Self-illuminating camera
By designing a self-illuminating camera that employs an illumination field with parallel lens optical axes and overlapping fields of view, combined with an optical diffuser and amplitude mask, the compact packaging challenge is solved, costs are reduced, and imaging quality is improved, making it suitable for the efficient manufacturing of devices such as medical endoscopes.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-01-09
- Publication Date
- 2026-03-06
AI Technical Summary
Existing technologies make it difficult to achieve efficient integration of compactly packaged light sources and cameras, resulting in high manufacturing costs for devices such as medical endoscopes and making them difficult to mass-produce.
Design a self-illuminating camera that combines a camera and an illuminator, employing two identical lenses and a light source with parallel optical axes and an overlapping field of view. Combine this with an optical diffuser and an amplitude mask to achieve a compact layout of the light source and image sensor.
It achieves a compact package of camera and illuminator, reducing manufacturing costs, improving image quality, and supporting mass production.
Smart Images

Figure CN118330971B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of imaging equipment technology, and more specifically to a self-illuminating camera. Background Technology
[0002] Applications such as medical endoscopes require compact packages for the light source and camera used to illuminate the object and capture images of it. Ideally, such compact packaging should be achieved through low-cost processes compatible with high-volume manufacturing. Summary of the Invention
[0003] In a first aspect, a self-illuminating camera includes a camera and an illuminator. The camera includes an image sensor and a first lens of a pair of two identical lenses. The illuminator is adjacent to the camera and includes a light source and a second lens of a pair of two identical lenses. The illuminator has an illumination field that at least partially overlaps with the field of view of the camera.
[0004] In some embodiments, the first lens is located at a first height above the photosensitive surface of the image sensor, and the second lens is located at a second height above a plane including the photosensitive surface, wherein the difference between the first height and the second height is less than the depth of focus of the first lens.
[0005] In some embodiments, the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are parallel.
[0006] In some embodiments, the camera has a diagonal field of view exceeding 120 degrees.
[0007] In some embodiments, the self-illuminating camera further includes a shutter located at an aperture stop of one of the camera and the illuminator.
[0008] In some embodiments, the self-illuminating camera further includes an optical diffuser located between the light source and the second lens.
[0009] In some embodiments, the optical diffuser is a batwing diffuser.
[0010] In some embodiments, the self-illuminating camera further includes an amplitude mask between the light source and the second lens.
[0011] In some embodiments, the light source has a light-emitting area exceeding the area of the amplitude mask.
[0012] In some embodiments, the self-illuminating camera further includes a printed circuit board electrically connected to each of the image sensor and the light source.
[0013] In some embodiments, the self-illuminating camera further includes a projector adjacent to at least one of the camera and the illuminator, and includes an additional light source, a third lens, and an amplitude mask between the additional light source and the third lens, the third lens being identical to each of the first lens and the second lens.
[0014] In some embodiments, each of the illuminator and the projector has an illumination field that at least partially overlaps with the field of view of the camera.
[0015] In some embodiments, the center-to-center distance between the first lens and the second lens is equal to the center-to-center distance between the first lens and the third lens, such that the optical centers of the first lens, the second lens, and the third lens each define an equilateral triangle.
[0016] In some embodiments, the self-illuminating camera further includes:
[0017] A first transparent substrate, the first transparent substrate including a first lens support region directly above the image sensor; and
[0018] A second transparent substrate, the second transparent substrate including a second lens support region directly above the light source;
[0019] The first lens includes a first lens element in a pair of identical lens elements on the first lens support region;
[0020] The second lens includes a second lens element in a pair of identical lens elements on the second lens support region.
[0021] In some embodiments, the first lens element and the first transparent substrate are monolithic.
[0022] In some embodiments, the first transparent substrate and the second transparent substrate are corresponding areas of a common transparent substrate.
[0023] In some embodiments, the common transparent substrate, the first lens element, and the second lens element are monolithic.
