Imaging head and imaging system
First Claim
1. An imaging head of an imaging system comprising:
- a frame;
a rotation stage rotatable on the frame;
a motor mounted to the frame and controllable to rotate the rotation stage;
a laser rangefinder mounted on the rotation stage for rotation with the rotation stage; and
a digital camera mounted on the rotation stage for rotation with the rotation stage;
wherein the digital camera and the laser rangefinder are fixedly aligned on a common boresight.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An imaging head for an imaging system and a method of obtaining a three-dimensional image with the head and system. The imaging head consists of a digital camera and laser rangefinder fixedly aligned on a common boresight. A rotation stage rotates the camera and rangefinder together as they acquire range and image data of a selected scene. The data is combined to produce the three-dimensional image without the need for a separate calibration process. The method alows a low resolution scan to be made of a scene and an area to be selected for a high resolution scan. The method also allows a number of scans from different positions to be knitted into a single image to overcome line-of-sight limitations.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. An imaging head of an imaging system comprising:
-
a frame;
a rotation stage rotatable on the frame;
a motor mounted to the frame and controllable to rotate the rotation stage;
a laser rangefinder mounted on the rotation stage for rotation with the rotation stage; and
a digital camera mounted on the rotation stage for rotation with the rotation stage;
wherein the digital camera and the laser rangefinder are fixedly aligned on a common boresight. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. An imaging system comprising an imaging head and control means;
- the imaging head comprising;
a frame;
a rotation stage rotatable on the frame;
a motor mounted to the frame and controllable to rotate the rotation stage;
a laser rangefinder mounted on the rotation stage for rotation with the rotation stage; and
a digital camera mounted on the rotation stage for rotation with the rotation stage;
wherein the digital camera and the laser rangefinder are fixedly aligned on a common boresight; and
the control means performing the steps of;
sending signals to the motor to rotate the rotation stage;
receiving a digital image of a scene from the digital camera; and
receiving range data of the scene from the laser rangefinder;
the control means including imaging software that constructs a three dimensional point cloud from the range data, overlays the digital image from the digital camera, and displays a rendered three dimensional image of the scene on a display device. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
- the imaging head comprising;
-
14. A method of constructing a three-dimensional image of a scene including the steps of:
-
(i) recording a visual image of a scene by;
(a) recording a red image of a slice of a scene;
(b) recording a green image of the slice of the scene;
(c) recording a blue image of the slice of the scene;
(ii) recording range data of the slice of the scene;
(iii) repeating steps (i) and (ii) until red images, green images, blue images and range data are recorded for the scene;
compiling the red images, green images, blue images and range data into a three-dimensional image of the scene. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification