Stereo camera, onboard lighting unit, and stereo camera system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11290703-B2
Application number	US-201917257202-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2019
Priority date	Sep 18, 2018
Publication date	Mar 29, 2022
Grant date	Mar 29, 2022

Abstract

To reduce size and cost of a stereo camera and an onboard lighting unit. A stereo camera includes a first convex hyperboloidal mirror and a second convex hyperboloidal mirror that share a central axis and are vertically disposed with vertexes facing each other, an imaging optical system, and an image sensor. The second convex hyperboloidal mirror is formed of an outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror and an inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror that share the central axis with different conic constants, and an absolute value of the conic constant of the inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror is greater than an absolute value of the conic constant of the outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A stereo camera comprising:
a first convex hyperboloidal mirror and a second convex hyperboloidal mirror configured to share a central axis and are vertically disposed with vertexes facing each other;
an imaging optical system disposed in an opening provided in a vertex portion of the first convex hyperboloidal mirror; and
an image sensor configured to generate an output image in which two images are simultaneously presented, the two images corresponding to two cases in which a subject is captured from two different points of view, based on light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the first convex hyperboloidal mirror, thereafter further reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror, and then entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, and light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror and entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, wherein
the second convex hyperboloidal mirror is formed of an outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror and an inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror that share the central axis with different conic constants, and
an absolute value of the conic constant of the inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror is greater than an absolute value of the conic constant of the outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror.

2. The stereo camera according to claim 1 , wherein
a second focus of the first convex hyperboloidal mirror located outside the first convex hyperboloidal mirror and a first focus of the inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror located inside the inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror substantially coincide with each other, and a second focus of the inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror located outside the inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror and a second focus of the outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror located outside the outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror substantially coincide with each other.

3. The stereo camera according to claim 2 , wherein
a first focus of the first convex hyperboloidal mirror inside the first convex hyperboloidal mirror and a first focus of the outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror inside the outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror correspond to the two different points of view.

4. The stereo camera according to claim 1 , wherein
the first convex hyperboloidal mirror has an aperture larger than an aperture of the second convex hyperboloidal mirror.

5. The stereo camera according to claim 1 , wherein
the first convex hyperboloidal mirror is disposed above the second convex hyperboloidal mirror.

6. The stereo camera according to claim 1 , further comprising
an image processing unit configured to compute a distance to the subject, based on the output image.

7. A stereo camera comprising:
a first convex hyperboloidal mirror and a second convex hyperboloidal mirror configured to share a central axis and are vertically disposed with vertexes facing each other;
an imaging optical system disposed in an opening provided in a vertex portion of the first convex hyperboloidal mirror; and
an image sensor configured to generate an output image in which two images are simultaneously presented, the two images corresponding to two cases in which a subject is captured from two different points of view, based on light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the first convex hyperboloidal mirror, thereafter further reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror, and then entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, and light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror and entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, wherein
the first convex hyperboloidal mirror has an aperture larger than an aperture of the second convex hyperboloidal mirror.

8. A stereo camera comprising:
a first convex hyperboloidal mirror and a second convex hyperboloidal mirror configured to share a central axis and are vertically disposed with vertexes facing each other;
an imaging optical system disposed in an opening provided in a vertex portion of the first convex hyperboloidal mirror; and
an image sensor configured to generate an output image in which two images are simultaneously presented, the two images corresponding to two cases in which a subject is captured from two different points of view, based on light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the first convex hyperboloidal mirror, thereafter further reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror, and then entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, and light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror and entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, wherein
the first convex hyperboloidal mirror is disposed above the second convex hyperboloidal mirror.

9. An onboard lighting unit comprising:
a stereo camera and at least one of a headlight, a tail lamp, and a stop lamp that are integrally formed,
the stereo camera including
a first convex hyperboloidal mirror and a second convex hyperboloidal mirror configured to share a central axis and are vertically disposed with vertexes facing each other;
an imaging optical system disposed in an opening provided in a vertex portion of the first convex hyperboloidal mirror; and
an image sensor configured to generate an output image in which two images are simultaneously presented, the two images corresponding to two cases in which a subject is captured from two different points of view, based on light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the first convex hyperboloidal mirror, thereafter further reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror, and then entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, and light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror and entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, wherein
the second convex hyperboloidal mirror is formed of an outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror and an inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror that share the central axis with different conic constants, and
an absolute value of the conic constant of the inner circumferential hyperboloidal mirror is greater than an absolute value of the conic constant of the outer circumferential hyperboloidal mirror.

10. An onboard lighting unit comprising:
a stereo camera and at least one of a headlight, a tail lamp, and a stop lamp that are integrally formed,
the stereo camera including
a first convex hyperboloidal mirror and a second convex hyperboloidal mirror configured to share a central axis and are vertically disposed with vertexes facing each other;
an imaging optical system disposed in an opening provided in a vertex portion of the first convex hyperboloidal mirror; and
an image sensor configured to generate an output image in which two images are simultaneously presented, the two images corresponding to two cases in which a subject is captured from two different points of view, based on light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the first convex hyperboloidal mirror, thereafter further reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror, and then entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, and light acquired from light of the subject reflected by the second convex hyperboloidal mirror and entering the image sensor via the imaging optical system, wherein
the first convex hyperboloidal mirror has an aperture larger than an aperture of the second convex hyperboloidal mirror.

11. An onboard lighting unit comprising:
a stereo came

Assignees

• Hitachi Ltd

Inventors

• Shimano Takeshi
• Betsui Keiichi

Classifications

• H04N23/57

  Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices · CPC title

• H04N23/90

  Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums · CPC title

• H04N13/236 Primary

  using varifocal lenses or mirrors · CPC title

• G06T7/593 Primary

  from stereo images · CPC title

• G02B7/30

  using parallactic triangle with a base line · CPC title