Beam scanning methods for improved eye safety in LiDAR systems

A LiDAR system having a field of view, the LiDAR system comprising:

• a laser;
• an array of optical emitters;
• an objective lens optically coupling each optical emitter of the array of optical emitters to a respective unique portion of the field of view;
• an optical switching network coupled between the laser and the array of optical emitters;
• a controller coupled to the optical switching network and configured to cause the optical switching network to route light from the laser to a sequence of optical emitters of the array of optical emitters according to a dynamically varying temporal pattern;
• and
• an optical receiver coupled to the optical switching network and configured to receive light reflected from the field of view.