Method and system for optical imaging and ranging
First Claim
1. A system for estimating a distance to an object, the system comprising:
- an imaging system;
a sensor array, wherein the sensor array is disposed to receive one or more images of the object through the imaging system;
a one or more masks disposed within the imaging system in front of the sensor array, the one or more masks being configured to encode one or more three-dimensional responses of the imaging system for calculating a three dimensional point spread function that evolves as a function of a position of the object.
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Abstract
The distance of objects to an optical system is estimated. An optical mask such as a diffractive optical element, continuous phase mask, hologram, amplitude mask, or combination thereof is placed within the optics in front of a sensor array such as a CCD, CID or COMAS device. The optical mask encodes the three-dimensional response of the system. The mask is designed to optimize depth estimation, for example, by maximizing Fisher information. A particular implementation creates a point spread function (“PSF”) that rotates as a function of the object position. The image or images obtained with different PSFs may be digitally processed to recover both a depth map of the scene and other parameters such as image brightness. The digital processing used to recover the depth map of the object may include deconvolution of a PSF from detected images.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A system for estimating a distance to an object, the system comprising:
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an imaging system; a sensor array, wherein the sensor array is disposed to receive one or more images of the object through the imaging system; a one or more masks disposed within the imaging system in front of the sensor array, the one or more masks being configured to encode one or more three-dimensional responses of the imaging system for calculating a three dimensional point spread function that evolves as a function of a position of the object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for estimating a distance to an object, the method comprising:
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detecting light from the object through an imaging system at a sensor array, the imaging system including a first mask disposed in front of the sensor array and encoded with a first point spread function and a second mask disposed in front of the sensor array and encoded with a second point spread function, wherein either or both of the first point spread function and the second point spread function comprises a three dimensional point spread function that evolves as a function of a position of the object; receiving a first image of the object through the first mask; receiving a second image of the object through the second mask; calculating a deconvolution of the first image and the second image; and estimating the distance of the object using the deconvolved of the first image and the second image. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An imaging system for estimating a distance to an object, the system comprising:
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a sensor array; a mask disposed within the imaging system in front of the sensor array, the mask encoded with a three-dimensional response of the imaging system corresponding with a rotating point spread function that evolves as a function of the distance to the object; and computational logic configured to receive images recorded by the imaging system and compute the distance to the object, wherein the distance to the object is calculated by deconvolution of the rotating point spread function of the imaging system from at least the rotating PSF image, and estimating the distance to the object from the rotating point spread function of the imaging system. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for estimating a distance to an object with an imaging system employing a rotating point spread function, the method comprising:
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detecting a rotating PSF image of the object from the imaging system; deconvolving the rotating point spread function of the imaging system from at least the rotating PSF image, wherein the deconvolution returns a deconvolved rotating point spread function; estimating the angle of rotation of the deconvolved rotating point spread function; estimating the distance to the object from the angle of rotation of the deconvolved rotating point spread function; and returning the distance to the object.
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Specification