Methods and systems for dithering active sensor pulse emissions

A method comprising:

• causing a plurality of emitters to emit a plurality of light pulses during a first emission time period associated with a first scan of a field-of-view (FOV), wherein a first emitter of the plurality of emitters is configured to illuminate a first portion of the FOV, wherein a second emitter of the plurality of emitters is configured to illuminate a second portion of the FOV, and wherein causing the plurality of emitters to emit the plurality of light pulses comprises:
• causing the first emitter to emit a first-emitter light pulse at a first-emitter time offset from an end time of the first emission time period, and
• causing the second emitter to emit a second-emitter light pulse at a second-emitter time offset from the end time of the first emission time period;
• and
• obtaining the first scan based on measurements of light from the FOV received by a plurality of detectors during a first detection time period that begins after the end time of the first emission time period.

A device comprising:

• a transmitter that emits, during a first emission time period associated with a first scan of a field-of-view (FOV) of the device, a first plurality of light beams spatially arranged to illuminate respective portions of the FOV, wherein the first emission time period has a start time and an end time,
• wherein the transmitter emits a first light beam of the first plurality of light beams toward a first portion of the FOV at a first-portion time offset from the start time of the first emission time period, and wherein the transmitter emits a second light beam of the first plurality of light beams toward a second portion of the FOV at a second-portion time offset from the start time of the first emission time period;
• a receiver that intercepts light from the FOV illuminated by the transmitter;
• and
• a controller that operates the transmitter and the receiver to obtain the first scan, wherein the controller operating the receiver comprises the controller obtaining, from the receiver, measurements of the light from the FOV intercepted by the receiver during a detection time period that begins after the end time of the first emission time period.

A device comprising:

• a controller that obtains a sequence of scans of a field-of-view (FOV) of the device;
• a transmitter that emits, for a first scan of the sequence of scans, a first plurality of light pulses in a particular spatial arrangement and according to a first plurality of time offsets between emission times of the first plurality of light pulses during a first emission time period, wherein the first emission time period has a start time and an end time;
• and
• a receiver that includes a plurality of detectors, wherein each detector of the plurality of detectors is aligned with a respective portion of the FOV illuminated by a respective light pulse of the first plurality of light pulses, and wherein the receiver measures light from the FOV incident on the plurality of detectors during a first detection time period that begins after the end time of the first emission time period.