Optical sensor device and a method of controlling its exposure time
First Claim
1. A method for exposure time control in an optical sensor device of the type having an illuminating light source and an image sensor for capturing a sequence of images under exposure of light from said light source, wherein said sequence of images contain a position-coding pattern for decoding a sequence of positions of the optical sensor device, said method comprising capturing said sequence of images by repeatedly capturing images as the optical sensor device is moved, and transferring each captured image in said sequence of images to a processor for decoding the position of the optical sensor device, and, said method further comprising forming an exposure time control loop for controlling the exposure time for subsequently captured images in said sequence of images, wherein each iteration of the control loop involves:
- capturing a current image in said sequence of images under exposure of light from said light source during an exposure time calculated during the preceding iteration;
determining an actual luminance condition value in said current image;
calculating an error between a set value and said actual luminance condition value; and
calculating a current exposure time as a function of the preceding exposure time and said error, said current exposure time being used for capturing a subsequent image in said sequence of images.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical sensor device has an illuminating light source and an image sensor. The image sensor captures a sequence of images under exposure of light from the light source. A controller in the optical sensor device has a control output and generates an exposure time control signal on the control output. The controller includes an exposure time control loop. Each iteration of the loop includes the steps: calculating an error between a set value and an actual luminance condition value determined in a current image in the sequence of images; calculating a current exposure time as a function of the error and an exposure time calculated during the preceding iteration of the control loop; and generating the exposure time control signal on the control output based on the current exposure time. The exposure time may thereby be determined so as to yield optimum contrast in an image which is to be captured by the image sensor.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method for exposure time control in an optical sensor device of the type having an illuminating light source and an image sensor for capturing a sequence of images under exposure of light from said light source, wherein said sequence of images contain a position-coding pattern for decoding a sequence of positions of the optical sensor device, said method comprising capturing said sequence of images by repeatedly capturing images as the optical sensor device is moved, and transferring each captured image in said sequence of images to a processor for decoding the position of the optical sensor device, and, said method further comprising forming an exposure time control loop for controlling the exposure time for subsequently captured images in said sequence of images, wherein each iteration of the control loop involves:
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capturing a current image in said sequence of images under exposure of light from said light source during an exposure time calculated during the preceding iteration; determining an actual luminance condition value in said current image; calculating an error between a set value and said actual luminance condition value; and calculating a current exposure time as a function of the preceding exposure time and said error, said current exposure time being used for capturing a subsequent image in said sequence of images. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An optical sensor device comprising an illuminating light source and an image sensor, wherein the image sensor is adapted to capture a sequence of images under exposure of light from said light source, wherein said sequence of images contain a position-coding pattern for decoding a sequence of positions of the optical sensor device, said image sensor being adapted to capture said sequence of images by repeatedly capturing images as the optical sensor device is moved, said optical sensor device further comprising:
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a processor which is adapted to receive each captured image in said sequence of images, from the image sensor and to decode the position of the optical sensor device; and a controller having a control output and being adapted to generate an exposure time control signal on said control output, said controller comprising an exposure time control loop in order to control exposure time for subsequently captured images in said sequence of images, wherein each iteration of the control loop involves; calculating an error between a set value and an actual luminance condition value determined in a current image in said sequence of images; calculating a current exposure time as a function of said error and an exposure time calculated during the preceding iteration of the control loop, said current exposure time being used for capturing a subsequent image in said sequence of images; and generating said exposure time control signal on said control output based on said current exposure time. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification