Toyota's Patent on Detecting Road Hazards with LIDAR
Toyota's 2025 patent describes a car system using LIDAR to spot road problems by comparing how light bounces off the road to a known 'good' road signal.
Original patent title: “Method for road debris detection using low-cost LIDAR”
Toyota's 2025 patent describes a car system using LIDAR to spot road problems by comparing how light bounces off the road to a known 'good' road signal. Granted to Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America in 2025 with 23 claims, and it is expected to expire in 2043.
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent explains how a car can detect unexpected things on the road, like potholes or debris. It uses a special type of LIDAR (light detection and ranging) that sends out a light signal and measures the reflection. The system takes the reflected light data, does a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to turn it into frequency information, and compares its 'slope' on a graph to the expected slope from a known 'good' road signal. If the difference in slopes is too big, it signals an anomaly. This helps the car know if something unusual is ahead without needing complex mechanical scanners.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Detecting anomalies using methods other than LIDAR, such as cameras or radar.
- Identifying anomalies based on visual appearance rather than the reflected light signal's frequency characteristics.
- Systems that do not perform a Fast Fourier Transform on the reflected light signal.
- Anomaly detection that doesn't compare the signal's slope to a predefined 'known response signal' slope.
- Road condition analysis that relies on traditional mechanical scanning LIDAR systems.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
Key facts
What made this novel
The innovation lies in using the 'slope' of the transformed LIDAR signal, derived from frequency data, as a direct indicator of road surface anomalies, bypassing the need for complex 3D mapping or detailed object recognition for basic hazard detection.
The Patent Drawing
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) in modern vehicles
Future autonomous driving systems
Road condition monitoring for smart infrastructure
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This patent is part of the ongoing effort to make self-driving and driver-assist systems safer by improving their ability to perceive and react to road hazards in real-time. Accurate detection of road anomalies is critical for autonomous vehicle navigation and collision avoidance.
Filed
December 12, 2023
Granted
May 6, 2025
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Toyota, as the assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →, is likely developing and integrating this technology into its own vehicle platforms. Other automotive manufacturers and their Tier 1 suppliers are also heavily invested in LIDAR-based perception systems for ADAS and autonomous driving.
Market impact
This patent contributes to the growing intellectual property landscape around automotive sensor fusion and environmental perception. It aims to provide a cost-effective LIDAR solution for detecting road hazards, potentially influencing the design choices for future vehicle sensor suites and reducing reliance on more expensive or complex sensing modalities for basic anomaly detection.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent explains how a car can detect unexpected things on the road, like potholes or debris. It uses a special type of LIDAR (light detection and ranging) that sends out a light signal and measures the reflection. The system takes the reflected light data, does a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to turn it into frequency information, and compares its 'slope' on a graph to the expected slope from a known 'good' road signal. If the difference in slopes is too big, it signals an anomaly. This helps the car know if something unusual is ahead without needing complex mechanical scanners.
The clever bit
The innovation lies in using the 'slope' of the transformed LIDAR signal, derived from frequency data, as a direct indicator of road surface anomalies, bypassing the need for complex 3D mapping or detailed object recognition for basic hazard detection.
What it does not cover
- Detecting anomalies using methods other than LIDAR, such as cameras or radar.
- Identifying anomalies based on visual appearance rather than the reflected light signal's frequency characteristics.
- Systems that do not perform a Fast Fourier Transform on the reflected light signal.
- Anomaly detection that doesn't compare the signal's slope to a predefined 'known response signal' slope.
- Road condition analysis that relies on traditional mechanical scanning LIDAR systems.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
Patent enters public domain
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Early stage
Citation count
0/40
No citations yet
Claim breadth
15/20
Broad claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →
Recency
20/20
Granted within 5 years
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$35K – $112K
Midpoint $70K · 17.2 yr remaining · industry ×1.5
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
Claim text not yet imported for this patent
The original legal language
Original claims
23 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Schmalenberg, P. D. (2025). Toyota's Patent on Detecting Road Hazards with LIDAR (U.S. Patent No. 12,292,511). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12292511/method-for-road-debris-detection-using-low-cost-lidar
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Toyota's Patent on Detecting Road Hazards with LIDAR cover?
Toyota's 2025 patent describes a car system using LIDAR to spot road problems by comparing how light bounces off the road to a known 'good' road signal.
Who owns patent US 12292511?
Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America owns this patent, granted in 2025.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on December 12, 2043, when the invention enters the public domain.
What problem does this patent solve?
This patent is part of the ongoing effort to make self-driving and driver-assist systems safer by improving their ability to perceive and react to road hazards in real-time. Accurate detection of road anomalies is critical for autonomous vehicle navigation and collision avoidance.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Detecting anomalies using methods other than LIDAR, such as cameras or radar.
Same assignee
More from Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America
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