Rolling shutter motion and depth sensing

Abstract

Described is an imaging component that utilizes two rolling shutter sensors for motion detection of objects and for depth mapping of objects within an effective field of view of the imaging component. Unlike traditional stereo cameras that utilize global shutter sensors to avoid distortions, or attempting to remove distortions created by rolling shutter sensors, the disclosed implementations emphasize the distortions created by rolling shutters imaging moving objects and utilize that information to determine that the objects are moving and/or to determine a range or distance of the object from the imaging component. For example, a first rolling shutter sensor is oriented in a first orientation such that the scanlines generate the image from a top of the sensor to the bottom of the sensor, and a second rolling shutter sensor is oriented in a second orientation such that the scanlines generate the image from a bottom of the sensor to the top of the sensor. In other words, the two rolling shutter sensors have opposite orientations in the imaging component. As a result, the distortions of a moving object imaged by the two sensors are opposite and easily distinguished between the two images.