Machine vision method and system

An optical system for generating digital images, comprising:

• a single light source configured to emit a beam into an environment;
• a first diffractive optical element in alignment with the light source such that the beam passes through the first diffractive optical element, resulting in an illumination wave emitted with a plurality of beams into the environment;
• a second diffractive optical element configured to receive a reflected illumination wave;
• wherein the reflected illumination wave is the illumination wave reflected back from the environment;
• a two-dimensional pixelated detector in alignment with the second diffractive optical element such that the detector receives the reflected illumination wave passed through the second diffractive optical element;
• wherein the two-dimensional pixelated detector is configured to determine wave data from the reflected illumination wave and generate an image having a plurality of pixels representing the wave data;
• and
• a processor configured to receive the image having the plurality of pixels representing the wave data and generate a representation of the environment from the image having the plurality of pixels.