METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DISTANCE MEASUREMENT

Description

Technical area

[0001] The invention relates to a method and a device for optical distance measurement. State of the art

[0002] Optical distance measurements, particularly for use in driverless vehicle navigation, are well-known in the art. They are based on the time-of-flight principle, whereby measurement pulses are periodically emitted, reflected by objects, and the reflected measurement pulses are detected. By determining the time of flight of the measurement pulses from the sensor to the objects and back, the distance to these objects can be determined using the speed of light.

[0003] A corresponding device for optical distance measurement is typically designed as a LIDAR sensor (short for "Light Detection and Ranging"), which consists of a transmitting and receiving unit that can efficiently scan a measurement area without the use of mechanical parts. Electronic scanning methods can be used on the transmitting side, such as the selective addressing of laser diodes or optical phased arrays. Arrays of receiving elements can also be used on the receiving side to receive the reflected measurement pulses. Due to the limited memory capacity, the amount of data to be handled, and the power consumption of the receiving unit, the large number of receiving elements cannot be evaluated simultaneously. This limits the number of receiving elements that can be read and processed within a time interval (frame rate) in the current state of the art.

[0004] On the receiving side, the resolution and measurement range can be varied by using different optics, but the number of receiving elements is always fixed. This means that a large measurement range can only be measured with low resolution, since the number of receiving elements is fixed. Furthermore, the divergence of the individual receiving elements also reduces the range and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), thus reducing the performance of the method and the device.

[0005] US 2017 / 272651 A1 discloses a method to reduce the power required for a time-of-flight measurement.

[0006] DE 10 2011 089 629 A1 concerns a time-of-flight camera.

[0007] US 2019 / 0178974 A1 discloses a method for determining point clouds with respect to the surroundings of a vehicle.

[0008] US 2011 / 010273 A1 discloses a 3D imaging system.

[0009] WO 2018 / 100082 A1 describes a method and a device for time-of-flight measurement.

[0010] US 2018 / 0113216 A1 relates to a scanning device, while WO 2018 / 126248 A1 discloses a micromirror array.

[0011] DE 10147 807 A1 relates to a method for the three-dimensional detection of objects or scenes.

[0012] DE 11 2017 005 641 T5 discloses a histogram readout method and histogram readout circuit for determining the time of flight of a photon.

[0013] EP 3 531 167 A1 relates to a method and a device for optical distance measurement. Description of the invention: task, solution, advantages

[0014] The object of the present invention is to improve a method for optical distance measurement and a corresponding device in such a way that the largest possible measuring range can be measured cost-effectively and reliably in such a way that the greatest possible range, but at the same time the highest possible resolution of interesting areas, is achieved.

[0015] The aforementioned object is achieved by a method for optical distance measurement, wherein the method comprises creating at least one frame, in particular a plurality of frames. Within the frame, 3D information of at least one sub-area of ​​a measurement range is determined. A frame is understood to be an individual image. The term "3D information" refers in particular to distance information, in other words, depth information, about at least one sub-area of ​​the measurement range. In particular, a 3D depth map of at least one sub-area of ​​the measurement range is determined.

[0016] Several frames are created, usually one after the other. The rate at which the method creates frames is referred to as the frame rate. A frame can thus be viewed as 3D information, in other words, a three-dimensional "image" of at least one sub-area of ​​a measurement range determined within the time interval assigned to the frame. Preferably, the sub-area is a region of interest.

[0017] The method comprises dividing a time budget for creating the frame into a first phase for determining at least one region of interest and a second phase for determining 3D information from the at least one region of interest. The time budget is, in particular, a time interval assigned to the frame. This time interval is determined, in particular, by the frame rate.

[0018] The term "region of interest" refers in particular to a "region of interest." According to the invention, the region of interest is a sub-region of the measuring range. The term "measuring range" primarily refers to a three-dimensional space from which reflections of the emitted measuring pulses can and / or should be received. In other words, the term refers to an area to be measured. The measuring range can, but does not have to, be technically determined; it can be deliberately selected. It is thus an area that is to be "measured," or in other words, scanned, using the method according to the invention.

