Apparatus for and method of measuring distances to objects present in a plurality of directions with plural two-dimensional detectors
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring the distances to objects present in a plurality of directions, comprising:
- a pair of optical systems, said pair of optical systems being disposed so that the optic axes thereof are parallel to each other at a predetermined distance;
a pair of illumination distribution measuring means respectively disposed behind said pair of optical systems, said pair of measuring means being disposed perpendicularly to the optic axes, respectively, of said pair of optical systems, each of said pair of measuring means including a plurality of two-dimensionally arranged light-receiving elements, said plurality of light-receiving elements of said pair of measuring means being separable into a plurality of sets of portions each comprising a plurality of light-receiving elements of each said measuring means, correspondingly to a direction relative to the position in an object space at which the object to be measured lies; and
means for calculating the distances to the objects to be measured present in a plurality of directions corresponding to said plurality of sets of portions by taking the correlation between the illumination distributions of the images of each object to be measured in at least parts of each said set of portions.
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Abstract
This specification discloses a distance measuring apparatus and method in which two-dimensionally arranged light-receiving elements are used as illumination distribution measuring means, the correlation between the illumination distributions of the images of an object on the set of certain portions of the respective measuring means is taken to thereby calculate the distance to the object present in a certain direction corresponding to the set, and the calculations are effected with respect to a plurality of sets portions of the respective measuring means to thereby calculate the distances to objects present in a plurality of directions.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring the distances to objects present in a plurality of directions, comprising:
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a pair of optical systems, said pair of optical systems being disposed so that the optic axes thereof are parallel to each other at a predetermined distance; a pair of illumination distribution measuring means respectively disposed behind said pair of optical systems, said pair of measuring means being disposed perpendicularly to the optic axes, respectively, of said pair of optical systems, each of said pair of measuring means including a plurality of two-dimensionally arranged light-receiving elements, said plurality of light-receiving elements of said pair of measuring means being separable into a plurality of sets of portions each comprising a plurality of light-receiving elements of each said measuring means, correspondingly to a direction relative to the position in an object space at which the object to be measured lies; and means for calculating the distances to the objects to be measured present in a plurality of directions corresponding to said plurality of sets of portions by taking the correlation between the illumination distributions of the images of each object to be measured in at least parts of each said set of portions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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- 13. An distance measuring method comprising disposing two optical systems at a predetermined distance from each other so that the optic axes thereof are parallel to each other, disposing a pair of illumination distribution measuring means behind said optical systems perpendicularly to said optic axes, using two-dimensionally arranged light-receiving elements as the measuring means, taking the correlation between the illumination distributions of the images of an object to be measured, formed by said optical systems, on at least parts of a set of portions in the pair of said measuring means, thereby calculating the distance to the object to be measured present in a direction corresponding to said set of portions, and effecting said calculation with respect to the plural sets of portions of said measuring means, thereby calculating the distances to objects present in a plurality of directions corresponding to said plural sets of portions.
Specification