[0024] In some embodiments, the self-illuminating camera further includes:
[0025] A first semiconductor substrate, the first semiconductor substrate including the image sensor and a first peripheral region surrounding the pixel array of the image sensor;
[0026] A second semiconductor substrate, the second semiconductor substrate including the light source and a second peripheral region surrounding the light source;
[0027] A first opening spacer, the first opening spacer spanning between the first peripheral region and the region of the first transparent substrate surrounding the first lens support region; and
[0028] A second opening spacer spans between the second peripheral region and the region of the first transparent substrate surrounding the second lens support region.
[0029] In some embodiments, the self-illuminating camera further includes one of a reflective coating and an absorptive coating on the outer surface of the second opening spacer. Attached Figure Description
[0030] Figure 1 This is a cross-sectional view of the lesion chamber as shown in the embodiment, including an image captured by a self-illuminating camera of an endoscope.
[0031] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the self-illuminating camera in the embodiment. The self-illuminating camera is... Figure 1 An example of a self-illuminating camera.
[0032] Figures 3 to 5 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the first self-illuminating camera, which is... Figure 2 An embodiment of a self-illuminating camera.
[0033] Figures 6 to 8 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the second self-illuminating camera, which is... Figure 2 An embodiment of a self-illuminating camera.
[0034] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the projector in the embodiment. The projector can be... Figure 2 or Figure 3 It is part of a self-illuminating camera. Detailed Implementation
[0035] The diagrams in this paper depict orthogonal axes A1, A2, and A3, also referred to as the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis, respectively. In this paper, the xy-plane is formed by orthogonal axes A1 and A2, and the plane parallel to the xy-plane is called the transverse plane. Unless otherwise specified, the height and depth of an object in this paper refer to the extent of the object along axis A3. Furthermore, in this paper, the horizontal plane is parallel to the xy-plane, the width refers to the extent of the object along the x-axis or y-axis respectively, and the vertical direction is along the z-axis.
[0036] Figure 1This is a cross-sectional view of an endoscope 195 inside a chamber 190 that includes lesion 192. Lesion 192 is located on the side wall 191 of the chamber. For example, chamber 190 may be part of the esophagus or intestine. Endoscope 195 includes a self-illuminating camera 100 that illuminates and images the lesion 192.
[0037] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a self-illuminating camera 200, which is an example of a self-illuminating camera 100. Figure 2 The cross-sectional plane is parallel to the xy plane. The self-illuminating camera 200 includes a camera 201 and an illuminator 202. The camera 201 includes an image sensor 212 and a lens 240(1). The illuminator 202 is adjacent to the camera 201 and includes a light source 222 and a lens 240(2). Lenses 240(1) and 240(2) are identical, for example, in at least the following properties: material, refractive index, width 242, surface profile, and focal length. The light source 222 may be a light-emitting diode (LED), or may include LEDs. The self-illuminating camera 200 may include a shutter located at an aperture stop at at least one of the camera 201 and the illuminator 202.
[0038] Lenses 240(1) and 240(2) have their own optical axes 241(1) and 241(2), which can be parallel. Optical axes 241(1) and 241(2) intersect with image sensor 212 and light source 222, respectively. Figure 2 A horizontal plane 254 is depicted, intersecting each of lenses 240(1) and 240(2) and perpendicular to at least one of optical axes 241. The horizontal plane 254 may be coplanar with the principal plane of at least one of lenses 240(1-3). The centers of lenses 240(1) and 240(2) are separated by a center-to-center distance 256. The distance 256 may be within the horizontal plane 254 and may be the distance between the respective optical centers of lenses 240(1) and 240(2).
[0039] Camera 201 has a field of view 247. Illuminator 202 has an illumination field 248 that at least partially overlaps with the field of view 247, such that the object imaged by camera 201 (e.g., lesion 192) is adequately illuminated. The extent of illumination field 248 can be defined by the angle at which the intensity of the light emitted by illuminator 202 is a portion of its on-axis peak value. Examples of this portion include half, 1 / e, and 1 / e. 2 , where e is the Euler number.
