This application relates to the field of detection technologies, and in particular, to a detection method and apparatus.
Light detection and ranging or laser imaging, detection, and ranging (Lidars) have a medium- and long-distance environment perception capability beyond a human visual perception range, and therefore are widely used in fields such as unmanned driving, mapping, and robots. The lidars are usually divided into two categories: a mechanical lidar and a solid-state lidar. Although the mechanical lidar can implement large-angle scanning, a scanning frequency is low. In addition, because a scanning component of the mechanical lidar is large in size, system stability is limited. Compared with the mechanical lidar, the solid-state lidar has advantages of good stability, excellent shock resistance, high integration, and the like, and therefore is widely used.
A lidar based on a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) micromirror is a typical solid-state lidar. The MEMS micromirror is a micro-scanning component designed based on a micro-electro-mechanical principle and has a specific degree of integration. Compared with that of a conventional mechanical scanning component, stability of the micro-scanning component is further improved. The solid-state lidar is usually provided with a MEMS micromirror, and the MEMS micromirror is disposed at front ends of a plurality of transceiver modules. The transceiver modules generally have a transmitting-receiving coaxial structure. In this structure, an optical signal sent by the transceiver module and an optical signal received by the transceiver module pass through a same path. Light emitted by the plurality of transceiver modules is reflected to space by using the MEMS micromirror, and light received by the MEMS micromirror also separately enters the plurality of transceiver modules.
As a quantity of transceiver modules increases, the MEMS micromirror needs to reflect more optical signals. In this case, in an area with a longer distance from a central field of view, a distortion of a point cloud formed by the optical signals reflected by the MEMS micromirror is greater. Consequently, optical signals received and sent by the solid-state lidar are distorted, and signal accuracy is reduced.
Embodiments of this application provide a detection method and apparatus, to improve accuracy of signals received and sent by a detection apparatus.
According to a first aspect, a detection apparatus is provided. The detection apparatus includes a scanning system and P transceiver modules. The scanning system includes a micro reflector array, and the micro reflector array includes M micro reflectors. An optical signal sent by the P transceiver modules is reflected by the M micro reflectors, and/or the P transceiver modules receive an optical signal reflected by the M micro reflectors. M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and P is a positive integer less than or equal to M.
In this embodiment of this application, the M micro reflectors are disposed in the detection apparatus, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2. Therefore, the P transceiver modules do not need to receive and send signals by using one micro reflector, but may receive and send signals by using the M micro reflectors. In this way, a distortion degree of a point cloud formed by optical signals reflected by the micro reflectors is reduced, and accuracy of optical signals received and sent by the detection apparatus is improved. In addition, because the plurality of micro reflectors is disposed, and each micro reflector may correspond to a corresponding transceiver module, a quantity of transceiver modules may accordingly be increased, so that a larger field of view can be obtained through splicing by using more transceiver modules. In this way, the detection apparatus can detect a larger field of view, and a detection range of the detection apparatus is expanded. In addition, because the plurality of micro reflectors is disposed, and each micro reflector may correspond to the corresponding transceiver module, when a rotation angle of a micro reflector is adjusted, a scanning angle of an optical signal reflected by the micro reflector in space can be changed, that is, an angle of view of a transceiver module corresponding to the micro reflector in space can be changed. In this way, a size of a field of view of the transceiver module corresponding to the micro reflector in space can be adjusted. For example, to focus on some target objects in a field of view, a rotation angle of a micro reflector corresponding to the field of view may be adjusted to reduce an angle of view of the field of view, so as to reduce the field of view. In this way, detection of some target objects can be more flexibly. After the field of view is reduced, there may be a gap between the field of view and another field of view. Therefore, a rotation angle of a micro reflector corresponding to the other field of view may be adjusted to increase a size of the other field of view, so that the other field of view can cover a reduced area of the field of view, thereby better implementing seamless splicing between fields of view and improving detection coverage of the detection apparatus.
In an optional implementation, the detection apparatus further includes N beam expansion systems. A portion of or all optical signals sent by the P transceiver modules arrive at the N beam expansion systems through one or more of the M micro reflectors, and/or the P transceiver modules receive an optical signal that arrives at one or more of the M micro reflectors through the N beam expansion systems and then is reflected by the one or more micro reflectors. The N beam expansion systems are used to change the detection range, and N is a positive integer less than or equal to M. A transceiver module can detect a specific field of view. However, because a diameter of the micro reflector is small, for example, the diameter of the micro reflector is generally at a nanometer level, a receiving aperture of the micro reflector is small, and energy of a received optical signal is small. Consequently, a detection distance of the transceiver module is limited. According to this embodiment of this application, a beam expansion system may be disposed for a transceiver module whose detection distance needs to be expanded. If a beam expansion system is disposed for a transceiver module, it is equivalent to increasing a receiving aperture of a detection channel corresponding to the transceiver module, so that energy of an optical signal received by the transceiver module can be increased. In this way, a detection distance of the transceiver module can be increased, and it is equivalent to expanding a detection range of the transceiver module. Therefore, a beam expansion system may be disposed for a transceiver module that needs to perform long-distance detection, and a beam expansion system may not be disposed for a transceiver module that needs to perform short-distance detection, so that the detection apparatus can implement detection at different distances, thereby improving detection flexibility.
