ToF cameras measure the time it takes for light to travel a distance in a medium. Typically, this is a measure of the time it takes for the pulsed emitted light to reach the object and reflect back to the ToF camera. ToF cameras use the ToF measurement principle (ToF image sensor) to determine the distance between the camera and the object or the surrounding environment, and generate a depth image or 3D image from the measured points.
Applications for ToF cameras include laser-based non-scanning lidar imaging systems, motion sensing and tracking, object detection for machine vision and autonomous driving, and terrain mapping.
ToF measurement principle is as follows. The emitted infrared light is reflected by the measured object and then returns to the sensor. The built-in timer records its round-trip time, and then its distance can be calculated. It sounds like it's not that different from ultrasonic ranging. But it is not the case. Ultrasonic ranging has relatively high requirements on reflective objects, and objects with small areas, such as lines and cones, cannot be measured.ToF infrared ranging can completely overcome this problem. At the same time, ToF ranging has high accuracy and can measure Long distance and fast response. This technology is basically similar to the principle of the 3D laser sensor, except that the 3D laser sensor scans point by point, while the TOF camera obtains the depth information of the entire image at the same time.
