The invention relates to a vision system for a motor vehicle comprising a light beam generation part adapted to generate at least one light beam directed to a scanned surface in the en vironment of the vehicle; at least one light deflection device comprising an array of light deflection elements, wherein the orientation of each light deflection element is switchable be- tween at least a first orientation and a second orientation, to redirect light which is incident on said light deflection element from the scanned surface in at least a first deflec tion direction corresponding to the first orientation or a second deflection direction corresponding to the second orien- tation; a plurality of light sensing devices adapted to sense light beam portions which are redirected from the at least one light deflection device in said first and/or second deflection direction and incident on light sensitive surfaces of said light sensing devices; a plurality of lens systems adapted to focus different reflected light beams from the scanned surface to the light deflection device, wherein the first lens system is arranged to observe a first portion of the scanned surface and the second lens system is arranged to observe a second portion of the scanned surface that differs from the first scanned surface portion; and a data processing device. The in vention also relates to a corresponding vision method.

Similar vision systems are generally known, for example from WO 2012 123809 A1 and WO 2014 125153 A1. Herein, a surface is illuminated by a light beam that originates from a light source and is reflected by the surface. The reflected light beam is incident on a lens arrangement transmitting the light beam towards the light deflection device where it is deflected in a specific manner to either a light sensing device or to an absorber. The time-of -flight of the light beam is indicative of the distance between the system and a point on the surface, which spatial location is derivable from information on the light deflection device and by the time-of -flight .

The field of view of such systems, which usually refers to the opening angle, is limited by the optical properties of the lens arrangement, its geometry, optical axis, and the size of the entrance pupil, through which the light enters the system. Due to imaging aberrations, a large field of view typically requires a small entrance pupil and at the same time the area of the entrance pupil is proportional to the light gathering capabilities of the system. However, the amount of light pass- ing through the entrance pupil and the lens arrangement is crucial for the light sensing capabilities of the sensing de vice. Thus, the size of the entrance pupil of the lens ar rangement needs to balance the requirements of the field of view and sufficient light transmission.

A large field of view is favorable but leads to low light sensing capabilities and requires larger power of the light source to emit a high intensity light beam. This leads to dif ficulties with power consumption, cooling, cost, durability, and eye safety constraints. A small field of view is typically not favorable.

The problem underlying the invention is to improve the field of view and the light sensing capabilities of the vision sys- tern and method.

The invention solves this problem with the features of the in dependent claims. The system according to the present inven- tion suggests that the number of light deflection devices is smaller than the number of light sensing devices; each of the first lens system and the second lens system is arranged to focus a corresponding reflected light beam from the scanned surface to the light deflection device; and wherein due to the different angles of incidence of the reflected light beams along said first optical axis and said second optical axis on the light deflection device, the light beams incident on the same light deflection device are directed to different light sensing devices.

According to the invention, it is suggested that light from at least one light beam is directed to different light sensing devices using the same single light deflection device. At least two light beams travelling on different optical paths and at least two different detector paths directing light from the lens systems towards the light sensing devices, but a smaller number of light deflection devices, for example only one light deflection device, to direct light on the at least two light sensing devices are provided. At least two light pulses can for example be travelling along different optical paths. The number of detector paths preferably equals the num ber of light sensing devices. The invention makes the vision system more compact and lightweight and uses less deflection devices than light sensing devices which is cost-effective, since the light deflection device is typically the second most expensive component in the vision system.

The first scanned surface portion observed by the first lens system and the second scanned surface portion observed by the second lens system can be non-overlapping, partially overlap ping or fully overlapping. Therefore, the first scanned sur face portion and the second scanned surface portion are dif- ferent from each other by not being identical to each other.

No other restriction is implied in the first scanned surface portion and the second scanned surface portion being different from each other.

The advantageous common focus of the first lens system and the second lens system on the light deflection device allows the improvement of the field of view, the scanned surface portions and the light sensing capabilities by imaging non-overlapping, or at least partially overlapping, scanned surface portions, and/or different fields of view defined by the lens systems or the use of complementary imaging modes, such as for example a combination of polarimetric, RGB, multispectral and/or time of flight images with a different mode in each of the light sens- ing devices .

The first and the second lens system are preferably arranged such that their optical axes enclose different angles with the light deflection device to allow light travelling along dif- ferent deflection directions. This supports the use of multi ple light sensing devices but less light deflection devices. Light beams that are transmitted via the first lens system en close an angle of incidence with the light deflection device that preferably differs from the angle of incidence that is enclosed by light beams that are transmitted via the second lens system and the light deflection device. Thus, the first deflection direction depends on the angle of incidence which is defined by the optical axes of the lens systems. Preferably, the first light sensing device is exposed to light transmitted through the first lens system, and the second light sensing device is exposed to light transmitted through the second lens system. In this manner, data transmitted through the first lens system is mapped to the first light sensing device and data transmitted through the second lens system is mapped to the second light sensing device. In this embodiment the different fields of view of the first lens sys- tern and the second lens system can be monitored by the respec tive light sensing devices, including the possibility of them to be coincident to image the same field of view under differ ent imaging modes . In a preferred embodiment, the first light sensing device is protected from light transmitted through the second lens sys tem, and the second light sensing device is protected from light transmitted through the first lens system. This is done to ensure that the first light sensing device is not disturbed by light that is transmitted through the second lens system and the second light sensing device is not disturbed by light that is transmitted through the first lens system. The protec tion can be achieved by an appropriate arrangement of the first lens system, the second lens system, the light deflec- tion device and/or the light sensing devices. The protection can comprise optical shielding, e.g., by a separation of the detector paths and/or optical filters and/or beam splitters of different types. Advantageously, each of the light sensing devices is exposed to light transmitted through one of the lens systems, only. This ensures a one-to-one correspondence between the field of view and/or the scanned surface portion of the first lens sys tem and the first light sensing device, and the second lens system and the second light sensing device.

In a preferred embodiment, the first lens system, the light deflection device, and the first light sensing device form a first depth imaging system, and the second lens system, the light deflection device, and the second light sensing device form a second depth imaging system different from the first depth imaging system, to allow complementary depth imaging. The depth imaging can in particular be LIDAR imaging based on run-time/time-of-flight measurements of the emitted light pulses or beams. In this embodiment the vision system compris es two different LIDAR systems using a common light deflection device .