In an optional implementation, the N beam expansion systems include a first beam expansion system. An optical signal sent by a first transceiver module arrives at the first beam expansion system through a first micro reflector, and/or the first transceiver module receives an optical signal that arrives at the first micro reflector through the first beam expansion system and then is reflected by the first micro reflector. The first transceiver module is one of the P transceiver modules. The first micro reflector is one of the M micro reflectors, and the first micro reflector is located in a middle position of the M micro reflectors. The central field of view is usually a key field of view for detection. For the central field of view, long-distance detection may be required. Therefore, a beam expansion system may be disposed at a front end of a micro reflector corresponding to the central field of view, to expand a detection range of the central field of view, so as to meet a detection requirement.
In an optional implementation, one of the P transceiver modules includes a laser, a collimation system, a first optical splitting system, and a receiving system. The transceiver module may use a transmitting-receiving coaxial structure, or may use a transmitting-receiving off-axis structure.
In an optional implementation, when P is less than M, the detection apparatus further includes a second optical splitting system, and the second optical splitting system is configured to split H optical signals sent by H transceiver modules in the P transceiver modules into K optical signals. H is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to P, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to M. For example, if P is greater than 1, but P is less than M, the detection apparatus may include a plurality of transceiver modules, one of the transceiver modules may correspond to one or more of the M micro reflectors, and the plurality of transceiver modules correspond to the M micro reflectors in total. If P is less than M, a quantity of transceiver modules included in the detection apparatus may be reduced, to reduce the size of the detection apparatus and reduce costs of the detection apparatus. When P is less than M, the detection apparatus may further include the second optical splitting system. For example, the second optical splitting system may split the H optical signals sent by the H transceiver modules into the K optical signals, so that the K optical signals arrive at K micro reflectors in the M micro reflectors, or may combine K optical signals that are from space and reflected by the K micro reflectors into H optical signals, so that the H optical signals arrive at the H transceiver modules.
In an optional implementation, at least one of the M micro reflectors is a MEMS reflector. In other words, if a diameter of the at least one of the M micro reflectors is less than or equal to a first threshold, it indicates that the diameter of the at least one micro reflector is small. Alternatively, the micro reflector included in the micro reflector array may be another type of micro reflector.
In an optional implementation, when P is equal to M, the optical signal sent by the first transceiver module is reflected by the first micro reflector corresponding to the first transceiver module, and/or the first transceiver module receives the optical signal reflected by the first micro reflector corresponding to the first transceiver module. The first transceiver module is any one of the P transceiver modules. The first micro reflector is any one of the M micro reflectors. The P transceiver modules are in a one-to-one correspondence with the M micro reflectors. When P is equal to M, the transceiver modules are in a one-to-one correspondence with the micro reflectors. Optical signals received and sent by different transceiver modules are reflected by different micro reflectors, and there is no need to split, by using an optical splitting system, an optical signal sent by one transceiver module into a plurality of optical signals for reflection by different micro reflectors. In this way, the optical signals reflected by the micro reflectors are all complete optical signals from corresponding transceiver modules, and power of such optical signals is higher, so that detection of each transceiver module is more accurate.
According to a second aspect, a detection method is provided. The method may be applied to a detection apparatus. The detection apparatus includes P transceiver modules and a micro reflector array, and the micro reflector array includes M micro reflectors. M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and P is a positive integer less than or equal to M. The P transceiver modules send at least one optical signal, the M micro reflectors reflect the at least one optical signal, and the P transceiver modules receive an echo of the at least one optical signal reflected by the M micro reflectors. Optionally, the detection apparatus is the detection apparatus provided in the first aspect or any optional implementation.
In an optional implementation, the detection apparatus further includes N beam expansion systems. A portion of or all optical signals in the at least one optical signal arrive at the N beam expansion systems after being reflected by one or more of the M micro reflectors, and then are transmitted by the N beam expansion systems. That the P transceiver modules receive an echo of the at least one optical signal reflected by the M micro reflectors includes the following. The P transceiver modules receive an echo of the portion of or all optical signals that arrives at one or more of the M micro reflectors through the N beam expansion systems and then is reflected by the one or more micro reflectors.
In an optional implementation, the N beam expansion systems adjust a focal length, to change a scanning angle of the portion of or all optical signals in space. The beam expansion system is a beam expansion system that can change a distance, and a size of a field of view corresponding to the beam expansion system can be adjusted by changing the distance. In other words, in this embodiment of this application, the beam expansion system is provided, so that not only a detection range can be expanded, but also a size of a field of view can be adjusted.
