Time-Of-Flight Camera System With Scanning Iluminator

Abstract

A time of flight camera system is described. The time of flight camera system includes an illuminator. The illuminator has a movable optical component to scan light within the time-of-flight camera's field of view to illuminate a first region within the field of view that is larger than a second region within the time-of-flight camera's field of view that is illuminated at any instant by the light. The illuminator also includes an image sensor to determine depth profile information within the first region using time-of-flight measurement techniques.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 identifying one or more regions within a field of view of a depth camera that are to be illuminated;   identifying multiple partitions that are associated with the identified one or more regions within the field of view of the depth camera that are to be illuminated;   for each of the multiple partitions that are associated with the identified one or more regions within the field of view of the depth camera that are to be illuminated, identifying one or more illuminator elements that are associated with the partition;   identifying a sequence with which to activate and deactivate the identified illuminator elements;   activating and deactivating the identified illuminator elements according to the sequence; and   performing a depth calculation in response to activating and deactivating the identified illuminator elements according to the sequence.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein identifying the one or more regions within the field of view of the depth camera comprises determining a likely location of an object of interest within the field of view. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the multiple partitions comprise adjacent, non-overlapping partitions. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the multiple partitions comprise non-adjacent partitions. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the identified illuminator elements are not activated simultaneously. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein two or more of the partitions have different sizes. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein each illuminator element comprises an array of vertical cavity side emitting lasers (VCSELs). 
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 identifying one or more regions within a field of view of a depth camera that are to be illuminated;   identifying multiple partitions that are associated with the identified one or more regions within the field of view of the depth camera that are to be illuminated;   for each of the multiple partitions that are associated with the identified one or more regions within the field of view of the depth camera that are to be illuminated, identifying one or more illuminator elements that are associated with the partition;   identifying a sequence with which to activate and deactivate the identified illuminator elements;   activating and deactivating the identified illuminator elements according to the sequence; and   performing a depth calculation in response to activating and deactivating the identified illuminator elements according to the sequence.   
     
     
         10 . The medium of  claim 9 , wherein identifying the one or more regions within the field of view of the depth camera comprises determining a likely location of an object of interest within the field of view. 
     
     
         11 . The medium of  claim 9 , wherein the multiple partitions comprise adjacent, non-overlapping partitions. 
     
     
         12 . The medium of  claim 9 , wherein the multiple partitions comprise non-adjacent partitions. 
     
     
         13 . The medium of  claim 9 , wherein the identified illuminator elements are not activated simultaneously. 
     
     
         14 . The medium of  claim 9 , wherein two or more of the partitions have different sizes. 
     
     
         15 . The medium of  claim 9 , wherein each illuminator element comprises an array of vertical cavity side emitting lasers (VCSELs). 
     
     
         16 . A system comprising:
 one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:   identifying one or more regions within a field of view of a depth camera that are to be illuminated;   identifying multiple partitions that are associated with the identified one or more regions within the field of view of the depth camera that are to be illuminated;   for each of the multiple partitions that are associated with the identified one or more regions within the field of view of the depth camera that are to be illuminated, identifying one or more illuminator elements that are associated with the partition;   identifying a sequence with which to activate and deactivate the identified illuminator elements;   activating and deactivating the identified illuminator elements according to the sequence; and   performing a depth calculation in response to activating and deactivating the identified illuminator elements according to the sequence.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein identifying the one or more regions within the field of view of the depth camera comprises determining a likely location of an object of interest within the field of view. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the multiple partitions comprise adjacent, non-overlapping partitions. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the multiple partitions comprise non-adjacent partitions. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the identified illuminator elements are not activated simultaneously. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein two or more of the partitions have different sizes.