[0019] The method comprises carrying out the first phase, wherein, within the first phase, a plurality of measuring pulses are emitted by means of a transmitting unit and reflected measuring pulses are received by a receiving unit.

[0020] The transmitting unit comprises, in particular, a plurality of transmitting elements, wherein preferably each transmitting element transmits at least one measuring pulse into a defined sub-area of ​​the measuring range. Each transmitting element is thus assigned to a specific sub-area, in other words, a spatial element, of the measuring range. The same applies to the receiving unit. This comprises a plurality of receiving elements, wherein each receiving element is assigned to a sub-area of ​​the measuring range. In particular, this results in a unique assignment between the respective transmitting elements of the transmitting unit and the receiving elements of the receiving unit. From the fact which receiving element thus receives a measuring pulse, a conclusion can be drawn about the position of the reflecting object from which the measuring pulse was reflected. In particular, each transmitting element can be controlled individually. Furthermore, each receiving element can be evaluated individually.

[0021] During the first phase, 2D information of the measurement area is acquired. A 2D intensity image of the measurement area is created. In other words, the accumulated received intensity for each receiving element can be determined to create the intensity image.

[0022] In particular, no depth information is evaluated during the first phase. According to the invention, no 3D information of the measurement area is determined during the first phase. The transit times of the measurement pulses from the first phase are not evaluated. At least one region of interest is determined from the 2D information. In other words, the method identifies at least one region of interest.

[0023] The method further comprises carrying out the second phase. During the second phase, a plurality of measuring pulses are emitted by means of a transmitting unit, and reflected measuring pulses are received by the receiving unit. The receiving unit of the second phase is the same receiving unit as in the first phase. The same unit is therefore used on the receiving side for the first phase and the second phase. In principle, a camera can support the determination of 2D information by providing an image of the measuring area. In particular, however, the 2D information determined using the first phase is not provided externally, in other words by means of further sensors, e.g. a radar sensor or a camera, but internally, i.e. using the same device for carrying out the method.

[0024] During the second phase, 3D information of the at least one region of interest is determined. In particular, during the second phase, measurement pulses are emitted into the at least one previously determined region of interest. In particular, transmission elements that correspond to the corresponding spatial position of the region of interest in the measurement area are selectively controlled. Based on the reflected measurement pulses, the propagation time of the measurement pulses is determined, and thus distance information and thus also 3D information of the at least one region of interest is determined. During the second phase, measurement pulses can also be emitted into other sub-regions of the measurement area that were not identified as regions of interest. The 3D information can be present as part of a 3D depth map of at least one region of interest. Furthermore, a 4D map can be created by adding intensity values, e.g. from the first phase.

[0025] Furthermore, the method may comprise further phases, wherein at least one phase represents a first phase for determining at least one area of ​​interest e and at least one phase represents a second phase for determining 3D information of the at least one area of ​​interest.

[0026] Each piece of 3D information, in particular a distance value, is determined using a histogram. In particular, several measuring cycles are carried out during the first and / or second phase. During a measuring cycle, at least one measuring pulse is sent per transmitting element or relevant transmitting element (relevant because, for example, it is assigned to a relevant spatial region). The propagation time of all received measuring pulses is determined. The propagation times of all measuring pulses sent by a transmitting element and received by the associated receiving element are entered into a histogram. Furthermore, the propagation times of several neighboring receiving elements can also be entered into a common histogram. In other words, one histogram can be created per receiving element or block of receiving elements per frame. A distance value is determined from each histogram, which is then assigned to the spatial element that is associated with the receiving element or block of receiving elements.which corresponds to the block of receiving elements.

[0027] In particular, the above procedure is performed for all frames. The allocation of the time budget for creating a frame between the first and second phases can be determined dynamically for each frame, depending in particular on 2D or 3D information from the previous frame, or it can be fixed.

[0028] In particular, the first phase serves to "roughly" scan the measurement range in order to identify potentially interesting regions (regions of interest). The second phase, in contrast, aims to scan these interesting regions with the highest possible resolution. In particular, the proportion of the time budget allocated to the first phase is significantly smaller than the proportion allocated to the second phase. According to the invention, the proportion of the time budget for the first phase corresponds to a maximum of 50%, in particular a maximum of 30%, of the proportion of the second phase. The total time budget for the first and second phases is in particular at least 10 ms, preferably at least 20 ms, most preferably at least 30 ms, and / or at most 100 ms, preferably at most 70 ms, most preferably at most 50 ms.