[0040] The field of view 247 can be a diagonal field of view and can exceed 120 degrees. Lens 240(1) is located at a height 245 above the photosensitive surface of image sensor 212. The photosensitive surface is in plane 252. Lens 240(2) is located at a height 246 above plane 252. Heights 245 and 246 can be substantially equal. For example, the difference between heights 245 and 246 can be less than the depth of focus of lens 240(1).
[0041] The field of view 247 can be defined by the height 245 and the width 213 of the image sensor 212 along axis A1. The image sensor 212 has a pixel array. The width 213 can be the "lateral width" of the image sensor parallel to the rows of the pixel array, the "vertical width" of the image sensor parallel to the columns of the pixel array, or the diagonal width. The height 245 can be the distance from the image sensor to the principal plane of the lens 240 (1). In a simple lens approximation, the field of view 247 is equal to 2arctan(w 213 / (2h 245 )), where w 213 and h 245 These represent a width of 213 and a height of 245, respectively.
[0042] Figure 2 Let the distance 256 be represented as d. 256 The field of view 247 is represented as θ 247 And the object distance is denoted as d0. For example... Figure 2 As shown in the geometric system, the specific object distance d0 is equal to d 256 / tan(θ 247 / 2), and corresponds to the case where the edge of the field of view 247 intersects the optical axis 241(2). At this object distance, and in the xz plane, the portion of the overlap between the field of view 247 and the illumination field 248 is half. For a given object distance, as the distance 256 decreases, the overlap between the field of view 247 and the illumination field increases. Because a higher value of this portion is beneficial for producing a high-quality image, the relationship between the distance 256, the field of view 247, and the object distance d0 implies an upper limit for the distance 256: d 256 ≤d0tan(θ 247 / 2). Using the expression for the field of view 247 based on the simple lens approximation described above, the upper limit of the distance 256 can be expressed as d. 256 ≤0.5d0w 213 / h 245 .
[0043] According to the thin lens approximation, the object distance d0 can be expressed as a function of the focal length f of lens 240(1) and the image distance equal to the height 245: d0=fh 245 / (h 245-f). Therefore, in the embodiment, the distance 256 is less than or equal to 0.5fw. 213 / (h 245 -f). A similar upper limit for distance 256 is based on ensuring that camera 202 captures a true image, which requires the object distance d0 to be greater than f. Therefore, in this embodiment, distance 256 is less than 0.5fw. 213 / h 245 .
[0044] Between the light source 222 and the lens 240(2), the illuminator 202 may include at least one of an optical diffuser 214 and an amplitude mask 216. The optical diffuser 214 improves the uniformity of illumination on the illumination field 248 and may be a batwing diffuser. Using the amplitude mask 216, the illuminator 202 projects structured illumination onto the lesion 192, which makes it possible to process the image captured by the camera 201 to produce a depth map of the lesion 192.
[0045] In one embodiment, the light source 222 has a light-emitting area exceeding the mask area of the amplitude mask 216. Each of the light-emitting area and the mask area lies in its respective cross-sectional plane. For example, the amplitude mask 216 and the light source 222 have respective widths 243 and 244, where width 244 exceeds width 243. In such an embodiment, the central region of the illumination field 248 includes structured illumination capable of enabling depth map construction, while the surrounding edge regions include unstructured illumination that improves image quality.
[0046] In an embodiment, the self-illuminating camera 200 may include a projector 206, which is an example of an illuminator 202 including a lens 240(3), a light source 223, and an amplitude mask 216. The projector 206 may also include an optical diffuser 214 between the amplitude mask 216 and the light source 223. Figure 2 In the example, projector 206 is adjacent to camera 201. When self-illuminated camera 200 includes projector 206, illuminator 202 may lack amplitude mask 216, so that illuminator 202 does not project a pattern, while projector 206 projects a pattern.
[0047] Lens 240(3) has an optical axis 241(3), and lens 240(3) may be identical to each of lenses 240(1) and 240(2). Optical axis 241(3) intersects with light source 223. Light source 223 has an illumination field 249 that at least partially overlaps with field of view 247. When light source 223 is identical to light source 222, illumination field 249 is equal to illumination field 248. Light source 223 may differ from light source 222, for example, by having a different emission spectrum.