Preferably, the normal of the light sensitive surface of the first light sensing device is different from the normal of the light sensitive surface of the second light sensing device. This ensures an optimal exposure of the light sensitive sur- faces with respect to the first deflection directions which are preferably perpendicular to the light sensitive surfaces. The differently inclined light sensitive surfaces of the light sensing devices allow mounting the first light sensing device and the second light sensing device on different printed cir- cuit boards, substrates and/or wafers and thereby an independ ent arrangement of the light sensing devices.

In a preferred embodiment, the first optical axis of the first lens system and the second optical axis of the second lens system intersect at the light deflection device to ensure fo cusing of the reflected light beams on the deflection device.

Advantageously, the number of light deflection devices is one to enable a particularly effective embodiment. With one light deflection device, the number of light sensing devices can equal the number of lens systems and/or the number of differ ent optical paths travelled by the plurality of light beams emitted into the environment . Preferably, the different scanned surface portions observed by the lens systems comprise complementary and/or at least par tially overlapping regions to scan the field of view in a pre- ferred manner. In one embodiment, the lens systems have two identical fields of view with optical axes that differ from each other. Two lens systems with an identical field of view of for example 60° in the horizontal each could be configured to be non-overlapping, i.e., complementary. This would yield a total field of view of for example 120° . In case of partially overlapping fields of view, the total field of view would be between 60° and 120°. In a further embodiment, two different lens systems with different fields of view, of for example 30° and 100°, could be overlapping whereby the narrow field of view can provide longer range due to the larger optical aper ture than a narrower lens system allows. In this embodiment, the total field of view is 100° with a higher range in the section covered by the 30° lens. The two lens systems in this embodiment may be fully overlapping, partially overlapping, or non-overlapping. A preferred embodiment would be fully over lapping, whereby the 30° field of view lens system covers a central region of the overview provided by the wide 100° field of view lens system. In this embodiment, there will be differ ent fields of view but possibly the same optical axis.

In one embodiment, the light beam generation part is adapted to emit a plurality of light beams into at least two different regions of the vehicle environment, and each of the lens sys tems is arranged to focus a reflected light beam corresponding to the reflection on the surface of any one of the plurality of light beams to the light deflection device to enable an ef fective partition of the scanned surface and/or of the overall field of view. For example, a first light beam could be emit- ted to scan the first scanned surface portion and a second light beam could be emitted to scan the second scanned surface portion. The number of light beams can be larger than two, and preferably coincides with the number of light sensing devices. The different regions can comprise complementary, overlapping, and/or coinciding sections.

Preferably, any one of the lens systems is arranged to focus a reflected light beam corresponding to the reflection on the surface of one light beam, only, to the light deflection de vice. This ensures a one-to-one correspondence of emitted light beams and reflected light beams that are to be detected by the light sensing devices. In a preferred embodiment, at least two of the plurality of light beams are generated by a common light source to enable a simple and cost-effective time-of-flight measurement. In this embodiment, the light generation part can comprise the light source and at least one beam splitter adapted to split a light beam emitted from the light source into a plurality of light beams .

According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the light beam generation part comprises a plurality of light sources, wherein each light source is adapted to generate one of the light beams, and wherein the number of light deflection devic es is smaller than the number of light sources, and preferably is one. By using a plurality of n separate light sources on the same light deflection device, a plurality of n spots can be measured simultaneously in the vehicle environment, and thus, the pulse repetition rate PRR can be reduced to PRR/n as compared to a single light source. Therefore, a main advantage of this aspect is reduced pulse repetition rate PRR, thus ris- ing the peak power, and/or enabling the use of different light sources including cost-effective laser diodes. The reduction of the pulse repetition rate PRR also allows an eye-safe mode at a higher laser pulse power, because the number of accumu- lated pulses in the eye reduces significantly without affect ing optical performance.

Preferably, the light beams from the light sources are di rected to different regions in the vehicle environment. This achieves an improved balance between the spatial resolution in the different image regions and frame rate; power requirements are relaxed for each single light source. The light sources may operate at different wavelengths, without being bound to this feature. Generally, all light sources may operate at the same wavelength, one or more wavelengths may be different from one another, or all operation wavelengths may be mutually dif ferent from each other.

Each receiver path may be divided into multiple receivers to gain larger optical aperture and hence longer range for a giv en emitted laser power.

In a preferred embodiment, the light beam generation part is adapted to emit one light beam into the environment to cover the whole field of view of the vision system. The field of view of the vision system can be defined by the directions in which the light beams can be directed and/or by the field of view as defined by any of the lens systems. This embodiment allows that a single light beam illuminates the full field of view and/or scanned surface under test which is observed through separate optical systems or lens systems, or through separate receiving units. In the following the invention shall be illustrated on the ba sis of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompany ing drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a vision system;

Figs. 2, 3 show embodiments of an optical unit of the vision system; Figs. 4-6 schematically show the arrangement of a light deflec tion device, two light sensing devices, and a lens arrangement ;

Fig. 7 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of a vision system with two emitted light beams; and

Figs. 8, 9 show schematic views of further vision systems.

According to Figure 1, the vision system 1 is mounted in or on a vehicle 100 to capture images of a scanned surface 4 in the environment 5 of the vehicle 100. The vision system 1 compris es an optical unit 22 having a light emitting unit 25 and a light receiving unit 26, and a data processing device 19. The vision system 1 can further include other detection systems and/or sensors such as radar or other cameras.

The light emitting unit 25 comprises a light generation part that is adapted to emit a light beam 3 (Figure 3) which is preferably directed through a lens arrangement 10 towards the environment 5 of the vehicle 100, or (Figure 2) a first light beam 3a, which is preferably directed through a first lens ar rangement 10a towards the environment 5 of the vehicle 100, and a second light beam 3b, which is, as schematically shown in Figure 7, preferably directed through a second lens ar rangement 10b towards the environment 5 of the vehicle 100. As shown in Figures 1-3, the light beams 3, 3a, 3b eventually in teract with the environment 5, in particular the scanned sur- face 4 or dust, snow, rain, and/or fog in the environment 5. The light beams 3, 3a, 3b are reflected and a reflected first light beam 16a of the first light beam 3a and a reflected sec ond light beam 16b of the second light beam 3b enter the opti cal unit 22, more particular the receiving unit 26 thereof. In the case of a single light beam 3, there is only one reflected light beam 16 at each time, which is either captured through a first lens system 11a (then the light beam 16 is designated 16a) or a second lens system lib (then the light beam 16 is designated 16b) . The light entering the optical unit 22 is preferably recorded by the optical unit 22 and the recorded image data is processed by the data processing device 19.

The driver assistance device 20 is able to trigger defined driver assistance action to assist the driver, e.g. braking, acceleration, steering, showing information, based on the data provided by the data processing device 19.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the vision system 1 com prises a single optical unit 22 mounted for example in the front part of a vehicle 1 and directed for example towards the front of the vehicle 1. Other positions in/on the vehicle are also possible, for example mounted at and/or directed towards the rear, the left, and/or the right. The vision system 1 can also comprise a plurality of optical units 22, emitting units 25, and/or receiving units 26 that are mounted and/or directed for example towards the rear, the left, and/or the right. The viewing direction of the optical unit 22, emitting unit 25 and/or the receiving unit 26 is preferably variable. A plural ity of optical units 22, emitting units 25, and/or receiving units 26 allows covering a wide overall field of view, even up to 360° around the vehicle 100. A plurality of optical units 22, emitting units 25, and/or receiving units 26 could com municate with separate data processing devices 19, communicate with a single data processing device 19, or work with a mas ter-slave configuration. In particular, the images recorded from the environment 5 could be used for physical calibration of the plurality of the optical units 22, emitting units 25, and/or receiving units 26 to cover a large field of view.

Figure 2 shows an embodiment of the vision system 1 in more detail. The light generation part is arranged in the light emitting unit 25 and comprises preferably a light source 2.

The light source 2 preferably comprises a laser, including la ser diodes, fiber lasers, etc., such that the vision system 1 is a LIDAR system. Other embodiments of the light source 2 are possible, e.g. LEDs, or polarized light sources of different wavebands, adapted to correspond with the recording capabili ties of light sensing devices 8a, 8b comprised in the optical unit 22 and/or in the receiving unit 26. In the present embodiment, the light generation part comprises a beam splitter 15b for example a semi-transparent mirror, adapted to split the single light beam 3 from the light source 2 into the first light beam 3a and the second light beam 3b.

In the present embodiment, the beam splitter is formed by the second scanning device 15b, which is explained later. The beam splitter may be independent from any scanning device 15a, 15b in other embodiments. For example, the light beam 3 from the light source 2 could be split by a separate beam splitter into first and second light beams 3a, 3b, before the first light beam 3a is directed on a first scanning device 15a and the second light beam 3b is directed on a second scanning device 15b. In a still further embodiment, at least two light beams 3a, 3b could be directed at a single scanning device 15 (see

Figure 3) under different angles, such that the light beams outgoing from the scanning device 15 are also directed out in different angles. The use of the light source 2, a plurality of light sources, and/or a beam splitter 15b determines the sensing and detec tion capabilities of the vision system 1 and preferably pro vides multi-specular methods, improvement of the sensitivity of retro-reflected beams, and/or road friction estimations.

In the embodiment of Figure 2, a separate scanning device 15a, 15b can be provided for each light beam 3a, 3b to scan the full field of view of the emitting unit 25. The light genera tion part 2 is adapted to generate a plurality of light beams 3a, 3b comprising a first light beam 3a and a second light beam 3b with different directions and directed to a scanned surface 4 in the environment 5 of the vehicle. Here, the light beams 3a, 3b are directed to different regions and adjacent regions are preferably scanned by the light beams 3a, 3b in order to get a composed image in one single imaging mode used by the light sensing devices 8a, 8b. It is also possible to direct light beams 3a, 3b to the same direction, if different imaging modes are used in the light sensing devices 8a, 8b, or to use a single scanning device 15 which covers the full field of view which is then imaged separately onto the light sensing devices 8a, 8b, as will be described later with respect to Figure 3. The light source 2 preferably generates pulsed laser light with a specific wavelength to feed the beam splitter 15b to split the incoming light and generate the plurality of light beams 3a, 3b.

A small portion of the light beam 3 (Figure 3) and/or any of the light beams 3a, 3b is preferably divided or split by a beam splitter 51 and directed towards a trigger device 21 com prised in the emitting unit 25 to allow an accurate time-of- flight estimation. The trigger device 21 is preferably in com munication with the data processing device 19 to start and/or synchronize the time-of-flight measurement in order to realize a LIDAR system and to allow depth imaging. The light beams 3a, 3b (Figure 2) , or the light beam 3 (Figure 3) can in some em bodiments be widened by suited optical components, e.g., a first lens arrangement 10a (Figure 2), or a lens arrangement 10 (Figure 3), which may defocus, and thereby widen, any of the light beams 3, 3a, 3b, towards the scanned surface 4. The first lens arrangement 10a may be different for different light beams 3a, 3b, for example depending on their optical properties, such as intensity, wavelength and/or polarization.

Each light beam 3a, 3b can in the embodiment of Figure 2 be redirected by a corresponding scanning device 15a, 15b com prised in the emitting unit 25, for example a mirror rotatable around at least one axis.

The at least one scanning device 15, 15a, 15b like a mirror, a group of mirrors, a prism arrangement such as Risley prisms, and/or other optical component and/or a group thereof, is adapted to be controllable by and in communication with the data processing device 19. The scanning device 15, 15a, 15b, which may in particular be a MEMS device, is preferably adapted to be rotatable around at least two axes, allowing scanning of the environment 5 of the vehicle 100. For example, a horizontal scanning device could be arranged to perform the rotation around a first axis and a vertical scanning device could be arranged to perform a rotation around a second axis. By means of the at least one scanning device 15, 15a, 15b, at least one light beam 3, 3a, 3b can be directed sequentially towards points or spots on the scanned surface 4.

Preferably, the first light beam 3a is directed to a first scanned surface portion 4a of the scanned surface 4 that is complementary, or at least partially overlapping, to the sec ond scanned surface portion 4b whereto the second light beam 3b is directed. The first light beam 3a is reflected on and/or scattered by the first scanned surface portion 4a or by other reflectors and/or scatterers in the environment 5, such as rain, fog, dust or snow, and a reflected first light beam 16a of the first light beam 3a is reflected and enters the optical unit 22 and/or the receiving unit 26, e.g., by passing a first lens system 11a, alternatively an entrance window. The second light beam 3b is reflected on the second scanned surface por- tion 4b or by other reflectors and/or scatterers in the envi ronment 5, and a reflected second light beam portion 16b of the second light beam 3b is reflected and enters the optical unit 22 and/or the receiving unit 26, e.g., by passing a sec ond lens system lib, alternatively an entrance window. The first scanned surface portion 4a is preferably complementary, at least partially, to the second scanned surface portion 4b. I.e., the scanned surface portions 4a, 4b comprise non

overlapping portions of the scanned surface 4 in order to ena ble scanning of an overall field of view that is composed of fields of view as defined by the scanned surface portions 4a, 4b. The first lens system 11a has a first field of view 90 to scan the first portion 4a. The second lens system lib has a second field of view 91 that potentially differs from the first field of view 90 of the first lens system 11a to scan the second portion 4b that differs from the first scanned surface portion 4a (see also Figures 4 to 6 for fields of view 90, 91) . The lens systems 11a, lib can be arranged so that the fields of view 90, 91 overlap at least partially and/or are disjoint and/or so that the scanned surface portions 4a, 4b coincide, overlap, overlap at least partially or are non-overlapping.

Overlapping scanned surface portions 4a, 4b of lens systems 11a, lib can have potential benefits as follows. The detection range can be increased by using one field of view 90, 91 nar- rower than the other the field of view 90, 91. The range can be increased by having at least two laser light beams 3a, 3b illuminating the same location in the overlap region of the scanned surface portions 4a, 4b and thereby by providing more optical power at the specific location. The resolution can be increased using one field of view 90, 91 narrower than the other the field of view 90, 91 that allows subsampling of each illuminated spot.

In one embodiment the scanned surface portions 4a, 4b overlap so that the first portion 4a is entirely located within the second portion 4b. I.e. the second field of view 91 is larger and/or wider than the first field of view 90 and/or the second portion 4b overlaps the first portion 4a. The lens systems 11a, lib can be configured to have different fields of view 90, 91 and/or partially or fully overlapping detection areas, i.e., scanned surface potions 4a, 4b. For ex ample, with first lens system 11a, having the first portion 4a with a narrower first field of view 90 than the second field of view 91 of the second lens system lib and that overlaps the second portion 4b of the second lens system lib, a zoom-in function is generated by the narrower first field of view 90 and/or first portion 4a. This provides longer detection range due to the larger possible optical aperture of the first lens system 11a which is possible for a narrower field of view 90 and the same size of the deflection device 6. The wider, sec ond field of view 91 imaging through the second lens system lib will provide a wide overview of the second portion 4b but less range than the first lens system 11a with its field of view 90. The narrower, first field of view 90 imaging through the first lens system 11a will provide a longer range at a part of the area covered by the second lens system lib.

In a preferred embodiment, each lens system 11a, lib can be a complex optical system involving a number of different single lenses, beam splitters, polarizers, filters, diaphragms or other optical components arranged in combination in order to provide a given optical performance. Preferably, each lens system 11a, lib comprises, or consists of, a lens objective. The first lens system 11a has a first optical axis 31a as the central optical axis of the first lens system 11a. The second lens system lib has a second optical axis 31b as the central optical axis of the second lens system lib. The first optical axis 31a differs from the second optical axis 31b.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the lens systems 11a, lib are arranged side by side in juxtaposition and do not overlap, that is, the lens systems 11a, lib are arranged in a non sequential manner with respect to the optical path. In other words, the optical axes 31a, 31b of the lens systems 11a, lib do not coincide. The lens systems 11a, lib are preferably em- bedded in a frame or in separate frames which are adapted to orientate the optical axes 31a, 31b of the lens systems 11a, lib in a desired direction. The optical axes 31a, 31b can be tilted with respect to each other so that the first optical axis 31a is different from the second optical axis 31b. In this embodiment, the first optical axis 31a includes an angle with the second optical axis 31b. Also in Figures 4 to 6, the first optical axis 31a is non- parallel to, i.e. tilted, with respect to the second optical axis 31b. The lens systems 11a, lib can be arranged to achieve a preferred overall field of view of for example 90 degrees, for example, the optical axes 31a, 31b of the lens systems 11a, lib can be slightly tilted (e.g. <15°), tilted (e.g. 15°- 60°), strongly tilted (e.g. 60°-90°) and/or directed into dif ferent directions (e.g. >90°), preferably depending on the viewing angle of the lens systems 11a, lib.

The viewing angle can be different for each of the lens sys- terns 11a, lib so as to improve the performance. A lens system 11a, lib with a smaller field of view will have a larger range or need less power for the same range given a specific size of the entrance pupil. The overall field of view and/or scanned surface 4 can be divided in as many fractions and/or scanned surface portions 4a, 4b as desired by a corresponding number of lens systems 11a, lib. The overall field of view and/or scanned surface 4 can in principle get up to 360° if so de sired, given proper arrangements are done. The number of lens systems 11a, lib is not limited to two and can be increased to meet the respective requirements.

Smaller fractions of the field of view enable larger entrance apertures or lens diameters, which results in better light gathering capabilities, which enable better performance of the vision system 1 due to the availability of a stronger signal. As the overall field of view is divided, each single imaging subsystem 40a, 40b, defined by the lens systems 11a, lib, needs to cover a fraction smaller than the overall field of view, relaxing the trade-off between the field of view and the range of the vision system 1, related to the aperture of the entrance pupil. The reflected first light beam 16a transmitted by the first lens system 11a enters the optical unit 22 and/or the receiv ing unit 26 and is preferably directed along a first detector path 13a towards a prism 14 placed within the optical unit 22 and/or the receiving unit 26, allowing for optical path divi- sion and/or light deflection. The reflected second light beam 16b transmitted by the second lens system lib enters the opti cal unit 22 and/or the receiving unit 26 and is preferably di rected along a second detector path 13b towards the prism 14. Each of the lens systems 11a, lib is adapted to focus a re flected light beam 16a, 16b corresponding to any of the lens systems 11a, lib and to any of the light beams 3a, 3b to a light deflection device 6. The reflected light beams 16a, 16b reflected by the surface 4 are directed towards the light de- flection device 6 along detector paths 13a, 13b comprising a plurality of light deflection elements 7. The deflection de vice 6 is in communication with the data processing device 19. The data processing device 19 is adapted to control the de flection elements 7 of the light deflection device 6.