In an optional implementation, the micro reflector array adjusts a rotation angle of at least one of the M micro reflectors, to change a scanning angle of an optical signal reflected by the at least one micro reflector in space. For example, a beam expansion system is disposed at a front end of a micro reflector in a central field of view. To detect a target object of interest in the central field of view, the central field of view needs to be reduced. The central field of view may be reduced by reducing an angle of view of the central field of view. For example, a focal length of the beam expansion system disposed at the front end of the micro reflector in the central field of view may be adjusted, to reduce the angle of view of the central field of view. After the angle of view of the central field of view is reduced, if an angle of view of a field of view detected by another transceiver module is not adjusted, a blind area may appear between the fields of view, and each transceiver module cannot detect the area. Therefore, an angle of view corresponding to at least one remaining transceiver module in the P transceiver modules other than the transceiver module corresponding to the central field of view may be adjusted, to reduce a blind area between fields of view detected by the P transceiver modules as much as possible. If no beam expansion system is disposed at a front end of at least one micro reflector corresponding to at least one transceiver module, a rotation angle of the at least one micro reflector may be adjusted to adjust an angle of view of a field of view detected by the at least one transceiver module. In this manner, the blind area between the fields of view can be reduced, and spatial detection coverage of the detection apparatus can be improved.
In an optional implementation, after the rotation angle of the at least one of the M micro reflectors is adjusted, the scanning angle of the optical signal reflected by the at least one micro reflector in space is increased, and there is no blind area between a field of view formed in space by the portion of or all optical signals and a field of view formed in space by the optical signal reflected by the at least one micro reflector. Because the central field of view is reduced, the field of view detected by the at least one transceiver module may correspondingly increase, so that the field of view detected by the at least one transceiver module covers a reduced part of the central field of view as much as possible.
In an optional implementation, after the N beam expansion systems adjust the focal length, the scanning angle of the portion of or all optical signals in space is reduced. For example, if a small target in the central field of view needs to be detected, or a small target in the central field of view needs to be focused on, the focal length of the beam expansion system corresponding to the central field of view is adjusted, so that the central field of view can be reduced, to better detect the small target.
In an optional implementation, the transceiver module includes a laser, a collimation system, a first optical splitting system, and a receiving system.
In an optional implementation, when P is less than M, the detection apparatus further includes a second optical splitting system. The second optical splitting system splits H optical signals in the at least one optical signal into K optical signals, and the H optical signals are from H transceiver modules in the P transceiver modules. H is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to P, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to M. That the M micro reflectors reflect the at least one optical signal includes: K micro reflectors reflect the H optical signals, and M-K micro reflectors in the M micro reflectors reflect P−H optical signals in the at least one optical signal.
In an optional implementation, the first micro reflector is a MEMS reflector.
For technical effect brought by the second aspect or some optional implementations of the second aspect, refer to the descriptions of the technical effect brought by the first aspect or the corresponding implementations.
According to a third aspect, a radar is provided, and the radar may include the detection apparatus according to the first aspect.
According to a fourth aspect, a vehicle is provided, and the vehicle may include the detection apparatus according to the first aspect, or the vehicle may include the radar according to the third aspect.
According to a fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium is configured to store a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or the instructions is/are run, the method according to the second aspect is implemented.
According to a sixth aspect, a computer program product including instructions is provided. When the computer program product runs on a computer, the method according to the second aspect is implemented.
To make objectives, technical solution, and advantages of embodiments of this application clearer, the following further describes embodiments of this application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The following describes some terms in embodiments of this application, to facilitate understanding of a person skilled in the art.
For example, refer to
In embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified, a quantity of nouns represents “a singular noun or a plural noun”, namely, “one or more”. “At least one” means one or more, and “a plurality of” means two or more. “And/Or” is an association relationship for describing associated objects, and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and/or B may indicate the following cases: only A exists, both A and B exist, and only B exists, where A and B may be in a singular form or a plural form. Unless otherwise specified, the character “/” generally indicates an “or” relationship between the associated objects. For example, A/B indicates A or B. “At least one of the following items (pieces)” or a similar expression thereof means any combination of these items, including any combination of singular items (pieces) or plural items (pieces). For example, at least one item (piece) of a, b, or c may indicate: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b, and c, where a, b, and c may be singular or plural.
In embodiments of this application, ordinal numbers such as “first” and “second” are used to distinguish between a plurality of objects, and not intended to limit sizes, content, a sequence, a time sequence, an application scenario, a priority, or an importance of the plurality of objects. For example, a first optical splitting system and a second optical splitting system may be a same optical splitting system, or may be different optical splitting systems. In addition, this name does not indicate that the two optical splitting systems have different structures, positions, priorities, application scenarios, or importance degrees.
The foregoing describes some concepts in embodiments of this application, and the following describes technical features in embodiments of this application.
