Fringe projection(structured light) 3D imaging is a widely used 3D imaging method. In recent years, the integrated three-dimensional sensor has developed rapidly, especially the three-dimensional sensor based on the principle of structured light has gradually become an essential sensor unit for high-end smart phones. However, with the increasing requirements from applications, people have higher and higher requirements on the efficiency, accuracy, stability and other aspects for the fringe projection technique. At the same time, the rapid development of deep learning technology has opened a new door for the development of optical imaging technology, and from this door we notice that with the introduction of the concept of artificial intelligence, the development of fringe projection technology is also experiencing a new breakthrough. In this paper, the basic theory of fringe projection 3D imaging was introduced. Then, by using the deep learning technology, the fringe projection technology based on the physical model can become a technology driven by "data", and in this case, it showed the potential to surpass the traditional algorithm. Finally, the challenges and future research directions in this field from the aspects of neural network model, training data, training methods and so on were discussed.