INSPECTION CAMERA DEVICES AND METHODS WITH SELECTIVELY ILLUMINATED MULTISENSOR IMAGING

• US 20160261829A1
• Filed: 11/09/2015
• Published: 09/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seescan, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Seescan, Inc.
• Inventors: Powell, Scott A., Olsson, Mark S., Warren, Alexander L., Smith, Nicholas A., Martin, Michael J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,440,332 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/954 Inspecting the inner surface of hollow bodies, e.g. bores
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 15/03 Combinations of cameras with lighting apparatus; Flash units
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/08 Waterproof bodies or housings
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/55 with provision for heating or cooling, e.g. in aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/561 Support related camera accessories
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2215/0542 watertight
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2215/0567 Solid-state light source, e.g. LED, laser
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2215/0571 With second light source
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 37/005 Photographing internal surfaces, e.g. of pipe, G03B37/02 - G03B37/06 take precedence; instruments for performing medical examinations of cavities or tubes of the body by photographic inspection A61B1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 37/04 with cameras or projectors providing touching or overlapping fields of view
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/45 for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/50 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/555 for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/265 Mixing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

Camera head apparatus, systems, and methods for providing wide angle/panoramic images and/or video of the interior of pipes or other cavities using multiple imaging and illumination modules are disclosed.

Claims

1. A camera head, comprising:

a housing, including;

a front housing element including a section having a rounded shape; and

a rear housing element coupled to the front housing element, the rear housing element including a substantially cylindrical longitudinal section;

a plurality of imaging modules disposed on or within the front element; and

a plurality of illumination modules disposed on or within the front element between ones of the imaging modules.

2. The camera head of claim 1, wherein the rounded shape section comprises a half-spherical dome shape.

3. The camera head of claim 2, wherein the front housing element includes ones of a plurality of imaging module openings disposed around the rounded shape section, and wherein ones of the plurality of imaging modules are disposed on or within corresponding ones of the plurality of imaging module openings.

4. The camera head of claim 3, wherein the front housing element further includes ones of a plurality of illumination module openings disposed between ones of the plurality of imaging module openings, and wherein ones of the plurality of illumination modules are disposed on or within corresponding ones of the plurality of illumination module openings.

5. The camera head of claim 1, wherein the illumination modules include:

a light output window having an inner side and an outer side; and

a light emitting diode (LED) illumination element positioned in proximity to the inner side.

6. The camera head of claim 5, wherein a cavity is formed on the inner side and wherein the LED is positioned at least partially within the cavity and against the light output window.

7. The camera head of claim 5, wherein the illumination module includes a housing having an annular groove, an adhesive access feature, a window, and an injected adhesive between the window and housing to secure the window to the housing.

8. The camera head of claim 1, wherein the illumination modules include:

a light output window having an inner side and an outer side; and

a laser illumination element positioned in proximity to the inner side.

9. The camera head of claim 1, wherein the plurality of imaging modules consists of six imaging modules, wherein a first imaging module is disposed at the front of the housing and the other five imaging modules are arranged on a circumference on the housing behind the first imaging module.

10. The camera head of claim 1, wherein the plurality of illumination modules comprises ten illumination modules distributed along a first and a second circumference of the housing behind the first imaging module.

11. The camera head of claim 1, wherein each of the imaging modules include one or more imaging sensors, optics, and a transparent window.

12. The camera head of claim 11, wherein the imaging modules include a housing having an annular groove, an adhesive access feature, and an injected adhesive between the transparent window and housing to secure the transparent window to the housing.

13. The camera head of claim 11, wherein the field of view of ones of the plurality of imaging modules is about 160 degrees.

14. The camera head of claim 11, wherein each of the imaging modules have a central optical axis that shares a common point or centroid in the camera head.

15. The camera head of claim 11, wherein the field of view covered by the optics is projected entirely on an active imaging area of the imaging sensor.

16. The camera head of claim 11, wherein the field of view covered by the optics is projected in part outside the active imaging area of the imaging sensor so that the projected FOV circumscribes the active imaging area of the imaging sensor.

17. The camera head of claim 1, further comprising a processing element programmed to generate composite image or video output data from ones of outputs of the plurality of imaging modules.

18. The camera head of claim 17, wherein the processing element digitally stitches or tiles imaging from the plurality of imaging modules to generate the composite image or video output.

19. The camera head of claim 17, wherein ones of the plurality of imaging modules are synchronously controlled to generate the output image or video.

20. The camera head of claim 19, wherein the ones of the plurality of imaging modules are synchronously controlled to have one or more of the same:

ISO settings, gain settings, exposure settings, color balance settings, aperture settings, shutter timing, and exposure timing.

21. The camera head of claim 17, wherein the processing element is further programmed to selectively control the light output of the plurality of illumination modules.

22. The camera head of claim 21, wherein the light output of the illumination modules is selectively controlled in conjunction with an imaging operation of one or more of the imaging modules.

23. The camera head of claim 21, wherein the light output of one or more of the illumination modules are selectively set to a maximum value during the imaging operation and selectively set to a lower value during another time interval.

24. The camera head of claim 17, further comprising one or more position, motion, or orientation sensors having outputs communicatively coupled to the processing element, and wherein output data from the one or more position, motion, or orientation sensors is associated and stored with the composite image or video output data in a memory of the camera head.

25. The camera head of claim 17, further comprising a wireless communications module communicatively coupled to the processing element for transmitting the composite image or video data to an electronic computing system.

26. The camera head of claim 1, further comprising a processing element, wherein the processing element is programmed to selectively control light output of the illumination elements.

27. The camera head of claim 26, wherein the illumination elements are LEDs and the light output of the LEDs is selectively controlled by raising the voltage applied to the LEDs.

28. The camera head of claim 26, wherein the light output of the LEDs is periodically raised to a maximum level for at a duty cycle of about ten percent or less.

29. The camera head of claim 26, wherein ones of the plurality of illumination elements are selectively controlled in synchronization.

30. The camera head of claim 26, wherein ones of the plurality of illumination elements are selectively controlled to generate a maximum output at different time intervals.

31. The camera head of claim 30, where two or more groups of LEDs of the plurality of illumination elements are selectively controlled to generate maximum outputs at different time intervals.

32. The camera head of claim 1, further comprising a sonde integral with or coupled to the camera head housing.

33. The camera head of claim 1, further comprising a mast coupled to the camera head.