As a quantity of optical modules increases, a spliced field of view is larger. However, because the plurality of optical modules is reflected by using one MEMS reflector, a distortion of a splicing point cloud is larger. A point cloud may be a set of massive points that express target spatial distribution and a target surface feature in a same spatial reference system. For example, the point cloud in this embodiment of this application may be understood as a set of massive points included in light reflected by the MEMS reflector, and the point cloud can represent spatial distribution and a surface feature of a target object in space. The splicing point cloud in this embodiment of this application is a set of massive points obtained through reflection by the plurality of optical modules by using the MEMS reflector. For example, refer to
Therefore, the technical solutions in embodiments of this application are provided. Embodiments of this application provide a detection apparatus. M micro reflectors are disposed in the detection apparatus, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2. Therefore, when the detection apparatus includes a plurality of transceiver modules, the plurality of transceiver modules does not need to receive and send signals by using one micro reflector, but may receive and send signals by using the M micro reflectors. In this way, a distortion degree of a point cloud formed by optical signals reflected by the micro reflectors is reduced, and accuracy of optical signals received and sent by the detection apparatus is improved. In addition, because the plurality of micro reflectors is disposed, and each micro reflector may correspond to a corresponding transceiver module, a quantity of transceiver modules may accordingly be increased, so that a larger field of view can be obtained through splicing by using more transceiver modules. In this way, the detection apparatus can detect a larger field of view.
The detection apparatus may be an independent device, or the detection apparatus may be disposed in another device. The other device is, for example, a terminal device or a network device. The network device includes, for example, an access network device. The access network device is, for example, a base station. Alternatively, the other device may be a device like a radar. The detection apparatus in embodiments of this application may be installed in devices such as a motor vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a rail car, a bicycle, a signal light, a speed measurement apparatus, or a network device (for example, a base station or a terminal device in various systems). Embodiments of this application are applicable to detection between vehicles, detection between a vehicle and another apparatus like an unmanned aerial vehicle, or detection between other apparatuses. For example, the detection apparatus may be installed on an intelligent terminal like an intelligent transportation device, a smart home device, or a robot. A type of a terminal device on which the detection apparatus is installed, an installation position of the detection apparatus, a function of the detection apparatus, and the like are not limited in embodiments of this application.
In
Alternatively, P may be less than M. For example, P=1. For this, refer to
For another example, if P is greater than 1, but P is less than M, the detection apparatus may include a plurality of transceiver modules, one of the transceiver modules may correspond to one or more of the M micro reflectors, and the plurality of transceiver modules correspond to the M micro reflectors in total. If P is less than M, a quantity of transceiver modules included in the detection apparatus may be reduced, to reduce a size of the detection apparatus and reduce costs of the detection apparatus. For example, in the plurality of transceiver modules, a transceiver module corresponds to one of the M micro reflectors, and another transceiver module corresponds to a plurality of micro reflectors in the M micro reflectors. For example, refer to
A transceiver module and a micro reflector corresponding to the transceiver module may form a detection channel, or referred to as a measurement channel, or the like. If one transceiver module corresponds to a plurality of micro reflectors, the transceiver module and each of the plurality of micro reflectors may form one detection channel. In other words, a plurality of detection channels may be formed between the transceiver module and the plurality of micro reflectors. One detection channel may be used to detect one field of view.
In this embodiment of this application, the plurality of micro reflectors is disposed, so that different transceiver modules may correspond to different micro reflectors, and all the transceiver modules do not need to correspond to one micro reflector, thereby reducing a distortion of a point cloud formed in space by optical signals sent by the transceiver modules, and improving detection accuracy of the detection apparatus. In addition, because there is a large quantity of micro reflectors, a quantity of transceiver modules may also be correspondingly increased, so that a larger field of view can be obtained through splicing. Therefore, detection of the larger field of view can be implemented.
Because the plurality of micro reflectors is disposed, each micro reflector may correspond to a corresponding transceiver module, and all the transceiver modules do not need to correspond to one micro reflector, the quantity of transceiver modules may be increased, so that a larger field of view can be obtained through splicing by using more transceiver modules. In this way, the detection apparatus can detect a larger field of view.
In addition, because the plurality of micro reflectors is disposed, and each micro reflector may correspond to the corresponding transceiver module, when a rotation angle of a micro reflector is adjusted, a scanning angle of an optical signal reflected by the micro reflector in space can be changed, that is, an angle of view of a transceiver module corresponding to the micro reflector in space can be changed. In this way, a size of a field of view of the transceiver module corresponding to the micro reflector in space can be adjusted. For example, for
It should be noted that a portion or all of the P transceiver modules each may further include a reflector, and the reflector is a reflector that may be optionally included in the transceiver module, instead of a micro reflector included in the micro reflector array in this embodiment of this application. For example, the transceiver module is in a transmitting-receiving coaxial structure. An optical signal sent by a laser of the transceiver module is collimated by a collimation system and enters a first optical splitting system for optical splitting. An optical signal obtained through optical splitting is incident to the reflector included in the transceiver module. After the optical signal arrives at the reflector, the reflector may reflect the optical signal to a micro reflector corresponding to the transceiver module in the micro reflector array, and then the micro reflector reflects the optical signal.