[0048] Camera 201, illuminator 202, and projector 206 can be arranged linearly, such as Figure 2As shown. Alternatively, camera 201, illuminator 202, and projector 206 can be arranged such that the respective optical centers of lens 240 form a triangle, such as an isosceles triangle or an equilateral triangle, in horizontal plane 254. In an embodiment, the respective optical centers of lenses 240 (1-3) are equidistant from each other, such that the optical centers define an equilateral triangle. In such an embodiment, each of illumination field 248, illumination field 249, and field of view 247 can overlap.
[0049] The self-illuminating camera 200 may include a printed circuit board 208 electrically connected to each of the image sensor 212 and the light source 222. When the self-illuminating camera 200 includes a projector 206, the light source 223 may be electrically connected to the printed circuit board 208. At least one camera 201, illuminator 202, and projector 206 may be attached to the printed circuit board 208.
[0050] Figures 3 to 5 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the self-illuminating camera 300, which is an example of the self-illuminating camera 200. Figure 3 This indicates transverse planes 4-4′ and 5-5′, which are respectively... Figure 4 and Figure 5 The cross-sectional plane. Figure 4 and Figure 5 This indicates longitudinal section plane 3-3′. Longitudinal section plane 3-3′ is... Figure 3 The cross-sectional plane. It is best to view it together with the following descriptions. Figures 3 to 5 .
[0051] The self-illuminating camera 300 includes a camera 301 and an illuminator 302, which are examples of camera 201 and illuminator 202, respectively. Camera 301 includes at least one of a semiconductor substrate 310, a substrate 350(1), and a lens 340(1). Lens 340(1) includes at least one of lenses 341(1) and 342(1). Semiconductor substrate 310 includes an image sensor 212.
[0052] Illuminator 302 includes at least one of semiconductor substrate 320, substrate 350 (2), and lens 340 (2). Lens 340 (2) includes at least one of lenses 341 (2) and 342 (2). Semiconductor substrate 320 includes light source 222. Illuminator 302 may include at least one of optical diffuser 214 and amplitude mask 216 between light source 222 and substrate 350 (2). One or both of optical diffuser 214 and amplitude mask 216 may be supported on and / or on the top surface 329 of semiconductor substrate 320.
[0053] The substrate 350(1,2) may be transparent, for example, transparent to a specific range of electromagnetic wavelengths, such as ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. The substrate 350(1,2) has a respective bottom surface region 351(1,2) and a top surface region 359(1,2), each region being planar. Lenses 341(1,2) are respectively located on the top surface region 359(1,2). Lenses 342(1,2) are respectively located on the bottom surface region 351(1,2). At least a portion of each lens 341(1,2) is respectively located on corresponding lens support regions 355(1) and 355(2).
[0054] Substrates 350(1) and 350(2) may be monolithic, for example, integrally formed, such that they are corresponding areas of a common substrate. In the embodiment, at least one of the following exists: (a) lens 340(1) and substrate 350(1) are monolithic, and (b) lens 340(2) and substrate 350(2) are monolithic.
[0055] The substrates 350(1,2) each have a lens support region 355(1,2) and a peripheral region 356(1,2). The lens support regions 355(1,2) are located directly above the image sensor 212 and the light source 222, respectively. The peripheral regions 356(1,2) surround the lens support regions 355(1,2).
[0056] Lenses 340(1) and 340(2) are examples of lenses 240(1) and 240(2), respectively. Each of the following states exists: (a) lenses 341(1) and 341(2) are identical, and (b) lenses 342(1) and 342(2) are identical, with the same meaning as lens 240 being identical. When lens 340 includes both lenses 341 and 342, (a) a composite lens including lens 341(1), substrate 350(1), and lens 342(1) is an example of lens 240(1), and (b) a composite lens including lens 341(2), substrate 350(2), and lens 342(2) is an example of lens 240(2).
