Patent 8994928 was granted and assigned to Toyota on March, 2015 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A laser radar device mounted on a vehicle includes a first laser emission part configured to generate a measuring laser beam by using a laser beam emitted from a laser source and to illuminate a predetermined area in a front traveling direction and a second laser emission part configured to generate a measuring laser beam by using the laser beam emitted from the laser source. A beam spread angle, viewed from a side of the vehicle, of the measuring laser beam generated by the second laser emission part is larger than a beam spread angle, viewed from a side of the vehicle, of the measuring laser beam generated by the first laser emission part.