It can be learned from the foregoing description that, when P is less than M, an optical signal sent by each of the portion or all of the P transceiver modules needs to reach a plurality of micro reflectors, and each transceiver module also needs to receive signals reflected by the plurality of micro reflectors. Therefore, optionally, when P is less than M, the detection apparatus may further include a second optical splitting system. For example, the second optical splitting system may split H optical signals sent by H transceiver modules in the P transceiver modules into K optical signals, so that the K optical signals arrive at K micro reflectors in the M micro reflectors, and P−H optical signals sent by P−H transceiver modules in the P transceiver modules may directly arrive at K−M micro reflectors without passing through the optical splitting system. For example, P−H=K−M. In an example, P−H transceiver modules may be in a one-to-one correspondence with K−M micro reflectors. K is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to M. It may be understood that the K micro reflectors are a portion or all of the M micro reflectors. H is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to P. It may be understood that the H transceiver modules are a portion or all of the P transceiver modules. The H optical signals are optical signals sent by the H transceiver modules in the P transceiver modules. The second optical splitting system may also combine K optical signals that are from space and reflected by the K micro reflectors into H optical signals, so that the H optical signals arrive at the H transceiver modules. In an example, the second optical splitting system may perform optical splitting on the H transceiver modules, and the split optical signals may arrive at the K micro reflectors. In this case, the optical signals received by the K micro reflectors also arrive at the second optical splitting system, are combined by the second optical splitting system into the H optical signals, and enter the H transceiver modules. For example, H is greater than 1. In this case, the second optical splitting system may perform optical splitting on each of the H transceiver modules. For example, for a transceiver module A, the second optical splitting system may split an optical signal sent by the transceiver module A into at least two optical signals, and the at least two optical signals arrive at at least two micro reflectors. In addition, optical signals (where the optical signals are at least two echoes corresponding to the at least two optical signals) that are from space and received by the at least two micro reflectors also arrive at the second optical splitting system, and the second optical splitting system combines the at least two echoes into one optical signal, and sends the optical signal to the transceiver module A.
It should be noted that, as described above, if the transceiver module uses the transmitting-receiving coaxial structure, the transceiver module also includes the first optical splitting system. The first optical splitting system is included in the transceiver module, but the second optical splitting system does not belong to the transceiver module. Internal structures of the first optical splitting system and the second optical splitting system may be the same or different. The “first” and the “second” do not indicate that the internal structures or other aspects of the two optical splitting systems are different, but are merely intended to indicate that the two optical splitting systems are disposed at different locations.
In the detection apparatus, if P is greater than 1, and each of the at least two transceiver modules corresponds to two or more micro reflectors, optionally, an optical splitting subsystem may be disposed for each of the at least two transceiver modules, and the second optical splitting system includes at least two optical splitting subsystems disposed for the at least two transceiver modules. If P=1, and the transceiver module corresponds to two or more micro reflectors, an optical splitting system may also be disposed for the transceiver module. In this case, only one optical splitting system needs to be disposed in the detection apparatus. Therefore, the optical splitting system is the second optical splitting system, and is not considered as an optical splitting subsystem.
For example, the second optical splitting system in
For another example, in
For another example, in
In conclusion, when P is less than M, the second optical splitting system is disposed, so that signals received and sent by the P transceiver modules can still be reflected by the M micro reflectors, and the P transceiver modules and the M micro reflectors can work normally.
A transceiver module can detect a specific field of view. However, because a diameter of the micro reflector is small, for example, the diameter of the micro reflector is generally at a nanometer level, a receiving aperture of the micro reflector is small, and energy of a received optical signal is small. Consequently, a detection distance of the transceiver module is limited. According to this embodiment of this application, a beam expansion system may be disposed for a transceiver module whose detection distance needs to be extended. The beam expansion system may be disposed at a front end of a micro reflector. After being reflected by the micro reflector, an optical signal sent by the transceiver module may enter the beam expansion system, to be transmitted to space through the beam expansion system. A signal from space enters the beam expansion system, arrives at the micro reflector after passing through the beam expansion system, and may be reflected to the transceiver module by the micro reflector. If a beam expansion system is disposed for a transceiver module, it is equivalent to increasing a receiving aperture of a detection channel corresponding to the transceiver module, so that energy of an optical signal received by the transceiver module can be increased. In this way, a detection distance of the transceiver module can be increased. Increasing the detection distance is equivalent to expanding a detection range of the transceiver module. Therefore, a beam expansion system may be disposed for a transceiver module that needs to perform long-distance detection, and a beam expansion system may not be disposed for a transceiver module that needs to perform short-distance detection, so that the detection apparatus can implement detection at different distances, thereby improving detection flexibility.
