Image movement detecting apparatus
First Claim
1. In an imaging system including a television camera, the improvement comprising:
- movement detecting apparatus used with the television camera,said movement detecting apparatus including;
means for inputting electrical signals representing an input image from the television camera at intervals of time;
edge detecting means for scanning the inputted image represented by the electrical signals in a series of scan lines to detect, in each of the scan lines, a pixel forming an edge point in the image;
distance determining means for determining a distance between detected pixels forming the same edge point in new and previous images inputted successively from the television camera;
movement determining means for determining a movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the previous image inputted from the television camera, based on the determined distances between pixels; and
means for determining a total movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera by adding the determined movement to a movement of the previous image with respect to the reference image.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An image movement detecting apparatus for use with a television camera. An image is inputted from the television camera at intervals of time. The image is scanned in a series of scan lines to detect a pixel in each of the scan lines, the detected pixel forming an edge point in the image. The image processing apparatus calculates values each of which indicates a distance between detected pixels forming the same edge point in new and last images inputted successively. The calculated values are averaged to calculate a movement of the new image with respect to the last image. The calculated movement is added to a movement of the last image with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera to calculate a total movement of the new image with respect to the reference image.
15 Citations
38 Claims
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1. In an imaging system including a television camera, the improvement comprising:
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movement detecting apparatus used with the television camera, said movement detecting apparatus including; means for inputting electrical signals representing an input image from the television camera at intervals of time; edge detecting means for scanning the inputted image represented by the electrical signals in a series of scan lines to detect, in each of the scan lines, a pixel forming an edge point in the image; distance determining means for determining a distance between detected pixels forming the same edge point in new and previous images inputted successively from the television camera; movement determining means for determining a movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the previous image inputted from the television camera, based on the determined distances between pixels; and means for determining a total movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera by adding the determined movement to a movement of the previous image with respect to the reference image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. In an imaging system including a television camera, the improvement comprising:
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vertical movement detecting apparatus used with the television camera, said vertical movement detecting apparatus including; means for inputting an image from the television camera at intervals of time; edge detecting means for scanning the inputted image in a series of vertical scan lines to detect, in each of the vertical scan lines, a pixel forming an edge point in the image; vertical distance determining means for determining a vertical distance between first and second pixels, detected in one of the vertical scan lines, forming the same edge point in new and last images inputted successively from the television camera; vertical movement determining means for determining a vertical movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the last image inputted from the television camera, based on the determined vertical distances between pixels; and means for determining a total vertical movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera by adding the determined vertical movement to a vertical movement of the last image with respect to the reference image. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. In an imaging system including a television camera, the improvement comprising:
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horizontal movement detecting apparatus used with the television camera, said horizontal movement detecting apparatus including; means for inputting an image from the television camera at intervals of time; edge detecting means for scanning the inputted image in a series of horizontal scan lines to detect, in each of the horizontal scan lines, a pixel forming an edge point in the image; horizontal distance determining means for determining a horizontal distance between first and second pixels, detected in one of the horizontal scan lines, forming the same edge point in new and last images inputted successively from the television camera; horizontal movement determining means for determining a horizontal movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the last image inputted from the television camera, based on the determined horizontal distances between pixels; and means for determining a total horizontal movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera by adding the determined horizontal movement to a horizontal movement of the last image with respect to the reference image. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. In an imaging system including a television camera, the improvement comprising:
