Energy optimized imaging system with synchronized dynamic control of directable beam light source and reconfigurably masked photo-sensor

Abstract

An energy optimized imaging system that includes a light source that has the ability to illuminate specific pixels in a scene, and a sensor that has the ability to capture light with specific pixels of its sensor matrix, temporally synchronized such that the sensor captures light only when the light source is illuminating pixels in the scene.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A system for capturing images of a scene comprising:
 a directable light source for illuminating a portion of the scene;   a sensor configurable for capturing light from the illuminated portion of the scene; and   a controller performing the functions of:
 determining a sequence of portions of the scene to be illuminated; 
 directing the sensor to sequentially capture light from the sequence of portions; and 
 directing the directable light source to sequentially illuminate the sequence of portions; 
   wherein the sensor is a time-of-flight sensor.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the controller performs the further function of:
 temporally synchronizing the directable light source and the sensor such that the sensor captures light when the directable light source is illuminating the scene. 
 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the controller performs the further function of:
 spatially synchronizing the directable light source and the sensor such that the directable light source illuminates a portion of the scene that the sensor is configured to capture. 
 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the directable light source and the photosensor are substantially arranged in a rectified stereo configuration. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the sensor measures distance based on direct or indirect time-of-flight. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the sequence of portions comprises a sequence of lines of pixels of the scene. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 4  wherein the sequence of portions includes only a subset of the lines of pixels comprising the scene. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the directable light source is a scanning projector. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein:
 the scene is sensed by an array of pixels; 
 the illuminated portion of the scene comprises a specific pixel, a line of pixels, or a set of pixels; and 
 the sensor is configurable to only sense the illuminated portion of the scene. 
 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the sequence of portions of the scene to be illuminated are chosen to maximize the total energy transferred from the directable light source to the sensor. 
     
     
         11 . A system for capturing images of a scene comprising:
 a directable light source for illuminating a portion of the scene;   a sensor configurable for capturing light from the illuminated portion of the scene; and   a controller performing the functions of:
 determining a sequence of portions of the scene to be illuminated; 
 directing the sensor to sequentially capture light from the sequence of portions; and 
 directing the directable light source to sequentially illuminate the sequence of portions; 
   wherein the sensor is a selected from a group consisting of a dynamic vision sensor, a flash LIDAR a CMOS sensor and a CCD sensor.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the controller performs the further function of:
 temporally synchronizing the directable light source and the sensor such that the sensor captures light when the directable light source is illuminating the scene. 
 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the controller performs the further function of:
 spatially synchronizing the directable light source and the sensor such that the directable light source illuminates a portion of the scene that the sensor is configured to capture. 
 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the directable light source and the photosensor are substantially arranged in a rectified stereo configuration. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the sequence of portions comprises a sequence of lines of pixels of the scene. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the sequence of portions includes only a subset of the lines of pixels comprising the scene. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the directable light source is a scanning projector. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11  wherein:
 the scene is sensed by an array of pixels; 
 the illuminated portion of the scene comprises a specific pixel, a line of pixels, or a set of pixels; and 
 the sensor is configurable to only sense the illuminated portion of the scene. 
 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the sequence of portions of the scene to be illuminated are chosen to maximize the total energy transferred from the directable light source to the sensor.