Optionally, the detection apparatus may include N beam expansion systems, the N beam expansion systems may correspond to a portion or all of the M micro reflectors, and N is a positive integer less than or equal to M. One beam expansion system may correspond to one or more micro reflectors. That one micro reflector corresponds to one beam expansion system may be understood as follows. After being reflected by the micro reflector, an optical signal sent by a transceiver module may enter the beam expansion system, and be transmitted to space through the beam expansion system. A signal from space enters the beam expansion system, arrives at the micro reflector after passing through the beam expansion system, and may be reflected by the micro reflector to the transceiver module. Further, one or more of the N beam expansion systems are, for example, zoom beam expansion systems. The so-called zoom beam expansion system is a beam expansion system that can change a focal length. The focal length is changed, so that a size of a field of view corresponding to the zoom beam expansion system can be adjusted. This adjustment is also equivalent to expanding a detection range of the detection apparatus. In other words, one or more beam expansion systems in this embodiment of this application may be zoom beam expansion systems. Through the zoom beam expansion system, not only a detection distance can be increased, but also a size of a detected field of view can be adjusted. It may be understood that not only a detection depth can be increased, but also a detection width can be adjusted, so that the detection range can be expanded in a plurality of dimensions. For example, each of the N beam expansion systems is a zoom beam expansion system, the N zoom beam expansion systems correspond to a portion or all of the M micro reflectors, and correspondingly, the N zoom beam expansion systems correspond to a portion or all of the P transceiver modules. Therefore, optical signals sent by the portion or all of the P transceiver modules arrive at the N zoom beam expansion systems through the portion or all of the M micro reflectors, and the portion or all of the P transceiver modules receive optical signals that arrive at the portion or all of the M micro reflectors through the N zoom beam expansion systems and then are reflected by the portion or all of the M micro reflectors.
Optionally, the central field of view is usually a key field of view for detection. For the central field of view, long-distance detection may be required. Therefore, a zoom beam expansion system may be disposed at a front end of a micro reflector corresponding to the central field of view. For example, the N zoom beam expansion systems include a first zoom beam expansion system, and an optical signal sent by a first transceiver module in the P transceiver modules arrives at the first zoom beam expansion system through a first micro reflector, and/or the first transceiver module receives an optical signal that arrives at the first micro reflector through the first zoom beam expansion system and then is reflected by the first micro reflector. The first micro reflector is one of the M micro reflectors. For example, the first reflector may be located in a middle position of the M micro reflectors. In other words, the zoom beam expansion system is disposed at the front end of the micro reflector corresponding to the central field of view, so that a detection range of the central field of view can be expanded or narrowed.
For example,
In
In this embodiment of this application, a size of a field of view detected by a transceiver module is not fixed, but may be flexibly adjusted. For example, if a zoom beam expansion system is disposed at a front end of a micro reflector, and a size of a field of view detected by a transceiver module corresponding to the micro reflector needs to be adjusted, a focal length of the zoom beam expansion system and/or a rotation angle of the micro reflector may be adjusted to adjust an angle of view of the field of view, so as to adjust the field of view. However, if no zoom beam expansion system is disposed at a front end of a micro reflector, and a size of a field of view detected by a transceiver module corresponding to the micro reflector needs to be adjusted, a rotation angle of the micro reflector may be adjusted to adjust an angle of view of the field of view, so as to adjust the field of view. The size of the field of view detected by the transceiver module is adjusted, so that fields of view detected by the plurality of transceiver modules can be better spliced, a blind area between the fields of view is reduced, and space detection coverage is improved.
For example, at a moment, for a size of a field of view detected by each transceiver module, refer to
For another example, at a moment, for a size of a field of view detected by each transceiver module, refer to
Optionally, the detection apparatus may further include a control unit. The control unit may be connected to the P transceiver modules and the M micro reflectors, to control the P transceiver modules to send optical signals, and adjust a rotation angle of one or more micro reflectors in the M micro reflectors. If the detection apparatus includes a zoom beam expansion system, the control unit may further be connected to the zoom beam expansion system, to indicate the zoom beam expansion system to adjust a focal length. For example, if the detection apparatus is a radar, the control unit may be implemented by a control chip in the radar. For another example, if the detection apparatus is a vehicle, the control unit may be implemented by a controller in the vehicle, or may be implemented by a device like a radar disposed in the vehicle.
Alternatively, the detection apparatus does not include a control unit, and the control unit and the detection apparatus are two independent entities. The control unit can be connected to the detection apparatus, to control the P transceiver modules to send optical signals, and adjust a rotation angle of one or more micro reflectors in the M micro reflectors. If the detection apparatus includes a zoom beam expansion system, the control unit may further indicate the zoom beam expansion system to adjust a focal length and the like. For example, if the detection apparatus is a functional module disposed in a radar, the control unit may be implemented by a control chip in the radar. For another example, if the detection apparatus is a functional module disposed in a vehicle, the control unit may be implemented by an in-vehicle controller, or may be implemented by a device like a radar disposed in the vehicle (in this case, the radar does not include the detection apparatus).
For another example, when the detection apparatus is a radar, and the control unit is implemented by an in-vehicle controller, the control unit sends a control signal to the detection apparatus, to adjust a rotation angle of one or more micro reflectors in the M micro reflectors, and/or control the P transceiver modules to send optical signals.
