IMAGE CAPTURE SYSTEM AND IMAGE CAPTURE METHOD

• US 20170171465A1
• Filed: 11/03/2015
• Published: 06/15/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: CHEN, Shuo
• Granted Patent: US 9,826,151 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/14 for measuring distance or clearance between spaced objects or spaced apertures G01B11/26 takes precedence; rangefinders G01C3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4038 Image mosaicing, e.g. composing plane images from plane sub-images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/45 for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/66 Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/69 Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/90 Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/951 by using two or more images to influence resolution, frame rate or aspect ratio
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/48 Increasing resolution by shifting the sensor relative to the scene

Abstract

An image capture system includes: a pan-tilt head with a driving-and-supporting mechanism; an image capture module including at least two image capture devices fixed on the driving-and-supporting mechanism and arranged side by side in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction; a distance obtaining module configured to obtain a distance between a to-be-captured object and the image capture module; a processor configured to calculate a width P of the to-be-captured object which is capable of being currently captured by one of the image capture devices based on the distance L and a visual angle of the image capture device in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, and calculate a relative rotation angle of the image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction based on the width; and a controller configured to control the image capture device to rotate based on the relative rotation angle.

Claims

1. An image capture system, comprising:

a pan-tilt head with a driving-and-supporting mechanism;

an image capture module configured to capture images to be mosaicked to form a target mosaic image;

wherein the image capture module comprises at least two image capture devices fixed on the driving-and-supporting mechanism and arranged side by side in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction, and lenses of the at least two image capture devices are prime lenses of an identical focal length;

a distance obtaining module configured to obtain a distance L between a to-be-captured object and the image capture module;

a processor configured to calculate a width P1 of the to-be-captured object which is capable of being currently captured by a first one of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction based on the distance L and a current visual angle α

of the first one of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, and calculate a relative rotation angle β

of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction based on the width P1; and

a controller configured to transmit a control signal to the driving-and-supporting mechanism based on the relative rotation angle β

, so as to control the image capture devices to rotate.

2. The image capture system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two image capture devices comprise two image capture devices, and the processor comprises:

a first calculation unit configured to calculate the width P1 of the to-be-captured object which is capable of being currently captured by the first image capture device in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction according to an equation P1=2 tan(α

/2)*L; and

a second calculation unit configured to calculate the relative rotation angle β

of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction according to an equation tan(α

/2+β

)=(P1/2+k*P1)/L, where k=(w−

w1)/w1, w represents a width of the target mosaic image in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, and w1 represents a width of an image captured by the first one of the two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction.

3. The image capture system according to claim 1, wherein the at least two image capture devices comprise two image capture devices, and the controller comprises:

a first controller configured to transmit the control signal to the driving-and-supporting mechanism, so as to control a second one of the two image capture devices to rotate by the angle β

in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction that is away from the first one of the two image capture devices;

or

a second controller configured to transmit the control signal to the driving-and-supporting mechanism, so as to control the second one of the two image capture devices to rotate by an angle β

1 in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction that is away from the first one of the two image capture devices, and control the first one of the two image capture devices to rotate by an angle β

2 in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction that is away from the second one of the two image capture devices;

wherein the angle β

equals to a sum of the angles β

1 and β

2.

4. The image capture system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a resetting module configured to determine whether the distance L between the to-be-captured object and the image capture module varies, and generate and transmit a resetting signal to the processor when the distance L varies;

wherein upon receiving the resetting signal, the processor recalculates the relative rotation angle β

of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction and transmits a recalculated relative rotation angle β

to the controller.

5. The image capture system according to claim 1, wherein the distance obtaining module is an electronic distance-measuring unit.

6. The image capture system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a capture controller configured to control the at least two image capture devices to capture the images after the controller controls the image capture devices to rotate.

7. The image capture system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an image processing device configured to obtain and mosaick the images captured by the at least two image capture devices, so as to form the target mosaic image.

8. A method for capturing images applied to the image capture system according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises steps of:

step S101;

obtaining a distance L between a to-be-captured object and the image capture module;

step S102;

calculating a width P1 of the to-be-captured object which is capable of being currently captured by a first one of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction based on the distance L and a current visual angle α

of the first one of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction;

step S103;

calculating a relative rotation angle β

of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction based on the width P1;

step S104;

transmitting a control signal to the driving-and-supporting mechanism based on the relative rotation angle β

, so as to control the image capture devices to rotate; and

step S105;

controlling the at least two image capture devices to capture images after the image capture devices are controlled to rotate.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the at least two image capture devices comprise two image capture devices,

the width P1 of the to-be-captured object which is capable of being currently captured by the first one of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction is calculated according to an equation P1=2 tan(α

/2)*L; and

the relative rotation angle β

of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction is calculated according to an equation tan(α

/2+β

)=(P1/2+k*P1)/L, where k=(w−

w1)/w1, w represents a width of the target mosaic image in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, and w1 represents a width of an image captured by the first one of the image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction.

10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising steps of:

determining whether the distance L between the to-be-captured object and the image capture module varies; and

repeating the steps 102-106 when the distance L varies.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the at least two image capture devices comprise two image capture devices, and the processor comprises:

a first calculation unit configured to calculate the width P1 of the to-be-captured object which is capable of being currently captured by the first image capture device in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction according to an equation P1=2 tan(α

/2)*L; and

a second calculation unit configured to calculate the relative rotation angle β

of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction according to an equation tan(α

/2+β

)=(P1/2+k*P1)/L, where k=(w−

w1)/w1, w represents a width of the target mosaic image in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, and w1 represents a width of an image captured by the first one of the two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein the at least two image capture devices comprise two image capture devices, and the controller comprises:

a first controller configured to transmit the control signal to the driving-and-supporting mechanism, so as to control a second one of the two image capture devices to rotate by the angle β

in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction that is away from the first one of the two image capture devices;

or

a second controller configured to transmit the control signal to the driving-and-supporting mechanism, so as to control the second one of the two image capture devices to rotate by an angle β

1 in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction that is away from the first one of the two image capture devices, and control the first one of the two image capture devices to rotate by an angle β

2 in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction that is away from the second one of the two image capture devices;

wherein the angle β

equals to a sum of the angles β

1 and β

2.

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the image capture system further comprises:

a resetting module configured to determine whether the distance L between the to-be-captured object and the image capture module varies, and generate and transmit a resetting signal to the processor when the distance L varies;

wherein upon receiving the resetting signal, the processor recalculates the relative rotation angle β

of the at least two image capture devices in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction and transmits a recalculated relative rotation angle β

to the controller.

14. The method according to claim 8, wherein the distance obtaining module is an electronic distance-measuring unit.

15. The method according to claim 8, wherein the image capture system further comprises:

a capture controller configured to control the at least two image capture devices to capture the images after the controller controls the image capture devices to rotate.

16. The method according to claim 8, wherein the image capture system further comprises:

an image processing device configured to obtain and mosaick the images captured by the at least two image capture devices, so as to form the target mosaic image.