In this embodiment, the vision system 1 comprises a single light deflection device 6. The light deflection device 6 can comprise a planar basis, e.g., a printed circuit board, a sub- strate, and/or a wafer, on which an array of light deflection elements 7 is arranged. The array of light deflection elements 7 can for example be one- or two-dimensional, i.e., a line- array or a matrix. The light deflection elements 7 can be con- trollable by a common controller of the light deflection de vice 6.

Each light deflection element 7 is adapted to switch its ori entation between at least a first orientation and a second orientation allowing the light beam 13a, 13b traveling along the corresponding detector paths 13a, 13b to be deflected in a first deflection direction 9 if the light is incident on a de flection element 7 oriented in the first orientation or in a second deflection direction 17 if the light is incident on a light deflection element 7 oriented in the second orientation. The switch of the orientation of any of the light deflection elements 7 preferably changes its tilt with respect to a rota tional axis. The light deflection elements 7 can be adapted to be switchable between two, a plurality of, and/or a continuous band of orientations.

In a preferred embodiment, the light deflection device 6 is a DMD, i.e., a digital micro mirror device on a chip with a plu rality of controllable micro mirrors as deflection elements 7. In this embodiment, the at least two orientations of each of the light deflection elements 7 are the orientations of micro mirrors that are individually rotatable controlled by electro static interactions. Alternatives for the deflection device 6 to the DMD may be other active optical elements, in particular pixelated arrays (such as LCDs or Liquid crystal tunable fil ters) or even deformable mirrors. In the pixelated arrays, each pixel is a deflection element 7 and in each pixel a crys tal can change its orientation to influence light transmis- sion, deflection and/or reflection properties. In LCDs, addi tional passive or active optical elements, such as additional DMDs , LCDs, and/or deformable mirrors, can be used in the sys tem to obtain better data quality. Active strategies for local image quality improvement using a deformable mirror in the op tical path or a LCD device used as a shutter or as a phase modulator can enhance the quality of the data.

Each light deflection element 7 is adapted to redirect light which is incident on said light deflection element 7 from the scanned surface 4, and to redirect light in at least either the first deflection direction 9 corresponding to the first orientation or the second deflection direction 17 correspond ing to the second orientation. The difference of the first de flection direction 9 and the second deflection direction 17 of light deflected by a single light deflection element 7 arises from a switch and/or toggle between the different orientations of the light deflection element 7. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, incident light on a de flection element 7 oriented in the first orientation is pref erably deflected as first light beam portions 18a, 18b via the prism 14 towards the light sensing devices 8a, 8b preferably through lens assemblies 12a, 12b. A first lens assembly 12a is adapted to focus light on the first light sensing device 8a and/or a second lens assembly 12b is adapted to focus light on the second light sensing device 8b. The light sensing devices 8a, 8b are adapted to sense light beam portions 18a, 18b which are redirected from the at least one light deflection device 6 in said first deflection direction 9 and incident on light sensitive surfaces of said light sensing devices 8a, 8b. In this preferred embodiment, the vision system 1 comprises two LIDAR systems but a single light deflection device 6 that is arranged to direct light towards the light sensing devices 8a, 8b in the first deflection direction 9.

In this embodiment, the vision system 1 comprises the first light sensing device 8a and the second light sensing device 8b which is separate from the first light sensing device 8a.

Preferably, the first light sensing device 8a and the second light sensing device 8b are mounted on different printed cir cuit boards, are based on separate wafers, on different sub strates, and/or are separate sensors. That is, the photoelec tric active areas of the light sensing device 8a, 8b that are used for data acquisition and light sensing are separated from each other by a distance that is determined by the arrangement of the light sensing devices 8a, 8b. The light sensing devices 8a, 8b may not be identical and/or may be different in their spectral behavior, size, and/or nature, depending on the final purpose of the sensing procedure.

Each of the light sensing devices 8a, 8b has a light sensitive surface on which, for example, a photoelectric active area re sides and/or an array of light sensitive pixels is arranged. Preferably, each light sensing device 8a, 8b comprises an ar- ray of pixels, e.g., a line array or a pixel matrix. The nor mal of the light sensitive surface of each light sensing de vice 8a, 8b defines a direction in which the light sensing ca pabilities are particularly effective, the quantum efficiency is maximum, and/or towards which the center of the field of view of the light sensing device 8a, 8b is directed.

The normal of the light sensitive surface of the first light sensing device 8a is different from the normal of the light sensitive surface of the second light sensing device 8b, i.e., the first light sensing device 8a faces towards a different direction than the second light sensing device 8b. The light sensing devices 8a, 8b are preferably arranged in conjunction with the lens assemblies 12a, 12b. The normal vectors are not parallel but enclose a non- zero angle according to the con structive properties of the lens assemblies 12a, 12b, the light deflection device 6, and/or the light sensing devices 8a, 8b. Preferably, the lens assemblies 12a, 12b are arranged to focus light redirected in the first deflection direction 9 by a light deflection element 7 oriented in the first orienta tion to the light sensing devices 8a, 8b.

The lens assemblies 12a, 12b are arranged so that any one of the lens assemblies 12a, 12b has an optical axis that prefera bly coincides with the normal of the light sensitive surface of the first light sensing device 8a and an optical axis that coincides with the normal of the light sensitive surface of the second light sensing device 8b. Thus, the optical axis of the first lens assembly 12a that focuses light on the first light sensing device 8a is different from the optical axis of the second lens assembly 12b that focuses light on the second light sensing device 8b. Incident light on a deflection element 7 oriented in the sec ond orientation is in this embodiment deflected in the second deflection direction 17 towards an absorber 30 to reduce light scattering or in an alternative embodiment towards a detecting device .

