Camera Arrangement For Measuring Distance

• US 20150002664A1
• Filed: 01/07/2013
• Published: 01/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visteon Global Technologies Incorporated (Visteon Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Johnson Controls GmbH (Adient plc)
• Inventors: Eppinger, Andreas, Schliep, Frank, Kirsch, Oliver, Boehm, Hannes Rene
• Granted Patent: US 10,078,901 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/142
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/87 Combinations of systems using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/894 3D imaging with simultaneous measurement of time-of-flight at a 2D array of receiver pixels, e.g. time-of-flight cameras or flash lidar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4817 relating to scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

A camera arrangement includes at least one illuminating device for illuminating a plurality of fields of vision. At least one object to be detected is in each of the fields of vision. The camera arrangement also includes at least one objective lens for focusing a beam path which includes at least one of the plurality of fields of vision or for focusing a plurality of beam paths each including at least one of the plurality of fields of vision. A TOF sensor is also provided. The at least one illuminating device, the at least one objective lens and the TOF sensor are arranged with respect to one another and with respect to the fields of vision and the objects in the latter in such a manner that images of the objects can be imaged on the one TOF sensor at the same time or in temporal succession.

Claims

1. A camera arrangement, comprising:

at least one illumination device for illuminating a plurality of fields of view, at least one object to be detected respectively lying in the fields of view;

at least one objective lens for focusing a beam path which comprises at least one of the plurality of fields of view, or for focusing a plurality of beam paths, which respectively comprise at least one of the plurality of fields of view; and

a TOF sensor,

wherein the at least one illumination device, the at least one objective lens and the TOF sensor are arranged with respect to one another, and with respect to the fields of view and the objects lying therein, in such a way that images of the objects can be imaged simultaneously or in chronological succession on the one TOF sensor.

2. The camera arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein two illumination devices are provided, a field of view respectively being illuminable by each illumination device, an objective lens respectively being arranged between the objects and the TOF sensor, and images of the objects being imagable in a common region on the TOF sensor.

3. The camera arrangement as claimed in claim 2, wherein the two illumination devices are coupled to a control device, the two illumination devices being activatable independently of one another at different times by the control device.

4. The camera arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein one illumination device is provided, the fields of view being illuminable by the illumination device, a common objective lens being arranged between the objects and the TOF sensor, and images of the objects lying in the fields of view being imageable separately in different regions on the TOF sensor.

5. The camera arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein two illumination devices are provided, a field of view respectively being illuminable by each illumination device, a common objective lens being arranged between the objects and the TOF sensor, and a controllable mirror being arranged between the objects and the objective lens, the mirror being controllable in such a way that either a beam path of a first field of view or a beam path of a second field of view can be delivered thereby to the objective lens, and images of the objects being imageable in a common region on the TOF sensor.

6. The camera arrangement as claimed in claim 5, wherein the two illumination devices are coupled to a control device, the illumination devices being activatable independently of one another at different times by the control device.

7. The camera arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein a first illumination device can be activated at a first time when the beam path of the first field of view is imaged on the TOF sensor by the mirror, and a second illumination device can be activated at a second time when the beam path of the second field of view is imaged on the TOF sensor by the mirror.

8. The camera arrangement as claimed in claim 5, wherein the mirror is a digital mirror.

9. A method of using a camera arrangement as claimed in claim 1 for distance measurement, wherein a distance from the camera arrangement to the at least one object lying in the respective field of view is determined from a time of flight of light emitted by the at least one illumination device to the fields of view.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein a head of a driver and/or a head of a passenger, gestures, expressions, eye positions, viewing directions, seat positions, head positions and/or anthropometric features of the driver and/or passenger is or are monitored inside a vehicle.