Time-of-Flight Sensor with Structured Light Illuminator

A system comprising:

• a plurality of sensor systems configured to be coupled to a vehicle, wherein each sensor system comprises:
• at least one time-of-flight (ToF) sensor;
• at least one imaging sensor, wherein the at least one ToF sensor and the at least one imaging sensor are configured to receive light from a scene;
• at least one light source configured to emit a structured light pattern;
• and
• a controller that carries out operations, the operations comprising:
• dynamically adjusting the structured light pattern based on one or more retroreflective regions in the scene;
• causing the at least one light source to illuminate at least a portion of the scene with the structured light pattern;
• causing the at least one ToF sensor to provide time of flight information indicative of a depth map of the scene based on the structured light pattern;
• and
• causing the imaging sensor to provide information indicative of an image of the scene based on the structured light pattern.

A method comprising:

• dynamically adjusting a structured light pattern based on one or more retroreflective regions in a scene;
• causing at least one light source to illuminate the scene with the structured light pattern;
• receiving, from a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor, time of flight information about the scene based on the structured light pattern;
• determining a depth map of the scene based on the received information;
• and
• determining at least one inference about the scene based on the depth map of the scene.