The detecting device can comprise CCD/CMOS, focal plane arrays or polarimeters , or any other area or line imaging sensor com posed thereof. CCD/CMOS images may be RGB or grayscale depend- ing on the embodiment . Polarimetric images can be in a conven ient format obtained after sensing and computational analysis, which could be performed in the data processing device 19 and/or a suitable processing device comprised in the detection device. Also, polarization filters can be located in the opti cal path within the vision system 1, preferably in combination with a laser as light source 2 and/or a polarimeter as detect ing device. The detecting device can in particular comprise different sensors to detect different properties, e.g., dif- ferent polarizations and/or different spectral bands. Also, a detecting device with varying polarizing filters on different areas (pixels) of the detecting device is possible.

Additional optics either for laser spot filtering and/or for optimization of focusing on the detecting device is possible. Electronics comprised in the deflection device 6, the light sensing device 8 and/or the light detecting device could be coordinated or controlled by the data processing device 19.

The communication between the light sensing device 8 and the data processing device 19 can also be parallel to the communi cation between the detecting device and the data processing device 19.

The data processing device 19 can comprise a pre-processor adapted to control the capture of images, time-of-flight meas urements, and/or other data by the light sensing device 8 and the detecting device and the control of the deflection device 6, receive the electrical signal containing the information from the light sensing device 8 and the detecting device and from the light deflection device 6. The pre-processor may be realized by a dedicated hardware circuit, for example a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application Specific In tegrated Circuit (ASIC) . Alternatively, the pre-processor, or part of its functions, can be realized in the data processing device 19 or a System-On-Chip (SoC) device comprising, for ex ample, FPGA, processing device, ARM and/or microprocessor functionality .

Further image and data processing is carried out by corre sponding software in the data processing device 19. The image and data processing in the processing device 19 may for exam ple comprise identifying and preferably also classifying pos- sible objects in the surrounding of the vehicle, such as pe destrians, other vehicles, bicyclists and/or large animals, tracking over time the position of object candidates identi fied in the captured images, computing depth images based on the time-of-flight values, and activating or controlling at least one driver assistance device 20 for example depending on an estimation performed with respect to a tracked object, for example an estimated collision probability. The driver assis tance device 20 may in particular comprise a display device to display information on a possibly detected object and/or on the environment of the vehicle. However, the invention is not limited to a display device. The driver assistance device 20 may in addition or alternatively comprise a warning device adapted to provide a collision warning to the driver by suita ble optical, acoustical and/or haptic warning signals; one or more restraint systems such as occupant airbags or safety belt tensioners, pedestrian airbags, hood lifters and the like; and/or dynamic vehicle control systems such as brake or steer ing control devices . The data processing device 19 can also be used as input to highly automated, piloted, and/or autonomous driving functions in a vehicle. The data processing device 19 is preferably a digital device which is programmed or programmable and preferably comprises a microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor (processing device) , field programmable gate array (FPGA) , or a System-On-Chip (SoC) device, and preferably has access to, or comprises, a memory device. The data processing device 19, pre-processing device and the memory device are preferably re alised in an on-board electronic control unit (ECU) and may be connected to other components of the vision system 1 via a separate cable or a vehicle data bus . In another embodiment the ECU and one or more of the vision systems 1 can be inte grated into a single unit, where a one box solution including the ECU and all vision systems 1 can be preferred. All steps from data acquisition, imaging, depth estimations, pre-proces- sing, processing to possible activation or control of driver assistance device are performed automatically and continuously during driving in real time.

In a particular application, LIDAR, range-gated images, polar- imetric, RGB and/or FPA images are gathered together using electronics, including frame-grabber and the data processing device 19, to have them processed and support the decision making process of the driver assistance device 20. All parts of the receiving unit 26, in particular the lens systems 11a, lib, the prism 14, the light sensing devices 8a, 8b and the light deflection device 6 are preferably housed in and/or attached to the same single housing 27. In this embodi ment, the light emitting unit 25 and the receiving unit 26 are housed in the same housing 27. It is also possible to arrange the emitting unit 25 and the receiving unit 26 in different housings 27, or that the vision system 1 comprises a plurality of emitting units 25 and/or receiving units 26. Each lens system 11a, lib can preferably be linked to at least one shutter. The at least one shutter is adapted to change be tween a light blocking and a light transmitting state. The at least one shutter can be arranged upstream or downstream the respective lens system 11a, lib with respect to the optical path. The shutter can be adapted to communicate with the data processing device 19 to be coordinated and/or to provide data or with the light deflection device 6 to advantageously coor- dinate or being coordinated. For example, if only one shutter corresponding to the first lens system 11a is open while the other shutter corresponding to the second lens system lib is closed, the only light which is transmitted by the lens sys tems 11a, lib is the reflected light beam 16a which stems from the first lens system 11a and corresponds to the first portion 4a, reducing the ambient light sources thus improving the sig nal to noise ratio (SNR) . A sequential opening and closing of the individual shutters allows sequential scanning of the fractions of the overall field of view and/or of the scanned surface potions 4a, 4b, which is called range gated imaging.

Figure 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the vision system 1. To explain the embodiment as shown in Figure 3, reference is made to Figure 2 and the corresponding description. The dif- ferences between the embodiments of Figures 2 and 3 are laid out subsequently.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, incident light on a de flection element 7 oriented in the first orientation is pref- erably deflected as a first light beam portions 18a in the first deflection direction 9 via the prism 14 towards the first light sensing device 8a, preferably through the first lens assembly 12a. Incident light on a deflection element 7 oriented in the second orientation is preferably deflected as a second light beam portions 18b in the second deflection di rection 17 towards the second light sensing device 8b, prefer ably through the optional prism 14 and the second lens assem- bly 12b.

The preferred embodiment of Figure 3 demonstrates that it is also possible that a single scanning device 15 covers the com plete scanned surface 4, which is afterwards divided by dif- ferent lens systems 11a, lib of the receiving unit 26 in dif ferent scanned surface portions 4a, 4b. In other words, it is also possible not to split the scanning of the full scanned surface 4 of the emitting unit 25, so that a single scanning device 15 scans the full scanned surface 4of the emitting unit 25, which afterwards is imaged using separate optical systems and/or lens systems 11a, lib, wherein each lens systems 11a, lib covers a part of the field of view, i.e., a scanned sur face potion 4a, 4b. In the embodiment of Figure 3, complemen tary, overlapping or partially overlapping scanned surface portions 4a, 4b are imaged to each of the light sensing devic es 8a, 8b.

