Imaging device, method and recording medium for capturing a three-dimensional field of view

• US 10,204,276 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2015
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Atsumi, Hiroki
• Primary Examiner(s): Huang, Frank F
• Application Number:
  US14/975,186
• Publication Number:
  US 20160255331A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,152 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/147 Details of sensors, e.g. sensor lenses fingerprint or palmprint sensors G06V40/13; vascular sensors G06V40/145; eye sensors G06V40/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/582 of traffic signs
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road

Abstract

An imaging device includes a first imaging section, a second imaging section and an image data acquiring section. The first imaging section includes a first lens. The second imaging section includes a second lens. The second lens has an angle of view wider than the first lens. The image data acquiring section acquires first image data of a subject captured by the first imaging section, second image data of the subject captured by the second imaging section, and a pair of image data having parallax based on the first image data and the second image data.

Claims

1. An imaging device comprising:

a first imaging section including a first lens, wherein the first imaging section is configured to capture a range of a first field of view;

a second imaging section including a second lens, the second lens having an angle of view wider than the first lens, and the second imaging section having a lower definition than the first imaging section, wherein the second imaging section is configured to capture a range of a second field of view which includes the range of the first field of view and is wider than the range of the first field of view; and

a controller which is configured to perform operations including;

acquiring first image data of a subject captured by the first imaging section, and second image data of the subject captured by the second imaging section,

clipping, from the second image data, clipped image data that has a same angle of view as the range of the first field of view and which has an imaging range partially in common with the first field of view in the first image data,

generating corrected data in which a number of pixels of the clipped image data is corrected to have a number of pixels corresponding to a number of pixels of the first image data, and

generating, from the first image data and the corrected data, image data of a three-dimensional field of view with a range that is narrower than ranges of the first image data and the corrected data.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising a distance meter that determines a distance to the subject based on the image data of the three-dimensional field of view.

3. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein an optical axis of the first imaging section and an optical axis of the second imaging section are positioned substantially parallel to each other at the same level.

4. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising a character recognizing section that recognizes a character in the first image data of the subject captured by the first imaging section.

5. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the angle of view of the second lens includes the angle of view of the first lens.

8. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the controller is a processor which executes functions of an automated driving vehicle;

and

wherein the imaging device further comprises a recorder in which programs and data to control the processor to execute the functions are stored in advance and updated, or are temporarily stored for each function executed by the processor.

9. The imaging device according to claim 8, wherein the processor concurrently or selectively retrieves image data from the first imaging section or the second imaging section.

10. The imaging device according to claim 9, wherein the operations performed by the controller further comprise binarizing the image data retrieved from the first imaging section and the second imaging section and acquires the binarized image data.

11. The imaging device according to claim 9, wherein the operations performed by the controller further comprise recognizing character data included in the image data retrieved from the first imaging section, recognizing a parking position number displayed on a stop plate located at a position at which the automated driving vehicle should stop, and recognizing a traffic sign or any other character.

12. The imaging device according to claim 9, wherein the operations performed by the controller further comprise monitoring a lane of the automated driving vehicle based on the image data retrieved from the second imaging section and monitoring a lateral deviation of the automated driving vehicle while in operation or an obstacle on a right or left side of the automated driving vehicle while in operation.

13. The imaging device according to claim 9, wherein the operations performed by the controller further comprise calculating a position of the subject or a distance to the subject based on the image data of the three-dimensional field of view.

14. The imaging device according to claim 8, wherein the operations performed by the controller further comprise generating a vehicle drive control signal based on at least one of recognized characters, monitored lanes, and a measured distance so as to control driving of the automated driving vehicle.

15. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein:

a field of view of the first lens is a high-definition field of view, a field of view of the second lens is a wide-angle field of view, a field of view obtained by clipping the field of view of the second lens is a clipping field of view, and a field of view in common between the high-definition field of view and the clipping field of view is the three-dimensional field of view; and

the image data of the three-dimensional field of view comprises image data captured by the first imaging section and the second imaging section and corresponding to the three-dimensional field of view.

16. An automated driving vehicle comprising the imaging device according to claim 1.

17. A robot comprising the imaging device according to claim 1.

6. An imaging method performed by an imaging device, the imaging method comprising:

acquiring first image data of a subject, the first image data being captured by a first imaging section having a first lens, wherein the first imaging section is configured to capture a range of a first field of view;

acquiring second image data of the subject, the second image data being captured by a second imaging section having a second lens, the second lens having a wider angle of view than the first lens, and the second imaging section having a lower definition than the first imaging section, wherein the second imaging section is configured to capture a range of a second field of view which includes the range of the first field of view and is wider than the range of the first field of view;

clipping, from the second image data, clipped image data that has a same angle of view as the range of the first field of view and which has an imaging range partially in common with the first field of view in the first image data;

generating corrected data in which a number of pixels of the clipped image data is corrected to have a number of pixels corresponding to a number of pixels of the first image data; and

generating, from the first image data and the corrected data, image data of a three-dimensional field of view with a range that is narrower than ranges of the first image data and the corrected data.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium containing a program for controlling a computer to implement an imaging method in an imaging device, the program being executable by the computer to control the computer to execute functions comprising:

acquiring first image data of a subject, the first image data being captured by a first imaging section having a first lens, wherein the first imaging section is configured to capture a range of a first field of view;

acquiring second image data of the subject, the second image data being captured by a second imaging section having a second lens, the second lens having a wider angle of view than the first lens, and the second imaging section having a lower definition than the first imaging section, wherein the second imaging section is configured to capture a range of a second field of view which includes the range of the first field of view and is wider than the range of the first field of view;

clipping, from the second image data, clipped image data that has a same angle of view as the range of the first field of view and which has an imaging range partially in common with the first field of view in the first image data;

generating corrected data in which a number of pixels of the clipped image data is corrected to have a number of pixels corresponding to a number of pixels of the first image data; and

generating, from the first image data and the corrected data, image data of a three-dimensional field of view with a range that is narrower than ranges of the first image data and the corrected data.