[0029] The measuring pulses emitted in the first phase have, in particular, a pulse length of at least 100 picoseconds, further preferably at least 1 nanosecond, more preferably at least 10 nanoseconds and / or at most 100 nanoseconds, more preferably at most 50 nanoseconds. The measuring pulses emitted in the first phase can furthermore have a pulse length of at least 1 microsecond, preferably at least 10 microseconds and / or at most 100 microseconds, more preferably at most 50 microseconds. Many short and / or a few long measuring pulses with the aforementioned pulse lengths can be emitted in the first phase. The entire first phase can therefore have a duration of at least 1 ms, preferably at least 5 ms and / or at most 15 ms, in particular at most 10 ms, in particular at most 7 ms.

[0030] The measuring pulses emitted in the second phase have in particular a pulse length of at least 100 picoseconds, further preferably at least 1 ns, in particular at least 2 ns, most preferably at least 3 ns, and / or at most 50 ns, most preferably at most 30 ns.

[0031] In particular, the method can use exclusively a first transmission unit for the first phase and exclusively a second transmission unit for the second phase, with the first transmission unit and the second transmission unit being different. This applies in particular to multiple frames. The first transmission unit and the second transmission unit can, above all, be identically designed. Furthermore, the transmission units can be specifically designed for the phase assigned to them. The transmission unit for the first phase can comprise LEDs as transmission elements, while the transmission unit responsible for the second phase comprises VCSELs.

[0032] Furthermore, the method can use only a single transmitting unit, whereby the method uses the transmitting unit for the first phase and the second phase by means of temporal multiplexing. Due to the temporal multiplexing, the measurement pulses of the first phase and the second phase can be differentiated.

[0033] In the second phase, compared to the first phase, measurement pulses with higher intensity and / or longer pulse length and / or higher pulse rate can be emitted, in other words, more measurement pulses per unit of time. In particular, the intensity and / or pulse length and / or pulse rate of the measurement pulses of the second phase corresponds to at least 1.2 times, preferably at least 1.5 times, and most preferably at least 2 times, the corresponding parameter of the first phase. Furthermore, more measurement cycles can be performed in the second phase and / or more measurement pulses can be emitted per measurement cycle compared to the first phase.

[0034] In particular, the pulse rate can be increased via the "round trip time limit." The round trip time limit is a "minimum distance" between two consecutively transmitted measurement pulses, since twice the measurement pulse's transit time must be waited until the end of the measurement range in order to clearly distinguish between two transmitted measurement pulses. If the round trip time limit is exceeded, coded sequences are primarily used to correctly assign received measurement pulses. In particular, by using measurement pulses with higher pulse intensity, more energy is used in the second phase, thereby increasing the range. Furthermore, an increased pulse rate allows more measurement pulses to be used, thus also increasing the range.

[0035] The first phase can be understood in particular as the scanning phase, whereby this is not a scanning in the sense of a complete scanning of the measurement area, but rather a scanning in the sense of locating areas of interest. In contrast, the second phase can be understood in particular as a focused measurement phase for obtaining depth information. This allows both the limited hardware and the limited time budget to be used effectively, while simultaneously increasing the SNR. A high range of the method and a high resolution of at least one area of ​​interest are achieved, making it possible, above all, to detect very small objects at great distances.

[0036] The method may include determining an illumination, particularly for the first and / or second phase, wherein it is particularly determined which sub-area of ​​the measuring range or whether the entire measuring range is illuminated. During the first phase, the entire measuring range can be scanned. The illumination would then encompass the entire measuring range.

