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Adjustable parallax distance, wide field of view, stereoscopic imaging system

  • US 9,185,391 B1
  • Filed: 06/17/2014
  • Issued: 11/10/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2014
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A wide field-of-view stereoscopic camera system comprising:

  • a support structure having M arms, where M is an integer equal to or greater than 2, each of the arms being spaced around a constructive circle and having a mount point, coincident with the circle, defining a radius of the circle, wherein the radius is half of a parallax distance, and the circle defines a horizontal plane and the circle defines a constructive right cylinder that contains that circle and that has an axis perpendicular to the horizontal plane and wherein each of the arms has a length adjustment to vary the distance between the center of the circle and the mount point;

    N digital cameras, wherein N is at least equal to M, each digital camera having a lens with a focal point and an optical axis and producing an image encoded in a digital output and having a horizontal field of view and a vertical field of view;

    the digital cameras mounted to the support structure so that each arm supports at least one digital camera so that (i) the focal point thereof is proximate to such arm'"'"'s mount point and (ii) the optical axis thereof is generally tangent to the cylinder; and

    an image processor, coupled to the digital output of each of the N digital cameras, to form a stereo view pair, wherein the processor forms a left view from the digital outputs of a first set of the N cameras and forms a right view from the digital outputs of a second set of the N cameras, wherein the first and second sets are disjoint;

    wherein at least one digital camera is mounted so that its horizontal field of view is subject to a partial obscuration by an object associated with an adjacent arm forming blind area in its field of view, and wherein the image processor compensates for the obscuration at least in part by replacing the blind area with part of a view available from one of the digital cameras mounted on the adjacent arm.

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