Panoramic vision system and method
First Claim
1. A panoramic vision system having associated camera, display optics and geometric characteristics, said system comprising:
- (a) a plurality of image acquisition devices to capture image frame data from a scene and to generate image sensor inputs, said image frame data collectively covering up to a 360°
field of view, said image acquisition devices having geometric and optical distortion parameters;
(b) a digitizer coupled to the plurality of image acquisition devices to sample and convert the image frame data and the image sensor inputs into digital image data;
(c) an image processor coupled to the digitizer comprising;
(i) an image measurement device to receive the digital image data and to measure the image luminance histogram and the ambient light level associated with the digital image data;
(ii) a luminance correction module coupled to the image measurement device to receive the digital image data along with the camera, display optics and geometric characteristics, the image luminance histogram and the ambient light level, and to correct for luminance non-uniformities and to optimize the luminance range of selected regions within the digital image data;
(iii) a convolution stage coupled to the luminance correction module to combine the geometric and optical distortion parameters including the image sensor inputs, the camera, display optics and geometric characteristics and imperfections associated therein to form convoluted distortion parameters;
(iv) a distortion correction module coupled to the convolution stage to generate and apply a distortion correction transformation based on the convoluted distortion parameters to the digital image data to generate corrected digital image data;
(v) a display controller coupled to the distortion correction module to synthesize a composite image from the corrected digital image data; and
(d) a display system coupled to said image processor to display the composite image on a viewing surface for viewing, said composite image being visually distortion free.
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Abstract
A distortion corrected panoramic vision system and method provides a visually correct composite image acquired through wide angle optics and projected onto a viewing surface. The system uses image acquisition devices to capture a scene up to 360° or 4π steradians broad. An image processor corrects for luminance or chrominance non-uniformity and applies a spatial transform to each image frame. The spatial transform is convolved by concatenating the viewing transform, acquisition geometry and optical distortion transform, and display geometry and optical transform. The distortion corrections are applied separately for red, green, and blue components to eliminate lateral color aberrations of the optics. A display system is then used to display the resulting composite image on a display device which is then projected through the projection optics and onto a viewing surface. The resulting image is visibly distortion free and matches the characteristics of the viewing surface.
259 Citations
56 Claims
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1. A panoramic vision system having associated camera, display optics and geometric characteristics, said system comprising:
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(a) a plurality of image acquisition devices to capture image frame data from a scene and to generate image sensor inputs, said image frame data collectively covering up to a 360°
field of view, said image acquisition devices having geometric and optical distortion parameters;
(b) a digitizer coupled to the plurality of image acquisition devices to sample and convert the image frame data and the image sensor inputs into digital image data;
(c) an image processor coupled to the digitizer comprising;
(i) an image measurement device to receive the digital image data and to measure the image luminance histogram and the ambient light level associated with the digital image data;
(ii) a luminance correction module coupled to the image measurement device to receive the digital image data along with the camera, display optics and geometric characteristics, the image luminance histogram and the ambient light level, and to correct for luminance non-uniformities and to optimize the luminance range of selected regions within the digital image data;
(iii) a convolution stage coupled to the luminance correction module to combine the geometric and optical distortion parameters including the image sensor inputs, the camera, display optics and geometric characteristics and imperfections associated therein to form convoluted distortion parameters;
(iv) a distortion correction module coupled to the convolution stage to generate and apply a distortion correction transformation based on the convoluted distortion parameters to the digital image data to generate corrected digital image data;
(v) a display controller coupled to the distortion correction module to synthesize a composite image from the corrected digital image data; and
(d) a display system coupled to said image processor to display the composite image on a viewing surface for viewing, said composite image being visually distortion free. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for providing panoramic vision using a panoramic vision system having camera, display optics and geometric characteristics as well as geometric and optical distortion parameters, to generate a composite image that covers up to 360°
- or 4π
steradians, said method comprising;
(a) acquiring image frame data from a scene, said image frame data collectively covering up to 360°
or 4π
steradian field of view, and generating a set of image senor inputs;
(b) converting the image frame data and the image senor inputs into digital image data, said digital image data being associated with an image luminance histogram and an ambient light level;
(c) obtaining the camera, display optics and geometric characteristics, the image luminance histogram and the ambient light level and correcting for luminance non-uniformities to optimize the luminance range of selected regions within the digital image data;
(d) convoluting the geometric and optical distortion parameters including the image sensor inputs, the camera, display optics and geometric characteristics and imperfections associated therein to form convoluted distortion parameters;
(e) generating and applying the distortion correction transformations to the digital image data, said distortion correction transformations being based on the convoluted geometric and optical distortion parameters to generate corrected digital image data;
(f) synthesizing a composite image from the corrected digital image data; and
(g) displaying the composite image on a viewing surface for viewing, said composite image being visually distortion free. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
- or 4π
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48. An image processor, for use in a panoramic vision system having associated camera, display optics and geometric characteristics as well as geometric and optical distortion parameters, said panoramic vision system using a plurality of image acquisition devices to capture image frames from a scene and to generate digital image data and image sensor inputs and a digitizer to convert the digital image data and the image sensor inputs into digital image data, said image processor comprising:
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(a) an image measurement device to receive the digital image data and to measure the image luminance histogram and the ambient light level associated with the digital image data;
(b) a luminance correction module coupled to the image measurement device to receive the digital image data along with the camera, display optics and geometric characteristics, the image luminance histogram, and the ambient light level and to correct for luminance non-uniformities and to optimize the luminance range of selected regions within the digital image data;
(c) a convolution stage coupled to the luminance correction module to combine the geometric and optical distortion parameters including the image sensor inputs, the camera, display optics and geometric characteristics and imperfections associated therein to form convoluted distortion parameters;
(d) a distortion correction module coupled to the convolution stage to generate and apply a distortion correction transformation, based on the convoluted distortion parameters, to the digital image data to generate corrected digital image data; and
(e) a display controller coupled to the distortion correction module to synthesize a composite image from the corrected digital image data. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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Specification