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.

该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为自动驾驶汽车市场提供低成本的LiDAR+热相机，最终将使4级和5级自治。拟议的创新既包含了激光雷达和热探测器来定位物体，又要对其进行分类，因为这是自动驾驶汽车最关键的方面。双极性激光雷达+热光电探测器解决了当前激光雷达行业的一些主要问题。首先，当前的激光圈必须使用高级算法来对对象进行分类，而LiDAR+热检测器可以轻松区分动画和无生命的对象，同时继续建立其位置。这是由于动画对象的剧烈热签名而进行的。其次，双重性检测器能够在雪或水坑等道路上检测并找到危害，如果在北部地区使用自动驾驶汽车，这至关重要。此外，闪光灯+热速度的帧速率每秒高达200帧，这将大大降低涂抹效果，并允许以70+ mph的速度驾驶。最后，相机的高热分辨率将确保在恶劣天气条件下运行，包括雾气和雨水。此小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I期项目将提供双极性激光雷达+热检测器的概念证明。 32x32像素的阵列将证明，在一个极性中，热中高中图像以及在另一个极性中，像素将在飞行时间模式下运行，以实现闪光激光雷达操作。在激光雷达模式下，像素的光谱响应的范围从500nm到3.5？m。检测器阵列的表征将使用1550nm激光器的眼睛安全。目的是显示200m激光雷达的操作，高分辨率的几厘米和热成像具有4MK的热敏感性。向II期的过渡将包括带有10？m Pixel音高的1000x500的阵列大小。该检测器将在户外进行评估，以证明对动画对象，雪和水坑的检测，并将在雾条件下进行测试。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的智力优点评估来支持的，并具有更广泛的影响。