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movement detecting apparatus used with the television camera, said movement detecting apparatus including; means for inputting an image from the television camera at intervals of time, the inputted image being represented by an array of pixels with each pixel A(x,y) having a value indicating an intensity level thereof; means for converting the inputted image into an edge point image, the converted edge point image being represented by an array of values E(x,y) each of which has a value of 0 or 1 indicating that the corresponding pixel A(x,y) is an edge point forming an edge in the inputted image and a value indicating a gradient of the edge at the edge point; means for assuming a predetermined number of sets of distance values u and v for horizontal and vertical distances uk and vk between pixels representing a point in last and new images inputted successively from the television camera; a memory for storing an array of values P(x,y) each of which is incremented when the corresponding pixel A(x+xk, y+yk) is an edge point where xk and yk are horizontal and vertical movements of the last image with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera; means for producing a histogram storing an array of values R(u,v) each of which is incremented when the value P(x,y-ys) for a pixel spaced a vertical distance ys away from each of the edge points A(x+xk, y+yk) is greater than a predetermined value for the corresponding one of the sets of distance values u and v, the vertical distance ys being calculated as ys=a.u+v where α
is the gradient of the edge at the edge point E(x+xk, y+yk);means for detecting a greatest one of the values stored in the histogram and the corresponding one of the sets of distance values u and v; means for setting the detected distance values u and v for the horizontal and vertical distances uk and vk; and means for determining a total horizontal and vertical movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the reference image by adding the horizontal and vertical movements of the last image, xk and yk, to the horizontal and vertical distances between pixels in the last and new images, uk and vk, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. In an imaging system including a television camera, the improvement comprising:
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movement detecting apparatus used with the television camera, said movement detecting apparatus including; means for inputting an image from the television camera at intervals of time, the inputted image being represented by an array of pixels with each pixel A(x,y) having a value indicating an intensity level thereof; means for converting the inputted image into an edge point image, the converted edge point image being represented by an array of values E(x,y) each of which has a value of 0 or 1 indicating that the corresponding pixel A(x,y) is an edge point forming an edge in the inputted image and a value indicating a gradient of the edge at the edge point; means for assuming a predetermined number of distance values v for a vertical distance vk between pixels representing a point in last and new images inputted successively from the television camera; a memory for storing an array of values P(x,y) each of which is incremented when the corresponding pixel A(x,y, y+yk) is an edge point where yk is a vertical movement of the last image with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera; means for producing a histogram storing an array of values R(u,v) each of which is incremented when the value P(x,y-v) for a pixel spaced a vertical distance v away from each of the edge points A(x,y+yk) is greater than a predetermined value for the corresponding one of the distance values v; means for detecting a greatest one of the values stored in the histogram and the corresponding one of the distance values v; means for setting the detected distance value v for the vertical distance vk; and means for determining a total vertical movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the reference image by adding the vertical movement of the last image, yk, to the vertical distance between pixels in the last and new images, vk. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. In an imaging system including a television camera, the improvement comprising:
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movement detecting apparatus used with the television camera, said movement detecting apparatus including; means for inputting an image from the television camera at intervals of time, the inputted image being represented by an array of pixels with each pixel A(x,y) having a value indicating an intensity level thereof; means for converting the inputted image into an edge point image, the converted edge point image being represented by an array of values E(x,y) each of which has a value of 0 or 1 indicating that the corresponding pixel A(x,y) is an edge point forming an edge in the inputted image and a value indicating a gradient of the edge at the edge point; means for assuming a predetermined number of sets of distance values u and v for horizontal and vertical distances uk and vk between pixels representing a point in last and new images inputted successively from the television camera; a memory for storing an array of values P(x,y) each of which is incremented when the corresponding pixel A(x+xk, y+yk) is an edge point where xk and yk are horizontal and vertical movements of the last image with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera; means for assuming a predetermined number of distance values yp for a vertical distance ys; first histogram means for producing a first histogram, said first histogram means storing an array of values S(r,s) each of which being stored in connection with a gradient value r and a distance value s, each value S(r,s) being incremented with the corresponding gradient value r being set at α
(x+xk, y+yk) G where G is a constant and the corresponding distance value s being set at a distance value yp assumed for the vertical distance ys when the value P(x,y-yp) for a pixel spaced a vertical distance ys equal to the assumed value yp away from each a(x+xk, y+yk) of the edge points is greater than a predetermined value;second histogram means for producing a second histogram, said second histogram means storing an array of values R(u,v) each of which is incremented by ##EQU12## ##EQU13## means for detecting a greatest one of the values stored in the second histogram and the corresponding one of the sets of distance values u and v; means for setting the detected distance values u and v for the horizontal and vertical distances uk and vk; and means for determining a total horizontal and vertical movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the reference image by adding the horizontal and vertical movements of the last image, xk and yk, to the horizontal and vertical distances between pixels in the last and new images, uk and vk, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. In an imaging system including a television camera, the improvement comprising:
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movement detecting apparatus used with the television camera, said movement detecting apparatus including; means for inputting an image from the television camera at intervals of time, the inputted image being represented by an array of pixels with each pixel A(x,y) having a value indicating an intensity level thereof; means for converting the inputted image into an edge point image, the converted edge point image being represented by an array of values E(x,y) each of which has a value of 0 or 1 indicating that the corresponding pixel A(x,y) is an edge point forming an edge in the inputted image and a value indicating a gradient of the edge at the edge point; means for assuming a predetermined number of distance values v for a vertical distance vk between pixels representing a point in last and new images inputted successively from the television camera; a memory for storing an array of values P(x,y) each of which is incremented when the corresponding pixel A(x,y+yk) is an edge point where yk is a vertical movement of the last image with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera; means for assuming a predetermined number of distance values yp for a vertical distance ys; first histogram means for producing a first histogram, said first histogram means storing an array of values S(r,s) each of which being stored in connection with a gradient value r and a distance value s, each value S(r,s) being incremented with the corresponding gradient value r being set at α
(x,y+yk) G where G is a constant and the corresponding distance value s being set at a distance value yp assumed for the vertical distance ys when the value P(x,y-yp) for a pixel spaced a vertical distance ys equal to the assumed value yp away from each a(x,y+yk) of the edge points is greater than a predetermined value;second histogram means for producing a second histogram, said second histogram means storing an array of values R(v) each of which is incremented by ##EQU14## means for detecting a greatest one of the values stored in the second histogram means and the corresponding one of the distance values v; means for setting the detected distance value v for the vertical distance vk; and means for determining a total vertical movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the reference image by adding the vertical movement of the last image, yk, to the vertical distance between pixels in the last and new images, vk. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. In an imaging system including a television camera, the improvement comprising a movement cancelling apparatus for correcting an image inputted from the television camera to cancel an influence of movement of the television camera on the image, said movement cancelling apparatus including:
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a movement detecting means used with the television camera, and an image correcting means connected to said movement detecting means, said movement detecting means including; means for inputting an image from the television camera at intervals of time; edge detecting means for scanning the inputted image in a series of scan lines to detect, in each of the scan lines, a pixel forming an edge point in the image; distance determining means for determining a distance between detected pixels forming the same edge point in new and last images inputted successively from the television camera; movement determining means for determining a movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the last image inputted from the television camera, based on the determined distances between pixels; and means for determining a total movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera by adding the determined movement to a movement of the last image with respect to the reference image, said image correcting means operating for correcting the new image inputted from the television camera based upon the total movement determined by said movement detecting means, thereby to cancel from the inputted image the influence of movement of the television camera.
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38. In an imaging system including a television camera fixed to a moving object, the improvement comprising apparatus for correcting a posture of the moving object based on an image inputted from the television camera, including:
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a movement detecting means used with the television camera, object movement detecting means for detecting a movement of the moving object based upon total movement determined by said movement detecting means, and posture correcting means connected to said movement detecting means, said movement detecting means including; means for inputting an image from television camera at intervals of time; edge detecting means for scanning the inputted image in a series of scan lines to detect, in each of the scan lines, a pixel forming an edge point in the image; distance determining means for determining a distance between detected pixels forming the same edge point in new and last images inputted successively from the television camera; movement determining means for determining a movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to the last image inputted from the television camera, based on the determined distances between pixels; and means for determining a total movement of the new image inputted from the television camera with respect to a reference image having no influence of movement of the television camera by adding the determined movement to a movement of the last image with respect to the reference image, said object movement detecting means operating for detecting a movement of the moving object having the television camera fixed thereto based upon the total movement determined by said movement detecting apparatus, said posture correcting means operating for correcting the posture of the moving object based upon the movement of the moving object determined by said object movement detecting means, thereby to correct the posture of the moving means based on detected movement of the television camera.
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Specification