Optical system for producing differently focused images

A system for producing differently focused images of an object, comprising:

• at least two sensors separated from one another;
• a beam splitting means for splitting a beam of radiation from the object into at least to resultant beams;
• and
• an optical element located between at least one of the sensors and the beam splitting means in the path of the corresponding resultant beam for changing the path length of the beam from the beam splitting means to the sensor to thereby produce resultant beams having two different path lengths which are detected by the respective sensors.

A system for producing differently focused images of an object, comprising:

• at least two sensors separated from one another;
• a beam splitting means for splitting an incoming beam of radiation from the object into at least two resultant beams;
• and
• a beam conditioning member having:
• (c) a plurality of beam conditioning elements;
• and
• (d) moving means for moving the member so as to bring the selected one of the elements into alignment with the respective sensor.

A method of producing differently focused images of an object, including:

• providing at least two sensors separated from one another;
• splitting a beam of radiation emanating from the object into at least two resultant beams;
• and
• causing the path length of the two resultant beams to the respective sensors to be different.

A system for determining movement of an object, including:

• at least one sensor for receiving a beam of radiation from the object and for capturing at least two sequential images of the object which are time delayed with respect to one another;
• means for comparing the images with respect to one another so as to determine a difference between the images;
• and
• means for determining whether the object has moved based on the comparison of the images.

A method of determining movement of an object, including:

• detecting a beam of radiation from the object by a sensor;
• producing at least two time delayed images of the object;
• comparing the images with respect to one another;
• and
• determining if the object has moved based on a comparison of the images.