https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfklQ-O-FPc
Also, I believe Amazon went that way when designing their DeepRacer. Note that it has no IR projector but 2 Cameras and a commodity PC for processing.
The resolution, noise, frame rate and even consistency (notice the flashing) is a tiny fraction of basic hardware solutions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfklQ-O-FPc
Also, I believe Amazon went that way when designing their DeepRacer. Note that it has no IR projector but 2 Cameras and a commodity PC for processing.