Increasing tolerance of sensor-scanner misalignment of the 3D camera with epipolar line laser point scanning
US9661308B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 6, 2016 |
| Grant date | May 23, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 6, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/10152
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Using the same image sensor to capture a two-dimensional (2D) image and three-dimensional (3D) depth measurements for a 3D object. A laser point-scans the surface of the object with light spots, which are detected by a pixel array in the image sensor to generate the 3D depth profile of the object using triangulation. Each row of pixels in the pixel array forms an epipolar line of the corresponding laser scan line. Timestamping provides a correspondence between the pixel location of a captured light spot and the respective scan angle of the laser to remove any ambiguity in triangulation. An Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) in the image sensor operates as a Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) to generate timestamps. When the epipolar line is misaligned or curved, multiple TDC arrays acquire timestamps of multiple pixels (in multiple rows) substantially simultaneously. Multiple timestamp values are reconciled to obtain a single timestamp value for a light spot.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.