Resolving Three Dimensional Spatial Information using Time-shared Structured Lighting that Embeds Digital Communication

A method for coordinating devices in a structured light system, comprising:

• obtaining, by a first image capture system, communication synchronization with a second image capture system;
• generating, by the first image capture system, a first flash pulse that projects a light pattern into an environment at a first time, wherein the first flash pulse includes a modulated first flash pulse that encodes a system identifier of the first image capture system;
• capturing, by the first image capture system, a first image of the environment at the first time;
• determining, by the first image capture system, when the second image capture system image capture system will flash at a second time based on the communication synchronization;
• capturing, by the first image capture system, a second image of the environment at the second time;
• and
• determining, by the first image capture system, an orientation of the second image capture system relative to the first image capture system based on the first and second images.

A system comprising:

• a structured-light source;
• an image capture device coupled to the structured-light source;
• a memory;
• and
• one or more programmable control devices operable to interact with the structured-light source, the image capture device, and the memory to perform operations comprising:
• synchronizing, using the image capture device, with a second image capture device;
• generating, using the image capture device, a first flash pulse from the structured-light source that projects a light pattern into a scene at a first image capture event, wherein the first flash pulse includes a modulated optical signal that encodes a device identifier of the image capture device;
• capturing, by the image capture device, a first image of the scene at the first image capture event;
• determining by the image capture device that the at least one image capturing system will flash at a second image capture event based on the synchronization;
• capturing, using the image capture device, a second image of the scene at the second capturing event, wherein the second image includes a second light pattern projected into the scene;
• and
• determining a three-dimensional orientation of the second image device relative to the image capture device based on the first and the second image.