Patent Document ID: 9915733
Application ID: 15147854
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of imaging a scene, the method comprising: A) estimating a first three-dimensional (3D) representation of a first portion of the scene, the estimating of the first 3D representation comprising: A1) illuminating the first portion of the scene with a first light burst comprising a first plurality of light pulses, the first light burst having a first burst duration equal to or less than 1 millisecond; A2) generating a first plurality of point clouds, corresponding to the first plurality of the light pulses, by detecting photons reflected or scattered from the first portion of the scene using a focal plane array, a first data point in the first plurality of point clouds representing a first distance between the focal plane array and a first scene point in the first portion of the scene; and A3) estimating the first 3D representation of the first portion of the scene based at least in part on the first plurality of point clouds; B) estimating a second 3D representation of a second portion of the scene at least partially overlapping with the first portion of the scene, the estimating of the second 3D representation comprising: B1) illuminating the second portion of the scene with a second light burst comprising a second plurality of light pulses, the second light burst having a second burst duration equal to or less than 1 millisecond; B2) generating a second plurality of point clouds, corresponding to the second plurality of the light pulses, by detecting photons reflected or scattered from the second portion of the scene using the focal plane array, a second data point in the second plurality of point clouds representing a second distance between the focal plane array and a second scene point in the second portion of the scene; and B3) estimating the second 3D representation of the second portion of the scene based at least in part on the second plurality of point clouds; and C) generating a three-dimensional image of the scene based at least in part on the first 3D representation of the first portion of the scene and the second 3D representation of the second portion of the scene.