Patent ID: 8319949

Claim:
A method for detecting an object using visible light, comprising: providing a white solid-state visible-light source having a function of illuminating an environment; driving the visible-light source to emit visible light in a predetermined pulse mode, with visible light in the predetermined pulse mode being emitted such that the light source maintains said function of illuminating an environment; receiving a reflection/backscatter of the emitted visible light from an object; filtering the reflection/backscatter over a selected wavelength range of 400 nm to 750 nm as a function of a desired range of detection from the light source to obtain a light input having a shorter pulse on a time scale than a Pulse of the visible light; detecting the light input with the shorter pulse; and identifying at least one of a presence and a position of the object with the desired range of detection solely as a function of the detected light input with the shorter pulse and of the predetermined pulse mode.