GUIDED FLASH LIDAR

Systems, methods, and apparatus that can save power and provide improved lidar images. An example can save power by limiting received photon accumulation to a range of bins corresponding to a range of distances where a position of an object has been predetermined. By not accumulating or binning photon data over an entire range, the amount of data stored each laser cycle can be reduced, and other power saving measures can be realized. By limiting a range over which photon data is accumulated, the resolution of each bin can be increased, thereby improving a resulting lidar image. The position of an object can be predetermined using a stereo camera that can be coupled to, or included as part of, a lidar system. The stereo camera can acquire a pair of images offset by a spacing, and from the pair of images can generate stereo depth estimates. The depth estimates can be mapped to corresponding lidar pixels. The depth estimates can be converted to time intervals, which can be provided to the lidar system. The lidar system can use this to narrow the range over which photon data is collected for one or more pixels.