SBIR Phase I: Affordable Multi-Wavelength Lidar and Thermal Imager for Autonomous Vehicles

SBIR 第一阶段：适用于自动驾驶汽车的经济型多波长激光雷达和热像仪

• 批准号: 1843757
• 负责人: Shimon Maimon
• 金额: $ 22.25万
• 依托单位: NBN TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-02-01 至 2020-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1843757&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Affordable; Multi; Wavelength

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to provide a low cost Lidar+Thermal camera to the autonomous car market that will eventually enable level 4 and level 5 autonomy. The proposed innovation incorporates both a Lidar and a thermal detector to locate objects but also classify them, as this is the most crucial aspect of autonomous vehicles. The dual polarity Lidar+Thermal photodetector solves a few major issues in the current Lidar industry. First, current Lidars have to use advanced algorithms to classify the objects, whereas a Lidar+Thermal detector can easily distinguish between animate and inanimate objects, while continuing to establish their location. This is done due to the drastic heat signature of animate objects. Second, the dual polarity detector is able to detect and locate hazards on the road such as snow or puddles, which is vital if autonomous vehicles are used in northern regions. In addition, the frame rate of the Flash Lidar+Thermal is up to 200 Frames per second, which will drastically reduce smearing effects and allow for driving at speeds of 70+ MPH. Lastly, the high thermal resolution of the camera will ensure operation in bad weather conditions including fog and rain.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will provide a proof-of-concept of the dual polarity Lidar+Thermal detector. An array of 32x32 pixels will demonstrate that in one polarity, a thermal hot-mid-wave image and in the other polarity the pixels will operate in a time-of-flight mode for Flash Lidar operation. The pixel?s spectral response will range from 500nm up to 3.5?m in the Lidar mode. Characterization of the detector array will use the eye-safe 1550nm laser. The goal is to show a 200m Lidar operation with a high resolution of a few centimeters and thermal imaging with a thermal sensitivity of 4mK. The transition to Phase II will include an array size of 1000x500 with 10?m pixel pitch. The detector will be evaluated outdoors to demonstrate the detection of animate objects, snow and puddles and will be tested under fog conditions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为自动驾驶汽车市场提供低成本的激光雷达+热像仪，最终实现4级和5级自动驾驶。这项拟议的创新结合了激光雷达和温度探测器来定位物体，并对它们进行分类，因为这是自动驾驶汽车最关键的方面。双极性激光雷达+热敏光电探测器解决了当前激光雷达行业中的几个主要问题。首先，目前的激光雷达必须使用先进的算法来对物体进行分类，而激光雷达+热探测器可以很容易地区分有生命和无生命的物体，同时继续确定它们的位置。这是由于动画对象的剧烈热签名造成的。其次，双极性检测器能够检测和定位道路上的危险，如积雪或水坑，如果在北部地区使用自动驾驶车辆，这是至关重要的。此外，闪光激光雷达+热像仪的帧速率高达每秒200帧，这将极大地减少涂抹效果，并允许以每小时70英里以上的速度行驶。最后，相机的高热分辨率将确保在雾和雨等恶劣天气条件下运行。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将提供双极性激光雷达+热探测器的概念验证。32x32像素的阵列将演示在一个极性下的热中波图像，而在另一个极性中，像素将在闪光激光雷达操作的飞行时间模式下操作。在激光雷达模式下，像元S的光谱响应范围从500 nm到3.5m。探测器阵列的表征将使用眼睛安全的1550 nm激光。目标是展示一台200米长的激光雷达操作，具有几厘米的高分辨率和热成像，热灵敏度为4mK。过渡到第二阶段将包括1000x500的阵列大小和10？M像素间距。该探测器将在户外进行评估，以展示对动态物体、雪和水坑的探测，并将在雾条件下进行测试。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。