3D Time of Flight (3D ToF)

3D IMAGING WITH
TIME OF FLIGHT:
HIGH RESOLUTION,
LOW POWER,
& FAST FRAME RATE

3D IMAGING WITH TIME OF FLIGHT: HIGH RESOLUTION, LOW POWER, & FAST FRAME RATE

Analog Devices Time of Flight (ToF):

3D Time of Flight or 3D ToF is a type of scannerless LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that uses uses high power optical pulses in durations of nanoseconds to capture depth information (typically over short distances) from a scene of interest.

ADI offers industry leading products and solutions to directly enhance the capabilities of 3D ToF systems, including processing, laser drivers and power management, along with development boards and software/firmware to aid in quick implementation of 3D ToF solutions. In addition, ADI also offers modules from our design services partners.

Advantages of ADI’s 3D ToF solution

Embedded processor

ADI’s ToF system is a self-contained depth detection system that outputs depth-per-pixel data, unlike other systems which require a back-end application processor to process the output data from the ToF sensor. This lightens the burden of the application load, enabling the processor to work on more processor-intensive applications.

Multiple system operation

ADI’s proprietary interference cancellation algorithm allows customers to use multiple numbers of ToF systems in the same environment without any of them interfering with each other. Different ToF systems don't need to be connected to each other to operate without interference.

High Resolution Object Detection

High resolution object detection

The ADI ToF system utilizes a 640x480 pixel sensor, which provides 4x higher resolution than many of the ToF sensors on the market. This enables users to detect smaller and thinner objects that would be invisible to other ToF sensors.

Outdoor Operation

Outdoor operation

The ADI ToF system can operate in environments with strong ambient sunlight. This enables it to be used in a variety of applications such as drones or automotive applications which require outdoor operation.

Delivering value in key application areas

Automotive

Gesture control systems, made possible through 3D ToF technology, are said to be the next-generation user interface for the car, allowing the driver to answer an incoming phone call, change an audio input source, or even adjust the climate control through simple gestures of the hand or fingers.

Security and Surveillance

ADIs high-resolution VGA depth sensing technology offers significant advantages over traditional 2D image sensing techniques.

High-resolution depth makes it easier to both classify both people and objects with much higher levels of confidence. This can be leveraged into many application use cases, from commercial/retail entry/exit (for security and surveillance) to detecting people falling or hurting themselves (for medical applications).

Industry 4.0

The use of smart sensors, especially depth sensors, is becoming more and more ubiquitous within manufacturing as well as transportation and logistics.

From industrial machine vision for quality inspection, to volumetric detection for asset management, to navigation for autonomous manufacturing, the manufacturing industry is adopting these sensing technologies and moving toward highest-resolution systems designed for harsh industrial environments.