3D ToF Camera

The ToF camera operates based on the time-of-flight principle, emitting light pulses (usually-infrared light) towards objects and then measuring the time it takes for the light pulses to travel from emission to reflection off the object and back to the sensor. With speed of light and the flight time, the distance between the object and the camera can be calculated. Since it can quickly measure the distance from each pixel to the object the ToF camera can obtain the three-dimensional depth information of the object in real-time.

Advantages: Good real-time performance, capable of quickly obtaining three-dimensional information of the object, suitable for dynamic scene applications such as autonomous driving, robot navigation, etc. In addition, its depth information accuracy is relatively high, it is less sensitive to changes in ambient light.

Disadvantages: The resolution is usually relatively low, making it difficult to obtain the fine texture and detail information of object. At the same time, the cost is relatively high, which limits its widespread application in some cost-sensitive application scenarios.

In autonomous driving, ToF camera can sense the surrounding obstacles, road conditions, and other information in real-time, providing important data support for the autonomous driving system; in robot navigation, helps the robot quickly identify the surrounding environment, plan the walking path, and achieve autonomous movement.