[0057] The self-illuminating camera 300 includes aperture spacers 330(1) and 330(2). The semiconductor substrate 310 includes a peripheral region 312 surrounding a pixel array of the image sensor 212. The semiconductor substrate 320 includes a peripheral region 322 surrounding a light source 222. Peripheral regions 356(1,2) are located directly above peripheral regions 312 and 322, respectively. A aperture spacer 330(1) spans between peripheral regions 312 and 356(1). A aperture spacer 330(2) spans between peripheral regions 322 and 356(2).
[0058] The opening spacers 330(1,2) each have their own inner surfaces 334(1,2), which define corresponding holes through the opening spacers 330. Figure 4 The illustration shows that the inner surface 334 is rectangular in horizontal cross-section. This cross-sectional shape may not be rectangular, but may be circular or polygonal, without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0059] The perforated spacers 330 have respective outer surfaces 332 (1, 2). In an embodiment, the illuminator 302 includes a coating 362 on the outer surface 332 (2). Figure 3 and Figure 5 As shown, coating 362 can extend to cover the outer surface of substrate 350(2). Within the emission spectrum of light source 222, coating 362 can serve as a reflective coating or an antireflective coating, such as an absorptive coating. As a reflective coating, coating 362 increases the brightness of illuminator 302 and can make the illumination field 248 equal to or greater than the field of view 247. When illuminator 202 includes amplitude mask 216 and coating 362 is an antireflective coating, coating 362 increases the sharpness of the image of amplitude mask 216 captured by camera 201.
[0060] In the embodiments, at least one of the following exists: (a) substrates 350(1) and 350(2) are respective areas of a single common substrate, and (b) opening spacers 330(1) and 330(2) are respective areas of a single common spacer. For example, Figures 6 to 8 This is a corresponding cross-sectional schematic diagram of a self-illuminating camera 600, which is an example of a self-illuminating camera 300, wherein at least one of the following is present: (a) a multi-aperture spacer 630 replaces each of spacers 330(1) and 330(2), and the multi-aperture spacer 630 is an example of each of spacers 330(1) and 330(2); and (b) a substrate 650 replaces each of substrates 350(1) and 350(2), and the substrate 650 is an example of each of substrates 350(1) and 350(2). The self-illuminating camera 600 includes a camera 601 and an illuminator 602, which are examples of cameras 301 and 302, respectively. In the embodiment, lenses 340(1), 340(2) and substrate 650 are monolithic, for example, integrally formed.
[0061] Figure 6 This indicates the cross-sectional planes 7-7′ and 8-8′, which are respectively... Figure 7 and Figure 8 The cross-sectional plane. Figure 7 and Figure 8 This indicates longitudinal section plane 6-6′. Longitudinal section plane 6-6′ is... Figure 6 The cross-sectional plane.
[0062] The multi-aperture spacer 630 includes an outer surface 632 and an inner surface 634, which are examples of outer surface 632 and inner surface 634, respectively. The self-illuminating camera 600 may include a coating 662 and a coating 664, where coating 662 is an example of coating 362. Coating 664 is at least partially embedded within the multi-aperture spacer 630, located between the various openings formed by the inner surface 634, such as... Figure 6 As shown.
[0063] The substrate 650 includes regions 655(1) and 655(2), which are examples of regions 355(1) and 355(2). Figure 8 As shown, coating 664 can also be at least partially embedded in substrate 650, located between regions 655(1) and 655(2). Figure 7 and Figure 8 The illustration shows the thicknesses 635 and 636 of the substrate 650 between coatings 662 and 664. In an embodiment, at least one of the thicknesses 635 and 636 may be equal to zero, such that coatings 662 and 664 are continuous.
[0064] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the 906 projector. The 906 projector is... Figure 2 The projector 906 is an example of projector 206. Projector 906 is also an example of illuminator 602, which includes amplitude mask 916, semiconductor substrate 920 and substrate 950, which are examples of amplitude mask 216, substrate 320 and substrate 350, respectively. Projector 906 also includes at least one of lenses 341(3) and 342(3).