The foregoing describes the detection apparatus provided in embodiments of this application. The following describes the detection method described in embodiments of this application. The detection method may be performed by the detection apparatus. A working process of the detection apparatus can be more clearly described by using the following detection method. For content such as a structure of the detection apparatus in the following, refer to the foregoing descriptions.
S801: P transceiver modules send at least one optical signal.
In an application, the P transceiver modules may simultaneously send optical signals, or a portion of the P transceiver modules may send an optical signal, and a remaining transceiver module does not send an optical signal. In S801, that all the P transceiver modules send optical signals is used as an example. For example, the P transceiver modules may send at least one optical signal, and the at least one optical signal is, for example, P optical signals.
S802: M micro reflectors reflect the at least one optical signal.
If the detection apparatus includes no second optical splitting system, the at least one optical signal sent by the P transceiver modules may directly arrive at the M micro reflectors, and the M micro reflectors may reflect the at least one optical signal. If the detection apparatus includes a second optical splitting system, optical signals sent by H transceiver modules in the P transceiver modules may be split by the second optical splitting system. In other words, H optical signals in the at least one optical signal may be split by the second optical splitting system. For example, the second optical splitting system splits the H optical signals into K optical signals, the K optical signals may arrive at K micro reflectors, and the K micro reflectors may reflect the K optical signals. Remaining optical signals other than the H optical signals in the at least one optical signal do not pass through the second optical splitting system, but directly arrive at M-K micro reflectors, and the M-K micro reflectors may reflect the optical signals. For a manner of disposing the second optical splitting system, a manner of performing optical splitting by the second optical splitting system, and the like, refer to the foregoing related descriptions.
If the detection apparatus includes no zoom beam expansion system, the M micro reflectors may reflect the at least one optical signal to space. Alternatively, if the detection apparatus includes N zoom beam expansion systems, for example, the N zoom beam expansion systems correspond to one or more micro reflectors in the M micro reflectors, and a portion of or all optical signals in the at least one optical signal are reflected by the one or more micro reflectors, the optical signal reflected by the one or more micro reflectors arrives at the N zoom beam expansion systems, and then is transmitted to space through the N zoom beam expansion systems. For content of this part, refer to the foregoing related descriptions.
For example, refer to
For another example, refer to
S803: The P transceiver modules receive an echo of the at least one optical signal reflected by the M micro reflectors.
After the detection apparatus sends the at least one optical signal, the at least one optical signal may be reflected back after arriving at a target object. A reflected signal is the echo of the at least one optical signal. Alternatively, after the detection apparatus sends the at least one optical signal, after arriving at a target object, the at least one optical signal is reflected by the target object to generate an echo, so that the detection apparatus can receive the echo of the at least one optical signal.
If the detection apparatus includes no zoom beam expansion system, the echo of the at least one optical signal arrives at the M micro reflectors, and the M micro reflectors may reflect the echo of the at least one optical signal, so that the reflected echo of the at least one optical signal arrives at the P transceiver modules. Alternatively, if the detection apparatus includes N zoom beam expansion systems, for example, the N zoom beam expansion systems correspond to one or more micro reflectors in the M micro reflectors, and as described above, a portion of or all optical signals in the at least one optical signal are reflected by the one or more micro reflectors, the optical signal reflected by the one or more micro reflectors arrives at the N zoom beam expansion systems, and then is transmitted to space through the N zoom beam expansion systems. Correspondingly, an echo of the portion of or all optical signals in the at least one optical signal arrives at the N zoom beam expansion systems, and arrives at the one or more micro reflectors through the N zoom beam expansion systems. The one or more micro reflectors may reflect the echo of the portion of or all optical signals in the at least one optical signal, so that the reflected echo of the portion of or all optical signals in the at least one optical signal arrives at a portion or all of the P transceiver modules. For a process of receiving and sending optical signals after the zoom beam expansion system is set, refer to the foregoing related descriptions.
If the detection apparatus includes no second optical splitting system, the M micro reflectors may send the reflected echo of the at least one optical signal to the P transceiver modules. Alternatively, if the detection apparatus includes a second optical splitting system, echoes of the K optical signals reflected by the K micro reflectors (where the K optical signals are split based on the H optical signals) may arrive at the second optical splitting system, the second optical splitting system may combine the echoes of the K optical signals into H echoes, the H echoes may arrive at the H transceiver modules, and M-K echoes reflected by M-K micro reflectors may directly arrive at P−H transceiver modules. In this way, the echo of the at least one optical signal arrives at the P transceiver modules. For example, if H=1, the second optical splitting system splits an optical signal sent by a transceiver module into K optical signals, and then combines received echoes of the K optical signals into one optical signal and sends the optical signal to the transceiver module. For another example, if H>1, the second optical splitting system includes optical splitting subsystems. For one of the optical splitting subsystems, an optical signal sent by a transceiver module corresponding to the optical splitting subsystem is split into at least two optical signals, and then received echoes of the at least two optical signals are combined into one optical signal and sent to the transceiver module. For a process of receiving and sending optical signals after the second optical splitting system is disposed, refer to the foregoing related descriptions.
