Currently, the mainstream detection technologies for 3D Depth Camera are structured light, TOF, and stereo vision. The hardware for structured light 3D imaging mainly consists of a camera and a projector. Structured light refers to active structural information projected onto the surface of the measured object by the projector, such as laser stripes, Gray codes, and sinusoidal stripes. Then, a single or multiple cameras capture images of the measured surface to obtain structured light images. Finally, 3D reconstruction is achieved through 3D image analysis and calculation based on the triangulation principle.

To solve the depth information of the measured object using the pixel information of an infrared camera, the following steps are required: structured light decoding, pixel conversion, and spatial coordinate conversion. To meet the real-time requirement of acquiring depth information, a dedicated processing chip is generally installed inside the structured light module to calculate and output real-time information.

Structured light-based 3D imaging is essentially the measurement and reproduction of 3D parameters. It is mainly distinguished from passive 3D measurement technologies such as pure stereo vision, thus being called active 3D measurement. This is because it needs to actively project structured light onto the measured object and determine the size parameters of the measured object through the deformation of the structured light (or time-of-flight, etc.), hence the name "active 3D measurement".

How to Choose a 3D Depth Camera

iHawkP100R is a camera module based on the monocular 3D structured light technology solution. It can be widely applied in scenarios such as robot obstacle avoidance, visual recognition, volume measurement, 3D scanning, AR/VR, and somatosensory interaction. When iHawkP100R is in operation, specifically encoded speckle signals are projected from the transmitter onto the object surface and reflected. The infrared camera receives the reflected infrared structured light images. The depth chip calculates the distance from each point of the object to the camera plane based on the distortion of the light spots in the received infrared structured light images and the triangulation principle. This product provides high-precision depth information with a ranging range of 0.3m to 8m, and has the function of simultaneously outputting high-precision depth maps and high-definition color maps.

iHawkP050 is a measurement device that utilizes structured light and polarization technology, focusing on 3D image acquisition within short distances. Equipped with active structured light 3D reconstruction technology, this camera features ultra-high precision and can capture millimeter-scale objects. Its lightweight design allows for easy installation in narrow spaces, and the polarization technology endows it with excellent anti-interference capability, enabling outstanding performance even under complex working conditions such as reflective surfaces or precise structures. This product offers high-precision depth information with a ranging range of 0.07m to 0.50m, and can simultaneously output high-precision depth maps and high-definition color maps.

The technical solutions of both products consist of three parts: optical components, image processing hardware, and software. In terms of hardware, they can provide high-precision depth maps, full HD color maps, and support pixel alignment of images. In terms of software, the products have no computing power requirements for the backend platform, as all depth calculations are completed within the module. Moreover, they provide customers with a self-developed full-platform SDK that supports Android/Windows/Linux, meeting the needs of different customers for rapid industry edge applications.

In addition, unlike other RGB-D 3D depth cameras worldwide, Bosheng 3D cameras adopt metasurface technology to achieve chip and device-level optical integration, which can perfectly solve pain points such as multipath reflection and specular reflection in 3D sensing application scenarios, addressing long-standing challenges that could not be resolved by 3D depth cameras in the industry.

The application scenarios of 3D structured light depth cameras

• Object information segmentation and recognition, 3D face recognition, applied in scenarios such as security verification and financial payment;
• Gesture recognition, providing new interaction methods for intelligent terminals;
• 3D scene reconstruction, which can restore 3D scenes by using depth information (point cloud data) generated by depth cameras combined with RGB color image information, applicable in scenarios such as distance measurement and virtual renovation.