CONTROL APPARATUS, IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM WHICH ARE CAPABLE OF PERFORMING TILT CORRECTION

• US 20160255273A1
• Filed: 02/22/2016
• Published: 09/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Wakamatsu, Nobushige
• Granted Patent: US 9,883,104 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/68 for stable pick-up of the scene, e.g. compensating for camera body vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/6812 based on additional sensors, e.g. acceleration sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/687 by shifting the lens or sensor position

Abstract

A control apparatus includes a first angle calculating unit configured to calculate a first angle based on an acceleration detected by an acceleration detector, an analyzing unit configured to analyze a vibration state based on at least one of the acceleration and an angular velocity detected by an angular velocity detector, a second angle calculating unit configured to calculate a second angle based on the angular velocity, the first angle, and the vibration state, and a correcting unit configured to perform tilt correction based on the second angle.

Claims

1. A control apparatus comprising:

a first angle calculating unit configured to calculate a first angle based on an acceleration detected by an acceleration detector;

an analyzing unit configured to analyze a vibration state based on at least one of the acceleration and an angular velocity detected by an angular velocity detector;

a second angle calculating unit configured to calculate a second angle based on the angular velocity, the first angle, and the vibration state; and

a correcting unit configured to perform tilt correction based on the second angle,

wherein at least one processor or circuit is configured to perform a function of at least one of the units.

2. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second angle calculating unit is configured to change a relative weight between the angular velocity and the first angle depending on the vibration state to calculate the second angle.

3. The control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second angle calculating unit is configured to:

increase a weight of the angular velocity if the vibration state indicates that a vibration is larger than a predetermined amount, and

increase a weight of the first angle if the vibration state indicates that the vibration is smaller than the predetermined amount.

4. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the first angle calculating unit is configured to calculate a tilt angle as the first angle, and

the second angle calculating unit is configured to calculate a horizontal angle as the second angle based on the tilt angle.

5. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the first angle calculating unit is configured to calculate a horizontal angle as the first angle, and

the second angle calculating unit is configured to calculate a tilt angle as the second angle based on the horizontal angle.

6. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second angle calculating unit is configured to calculate the second angle by using a Kalman filter capable of changing a Kalman gain.

7. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correcting unit includes a setting unit configured to set a tilt correction amount of an image based on the second angle.

8. The control apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the correcting unit includes an image processing unit configured to cut out an image based on the tilt correction amount to perform the tilt correction.

9. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correcting unit includes a drive unit configured to drive, based on the second angle, at least one of an image pickup element, a lens, and a body including the lens and the image pickup element integrated with each other.

10. The control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a third angle calculating unit configured to remove a low frequency component from the angular velocity detected by the angular velocity detector to calculate a third angle; and

a correction angle calculating unit configured to calculate a correction angle based on the second angle and the third angle,

wherein the correcting unit is configured to perform the tilt correction based on the correction angle.

11. The control apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the correction angle calculating unit includes a gain changing unit configured to change a gain based on a signal which is obtained by subtracting the third angle from the second angle, and

wherein the correction angle calculating unit is configured to calculate the correction angle based on the second angle, the third angle, and the gain.

12. The control apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the correction angle calculating unit includes a gain changing unit configured to change a gain based on the second angle, and

wherein the correction angle calculating unit is configured to calculate the correction angle based on the second angle, the third angle, and the gain.

13. The control apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the gain changing unit is configured to change the gain based on the first angle.

14. The control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the third angle calculating unit includes a limiting unit configured to limit a range of the third angle based on the second angle.

15. The control apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a setting unit configured to set a tilt correction amount of an image based on the correction angle.

16. The control apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the correction angle calculating unit includes a gain changing unit configured to change a gain based on a tilt angle as the second angle, and

wherein the correction angle calculating unit is configured to calculate a horizontal correction angle as the correction angle based on the tilt angle, the third angle, and the gain.

17. The control apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the correction angle calculating unit includes a gain changing unit configured to change a gain based on a horizontal angle as the second angle, and

wherein the correction angle calculating unit is configured to calculate a tilt correction angle as the correction angle based on the horizontal angle, the third angle, and the gain.

18. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

an image pickup element configured to photoelectrically convert an optical image formed via an optical system to output an image signal;

an acceleration detector configured to detect an acceleration;

an angular velocity detector configured to detect an angular velocity;

a first angle calculating unit configured to calculate a first angle based on the acceleration;

an analyzing unit configured to analyze a vibration state based on at least one of the acceleration and the angular velocity;

a second angle calculating unit configured to calculate a second angle based on the angular velocity, the first angle, and the vibration state; and

a correcting unit configured to perform tilt correction based on the second angle,

wherein at least one processor or circuit is configured to perform a function of at least one of the units.

19. A control method comprising the steps of:

calculating a first angle based on an acceleration detected by an acceleration detector;

analyzing a vibration state based on at least one of the acceleration and an angular velocity detected by an angular velocity detector;

calculating a second angle based on the angular velocity, the first angle, and the vibration state; and

performing tilt correction based on the second angle.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which stores a program causing a computer to execute a process comprising the steps of:

calculating a first angle based on an acceleration detected by an acceleration detector;

analyzing a vibration state based on at least one of the acceleration and an angular velocity detected by an angular velocity detector;

calculating a second angle based on the angular velocity, the first angle, and the vibration state; and

performing tilt correction based on the second angle.