In this preferred embodiment, the vision system 1 comprises two LIDAR systems but a single light deflection device 6 that is arranged to direct light towards the first light sensing device 8a in the first deflection direction 9 and towards the second light sensing device 8b in the second deflection direc tion 17. The light sensing devices 8a, 8b are adapted to sense light beam portions 18a, 18b which are redirected from the at least one light deflection device 6 in said first and second deflec tion direction 9, 17 and incident on light sensitive surfaces of said light sensing devices 8a, 8b, i.e, the first light sensing devices 8a is adapted to sense the first light beam portion 18a which is redirected from the at least one light deflection device 6 in said first deflection direction 9 and incident on light sensitive surface of said first light sens ing devices 8a and the second light sensing devices 8b is adapted to sense the second light beam portion 18b which is redirected from the at least one light deflection device 6 in said second deflection direction 17 and incident on light sen- sitive surface of said second light sensing devices 8b.

Figures 4 to 6 show the arrangement of a light deflection de vice 6, two light sensing devices 8a, 8b, and a lens arrange ment 11 schematically in different perspectives. Figure 4 is a perspective view, Figure 5 is a plan view, and Figure 6 is an elevation view as viewed from the front in a horizontal. In each of the Figures 4 to 6, two imaging systems 40a, 40b are placed strategically in order to get an overall field of view composed of two individual smaller fields of view 90, 91 of each of the imaging systems 40a, 40b. In this embodiment, the scanned surface 4 comprises a first scanned surface portion 4a of a first imaging system 40a and a second scanned surface portion 4b of a second imaging system 40b. Each of the imaging systems 40a, 40b comprises one of the lens system 11a, lib that focuses the reflected light beams 16a, 16b along detector paths 13a, 13b on the light deflection device 6. The imaging systems 40a, 40b and/or the lens system 11a, lib are adapted to converge the reflected light beams 16a, 16b on the same de flection device 6.

The first lens system 11a is arranged to communicate with the first light sensing device 8a via the light deflection device 6. The second lens system lib is arranged to communicate with the second light sensing device 8b via the light deflection device 6. The first reflected light beam 16a is transmitted by the first lens system 11a and a second reflected light beam portion 16b is transmitted by the second lens system lib.

The reflected light beams 16a, 16b transmitted by the lens systems 11a, lib determine the field of view of the imaging systems 40a, 40b. In these examples, two equal imaging systems 40a, 40b with a specific field of view 90, 91each are arranged to partition the overall field of view of 90° . In this example the imaging systems 40a, 40b cover 45° each and the overall field of view covers 90° .

Due to different inclinations of the image systems 40a, 40b, i.e., the optical axes 31a, 31b of the lens systems 11a, lib enclose a non- zero angle with respect to the normal of the light deflection device 6, the light that is reflected and re directed in the first and/or second deflection direction 9, 17 is directed towards different light sensing devices 8a, 8b. The inclination could for example mean the angle of the opti cal axis 31a, 31b enclosed with the horizontal, i.e., the azi muthal component of the optical axis 31a, 31b with respect to a horizontal reference plane, or the angle between by the hor izontal and the normal of the light deflection device 8.

In this embodiment the optical axes 31a, 31b of the lens sys tems 11a, lib intersect at the light deflection device 6 and each of the lens systems 11a, lib focuses on the light deflec tion device 6, i.e., the distance between the light deflection device 6 and each of the lens systems 11a, lib equals the fo cal length of the corresponding lens system 11a, lib. The light sensing devices 8a, 8b are separate photoelectronic modules. Each of the light sensing devices 8a, 8b has a light sensitive surface. Each of the light sensing devices 8a, 8b is preferably arranged so that the normal of its sensitive sur- face points towards the light deflection device 6. This allows that light deflected from the light deflection device 6 is perpendicularly incident on each of the light sensitive sur faces of the light sensing devices 8a, 8b. It is also possible to arrange mirrors in the optical paths between the light de- flection device 6 and the light sensing devices 8a, 8b so that normal of said light sensing devices 8a, 8b do not point to wards the light deflection device 6 but preferably towards the mirrors . The overall field of view and/or scanned surface 4 of the vi sion system 1 is a combination of, and segmented into, the fractions of the field of view and/or of the scanned surface portions 4a, 4b. That is, the field of view of the target and/or the scanned surface 4 is divided into more than one fraction by lens systems 11a, lib. Preferably, the lens sys tems 11a, lib are adapted to partition the field of view so that the fractions overlap and/or to partition the scanned surface 4 so that portions 4a, 4b overlap. The overlap of the fraction and/or portions 4a, 4b can be small and allows for image matching and/or image fusion preferably by software and/or the data processing device 19. The overlap may be used to automatically reconstruct the full field of view image or for other applications. Figure 7 shows an embodiment of a vision system 1 with a re ceiving unit 26 and an emitting unit 25, wherein the vision system 1 uses multiple emitters emitting a plurality of light beams 3a, 3b, one light deflection device 7, and multiple light sensing devices 8a, 8b. Two optical paths are realized by the use of a single light deflection device 7, only. This illustration is a schematic compatible with the embodiments as shown in Figures 4-6.

A light generation part comprises a single light source 2 that generates a light beam 3 and feeds a beam splitter 50 to emit a plurality of light beams 3a, 3b with a first light beam 3a and a second light beam 3b. The emitting unit 25 can comprise any other number of light sources 2 in other embodiments, de pending on the constructive properties, the laser power, the field of view, the sampling frequency, and/or the range of the vision system 1. The light source 2 is adapted to feed the beam splitter 50. In another embodiment more than one light source 2 is used to feed the beam splitter 50. In other embodiments, the beam splitter 50 and/or the light generation part is adapted to generate and emit more than two light beams 3a, 3b.

The light beams 3a, 3b are transmitted by lens arrangements 10a, 10b and preferably widened by optical devices and/or de flected by a scanning device 15a, 15b as shown in Figure 2.

The light beams 3a, 3b are preferably directed in different complementary, or at least partially overlapping, scanned sur face portions 4a, 4b of the environment 5. Any one of the light beams 3a, 3b is directed in a region of the environment 5 so that potentially reflected light beams 16a, 16b are re flected towards lens systems 11a, lib.