[0037] The receiving elements are primarily evaluated by evaluation units. During the second phase, receiving elements can be evaluated to determine the 3D information of the at least one area of ​​interest, receiving elements relating to the at least one area of ​​interest, as well as receiving elements relating to at least one sub-area of ​​the measuring range lying outside the at least one area of ​​interest. During the evaluation, more receiving elements are evaluated simultaneously in relation to the area of ​​interest than in the sub-area of ​​the measuring range lying outside the at least one area of ​​interest. Furthermore, receiving elements relating to the area of ​​interest can be evaluated in a less consolidated manner than in the sub-area of ​​the measuring range lying outside the at least one area of ​​interest.

[0038] Measurement pulses can be sent both into the area of ​​interest and into the sub-area of ​​the measurement area lying outside the at least one area of ​​interest. The measurement pulses sent into the area of ​​interest are sent by a first group of transmission elements. The first group of transmission elements is assigned to the spatial area of ​​the area of ​​interest. The first group of transmission elements is further assigned to corresponding reception elements, specifically a first group of reception elements. Conversely, measurement pulses are sent into at least one sub-area of ​​the measurement area lying outside the at least one area of ​​interest by a second group of transmission elements. The second group corresponds to the sub-area and a second group of reception elements.

[0039] Of the first group of receiving elements, more receiving elements can be evaluated simultaneously than the second group of receiving elements in order to achieve the highest possible resolution. This is achieved in particular by assigning as many receiving elements as possible to respective evaluation units and thus allowing them to be evaluated individually. Outside the area of ​​interest, i.e. relating to the second group of receiving elements, receiving elements can be evaluated together. This is achieved in particular by assigning the combined receiving elements to a common evaluation unit, which then averages the information thus obtained. This ensures that the at least one sub-area of ​​the measuring range lying outside the at least one area of ​​interest is resolved more coarsely. In particular, this applies to the entire remainder of the measuring range except for the areas of interest.Furthermore, sub-areas of the measuring range that lie outside the areas of interest cannot be evaluated at all.

[0040] Likewise, with regard to the at least one area of ​​interest, i.e., with regard to the first group of receiving elements, receiving elements can be evaluated together, whereby fewer receiving elements are combined than with regard to the second group. The term "fewer combined" thus means that fewer receiving elements are assigned to the same evaluation unit. In other words, of the receiving elements assigned to the area of ​​interest, fewer receiving elements are assigned to a common evaluation unit than in a sub-area of ​​the measuring range lying outside the area of ​​interest. In particular, with regard to the area of ​​interest, a 1:1 assignment between receiving elements and evaluation units is given. In particular, outside a 2:1, 3:1, or 4:1 assignment is given.

[0041] In addition, the first group of transmit elements can transmit measurement pulses with varying pulse rates. Furthermore, the first group of transmit elements could perform more measurement cycles than the second group of transmit elements. Furthermore, more measurement pulses can be sent per measurement cycle per transmit element compared to the second group of transmit elements. The pulse length and pulse intensity of the measurement pulses of the first group can be adjusted to obtain a histogram with the highest possible SNR. For the second group of transmit elements, the pulse rate, the number of measurement pulses at a pulse rate, the pulse lengths, and / or pulse intensities can be smaller compared to the first group. Overall, the aforementioned parameters are adjusted depending on the overall time budget to enable real-time capability of the system.

[0042] Outside the regions of interest, the corresponding receiving elements can be assigned to the other evaluation units, or even not evaluated at all. The result is a division of the measurement range into very high-resolution regions (the regions of interest) and lower-resolution regions. This principle makes it possible to evaluate a very large number of receiving elements with only a very limited number of evaluation units.

[0043] The term "less aggregated" can also be understood to mean that the travel times relating to at least one region of interest are entered into histograms in a less aggregated manner compared to the travel times of receiving elements in a sub-region of the measurement range located outside the at least one region of interest. In other words, for the second group of receiving elements, the travel times of several neighboring receiving elements can be entered into a common histogram. For example, the first group could be subdivided so that the travel times of 2, 3, or 4 receiving elements are entered into a common histogram. For the first group of receiving elements, the travel times of each receiving element can be entered into a separate histogram, or at least the number of receiving elements assigned to a common histogram can be smaller than for the second group.The effect of "less aggregated" analysis is better resolution. For example, if fewer receiving elements are assigned to a common histogram, the spatial resolution is better because the distance value determined by the histogram is thus assigned to a smaller pixel block.

