LED Array Time-of-Flight Sensing for Adaptive Lighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lighting control systems are inefficient due to the need for frequent calibration and privacy concerns with camera-based systems, and they often generate unnecessary complexity in processing video information, failing to effectively adapt to short-term personal lighting needs and long-term interior changes.
Innovation Solution
An illumination system using an array of LED light sources with a modulation pattern and a network of low-pixel-count sensors to create a time-of-flight image, generating an elevation map of objects in the space for adaptive lighting control, energy conservation, and occupant monitoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If camera systems are used to provide lighting systems with a sense of what needs to be illuminated, then the lighting system can detect objects and spaces, but privacy concerns arise due to detailed object identification
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential spatial information (depth, distance, elevation) from the optical field while deliberately excluding detailed object identification. The time-of-flight measurement approach captures only the temporal characteristic of light return, which provides spatial characterization without revealing object identity, thus extracting useful information while leaving harmful detailed data behind.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing layer that converts detailed optical information into abstracted spatial data. The modulation pattern detection and time-of-flight calculation act as intermediaries that transform rich visual information into simplified depth maps, preventing direct access to detailed object characteristics while preserving spatial awareness.
2Adaptability or versatility
If video information is processed to enable adaptive lighting control, then the system can respond to space changes, but unnecessary complexity is generated through processing large amounts of video information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the temporal modulation pattern from the optical signal, discarding all spatial detail information. By measuring only the time delay of modulated light return, the system obtains depth information without processing the vast amount of video data that would be required for equivalent adaptive control, dramatically reducing computational complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the measurement parameter from spatial detail (video pixels) to temporal characteristic (time-of-flight). By modulating the light source and measuring the phase shift or time delay of the returned signal, the system transforms the problem from image processing to temporal measurement, which is computationally simpler while still enabling adaptive lighting control.
3Extent of automation
If infrared motion sensors and ultrasonic sensors are used for lighting control, then the system can detect motion and occupancy, but the lighting system remains blind to the space and objects illuminated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the lighting system itself perform the sensing function by using the LED light sources as both illumination sources and active sensors. The same LEDs that illuminate the space also emit the modulated light for time-of-flight measurement, eliminating the need for separate sensors and enabling the lighting system to directly 'see' the objects and surfaces it illuminates.
Solution Approach 2:
The lighting system serves itself by using its own light sources to characterize the space. The LEDs illuminate the environment and simultaneously measure the distance to objects through time-of-flight, making the system self-aware of its illumination space without requiring external sensing infrastructure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides efficient lighting control, reduces energy consumption, and maintains privacy by accurately characterizing the space without detailed object identification, enabling effective energy management and safety functions.
Implementation Method 1
Each sensor is configured to determine a distance between the corresponding light source and the at least one object based on detection of the predetermined modulation pattern in the received scattered light
Implementation Method 2
The emitted light from among the plurality of LED light sources is scattered by at least one object in the space
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is an illumination system including an array of LED light sources for emitting light encoded with a modulation pattern, an array of sensors and a space characterization unit. The array of sensors receives emitted light scattered by an object. Each sensor determines a distance between the corresponding light source and the object using the modulation pattern. The space characterization unit uses the distance from each sensor to generate an elevation map indicating a presence of the object.