Single-canister underwater stereocamera system with distance measurement function
US6839082B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 28, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jan 4, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 24, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N2013/0081
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A single-canister underwater stereocamera system with a distance measurement function. In the camera system, a camera drive unit, holding two cameras on its camera base, is set in a parallel space defined between two support plates, and is operable by a motor unit, thus being movable along with the two cameras to the front or back. A lens drive unit, holding two lenses on two lens bases, is set in the parallel space to be operable by the motor unit so as to laterally move the two lenses to the left or right under the guide of a linear guide bearing. The motor unit controls the focus length of each of the two cameras and the moving distance of the two lenses at the same time. In the camera system, the actual distance of an underwater target object from the system is measured by sensing a rotated position of the encoder of the motor unit, taking advantage of the fact that the actual distance of the target object has a functional relation of 1:1 with the focus length of each of the cameras. This camera system measures the actual distance of the target object while compensating for the refraction errors of light beams passing through both the window and water. The camera system is also…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.