[0044] During the first phase, different areas of interest can be classified as having varying levels of relevance, preferably in comparison to one another. The method thus advantageously comprises identifying areas of interest of varying relevance in comparison to one another. During the evaluation of a more relevant area of ​​interest, more receiving elements can be evaluated simultaneously compared to a less relevant area of ​​interest, and / or during the evaluation of a more relevant area of ​​interest, fewer receiving elements can be evaluated in a consolidated manner compared to a less relevant area of ​​interest.

[0045] In particular, fewer of the receiving elements assigned to a more relevant area of ​​interest are assigned to a common evaluation unit than those in a less relevant area of ​​interest. In particular, a 1:1 assignment between receiving elements and evaluation units is provided for the more relevant area of ​​interest. Preferably, a 2:1, 3:1, or 4:1 assignment is provided for a less relevant area of ​​interest.

[0046] In a further aspect, the present invention relates to a device for optical distance measurement. The device comprises, in particular, a transmitting unit for transmitting measurement pulses for the first phase and a transmitting unit for transmitting measurement pulses for the second phase. These can be different transmitting units or the same transmitting unit. Furthermore, the device comprises a single receiving unit for receiving reflected measurement pulses of the first phase and the second phase.

[0047] The device further comprises evaluation units for evaluating the receiving elements of the receiving unit and thus for determining 2D information of the measurement area during the second phase, and for determining areas of interest from the 2D information, as well as for determining 3D information during the second phase. The evaluation units are each formed, in particular, by time-of-flight counters, so-called time-to-digital converters.

[0048] The device is in particular a LIDAR sensor, in particular a solid-state LIDAR sensor, which in particular does not comprise any mechanical parts for deflecting measuring pulses.

[0049] A transmitting unit is, in particular, an array of transmitting elements, where the transmitting elements are individually and selectively addressable. The transmitting elements are, in particular, VCSELs (surface emitters). Furthermore, the transmitting unit can be an optical phased array. Furthermore, the transmitting elements can be laser diodes, fiber lasers, or LEDs. Furthermore, the transmitting elements can comprise addressable liquid crystals.

[0050] The receiving elements are, in particular, detectors, especially in the form of an array, preferably a focal plane array, in particular an APD array, most preferably a SPAD array. Furthermore, the array can comprise quantum well structures based on quantum dots. The receiving elements, in particular, form pixels.

[0051] Advantageously, the device comprises a region of interest determination unit, which serves to determine the regions of interest based on the 2D information. This can, in particular, use compressive sensing and / or image processing and / or at least one neural network. The region of interest determination unit can further define the size and / or relevance of the regions of interest and / or identify possible objects already located in the regions of interest.

[0052] Furthermore, the device can comprise an allocation unit which is particularly designed to determine an illumination, for example at least one illumination sequence, in the first phase and / or second phase on the transmission side and to assign transmission units that carry out the illumination on this basis. Furthermore, the allocation unit serves in particular to determine the illumination in the second phase such that the regions of interest are resolved as highly as possible, while regions lying outside the regions of interest are resolved more coarsely or not at all. This is done primarily by taking into account parameters such as the time budget, in particular its proportion for the first phase and the second phase, the hardware, in particular the limited number of evaluation units as well as receiving elements and transmitting elements, and / or the regions of interest determined in the first phase, in particular their size and / or relevance.The allocation unit thus assigns transmitting elements on the transmitting side to achieve a specific illumination level. Furthermore, it assigns evaluation units to the corresponding receiving elements, depending on whether the receiving element is assigned to a region of interest and / or its size and / or relevance. This serves to achieve the highest possible resolution for at least one region of interest.

[0053] The area of ​​interest determination unit and the allocation unit could be embodied by a single unit.

[0054] Furthermore, the device comprises a control unit which controls the transmitting elements and / or the receiving elements and / or the evaluation units on the basis of the information from the allocation unit. Short description of the drawings

[0055] They show schematically: Figure 1: a process diagram of a method according to the invention for distance measurement; Figure 2: a device according to the invention for distance measurement; and Figure 3: a plan view of a receiving unit of the device according to Figure 2 . Preferred embodiments of the invention

[0056] Figure 1 shows a process diagram of a method 100 according to the invention for distance measurement.

