7/497 (2013.01) [G01S 7/4813 (2013.01); G01S 2007/4977 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a sensor;
an enclosure that separates the sensor from an external environment, wherein the enclosure includes an aperture comprising a transparent material;
a laminate comprising a plurality of transparent films, wherein the laminate is coupled to the aperture such that the sensor has a field of view of the external environment through the transparent material of the aperture and the plurality of transparent films, wherein the plurality of transparent films includes an exposed transparent film that is exposed to the external environment, and wherein the exposed transparent film is removable to expose an underlying transparent film in the laminate; and
a laminate sensor configured to detect a number of transparent films remaining in the laminate.