For example, still refer to
For example, still refer to
The M micro reflectors are disposed in the detection apparatus provided in this embodiment of this application, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2. Therefore, the P transceiver modules do not need to receive and send signals by using one reflector, but may receive and send signals by using the M micro reflectors. In this way, a distortion degree of a point cloud formed by optical signals reflected by the micro reflectors is reduced, and accuracy of optical signals received and sent by the detection apparatus is improved. In addition, because a quantity of micro reflectors is increased, a quantity of transceiver modules may also be correspondingly increased, so that a plurality of transceiver modules may be spliced to obtain a larger field of view, so as to detect space in a larger range. In addition, because the zoom beam expansion system is disposed, a detection distance may also be correspondingly increased, so that both short-distance detection and long-distance detection can be implemented in this embodiment of this application.
Optionally, this embodiment of this application may further include the following steps.
S804: The N zoom beam expansion systems adjust a focal length, to change a scanning angle of the portion of or all optical signals in the at least one optical signal in space, or to change an angle of view of a field of view detected by a transceiver module corresponding to the N zoom beam expansion systems.
As described above, for example, a control unit may be disposed in the detection apparatus, or the control unit does not belong to the detection apparatus, but may be connected to the detection apparatus. The control unit may send a signal to trigger the detection apparatus, so that the detection apparatus implements signal sending. Optionally, the control unit may send a signal to trigger one or more zoom beam expansion systems in the N zoom beam expansion systems to adjust a focal length, to change a scanning angle, in space, of an optical signal that is transmitted by the one or more zoom beam expansion systems to space, so as to change a size of a field of view corresponding to the one or more zoom beam expansion systems. The optical signal transmitted by the one or more zoom beam expansion systems to space is the portion of or all optical signals in the at least one optical signal.
For example, it can be learned from the foregoing descriptions that a first zoom beam expansion system is disposed at a front end of a first micro reflector corresponding to a central field of view. The first zoom beam expansion system is, for example, the zoom beam expansion system shown in
S805: The micro reflector array adjusts a rotation angle of at least one of the M micro reflectors, to change a scanning angle of an optical signal reflected by the at least one micro reflector in space.
Because an angle of view of the field of view 2 is adjusted, correspondingly, an angle of view of at least one field of view may be adjusted, so that the fields of view can be better spliced. If the at least one field of view corresponds to a zoom beam expansion system, the angle of view of the at least one field of view may be adjusted by adjusting a focal length of the zoom beam expansion system. If the at least one field of view corresponds to no zoom beam expansion system, the angle of view may be adjusted by adjusting at least one micro reflector corresponding to the at least one field of view. For example, the micro reflector array may adjust the rotation angle of the at least one of the M micro reflectors, to change the scanning angle of the optical signal reflected by the at least one micro reflector in space, so that the angle of view of the at least one field of view corresponding to the at least one micro reflector can be adjusted. For example, the control unit may send a second signal to trigger the at least one micro reflector to adjust the rotation angle, to change the scanning angle, in space, of the optical signal that is transmitted by the at least one micro reflector to space, so as to change the angle of view of the field of view corresponding to the one or more zoom beam expansion systems. An adjustment amount of the rotation angle may be determined by the at least one micro reflector, or the second signal may indicate an adjustment amount of the at least one micro reflector. Adjustment amounts of the at least one micro reflector may be the same or different. Still refer to
S804 may occur before S805, or S804 may occur after S805, or S804 and S805 may occur at the same time. In addition, optional steps are represented by dashed lines in
It can be learned that in this embodiment of this application, a focal length of a zoom beam expansion system and/or a rotation angle of a micro reflector are/is adjusted, so that a size of a field of view can be adjusted, and better splicing between fields of view can be implemented. In this way, the detection apparatus can detect a target of interest, and space detection coverage of the detection apparatus can also be improved.
An embodiment of this application further provides a radar, to provide a detection function for a vehicle. The radar includes at least one detection apparatus mentioned in embodiments of this application. The at least one detection apparatus in the system may be integrated into an entire system or a device, or the at least one detection apparatus in the system may be independently disposed as an element or an apparatus.
An embodiment of this application further provides a vehicle. The vehicle includes at least one detection apparatus mentioned in embodiments of this application, or includes the radar mentioned in the foregoing embodiment of this application. The detection apparatus is disposed in the radar.
When the several embodiments provided in this application are implemented in a form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, the embodiments may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) to perform all or some of the steps of the method described in embodiments of this application. The computer-readable storage medium may be any usable medium that can be accessed by a computer. The following provides an example but does not impose a limitation. The computer readable medium may include a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), or any other medium that can be used to carry or store expected program code in a form of an instruction or a data structure and can be accessed by a computer.
The foregoing descriptions are implementations of this application, and are not intended to limit the protection scope of embodiments of this application. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in embodiments of this application shall fall within the protection scope of embodiments of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of embodiments of this application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.
This application is a continuation application of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2021/082590 filed on Mar. 24, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2021/082590 | Mar 2021 | US |
Child | 18471713 | US |