Optical system for collecting distance information within a field

A method of generating a matrix of distance values with an optical system that comprises a plurality of pixels and an illumination source, wherein each pixel in the plurality of pixels comprises a plurality of detectors and each distance value in the matrix corresponds to a polar coordinate in three-dimensional space, the method comprising:

• scanning the plurality of pixels across a field of view of the optical system through a scan cycle;
• and
• during the scan cycle:
• (i) executing a plurality of sampling periods corresponding to different angular sampling positions within the field of view of the optical system as the plurality of pixels are scanned across the field of view of the optical system, and (ii) populating the matrix with distance values generated at the different angular sampling positions;
• wherein during each sampling period in the plurality of sampling periods of the scan cycle, distance values are generated by:
• activating the illumination source to project light into the field of view of the optical system;
• recording an illumination time stamp at which the illumination source was activated;
• detecting, with the plurality of pixels, photons from the illumination source that are reflected by surfaces in the field of view of the optical system;
• reading each detector in each pixel in the plurality of pixels;
• collecting light data, in a computer-readable memory, for each pixel in the plurality of pixels, the light data comprising a number of detectors in the pixel that recorded an incident photon since a last sampling period and incident times of the incident photons;
• transforming, for each pixel in the plurality of pixels, the collected light data into distance values;
• and
• clearing all the detectors in each pixel in the plurality of pixels prior to executing a next sampling period.

An optical system for generating a rectangular matrix of range values that can be used to generate a three-dimensional image where each range value in the rectangular matrix corresponds to a polar coordinate in three-dimensional space, the optical system comprising:

• a plurality of pixels, each pixel in the plurality of pixels comprising a plurality of detectors;
• an illumination source;
• one or more processors;
• one or more computer-readable memories that store computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the optical system to:
• scan the plurality of pixels across a field of view of the optical system through a scan cycle;
• and
• during the scan cycle:
• (i) execute a plurality of sampling periods corresponding to different angular sampling positions within the field of view of the optical system as the plurality of pixels are scanned across the field of view of the optical system, and (ii) populate the matrix with distance values generated at the different angular sampling positions;
• wherein during each sampling period in the plurality of sampling periods of the scan cycle, distance values are generated by:
• activating the illumination source to project light into the field of view of the optical system;
• recording an illumination time at which the illumination source was activated;
• detecting, with the plurality of pixels, photons from the illumination source that are reflected by surfaces in the field of view of the optical system;
• reading each detector in each pixel in the plurality of pixels;
• collecting light data, in a computer-readable memory, for each pixel in the plurality of pixels, the light data comprising a number of detectors in the pixel that recorded an incident photon since a last sampling period and incident times of the incident photons;
• transforming, for each pixel in the plurality of pixels, the collected light data into distance values;
• and
• clearing all the detectors in each pixel in the plurality of pixels prior to executing a next sampling period.

A method of generating a three-dimensional image with an optical system comprising a plurality of pixels and an illumination source, where each pixel comprises a plurality of detectors and where the three-dimensional image is represented by a rectangular matrix of range values with each range value in the rectangular matrix corresponding to a polar coordinate in three dimensional space, the method comprising:

• rotating the plurality of pixels through a plurality of 360 degree scan cycles, where each scan cycle includes a plurality of sampling periods corresponding to different angular sampling positions resulting from rotating the plurality of pixels;
• during each sampling period in the plurality of sampling periods:
• (i) activating the illumination source to project light into fields of view of the plurality of pixels;
• (ii) recording an illumination time at which the illumination source was activated;
• (iii) detecting, with the plurality of pixels, photons from the illumination source that are reflected by surfaces in the fields of view of the plurality of pixels;
• (iv) reading each detector in each pixel;
• (v) storing in a memory a number of detectors in each pixel that recorded an incident photon since a last sampling period and incident times of the incident photons;
• (vi) clearing all the detectors in each pixel;
• and (vii) calculating distance values for each pixel in the plurality of pixels;
• populating the rectangular matrix with the calculated distance values from the different angular sampling positions;
• and
• generating the three-dimensional image from data in the rectangular matrix.