Illuminator, preferably an illuminator for active range estimation device, comprising: a source of laser radiation (2-a,2-b); a conditioning optics (3-a,3-b) for the source of laser radiation (2-a,2-b); a first dot pattern generator (DPG-1) receiving laser light from the conditioning optics (3-a,3-b) and configured to produce a number Npd of first divergent rays r1a, r2a, …, ria, …, rNpda, forming a first pattern P1, and a second dot pattern generator (DPG-2) receiving laser radiation from the conditioning optics (3- a,3-b) and configured to produce a number Npd of second divergent rays forming a second pattern r1b, r2b, …, rib, …, rNpdb,. The first and second dot pattern generators (DPG-1 and DPG-2) are configured to produce Npd couples of corresponding first and second rays r1a - r1b, r2a - r2b, … ria - rib, …rNpda rNpdb that have substantially parallel axis and impact on a target to produce Npd pairs of dots D1a - D1b, D2a - D2b, …, Dia - Dib, …, DNpda - DNpdb on the target.