US 12,113,951 B2
High-resolution pseudo-random dots projector module for depth sensing
Xi Chen, Mountain View, CA (US); and Andrew Huibers, Los Altos, CA (US)
Assigned to Google LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by Google LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 8, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/450,351.
Prior Publication US 2023/0112542 A1, Apr. 13, 2023
Int. Cl. H04N 13/254 (2018.01); G01B 11/25 (2006.01); G06T 7/521 (2017.01); H04N 13/207 (2018.01)
CPC H04N 13/254 (2018.05) [G01B 11/2513 (2013.01); G01B 11/254 (2013.01); G06T 7/521 (2017.01); H04N 13/207 (2018.05)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
a plurality of pseudo-random dot projection systems, each of the plurality of pseudo-random dot projection systems including:
a respective wavefront modulating element (WME) located along an optical axis in a path traversed by radiation produced by a respective illumination source, the respective WME including a diffractive optical element (DOE), the DOE including features configured to form an image of a respective plurality of dots in a vicinity of a respective projection plane, the respective projection plane being located a distance from the respective WME along the optical axis; and
a controlling device, the controlling device including
memory; and
controlling circuitry coupled to the memory, the controlling circuitry being configured to:
perform a projection operation on each of the plurality of pseudo-random dot projection systems according to a specified schedule, the projection operation including, forming an image of the respective plurality of dots on a three-dimensional surface in the vicinity of the respective projection plane to produce a temporal sequence of images; and
aggregate the temporal sequence of images to produce a high-resolution depth image of the three-dimensional surface.