[0057] The method 100 comprises the creation 101 of at least one frame, wherein 3D information of at least one sub-area of ​​a measurement area is determined within the frame. A time budget for the frame is divided 102 into a first phase for determining at least one area of ​​interest and a second phase for determining 3D information from the at least one area of ​​interest.

[0058] The method 100 comprises the implementation 103 of the first phase, wherein, within the scope of the first phase, a plurality of measurement pulses are transmitted 107 by means of a transmitting unit 11 and reflected measurement pulses are received 108 by means of a receiving unit 12. Based on the reflected measurement pulses, 2D information of the measurement area is determined 109. Furthermore, in particular, a 2D intensity image is created 110.

[0059] Furthermore, within the scope of the first phase, illumination can be defined 104 for the first phase. Based on the illumination, transmitting elements can be assigned 105 on the transmitting side, with the aid of which the illumination is implemented. Furthermore, an assignment 106 of evaluation units 15 to receiving elements 12a can be made on the receiving side in order to evaluate the reflected measurement pulses.

[0060] Based on the 2D information of the measurement area, at least one region of interest is determined. Compressive sensing, a neural network, and / or image processing can be used. The size and relevance of the region of interest can also be determined.

[0061] Furthermore, the method 100 comprises the implementation 112 of the second phase, wherein a plurality of measurement pulses are again transmitted 116 by means of a transmission unit 11 and reflected measurement pulses are received 117. Furthermore, within the scope of the second phase, 3D information of the at least one region of interest is determined 118.

[0062] Also within the second phase, an illumination for the second phase is preferably defined 113, which determines which sub-areas of the measurement area are illuminated. This particularly applies to the previously determined areas of interest. Again, transmitting elements are assigned 114 to the illumination of the second phase on the transmitting side, and evaluation units are assigned 115 to the receiving elements 12a on the receiving side, so that the areas of interest can be resolved as high as possible.

[0063] Figure 2 shows a device 10 for distance measurement, which has a transmitting unit 11 comprising transmitting elements and a receiving unit 12 comprising receiving elements 12a.

[0064] The device 10 further comprises a region of interest determination unit 13, which is designed to determine the regions of interest based on the 2D information from the first phase 109. The device 10 comprises an evaluation unit 15, which serves to evaluate the reflected measurement pulses detected by the receiving elements 12a. The device 10 further comprises an assignment unit 14, which is designed to assign transmission elements on the transmitting side to a previously defined illumination of the first phase and / or the second phase and to assign evaluation units on the receiving side to the receiving elements 12a, depending on the desired resolution for a corresponding sub-region of the measurement range. The device 10 further comprises a control unit 16, which is designed to control the aforementioned units.

[0065] Figure 3 shows a plan view of the receiving unit 12 of the device of Figure 2, where the individual receiving elements 12a are clearly visible.

[0066] In Figure 3 It shows how four hatched receiving elements 12a are assigned to an area of ​​interest that was determined during a first phase. To enable the area of ​​interest to be measured with high resolution during the second phase, each of these four receiving elements 12a is assigned its own evaluation unit 15. The usual receiving elements 12a of the receiving unit 12 are evaluated together. An example shows how three receiving elements 12a, which are not assigned to an area of ​​interest, are assigned to a common evaluation unit 15. List of reference symbols

[0067] 100Procedure 101Creation of a frame 102Division of a time budget into a first and a second phase 103Implementation of the first phase 104Specification of an illumination for the first phase 105Transmission-side assignment of transmit elements to illumination of the first phase 106Reception-side assignment of evaluation units to reception elements 107Emission of a plurality of measurement pulses 108Reception of reflected measurement pulses 109Determination of 2D information of the measurement area 110Creation of a 2D intensity image 111Determination of at least one region of interest 112Implementation of the second phase 113Specification of an illumination for the second phase 114Transmission-side assignment of transmit elements to illumination of the second phase 115Reception-side assignment of evaluation units to reception elements 116Emission of a plurality of measurement pulses 117Reception of reflected measurement pulses 118Determination of 3D information of at least one area of ​​interest 10Device 11Transmitting unit 12Receiving unit 12aReceiving element 13Area of ​​interest determination unit 14Assignment unit 15Evaluation unit 16Control unit

