Optical system for collecting distance information within a field

An optical system comprising:

• a bulk receiving optic;
• a pixel block comprising a first plurality of pixels arranged in a first column of pixels and a second plurality of pixels arranged in a second column of pixels horizontally offset from the first column of pixels, wherein each pixel in the first and second pluralities of pixels is offset from an adjacent pixel in its respective column of pixels by a pixel pitch and wherein the second column of pixels is vertically offset from the first column of pixels by a vertical pitch such that pixels from the first and second columns of pixels project onto a single vertical column of pixels with one pixel per row;
• and
• a set of input channels interposed between the bulk receiving optic and the pixel block, the set of input channels comprising a first plurality of input channels and a second plurality of input channels, each input channel in the first plurality of input channels being configured to communicate light incident from the bulk receiving optic to a corresponding pixel in the first plurality of pixels and each input channel in the second plurality of input channels being configured to communicate light incident from the bulk receiving optic to a corresponding pixel in the second plurality of pixels.

An optical system for performing distance measurements, the optical system comprising:

• a bulk receiving optic;
• a pixel block including a plurality of pixels arranged in n columns of pixels horizontally offset from each other, wherein each pixel in the plurality of pixels is offset from an adjacent pixel in its respective column of pixels by a pixel pitch and wherein each of the n columns of pixels is vertically offset from an adjacent column of pixels by a vertical pitch such that pixels from the n columns of pixels project onto a single vertical column of pixels with one pixel per row;
• and
• a set of input channels interposed between the bulk receiving optic and the pixel block, the set of input channels arranged in n columns of input channels horizontally offset from each other, wherein each column of input channels corresponds to one of the n columns of pixels and includes a plurality of input channels and wherein each input channel in the plurality of input channels for a given column is configured to communicate light incident from the bulk receiving optic to a corresponding pixel in the column of pixels corresponding to the column of input channels;
• a bulk transmitting optic;
• and
• an illumination source comprising a plurality of lasers, each laser in the plurality of lasers configured to project a discrete illuminating beam at an operating wavelength through the bulk transmitting optic into a field external to the optical system such that an illumination pattern of the plurality of lasers substantially matches in size and geometry across a range of distances from the system fields of view of the set of input channels.