Imager
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An imaging method comprising steps of:
- scanning a scene occupying at least a part of a field of view to obtain a plurality of standard quality sub-images of the scene, each standard quality sub-image of the plurality of standard quality sub-images covering less than the scene, the plurality or standard quality sub-images together covering the scene, wherein the step of scanning the scene is performed in a first spectral band with scanner comprising folded optic;
combining the plurality of standard quality sub-images into a first stitched image of the scene;
identifying at least one portion of interest in the scene from he first stitched image; and
scanning the at least one portion of interest to obtain a plurality of enhanced quality sub-images of the at least one portion of interest, each enhanced quality sub-image of the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images covering less than the scene, the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images together covering the at least one portion of interest, the step of scanning the at least one portion of interest being performed in response to the step of identifying, the step of scanning the at once portion of interest covering less than the scene, the step of scanning the at least one portion of interest being performed in the first spectral band with the scanner comprising folded optics;
combining the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images to obtain a second stitched image;
scanning at least a part of the scene in a second spectral band with the scanner comprising folded optics, to obtain a plurality of second band sub-images;
combining the plurality of second band sub-images into a third stitched image;
fusing the second stitched image and the third stitched image to obtain a fused image; and
at least one of storing the fused image, transmitting the fused image to an external system, and displaying the fused image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Selected embodiments use a relatively small image detector and a scanning mirror to obtain effective performance of a larger image detector. An imager with folded optics captures images of different field positions of a field of view (FOV), and stitches the images together for a larger image of the FOV. The stitched image is processed to identify portions of interest within the larger image, for example, using a cuing algorithm. The portions of interest are scanned again to capture enhanced quality images using, for example, longer dwell time for enhanced contrast. Another image of the FOV or a part of the FOV is stitched together using the enhanced quality images.
8 Citations
4 Claims
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1. An imaging method comprising steps of:
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scanning a scene occupying at least a part of a field of view to obtain a plurality of standard quality sub-images of the scene, each standard quality sub-image of the plurality of standard quality sub-images covering less than the scene, the plurality or standard quality sub-images together covering the scene, wherein the step of scanning the scene is performed in a first spectral band with scanner comprising folded optic; combining the plurality of standard quality sub-images into a first stitched image of the scene; identifying at least one portion of interest in the scene from he first stitched image; and scanning the at least one portion of interest to obtain a plurality of enhanced quality sub-images of the at least one portion of interest, each enhanced quality sub-image of the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images covering less than the scene, the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images together covering the at least one portion of interest, the step of scanning the at least one portion of interest being performed in response to the step of identifying, the step of scanning the at once portion of interest covering less than the scene, the step of scanning the at least one portion of interest being performed in the first spectral band with the scanner comprising folded optics; combining the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images to obtain a second stitched image; scanning at least a part of the scene in a second spectral band with the scanner comprising folded optics, to obtain a plurality of second band sub-images; combining the plurality of second band sub-images into a third stitched image; fusing the second stitched image and the third stitched image to obtain a fused image; and at least one of storing the fused image, transmitting the fused image to an external system, and displaying the fused image. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. An imager comprising:
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an optical subsystem comprising at least one image detector, folded optics, a controllable scanning mechanism, a control input, and a data output, wherein the controllable scanning mechanism is configured to direct light onto the at least one image detector through the folded optics, the light being incident on the controllable scanning mechanism from a range of field positions controllable by the control input, and the at least one image detector is configured to capture captured sub-images in a first spectral hand and in a second spectral band different from the first spectral band and output the captured sub-images through the data output; and a processor subsystem comprising a processor, a control interface circuit coupled to drive the control input, and an image reader interface circuit coupled to the data output to read the captured sub-images through the data output, the processor subsystem being configured to cause the optical subsystem to scan in the first spectral band a scene occupying at least a part of a field of view to obtain a plurality of standard quality sub-images of the scene, each standard quality sub-image of the plurality of standard quality sub-images covering less than the scene, the plurality of standard quality sub-images together covering the scene; combine the plurality of standard quality sub-images into a first stitched image of the scene; identify at least one portion of interest in the scene from the first stitched image; cause the optical subsystem to scan, after identifying the at least one portion, the at least one portion of interest to obtain a plurality of enhanced quality sub-images of the at least one portion of interest, each enhanced quality sub-image of the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images covering less than the scene, the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images together covering the at least one portion of interest, the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images together covering less than the scene; combine the plurality of enhanced quality sub-images to obtain a second stitched image; cause the optical subsystem to scan, in the second spectral band, at least a part of the scene, to obtain a plurality of second hand sub-images; combine the plurality of second band sub-images into a third stitched image; and fuse the second stitched image and the third stitched image to obtain a fused image. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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Specification