[0065] Embodiments of self-illuminating cameras 300 and 600 include a projector 906. When the self-illuminating camera 600 includes a projector 906, it also includes lenses 341 (1-3) and / or lenses 342 (1-3), and a substrate 650 supports or is integrally formed with each of the lenses 341 (1-3) and / or lenses 342 (1-3). In such embodiments, the multi-aperture spacer 630 includes additional apertures aligned with the light source 223.
[0066] Feature combination
[0067] The features described above and the features claimed below can be combined in various ways without departing from the scope of the invention. The following examples illustrate some possible, non-limiting combinations:
[0068] (A1) A self-illuminating camera includes a camera and an illuminator. The camera includes an image sensor and a first lens of a pair of two identical lenses. The illuminator is adjacent to the camera and includes a light source and a second lens of a pair of two identical lenses. The illuminator has an illumination field that at least partially overlaps with the field of view of the camera.
[0069] (A2) In embodiment (A1), the first lens is located at a first height above the photosensitive surface of the image sensor.
[0070] (A3) In either of the embodiments (A1) and (A2), the optical axes of the first lens and the second lens are parallel.
[0071] (A4) In any of the embodiments (A1)-(A3), the camera’s diagonal field of view exceeds 120 degrees.
[0072] (A5) Any of the embodiments (A1)-(A4) also includes a shutter located at the aperture stop of one of the camera and the illuminator.
[0073] (A6) Any of the embodiments (A1)-(A5) further includes an optical diffuser located between the light source and the second lens.
[0074] (A7) In embodiment (A6), the optical diffuser is a batwing diffuser.
[0075] (A8) Any of the embodiments (A1)-(A7) also includes an amplitude mask between the light source and the second lens.
[0076] (A9) In embodiment (A8), the light source has a light-emitting area that exceeds the area of the amplitude mask.
[0077] (A10) Any of the embodiments (A1)-(A9) further includes a printed circuit board electrically connected to each of the image sensor and the light source.
[0078] (A11) Any of embodiments (A1)-(A10) further includes a projector adjacent to at least one of the camera and the illuminator. The projector includes an additional light source, a third lens, and an amplitude mask between the additional light source and the third lens. The third lens is identical to each of the first and second lenses.
[0079] (A12) In embodiment (A11), each of the illuminator and the projector has an illumination field that at least partially overlaps with the field of view of the camera.
[0080] (A13) In either of embodiments (A11) and (A12), the center-to-center distance between the first lens and the second lens is equal to the center-to-center distance between the first lens and the third lens, such that the optical centers of the first lens, the second lens and the third lens define an equilateral triangle.
[0081] (A14) Any of embodiments (A1)-(A13) further includes a first transparent substrate, the first transparent substrate including a first lens support region directly above the image sensor; and a second transparent substrate, the second transparent substrate including a second lens support region directly above the light source. The first lens includes a first lens element centered on a pair of identical lens elements in the first lens support region. The second lens includes a second lens element centered on a pair of identical lens elements in the second lens support region.
[0082] (A15) In embodiment (A14), the first lens element and the first transparent substrate are monolithic.
[0083] (A16) In either of the embodiments (A14) and (A15), the first transparent substrate and the second transparent substrate are corresponding areas of the common transparent substrate.
[0084] (A17) In embodiment (A16), the common transparent substrate, the first lens element, and the second lens element are monolithic.
[0085] (A18) Any of embodiments (A1)-(A17) further includes a first semiconductor substrate, a second semiconductor substrate, a first aperture spacer, and a second annular element. The first semiconductor substrate includes an image sensor and a first peripheral region surrounding a pixel array of the image sensor. The second semiconductor substrate includes a light source and a second peripheral region surrounding the light source. The first aperture spacer spans between the first peripheral region and a region of the first transparent substrate surrounding a first lens support region. The second spacer spans between the second peripheral region and a region of the first transparent substrate surrounding a second lens support region.
[0086] (A19) Embodiment (A18) also includes one of a reflective coating and an absorbent coating on the outer surface of the second opening spacer.
