Simple modulation of Lissajous MEMS laser beam scanning with reconfigurable structured light patterns for 3D imaging

Structured light 3D imaging systems commonly employ panel-based projectors or 1-axis MEMS mirrors with beam expander lens to project multi-frame barcodes or dot clouds, addressing challenges posed by objects with multi-scale feature sizes. However, these methods often result in large system volumes due to the required projection multi-lens modules, high hardware costs, or limited light pattern generation capabilities that hindering measurement precision enhancement. This paper introduces an innovative approach to reconfigurable spatial light pattern projection using a single bi-axial MEMS mirror with Lissajous scanning. In contrast to the pixel-by-pixel pre-defined image patterns encoding of conventional 2D laser beam scanning, the proposed method simply aligns the MEMS bi-axial resonance frequencies with laser pulse modulation, enabling the projection of diverse structured light patterns such as stripes, lines, dot matrices, and random dot clouds, which can adapt to different 3D imaging algorithms demands. It eliminates the need for multi-frame encoding and streamlines data caching, simplifies digital logic hardware. A prototype 3D imaging system was developed to demonstrate the mathematical model for laser modulation and the technical feasibility based on the proposed principle. Beyond its lens-free essence, the system supports focal-free optics and a compact projection form factor, which accommodates to a broad range of projection distances and field-of-views based on object’s location. 3D depth map of polynomial surface and blocks objects are extracted through single-frame pattern projection with a relative high accuracy. The presented modulation theory for diverse structured light pattern generation opens avenues for versatile and compact 3D imaging applications of LiDAR and robotic 3D vision.