Claims

1. Method (100) for optical distance measurement, wherein the method (100) comprises creating (101) at least one frame, wherein a frame is understood to be a single image, wherein 3D information of at least one sub-region of a measuring region is determined within the frame, characterized in that the method (100) comprises dividing (102) a time budget for creating the frame into a first phase for determining at least one region of interest and a second phase for determining 3D information from the at least one region of interest, wherein the method (100) comprises performing (103) the first phase, wherein, during the first phase, a plurality of measuring pulses are transmitted (107) by means of a transmitting unit (11) and reflected measuring pulses are received (108) by a receiving unit (12), wherein, during the first phase, 2D information of the measuring region is determined (109), wherein the 2D information is to be understood as a 2D intensity image of the measuring region, wherein, during the first phase, no 3D information of the measuring region and therefore no transit times of the measuring pulses of the first phase are determined, wherein at least one region of interest is determined from the 2D information (111), wherein the region of interest is a sub-region of the measuring region, wherein the method (100) comprises performing (112) the second phase, wherein during the second phase, a plurality of measuring pulses are transmitted (116) by means of a transmitting unit (11) and reflected measuring pulses are received (117) by the receiving unit (12), wherein, during the second phase, 3D information of the at least one region of interest is determined (118), and wherein the proportion of the time budget for the first phase is a maximum of 50% of the proportion of the second phase.

2. The method (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the method (100) comprises creating several frames, wherein the method (100) exclusively uses a first transmitting unit for the first phase of all frames and exclusively uses a second transmitting unit for the second phase of all frames.

3. The method (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the method (100) uses only one transmitting unit (11), wherein the method (100) uses the transmitting unit (11) by means of time multiplexing for the first phase and for the second phase.

4. The method (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the second phase, measuring pulses with a higher intensity and / or longer pulse length and / or higher pulse rate are transmitted, compared to the first phase.

5. The method (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receiving unit (12) comprises a plurality of receiving elements (12a), wherein, during the second phase, receiving elements (12a) are evaluated with respect to at least one region of interest and receiving elements (12a) are evaluated with respect to at least one sub-region of the measuring region lying outside the at least one region of interest, wherein, during the evaluation, with respect to the region of interest, more receiving elements (12a) are evaluated simultaneously over time compared to the sub-region of the measuring region lying outside the at least one region of interest and / or wherein, during the evaluation, with respect to the region of interest, receiving elements (12a) are evaluated less summarized compared to the sub-region of the measuring region lying outside the at least one region of interest.

6. The method (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that during of the evaluation, transit times of received measuring pulses can be determined and entered in a histogram, wherein transit times of receiving elements (12a) with respect to at least one region of interest are entered less summarized in histograms compared to transit times of receiving elements (12a) of a sub-region of the measuring region lying outside the at least one region of interest.

7. The method (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that different regions of interest are classified as having different relevance.

8. The method (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that during the evaluation of a more relevant region of interest, more receiving elements (12a) are evaluated simultaneously over time compared to a less relevant region of interest and / or wherein, during the evaluation of a more relevant region of interest, receiving elements (12a) are evaluated less summarized compared to a less relevant region of interest.

9. Device (10) for optical distance measurement, characterized in that the device (10) is configured to perform a method (100) according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the device (10) comprises a transmitting unit (11) for transmitting measuring pulses for the first phase and a transmitting unit (11) for transmitting measuring pulses for the second phase, and wherein the device (10) comprises a receiving unit (12) for receiving reflected measuring pulses of the first phase and the second phase.

10. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium on which is stored a program enabling a computer, after having been loaded into the memory of the computer, to perform a method (100) according to one of claims 1 to 8, in cooperation with a device (10) according to claim 9.

11. A computer-readable storage medium on which is stored a program which, after being loaded into the computer's memory, enables a computer to perform a method (100) according to one of claims 1 to 8, in cooperation with a device (10) according to claim 9.