{
  "patent_number": "US 12130389",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Self-Driving Cars Detect Dirty Lidar Sensors",
  "original_title": "Methods and systems for detecting sensor occlusions",
  "summary": "Waymo's 2024 patent on a self-driving car system that uses two scans from a rotating Lidar sensor to spot dirt or obstructions on its lens.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a method for a self-driving car's Lidar system to detect when its view is blocked. The Lidar sensor, which uses light to measure distances, has a housing that spins. As it spins, it sends out light pulses and measures how they bounce back, creating a 'scan' of its surroundings. This patent claims a system that takes two separate scans of the same area. By comparing these two scans, the system can identify if a part of the view is consistently missing or distorted, indicating something is blocking the Lidar's optical window, like dirt or a sticker. For example, if the first scan shows a clear road but the second scan shows a blurry patch in the same spot, the system knows something is obstructing the sensor.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Lidar systems that do not rotate their sensor housing.",
    "Methods that only take a single scan of the environment.",
    "Detecting occlusions using sensors other than Lidar.",
    "Systems that do not compare multiple scans to identify blockages.",
    "Identifying occlusions that are not on the optical window of the Lidar."
  ],
  "filed": "2021-03-10",
  "granted": "2024-10-29",
  "expires": "2041-03-10",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Waymo",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/waymo",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Nicholas Armstrong-Crews",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/nicholas-armstrong-crews"
    },
    {
      "name": "Blaise Gassend",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/blaise-gassend"
    },
    {
      "name": "Scott McCloskey",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/scott-mccloskey"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 1,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "aerospace",
    "consumer_electronics",
    "robotics",
    "ai_ml"
  ],
  "abstract": "One example method involves rotating a housing of a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device about a first axis. The housing includes a first optical window and a second optical window. The method also involves transmitting a first plurality of light pulses through the first optical window to obtain a first scan of a field-of-view (FOV) of the LIDAR device. The method also involves transmitting a second plurality of light pulses through the second optical window to obtain a second scan of the FOV. The method also involves identifying, based on the first scan and the second scan, a portion of the FOV that is at least partially occluded by an occlusion.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12130389/methods-and-systems-for-detecting-sensor-occlusions",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12130389/methods-and-systems-for-detecting-sensor-occlusions/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12130389",
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}