# US 2021/0243349 A1 · Apparatuses and methodologies for flicker control > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0243349 A1 - Document ID: US20210243349A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/234,314 - Filed: 2021-04-19 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2019-11-14 - Assignees: Hand Held Products, Inc. - Applicants: Hand Held Products, Inc. - Inventors: Tao XIAN; Ka Man AU; David M. WILZ; Gennady GERMAINE; Patrick Anthony GIORDANO; Erik VAN HORN; Michael Vincent MIRAGLIA; Benjamin HEJL; Thomas A. SWEET - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210243349A1 ## CPC - H05B 47/125: by using cameras - G06K 7/10732: {Light sources} - G06V 10/141: Control of illumination - H04N 23/74: by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means - H04N 23/745: Detection of flicker frequency or suppression of flicker wherein the flicker is caused by illumination, e.g. due to fluorescent tube illumination or pulsed LED illumination - H05B 47/155: Coordinated control of two or more light sources - G06K 7/10811: {Focalisation} - Y02B 20/40: Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL - G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS ## Abstract Various embodiments described herein provide implementations for controlling flicker, for example caused by a plurality of light sources, in a multi-sensor environment. Various embodiments provided utilize a broadest illuminator source for capturing image data objects for processing. The broadest illuminator source minimizes the number of activation changes required between the various illuminator sources. One example embodiment includes activating a broadest illuminator source of a plurality of illuminator sources; determining, based on a plurality of image sensors and an sensor activation sequence, a chosen image sensor of the plurality of image sensors for an image processing operation; and activating a chosen illuminator source of the plurality of illuminator sources, the chosen illuminator source associated with the chosen image sensor. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method for flicker control in a multi-sensor environment, the computer-implemented method comprising: activating a broadest illuminator source of a plurality of illuminator sources, wherein the broadest illuminator source produces a broadest illumination pattern in one or more directions of a plurality of illumination patterns projected via the plurality of illuminator sources; determining, based on a plurality of image sensors and a sensor activation sequence, a chosen image sensor of the plurality of image sensors for an image processing operation; and activating a chosen illuminator source of the plurality of illuminator sources, the chosen illuminator source associated with the chosen image sensor. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the computer-implemented method further comprising: initializing the sensor activation sequence associated with the plurality of image sensors, the sensor activation sequence defining an activation sequence for the plurality of image sensors. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining, based on the plurality of image sensors and the sensor activation sequence, the chosen image sensor of the plurality of image sensors for the image processing operation comprises: (a) setting a selected image sensor of the plurality of image sensors based on the sensor activation sequence; (b) activating the selected image sensor to capture an image data object; (c) processing the image data object to determine whether the selected image sensor should be the chosen image sensor for the image processing operation, wherein the chosen image sensor is set to the selected image sensor upon determining the selected image sensor should be the chosen image sensor for the image processing operation; and in a circumstance where the selected image sensor is determined not to be the chosen image sensor for the image processing operation, repeating operations (a), (b), and (c) for at least one other image sensor of the plurality of image sensors. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein processing the image data object to determine whether the selected image sensor should be the chosen image sensor for the image processing operation comprises: (d) processing the image data object to identify the selected image sensor is associated with a sensor focus distance closest to a predicted target focal distance for performing the image processing operation. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the computer-implemented method further comprising: capturing an image data object using the chosen image sensor; and processing the image data object based on the image processing operation. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the image data object comprises a first image data object, and the computer-implemented method further comprising: determining, based on the first image data object, the chosen image sensor should remain chosen for the image processing operation; capturing a second image data object using the chosen image sensor; and processing the second image data object based on the image processing operation. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the image data object comprises a first image data object, and the computer-implemented method further comprising: determining, based on the first image data object, the chosen image sensor should no longer be chosen for the image processing operation; reactivating the broadest illuminator source; determining, based on the plurality of image sensors and the sensor activation sequence, a new chosen image sensor of the plurality of image sensors for the image processing operation; and activating a new chosen illuminator source of the plurality of illuminator sources, the new chosen illuminator source associated with the new chosen image sensor. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the broadest illuminator source is configured to illuminate at a predetermined illumination level based on the plurality of illuminator sources and/or the plurality of image sensors. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the broadest illuminator source is associated with a first illumination pattern size and the chosen illuminator source are associated with different illumination pattern size, the first illumination pattern size different than the second illumination pattern size. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of illuminator sources is paired with at least one of the plurality of image sensors. ### Claim 11 An apparatus for flicker control in a multi-sensor environment, the apparatus comprising a processor configured, based on computer-coded instructions, to: activate a broadest illuminator source of a plurality of illuminator sources, wherein the broadest illuminator source produces a broadest illumination pattern in one or more directions of a plurality of illumination patterns projected via the plurality of illuminator sources determine, based on a plurality of image sensors and a sensor activation sequence, a chosen image sensor of the plurality of image sensors for an image processing operation; and activate a chosen illuminator source of the plurality of illuminator sources, the chosen illuminator source associated with the chosen image sensor. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, the apparatus further configured to: initialize the sensor activation sequence associated with the plurality of image sensors, the sensor activation sequence defining an activation sequence for the plurality of image sensors. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, wherein to determine, based on the plurality of image sensors and the sensor activation sequence, the chosen image sensor of the plurality of image sensors for the image processing operation, the apparatus is configured to: (a) set a selected image sensor of the plurality of image sensors based on the sensor activation sequence; (b) activate the selected image sensor to capture an image data object; (c) process the image data object to determine whether the selected image sensor should be the chosen image sensor for the image processing operation, wherein the chosen image sensor is set to the selected image sensor upon determining the selected image sensor should be the chosen image sensor for the image processing operation; and in a circumstance where the selected image sensor is determined not to be the chosen image sensor for the image processing operation, repeat operations (a), (b), and (c) for at least one other image sensor of the plurality of image sensors. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The apparatus of claim 13, wherein, to process the image data object to determine whether the selected image sensor should be the chosen image sensor for the image processing operation, the apparatus is configured to: (d) process the image data object to identify the selected image sensor is associated with a sensor focus distance closest to a predicted target focal distance for performing the image processing operation. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, the apparatus further configured to: capture an image data object using the chosen image sensor; and process the image data object based on the image processing operation. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the image data object comprises a first image data object, and the apparatus is further configured to: determine, based on the first image data object, the chosen image sensor should remain chosen for the image processing operation; capture a second image data object using the chosen image sensor; and process the second image data object based on the image processing operation. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the image data object comprises a first image data object, and the apparatus further configured to: determine, based on the first image data object, the chosen image sensor should no longer be chosen for the image processing operation; reactivate the broadest illuminator source; determine, based on the plurality of image sensors and the sensor activation sequence, a new chosen image sensor of the plurality of image sensors for the image processing operation; and activate a new chosen illuminator source of the plurality of illuminator sources, the new chosen illuminator source associated with the new chosen image sensor. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the broadest illuminator source is configured to illuminate at a predetermined illumination level based on the plurality of illuminator sources and/or the plurality of image sensors. ### Claim 19 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the broadest illuminator source is associated with a first illumination pattern size and the chosen illuminator source are associated with different illumination pattern size, the first illumination pattern size different than the second illumination pattern size. ### Claim 20 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of illuminator sources is paired with at least one of the plurality of image sensors.