The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Aug. 02, 2022

Filed:

May. 22, 2020
Applicant:

Facebook Technologies, Llc, Menlo Park, CA (US);

Inventors:

Zhaoming Zhu, Redmond, WA (US);

Michael Hall, Seattle, WA (US);

Qing Chao, Redmond, WA (US);

Assignee:

Facebook Technologies, LLC, Menlo Park, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01S 7/48 (2006.01); G01S 7/481 (2006.01); F21V 8/00 (2006.01); G01S 17/89 (2020.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01S 7/4814 (2013.01); G01S 17/89 (2013.01); G02B 6/005 (2013.01);
Abstract

Methods and systems for providing illumination for depth sensing are provided. In one example, an apparatus comprises an illuminator, an optical sensor, and a controller. The illuminator comprises a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) and a diffractive optical element (DOE). The PIC including a laser source and at least one waveguide including optical turning features. The at least one waveguide propagates light transmitted by the laser source along a first axis parallel to a top surface of the PIC. The optical turning features diverts the light to form collimated light beams to exit the at least one waveguide and the top surface along a second axis. The DOE can diffract and project the collimated light beams. The optical sensor can detect the collimated light beams reflected off an object. The controller can determine a depth of the object with respect to the apparatus based on the detection.


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