Method for exploring viewpoint and focal length of camera

• US 20030090586A1
• Filed: 10/19/2001
• Published: 05/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Appro Technology, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Appro Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Jan, Gwo-Jen, Chang, Chuang-Jan
• Granted Patent: US 6,985,183 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/335
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 17/002 for television cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/81 for suppressing or minimising disturbance in the image signal generation

Abstract

The present invention is a method for exploring the viewpoint and focal length of a fisheye lens camera (FELC). It employs the characteristic of the central symmetry of the distortion of the fisheye lens (FEL) to set its optic axis by means of a calibration target with a plurality of symmetrically homocentric figures. Once the optic axis is fixed, further disclose the viewpoint (VP) of the FELC along the optic axis through a trail-and-error procedure and calculate its effective focal length and classify it to the primitive projection mode. Because the invention is capable of finding out both the internal and external parameters of the FELC and the calibration method is easy, low-cost, suitable to any projection model, and has greater sensitivity corresponding to an increasing in image distortion, the distortive images can be transformed easily to normal ones which fit in with a central perspective mechanism. Furthermore, the invention is also practicable and excellent in its applications in the fields of quality identification of the FEL and wide-view 3-D metering.

Claims

1. A method for exploring viewpoint and focal length of camera that has an axis-symmetrical nonlinear-distortive lens, the method comprises:

providing a calibration target with a test pattern composed of at least one geometric figure;

aiming the center of the test pattern at an optic axis of a lens in the camera; and

searching a pinpoint along the optic axis to enable at least one image height on an image plane which is related to the geometric figure and the corresponding zenithal angle between the incident rays of light and the optic axis both fit in with a projection model.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the geometric figure is selected from the group comprising a circle, a rectangle, a triangle and a polygon.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein there is a plurality of the geometric figures composed of concentric circles, concentric rectangles, concentric triangles or concentric polygons.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the optic axis is further located by the steps comprise:

placing the calibration target in the field of view of the camera to let the test pattern form a corresponding image on the image plane; and

changing the position of the calibration target to make the image similar to the test pattern, then connecting both the centers of the calibration target and the image to locate the optic axis.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lens in the camera is a fisheye lens.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lens is a nonlinear lens with a given projection model.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the projection model is selected from the group comprising an equidistant projection, an orthographic projection and a stereographic projection.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pinpoint is the viewpoint of the lens in the camera.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the calibration target has at least one flat plane to provide the test pattern.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the periphery of the flat plane further vertically extends a surface to turn the calibration target into a hollow and one-side-open shape.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the camera is selected from the group comprising a CCD camera, a CMOS camera, a digital camera and a traditional camera with film.

12. A method for exploring viewpoint and focal length of camera that has an axis-symmetrical nonlinear-distortive lens, the method comprises:

providing a calibration target with a test pattern composed of at least one geometric figure;

placing the calibration target in the field of view of the camera to let the test pattern form a corresponding image on an image plane;

changing the position of the calibration target to make the image similar to the test pattern, then connecting both the centers of the calibration target and the image to locate an optic axis; and

searching a pinpoint along the optic axis to enable at least one image height on the image plane which is related to the geometric figure and the corresponding zenithal angle between the incident rays of light and the optic axis both fit in with a projection model.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the geometric figure is selected from the group comprising a circle, a rectangle, a square, a triangle and a polygon.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein there is a plurality of the geometric figures composed of concentric circles, concentric rectangles, concentric triangle or concentric polygons.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the lens in the camera is a fisheye lens.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein the lens is a nonlinear lens with a given projection model.

17. The method according to claim 12, wherein the projection model is selected from the group comprising an equidistant projection, an orthographic projection and a stereographic projection.

18. The method according to claim 12, wherein the pinpoint is the viewpoint of the lens in the camera.

19. The method according to claim 12, wherein the calibration target has at least one flat plane to provide the test pattern.

20. The method according to claim 12, wherein the periphery of the flat plane further vertically extends a surrounding surface to turn the calibration target into a hollow and one-side-open shape.

21. The method according to claim 12, wherein the camera is selected from the group comprising a CCD camera, a CMOS camera, a digital camera and a traditional camera with film.