Patent ID: 11953600
Assignee: OUSTER, INC.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. An electronically scanning optical system comprising:
an emitter array comprising a plurality of light emitters configured to emit light at an operating wavelength into a field external to the optical system;
a first sensor array comprising a plurality of depth photosensors configured to detect emitted light reflected back from the field;
an optical filter disposed between the field and the first sensor array and operable to pass a narrow band of light that includes the operating wavelength to the first sensor array;
a second sensor array comprising a plurality of image photosensors configured to detect ambient light in the field, wherein a field of view of the emitter array corresponds to a field of view of the first sensor array and at least a subset of a field of view of the second sensor array;
an emitter controller coupled to the emitter array and configured to activate the plurality of light emitters in each emission cycle by activating a subset of the plurality of light emitters at a time;
a first sensor controller coupled to the first sensor array and configured to synchronize a readout of individual depth photosensors within the first sensor array concurrently with a firing of corresponding light emitters in the emitter array such that each light emitter in the emitter array can be activated and each depth photosensor in the first sensor array can be readout through the emission cycle; and
a second sensor controller coupled to the second sensor array and configured to readout at least a portion of the second sensor array having a field of view that overlaps with a field of view of the emitter array to capture an image that is representative of the field during the emission cycle.