Method and apparatus for controlling illumination

A workstation for imaging a target object, comprising:

• a housing having a first window located in a generally horizontal plane and a second window located in a generally upright plane that intersects the generally horizontal plane;
• an illumination source configured to be activated to provide an illumination light toward the target object;
• a plurality of imaging sensors configured to capture light returned from the target object through the first window or through the second window, wherein each of the imaging sensors has an array of photosensitive elements;
• a controller configured to receive data from at least one of the imaging sensors;
• and
• wherein at least one of the imaging sensors is configured to transmit to the controller a short frame data and subsequently a regular frame data, the size of the regular frame data being at least 50 times larger than the size of the short frame data, wherein the short frame data is collected by the at least one of the imaging sensors when the illumination source is activated to provide the illumination light toward the target object with a first illumination level, and wherein the regular frame data is collected by the at least one of the imaging sensors when the illumination source is activated to provide the illumination light toward the target object with a second illumination level that is determined based upon the short frame data.

A workstation for imaging a target object, comprising:

• a housing having a first window located in a generally horizontal plane and a second window located in a generally upright plane that intersects the generally horizontal plane;
• a light emitting diode within the housing operative to emit mostly invisible light towards the target object;
• a photodetector configured to detect returned invisible light from the target object to generate an electrical signal;
• an illumination source configured to be activated to provide an illumination light toward the target object after the electrical signal generated by the photodetector indicates that the returned invisible light from the target object is detected;
• a plurality of imaging sensors configured to capture light returned from the target object through the first window or through the second window, wherein each of the imaging sensors has an array of photosensitive elements;
• a controller configured to receive data from at least one of the imaging sensors;
• and
• wherein at least one of the imaging sensors is configured to transmit to the controller a short frame data and subsequently a regular frame data, the size of the regular frame data being at least 50 times larger than the size of the short frame data, wherein the short frame data is collected by the at least one of the imaging sensors when the illumination source is activated to provide the illumination light toward the target object with a first illumination level, and wherein the regular frame data is collected by the at least one of the imaging sensors when the illumination source is activated to provide the illumination light toward the target object with a second illumination level that is determined based upon the short frame data.