Preferably, each of the lens systems 11a, lib is arranged so that it captures reflected light from not more than one light beam 3a, 3b. The lens arrangements 10a, 10b and the lens sys- terns 11a, lib can comprise coinciding optical devices and/or lenses. The lens arrangements 10a, 10b may be different for different light beams 3a, 3b. The lens system 11a, lib focuses the reflected light beams

16a, 16b along detector paths 13a, 13b on the single light de flection device 6 from where the light beam is deflected by light deflection elements 7 in a first orientation as shown in Figure 2 in a first deflection direction 18a, 18b towards sep- arate light sensing devices 8a, 8b.

Each of the light beams in the first and/or second deflection direction 9, 17 falls on any one of the light sensing devices 8a, 8b with an angle a, b between the first and/or second de flection direction 9, 17 and the light sensitive surface of the light sensing device 8a, 8b. Preferably, the angle a, b is a predefined value, for example 90°, in order to achieve optimal light sensing efficiency of the light sensing device 8a, 8b. The angles a and b can be unequal to each other.

As indicated in Figures 2 and 7, the normal of the light sen sitive surface of a first light sensing device 8a has a non zero tilt with respect to the normal of the light sensitive surface of a second light sensing device 8b, i.e., the first light sensing device 8a is tilted with respect to the second light sensing device 8b. The tilt of the light sensing devices 8a, 8b is chosen so that the light sensing devices 8a, 8b are directed towards the light deflection element 6. The visions system 1 can in an embodiment not shown in the Figure be used with a light deflection device 6 comprising light deflection elements 7 which can be switchable between more than two, and/or a continuous band of orientations. The number of light sensing devices 8a, 8b can in these non- shown embodiments equal the number of imaging modes which can be combined, orientations and/or a number larger than two. The embodiment of Figure 8 is explained with respect to the differences to the embodiment of Figure 2. In Figure 8, the vision system preferably comprises a single scanning device 15 adapted to direct a light beam 3a, 3b, 3c to the scanned sur face 4. The light beam generation part 2 comprises a plurality of light sources 2a, 2b, 2c, wherein each light source 2a, 2b,

2c is adapted to generate a corresponding light beam 3a, 3b,

3c. The light sources 2a, 2b, 2c are arranged to direct the generated light beam 3a, 3b, 3c onto the same scanning device 15 for directing said light beams 3a, 3b, 3c to different re- gions of the vehicle environment 5, i.e., to different scanned surface portions 4a, 4b, 4c. The light beams 3a, 3b, 3c pass at least one lens objective or lens arrangement 10 which wid ens the light beams 3a, 3b, 3c to image suitable scanned sur face portions 4a, 4b, 4c. Preferably, a plurality of lens ob- jectives 10a, 10b, 10c is provided, in particular one lens ob jective 10a, 10b, 10c for every laser source 2a, 2b, 2c.

The light beams 3a, 3b, 3c are reflected by the scanned sur face portions 4a, 4b, 4c and a reflected first light beam 16a of the first light beam 3a, a reflected second light beam 16b of the second light beam 3b, and a reflected third light beam 16c of the third light beam 3c enter the at least one optical unit 22, more particular the at least one receiving unit 26. Each of the reflected light beams 16a, 16b, 16c enters the at least one optical unit 22 through a respective lens system 11a, lib, 11c. The lens systems 11a, lib, 11c focus the re flected light beams 16a, 16b, 16c along detector paths 13a,

13b, 13c onto the light deflection device 6, from where the light beam is deflected by those light deflection elements 7 being in a first orientation as shown in figure 8 in a first deflection direction 18a, 18b, 18c towards a plurality of light sensing devices 8a, 8b, 8c. The use of separate light sources 2a, 2b 2c enables a plurality of scanned surface por tions 4a, 4b, 4c to be imaged simultaneously.

Figure 9 shows an embodiment with three optical units 22a,

22b, 22c, where each optical unit has a corresponding light emitting unit 25a, 25b, 25c and a corresponding light receiv ing unit 26a, 26b, 26c. Each light emitting unit 25a, 25b, 25c has a corresponding light source 2a, 2b, 2c for generating a light beam 3a, 3b, 3c directed on a single scanning device 15 having the function as described above. More than one scanning devices 15 may be provided; in particular, each light emitting unit 25a, 25b, 25c may have its own scanning device. Each light emitting unit 25a, 25b, 25c has a lens arrangements 10a, 10b, 10c for widening the corresponding light beam 3a, 3b, 3c. The arrangement is preferably such that the reflected light beams 16a, 16b, 16c are incident at different angles on the light deflection device 16, advantageously with a certain overlap for superposition of corresponding images, such that the scanned fields on the target have overlapping regions. Each light receiving unit 26a, 26b, 26c comprises a corre sponding lens objective or lens systems 11a, lib, 11c for fo cusing the reflected light beams 16a, 16b, 16c onto the light deflection device 6, and a corresponding lens objective or lens assembly 12a, 12b, 12c for focusing light beam portions 18a, 18b, 18c onto a corresponding light sensing device 8a,

8b, 8c. In other words, the three optical units 22a, 22b, 22c prefera bly share a common light deflection device 6 and/or a common scanning device 15, as evident from Figure 9. The number of light sources 2a, 2b, 2c, lens objectives 10a, lb, 10c, 11a, lib, lie; 12a, 12b, 12c and light sensing devic es 8a, 8b, 8c is equal in some embodiments (like three in Fig ure 9), but this is not limitative. For example, in some em bodiments, detector arrays 8 can be used instead of two or more light sensing devices 8a, 8b, 8c. Thus, any number n of light sources 2a, 2b, 2c, any number 1 optical paths and any number m of light sensing devices 8a, 8b, 8c is possible, where one possibility is n=m=l like in Figure 9. Generally, any number n, m, 1 many be equal to or larger than two.

The specifications of each optical unit 22a, 22b, 22c may be mutually different or equal to each other, to provide differ ent or equal performances in the optical units 22a, 22b, 22c. For example, an optical unit 22b with a more narrow coverage area (field of view) for the central area may be provided to allow a higher angular resolution, and optical units 22a, 22c with wider coverage areas, but lower angular resolution at the peripheral zones may be provided.