TIME OF FLIGHT-BASED THREE-DIMENSIONAL SENSING SYSTEM
A light shaping optic may include a substrate. The light shaping optic may include a structure disposed on the substrate, wherein the structure is configured to receive one or more input beams of light with a uniform intensity field and less than a threshold total intensity, and wherein the structure is configured to shape the one or more input beams of light to form one or more output beams of light with a non-uniform intensity field and less than the threshold total intensity.
1 . A method, comprising:
providing, by a sensor system, an input beam to a light shaping optic of the sensor system,
wherein a total intensity of the input beam does not exceed a threshold;
providing, by using the light shaping optic, an output beam with a non-uniform intensity field with a continuous pattern,
wherein the non-uniform intensity field includes first areas of higher intensity light and second areas of lower intensity light; and
generating, by the sensor system, a depth point cloud representing one or more distance measurements for one or more portions of an object illuminated by the output beam.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the continuous pattern is a sine-based pattern.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the continuous pattern is formed by a ring pattern of light.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the light shaping optic is a diffractive optical element.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the light shaping optic is a refractive optical element.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the light shaping optic is a set of micro-lenses.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the output beam with the non-uniform intensity field comprises:
altering a divergence of the input beam to form the non-uniform intensity field.
8 . A method, comprising:
providing, by a sensor system, an input beam to a light shaping optic of the sensor system,
wherein a total intensity of the input beam does not exceed a threshold;
providing, by using the light shaping optic, an output beam with a non-uniform intensity field, wherein the non-uniform intensity field includes:
first discrete areas with a first density of intensity dots, and
second discrete areas with a second density of intensity dots,
wherein the first density is higher than the second density; and
generating, by the sensor system, a depth point cloud representing one or more distance measurements for one or more portions of an object illuminated by the output beam.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the input beam is provided with a uniform intensity field to the light shaping optic.
10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving a set of portions of the output beam reflected off of the object,
wherein each portion, of the set of portions, corresponds to an area of concentration of light; and
performing a time-of-flight measurement associated with each area of concentration.
11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving a reflection of the output beam;
performing one or more time-of-flight measurements of the reflection; and
determining a distance of the object based on performing the one or more time-of-flight measurements.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
generating a three-dimensional measurement of the object based on the distance.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein performing the one or more time-of-flight measurements comprises:
performing one or more of a direct time-of-flight measurement, a gated time-of-flight measurement, or an indirect time-of-flight measurement.
14 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
generating a three-dimensional representation of the object based on the one or more distance measurements.
15 . A sensor system, comprising:
an optical transmitter configured to provide an input beam to a light shaping optic,
wherein a total intensity of the input beam does not exceed a threshold; and
the light shaping optic configured to receive the input beam and provide an output with a non-uniform intensity field with a continuous pattern,
wherein the non-uniform intensity field includes first areas of higher intensity light and second areas of lower intensity light, and
wherein the sensor system is configured to generate a depth point cloud representing one or more distance measurements for one or more portions of an object illuminated by the output beam.
16 . The sensor system of claim 15 , wherein the continuous pattern is a sine-based pattern.
17 . The sensor system of claim 15 , wherein the continuous pattern is formed by a ring pattern of light.
18 . The sensor system of claim 15 , wherein the light shaping optic is a diffractive optical element.
19 . The sensor system of claim 15 , wherein the light shaping optic is a refractive optical element.
20 . The sensor system of claim 15 , wherein the light shaping optic is a set of micro-lenses.