[0087] Modifications to the above methods and systems may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, it should be noted that the content contained in the above specification or shown in the accompanying drawings should be interpreted as illustrative rather than restrictive. In this document, unless otherwise stated, the phrase "in embodiments" is equivalent to the phrase "in some embodiments" and does not refer to all embodiments. The following claims are intended to cover all general and specific features described herein, as well as all statements regarding the scope of the inventive methods and systems that are linguistically adequate to fall between the two.
Claims
1. A self-illuminated camera, comprising: a camera comprising an image sensor and a first lens of a pair of two identical lenses; and an illuminator adjacent to the camera and comprising a light source and a second lens of the pair of two identical lenses; the illuminator having an illumination field at least partially overlapping a field of view of the camera; the first lens being located at a first height above a light-sensitive surface of the image sensor, the second lens being located at a second height above a plane comprising the light-sensitive surface, the difference between the first height and the second height being less than a depth of focus of the first lens.
2. The self-illuminated camera of claim 1, the optical axis of each of the first lens and the second lens being parallel.
3. The self-illuminated camera of claim 1, the diagonal field of view of the camera exceeding 120 degrees.
4. The self-illuminated camera of claim 1, further comprising a shutter located at an aperture stop of one of the camera and the illuminator.
5. The self-illuminated camera of claim 1, further comprising an optical diffuser located between the light source and the second lens.
6. The self-illuminated camera of claim 5, the optical diffuser being a batwing diffuser.
7. The self-illuminated camera of claim 1, further comprising an amplitude mask between the light source and the second lens.
8. The self-illuminated camera of claim 7, the light source having a light emitting area exceeding an area of the amplitude mask.
9. The self-illuminated camera of claim 1, further comprising a printed circuit board electrically connected to each of the image sensor and the light source.
10. A self-illuminated camera, comprising: a camera comprising an image sensor and a first lens of a pair of two identical lenses; an illuminator adjacent to the camera and comprising a light source and a second lens of the pair of two identical lenses; and a projector adjacent to at least one of the camera and the illuminator and comprising an additional light source, a third lens, and an amplitude mask between the additional light source and the third lens; the illuminator having an illumination field at least partially overlapping a field of view of the camera; the third lens being identical to each of the first lens and the second lens.
11. The self-illuminated camera of claim 10, each of the illuminator and the projector having an illumination field at least partially overlapping a field of view of the camera.
12. The self-illuminated camera of claim 10, a center-to-center distance between the first lens and the second lens being equal to a center-to-center distance between the first lens and the third lens, such that the optical centers of the first lens, the second lens, and the third lens each define an equilateral triangle.
13. A self-illuminated camera, comprising: a camera comprising an image sensor and a first lens of a pair of two identical lenses; an illuminator adjacent to the camera, the illuminator (i) including a light source and a second lens of the pair of identical lenses, and (ii) having an illumination field that at least partially overlaps a field of view of the camera; a first transparent substrate including a first lens support region directly above the image sensor; a second transparent substrate including a second lens support region directly above the light source; a first semiconductor substrate including the image sensor and a first peripheral region surrounding a pixel array of the image sensor; a second semiconductor substrate including the light source and a second peripheral region surrounding the light source; a first aperture spacer spanning between the first peripheral region and a region of the first transparent substrate surrounding the first lens support region; and a second aperture spacer spanning between the second peripheral region and a region of the first transparent substrate surrounding the second lens support region. the first lens includes a first lens element of a pair of identical lens elements on the first lens support region; the second lens includes a second lens element of the pair of identical lens elements on the second lens support region.
14. The self-illuminating camera of claim 13, the first lens element and the first transparent substrate being monolithic.
15. The self-illuminating camera of claim 13, the first transparent substrate and the second transparent substrate being respective regions of a common transparent substrate.
16. The self-illuminating camera of claim 15, the common transparent substrate, the first lens element, and the second lens element being monolithic.
17. The self-illuminating camera of claim 13, further comprising one of a reflective coating and an absorptive coating on an outer surface of the second aperture spacer.
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