System and method for camera calibration

• US 7,050,085 B1
• Filed: 10/26/2000
• Issued: 05/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: COMP-1, Immersive Licensing, Inc.
• Original Assignee: iMove Inc. (Digital Domain Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Park, Michael C., Wilson, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): VO, TUNG T
• Application Number:
  US09/697,605
• Time in Patent Office: 2,035 Days
• Field of Search: 348142-187, 348/189, 348/36, 348/207.49, 382/294, 359/403, 345/418, 345/419
• US Class Current: 348/36
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 17/002 for television cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A system and method for determining the adjustments that must be made to the individual images recorded by a multi-lens camera so that the images will fit together into a panorama. The camera is placed in the center of a structure, the edges of which have at least one row on indicia. Each camera records an image which includes the indicia along each edge that will be seamed with an edge of another image in order to form a panorama. Each edge of the structure which is along a seam that will be seamed with an edge of another image is recorded by two lenses on the camera. The amount of adjustment required to make the indicia in the two images fit together is then determined. The values of these adjustments are recorded along with an identification of the camera which recorded the images. Subsequent sets of images recorded by this same camera can then be seamed using the same adjustments.

Claims

1. A method for calibrating a panoramic camera system that captures overlapping single view images that are seamed together into a panorama, the method comprising:

capturing a first single view image of a structure, the first single view image including first indicia along an edge of the structure;

capturing a second single view image of the structure, the second single view image including second indicia along the same edge of the structure, wherein the first and second single view images are to be seamed together along the edge; and

adjusting one or more camera parameters for a first camera element within the panoramic camera system and adjusting one or more camera parameters for a second camera element within the panoramic camera system to seam together the first indicia with the second indicia, wherein the first single view image is captured by the first camera element and the second single view image is captured by the second camera element.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of adjusting camera parameters comprises:

adjusting one or more camera parameters, attempting to make the first indicia coincide with the second indicia.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the edge of the structure contains a row of indicia, the first indicia includes the row of indicia and the second indicia includes the same row of indicia.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the edge of the structure contains two rows of indicia, the first indicia includes one of the rows of indicia and the second indicia includes the other row of indicia.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the two rows are separated by a spacing that accounts for parallax between capture of the first single view image and capture of the second single view image.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the camera parameters is selected from a group consisting of offset, distortion, brightness and contrast.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the camera parameters is selected from a group consisting of heading, pitch, bank, and field of view.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of adjusting camera parameters comprises:

automatically locking out one or more camera parameters during adjustment of the camera parameters.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the indicia are shaped so they assume a preselected shape after distortion by image capture.

10. A method for calibrating a panoramic camera system that captures overlapping single view images that are seamed together into a panorama, the method comprising:

capturing a first single view image of a structure, the first single view image including first indicia along an edge of the structure;

capturing a second single view image of the structure, the second single view image including second indicia along the same edge of the structure, wherein the first and second single view images are to be seamed together along the edge;

estimating locations of the first indicia;

estimating locations of the second indicia; and

adjusting one or more camera parameters, attempting to minimize a squared error between the locations of the first indicia and the locations of the second indicia, attempting to make the first indicia coincide with the second indicia.

11. A method for calibrating a panoramic camera system that captures overlapping single view images that are seamed together into a panorama, the method comprising:

capturing a first single view image of a structure, the first single view image including first indicia along an edge of the structure, wherein the step of capturing the first single view image comprises a first lens capturing the first single view image, wherein the panoramic camera system comprises a multi-lens camera with first and second lenses;

capturing a second single view image of the structure, the second single view image including second indicia along the same edge of the structure, wherein the step of capturing the second single view image comprises the second lens capturing the second single view image and the first and second single view images are to be seamed together along the edge; and

adjusting one or more camera parameters to seam together the first indicia with the second indicia.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the lenses within the multi-lens camera are oriented orthogonally to each other for capturing different faces of a cube.

13. A computer readable medium containing a software program for implementing a method for calibrating a panoramic camera system that captures overlapping single view images that are seamed together into a panorama, wherein the panoramic camera system comprises a multi-lens camera, a first single view image is captured by a first camera element within the multi-lens camera, and a second single view image is captured by a second camera element within the multi-lens camera the method comprising:

receiving a first single view image of a structure, the first single view image including first indicia along an edge of the structure;

receiving a second single view image of the structure, the second single view image including second indicia along the same edge of the structure, wherein the first and second single view images are to be seamed together along the edge;

adjusting camera parameters to seam together the first indicia with the second indicia;

recording adjusted parameters for the first camera element along with an identification of the first camera element; and

recording adjusted parameters for the second camera element along with an identification of the second camera element.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the method further comprises:

recording the adjusted camera parameters along with an identification of the panoramic camera system.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the method further comprises:

retrieving and using the adjusted camera parameters to seam together other single view images captured by the panoramic camera system.