CMOS image sensor for depth measurement using triangulation with point scan
US10145678B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 1, 2015 |
| Grant date | Dec 4, 2018 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 11, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N2213/003
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Using the same image sensor to capture both a two-dimensional (2D) image of a three-dimensional (3D) object and 3D depth measurements for the object. A laser point-scans the surface of the object with light spots, which are detected by a pixel array in the image sensor to generate the 3D depth profile of the object using triangulation. Each row of pixels in the pixel array forms an epipolar line of the corresponding laser scan line. Timestamping provides a correspondence between the pixel location of a captured light spot and the respective scan angle of the laser to remove any ambiguity in triangulation. An Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) in the image sensor generates a multi-bit output in the 2D mode and a binary output in the 3D mode to generate timestamps. Strong ambient light is rejected by switching the image sensor to a 3D logarithmic mode from a 3D linear mode.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.