Three-dimensional imaging system

An imaging system for three-dimensional imaging by determining distances of objects within scenes, the imaging system comprising:

• at least one light emitting device;
• at least one photon detector;
• one or more processors;
• a memory device that stores instructions executable by the one or more processors to:
• emit, using the at least one light emitting device of an imaging system, a light onto an object within a scene for a predetermined length of time;
• receive, on at least one photon detector of the imaging system, a plurality of reflections of the light from the object, wherein each of the plurality of reflections comprises a set of reflections and is received for a predetermined length of time less than an exposure time for a frame of the scene, wherein the at least one photon detector comprises at least one sensitive area generating an electrical signal responsive to receiving each of the plurality of reflections;
• each of the at least one sensitive areas of the photon detector comprising a plurality of pixel-level sensitive areas each generating at least one pixel-level electrical signal, wherein the generating an electrical signal comprises aggregating the pixel-level electrical signals generated within a given of the at least one sensitive areas;
• determine, from a characteristic of a given of the electrical signals, depth location information of at least a portion of the object within the scene corresponding to the given of the electrical signals;
• and
• generate, from the depth location information of portions of the object within the scene, a three-dimensional image for the frame of the scene.

A method for three-dimensional imaging by determining distances of objects within scenes, the method comprising:

• emitting, using a light emitting device of an imaging system, a light onto an object within a scene for a predetermined length of time;
• receiving, on at least one photon detector of the imaging system, a plurality of reflections of the light from the object, wherein each of the plurality of reflections comprises a set of reflections and is received for a predetermined length of time less than an exposure time for a frame of the scene;
• the at least one photon detector comprises at least one sensitive area generating an electrical signal responsive to receiving each of the plurality of reflections, wherein each of the at least one sensitive areas of the photon detector comprises a plurality of pixel-level sensitive areas each generating at least one pixel-level electrical signal, wherein a sensitivity of each of the plurality of pixel-level sensitive areas is independently controllable from a sensitivity of other of the plurality of pixel-level sensitive areas, and wherein the generating an electrical signal comprises aggregating the pixel-level electrical signals generated within a given of the at least one sensitive areas;
• wherein the receiving comprises generating, on the at least one photon detector, a plurality of patterns of sensitivity, wherein each pattern of sensitivity comprises a sensitivity of at least one of the pixel-level sensitive areas being set to a value other than zero, wherein each pattern of sensitivity is exposed on the photon detector for the predetermined length of time less than the exposure time for the frame of the scene;
• determining, from a characteristic of a given of the electrical signals, depth location information of at least a portion of the object within the scene corresponding to the given of the electrical signals;
• and
• generating, from the depth location information of portions of the object within the scene, a three-dimensional image for the frame of the scene, wherein the generating a three-dimensional image comprises combining depth location information determined from the electrical signals generated by the photon detector responsive to each of the plurality of patterns of sensitivity.