VEHICULAR CAMERA AND METHOD FOR PERIODIC CALIBRATION OF VEHICULAR CAMERA
First Claim
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1. A camera for a vehicle, said camera comprising:
- a lens positioned to capture a view behind a vehicle, wherein the view includes a portion of the bumper of the vehicle;
an imager including an image sensor and an imager microcontroller, wherein the image sensor is positioned to receive images from the lens; and
a camera microcontroller configured to control the application of an overlay to the images, wherein the camera microcontroller is operable to receive data from the imager microcontroller relating to bars of pixels on the image sensor, wherein the microcontroller is further operable to detect a reference point in the images using the data and is operable to determine an offset amount with which to shift the overlay on the images.
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Abstract
In a first aspect, the invention is directed to a vehicular camera and a method for calibrating the camera after it has been installed in a vehicle. In particular, the invention is directed to calibrating a vehicular camera after the camera has been installed in a vehicle, wherein the camera is of a type that applies an overlay to an image and outputs the image with the overlay to an in-vehicle display.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A camera for a vehicle, said camera comprising:
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a lens positioned to capture a view behind a vehicle, wherein the view includes a portion of the bumper of the vehicle; an imager including an image sensor and an imager microcontroller, wherein the image sensor is positioned to receive images from the lens; and a camera microcontroller configured to control the application of an overlay to the images, wherein the camera microcontroller is operable to receive data from the imager microcontroller relating to bars of pixels on the image sensor, wherein the microcontroller is further operable to detect a reference point in the images using the data and is operable to determine an offset amount with which to shift the overlay on the images. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. :
- A method of calibrating a vehicular camera installed in a vehicle, wherein the camera has an imager and a camera microcontroller, said method comprising;
(a) determining whether the contrast in images received by the imager is beyond a selected threshold value; (b) searching for a reference point in the images depending on the result of step (a) using the camera microcontroller; and (c) adjusting the position of an overlay applied by the microcontroller to the images depending on the result of step (b). - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
- A method of calibrating a vehicular camera installed in a vehicle, wherein the camera has an imager and a camera microcontroller, said method comprising;
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16. :
- A camera for a vehicle, said camera comprising;
a lens positioned to capture a view behind a vehicle, wherein the view includes a portion of the bumper of the vehicle; an imager including an image sensor and an imager microcontroller, wherein the image sensor is positioned to receive images from the lens; a camera microcontroller configured to control the application of an overlay to the images, wherein the camera microcontroller is operable to receive data from the imager microcontroller relating to bars of pixels on the image sensor, wherein the microcontroller is further operable to detect a reference point in the images using the data and is operable to determine an offset amount with which to shift the overlay on the images; wherein the imager microcontroller is operable to transmit the images to an in-vehicle display via an analog signal; and wherein the camera microcontroller is operable to detect the reference point iteratively using data from the imager microcontroller relating to successively smaller bars of pixels on the image sensor. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
- A camera for a vehicle, said camera comprising;
Specification