Ranging sensor

A ranging sensor of a TOF method, which operates in cooperation with at least one camera module, measures time during which a beam radiated to a space is reflected by a target and returned, and generates distance information of the target for generating three-dimensional positional information by combining the distance information with image information acquired by the camera module, the ranging sensor comprising:

• a light-emitting unit that includes a plurality of light-emitting elements arranged in plane and radiates, toward subspaces obtained by dividing the space, light from the light-emitting elements, which are allocated to the subspaces, with the light formed into a beam by a light emitting lens system;
• a light-receiving unit that includes a plurality of light-receiving elements arranged in plane, and receives reflected light beams from the subspaces and forms images of the reflected light beams on the light-receiving elements, which are allocated to the subspaces, by a light receiving lens system;
• a space control unit that independently controls each element group that includes at least one light-emitting element and at least one light-receiving element that are allocated to a common one of the subspaces,
• wherein the space control unit configures at least one or a plurality of subspace groups that is/are designated in advance on a basis of the image information and each of the subspace groups includes a plurality of the subspaces arranged in an adjacent manner in a square form,
• the distance informations related to the subspace groups are acquired, and
• a number of the light-receiving elements included in the light-receiving unit is a multiple of a number of the light-emitting elements included in the light-emitting unit, the number of the light-receiving elements being greater than the number of the light-emitting elements.