ROBUST LIDAR SENSOR FOR BROAD WEATHER, SHOCK AND VIBRATION CONDITIONS

摘要

An apparatus and method are used for real-time wide-field-of-view ranging with a time-of-flight lidar sensor having one or a plurality of laser emitters and one or a plurality of photodetectors. When a plurarity of laser emitters are used, they are preferably copackaged or are in the form of an integrated multi-emitter chip or emitting multi-chip module in a single package, and when a plurarity of photoreceivers are used, they are preferably copackaged or are in the form of an integrated multi-photoreceiver chip or photoreceiving multi-chip module in a single package. Furthermore, the apparatus comprises any combination of (a) no moving external parts in contact with the environment, (b) wireless energy and data transfer between the static and the moving parts of the lidar, and (c) protective body, sealant and/or damage-resistant tamper-resistant theft-resistant cage.