RANGING CAMERA APPARATUS

• US 20130010106A1
• Filed: 10/14/2010
• Published: 01/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Yokota, Soichiro
• Application Number:
  US13/497,607
• Publication Number:
  US 20130010106A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/135
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 3/085 with electronic parallax measurement
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/28 for polarising used in stereoscopes G02B30/25
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 7/30 using parallactic triangle with a base line
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20021 Dividing image into blocks, subimages or windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30252 Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/593 from stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/239 using two 2D image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance H04N13/243 takes precedence

Abstract

A ranging camera apparatus includes an imaging device that images a subject and outputs polarization image data having a phase difference; an operating process unit; a memory; and an image processing unit. The operating process unit includes first and second polarization ratio information processing units and a parallax calculating unit. The first and the second polarization ratio information processing units receive the polarization image data and calculate polarization ratio information image data and luminance information image data. The parallax calculating unit receives the polarization ratio information image data and generates parallax information image data. The polarization ratio information image data, the luminance information image data, and the parallax information image data are stored in the memory. The image processing unit recognizes the subject based on the data stored in the memory, and calculates a three-dimensional position of the subject based on the parallax information image data.

Claims

1. A ranging camera apparatus comprising:

an imaging device configured to produce polarization images having a phase difference by imaging a subject; and

a processing unit configured to perform parallax calculation using polarization information of the polarization images having the phase difference.

10. The ranging camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging device includes at least two of the imaging devices configured to image the subject from two different positions spaced apart from each other by a predetermined base-line distance.

2. A ranging camera apparatus comprising:

an imaging device configured to output first polarization image data having a phase difference and second polarization image data having a phase difference by imaging a subject;

an operating process unit to which the first and the second polarization image data are fed;

a memory connected to the operating process unit; and

an image processing unit connected to the memory,

wherein the operating process unit includes first and second polarization ratio information processing units and a parallax calculating unit,

the first polarization ratio information processing unit being configured to receive the first polarization image data from the imaging device and configured to calculate first polarization ratio information image data and first luminance information image data,

the second polarization ratio information processing unit being configured to receive the second polarization image data from the imaging device and configured to calculate second polarization ratio information image data and second luminance information image data,

wherein the parallax calculating unit is configured to receive the first and the second polarization ratio information image data and configured to generate parallax information image data,

wherein the memory is configured to store the first and the second polarization ratio information image data and the first and the second luminance information image data from the first and the second polarization ratio information processing units, and the parallax information image data from the parallax calculating unit,

wherein the image processing unit is configured to recognize the subject based on the first and the second polarization ratio information image data, the first and the second luminance information image data, and the parallax information image data stored in the memory, and configured to calculate a three-dimensional position of the subject based on the parallax information image data.

3. The ranging camera apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the operating process unit is configured to output the first and the second polarization ratio information image data and the first and the second luminance information image data, and the parallax information image data simultaneously.

4. The ranging camera apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first and the second polarization ratio information processing units calculate the first and the second polarization ratio information image data, respectively, by utilizing a polarization ratio of the first and the second polarization image data, respectively.

5. The ranging camera apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first and the second polarization ratio information processing units calculate the first and the second polarization ratio information image data, respectively, by utilizing a difference of the first and the second polarization image data, respectively.

6. The ranging camera apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first and the second polarization ratio information processing units calculate the first and the second polarization ratio information image data, respectively, by utilizing information obtained by normalizing a polarization ratio of the first and the second polarization image data, respectively.

7. The ranging camera apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first and the second polarization ratio information processing units calculate the first and the second polarization ratio information image data, respectively, by utilizing information obtained by normalizing a difference of the first and the second polarization image data, respectively.

8. The ranging camera apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the imaging device acquires the first and the second polarization image data on a pixel by pixel basis.

9. The ranging camera apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the imaging device acquires the first and the second polarization image data in each of plural of areas in an image.