Adaptive illumination for a time-of-flight camera on a vehicle

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with executable instructions for operating an image sensor that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations, comprising:

• for each of a plurality of pixel regions of the image sensor,
• associating the pixel region with at least one of a plurality of objects;
• determining an exposure duration based on light intensity received at the pixel region;
• and
• determining an exposure start time for the pixel region based on the exposure duration and a distance between the at least one object and the image sensor;
• and
• obtaining an image of the plurality of objects by gating exposures of the plurality of pixel regions based on their respective start times and exposure durations.

An electronic camera apparatus, comprising:

• an image sensor with a plurality of pixel regions;
• an exposure controller configured to determine, for each pixel region in the plurality of pixel regions, an exposure start time and an exposure duration of the pixel region;
• and
• a plurality of gating circuits, wherein each gating circuit is configured to gate a pixel region in the plurality of pixel regions to begin exposure of the pixel region at an exposure start time, and continue the exposure for an exposure duration or end the exposure at an exposure end time,
• wherein each pixel region is configured to begin collecting incoming light starting at a corresponding exposure start time and continue collecting the incoming light during the corresponding exposure,
• wherein the exposure start time for a pixel region in the plurality of pixel regions is determined using a distance between the image sensor and an object imaged by the pixel region, and
• wherein the exposure duration for a pixel region in the plurality of pixel regions is determined based on light intensity received at the pixel region.