Camera calibration utilizing electroactive polymer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11800229-B2
Application number	US-202217647290-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 6, 2022
Priority date	Apr 17, 2019
Publication date	Oct 24, 2023
Grant date	Oct 24, 2023

Abstract

An illustrative example camera device includes a substrate and a sensor supported on the substrate. The sensor is configured to gather image information. A lens is situated near the sensor and an electroactive polymer selectively causes relative movement between the sensor and the lens.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, the system comprising a controller for maintaining calibration of a camera device for a vehicle, the controller having at least one processor configured to:
produce relative movement in a vertical dimension between a lens and a sensor of the camera device by applying electrical energy to multiple electroactive polymer pads located distal from one another in a horizontal plane within a polymer layer of the camera device;
adjusting the electrical energy that produces the relative movement to maintain a separation distance in the vertical dimension or a tilt angle between the sensor and the lens;
determine that the camera device is in a calibrated state by:
obtaining a first camera image of a reference when the sensor and the lens are in a first relative orientation associated with a first amount of electrical energy applied to the multiple electroactive polymer pads; and
determining whether a correspondence between the first camera image and the reference indicates that the camera device is calibrated;

determine at least one characteristic of the electrical energy applied to the multiple electroactive polymer pads when the camera device is in the calibrated state; and
maintain the at least one characteristic of the electrical energy to maintain the calibrated state of the camera device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
store, within a memory of the system, the at least one characteristic of the electrical energy applied to the multiple electroactive polymer pads when the camera device is in the calibrated state.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one characteristic of the electrical energy applied to the multiple electroactive polymer pads when the camera device is in the calibrated state includes at least one of a voltage applied to one or more of the multiple electroactive polymer pads or a current applied to one or more of the multiple electroactive polymer pads.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the correspondence between the first camera image and the reference indicates that the camera device is not calibrated; and
the at least one processor is further configured to:
apply a different amount of electrical energy to at least one pad of the multiple electroactive polymer pads to cause the relative movement between the sensor and the lens to achieve a second relative orientation between the sensor and the lens with respect to the separation distance or the tilt angle;
obtain a second camera image of a reference when the sensor and the lens are in the second relative orientation; and
determine whether a correspondence between the second camera image and the reference indicates that the camera device is calibrated.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the electrical energy that produces the relative movement to maintain the separation distance or the tilt angle between the sensor and the lens in the calibrated state comprises selectively adjusting a position of at least one of the sensor or lens relative to the other of the sensor or the lens to recalibrate the camera device.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the multiple electroactive polymer pads are situated against a substrate and the sensor is disposed on the substrate; and
the substrate includes at least one conductive trace for providing electrical energy to the multiple electroactive polymer pads using the controller.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the camera device comprises a housing supporting the lens and the substrate, and wherein:
a space occupied by the multiple electroactive polymer pads changes responsive to electrical energy applied using the controller;
the multiple electroactive polymer pads react against a reaction surface as the space occupied by the multiple electroactive polymer pads changes; and
a position of the substrate relative to the housing changes as the multiple electroactive polymer pads react against the reaction surface.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the relative movement includes both a change in the separation distance between the sensor and the lens and a change in the tilt angle between the sensor and the lens.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
applying electrical energy to the multiple electroactive polymer pads comprises applying an amount of electrical energy to each respective pad of the multiple electroactive polymer pads; and
different amounts of electrical energy respectively applied to the respective pads of the multiple electroactive polymer pads causes different relative movements between the sensor and the lens.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein applying electrical energy to the multiple electroactive polymer pads further comprises providing electrical energy having a first characteristic to a first one of the multiple electroactive polymer pads and providing electrical energy having a second, different characteristic to a second one of the multiple electroactive polymer pads.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the camera device is supported on the vehicle.

12. A method of calibrating a camera device, the method comprising:
providing electrical energy to an electroactive polymer comprising a plurality of electroactive polymer pads disposed on a first side of a substrate at locations distal from one another in a horizontal plane to cause relative movement in a vertical dimension between a sensor, disposed on the first side of the substrate, and a lens of the camera device to achieve a first relative orientation between the sensor and the lens, each location of the plurality of electroactive polymer pads including a single electroactive polymer pad that couples the first side of the substrate to a reaction surface of a housing supporting the lens and the substrate, each single electroactive polymer pad configured to expand or contract in a direction normal to the reaction surface of the housing to adjust a separation distance in the vertical dimension or a tilt angle of the sensor relative to the lens;
determining that the camera device is in a calibrated state by:
obtaining a first camera image of a reference when the sensor and the lens are in the first relative orientation associated with a first amount of electrical energy applied to the plurality of electroactive polymer pads; and
determining whether a correspondence between the first camera image and the reference indicates that the camera device is calibrate;

determining at least one characteristic of the electrical energy applied to the plurality of electroactive polymer pads when the camera device is in the calibrated state; and
maintaining the at least one characteristic of the electrical energy to maintain the calibrated state of the camera device.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
storing, within a memory, the at least one characteristic of the electrical energy provided to the electroactive polymer when the camera device is in the calibrated state.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the correspondence between the first camera image and the reference indicates that the camera device is not calibrated; and
the method further comprises:
providing a different amount of electrical energy to at least one of the plurality of electroactive polymer pads to cause the relative movement between the sensor and the lens to achieve a second, different relative orientation between the sensor and the lens in the separation distance or the tilt angle;
obtaining a second camera image of a reference when the sensor and the lens are in the second relative orientation; and
determining whether a correspondence betwee

Assignees

• Aptiv Tech Ltd

Inventors

• Liburdi Steven A

Classifications

• H04N23/69 Primary

  Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming · CPC title

• B60R11/04

  Mounting of cameras operative during drive; Arrangement of controls thereof relative to the vehicle · CPC title

• G06T7/80

  Analysis of captured images to determine intrinsic or extrinsic camera parameters, i.e. camera calibration · CPC title

• G06T7/97

  Determining parameters from multiple pictures (depth or shape recovery from multiple images G06T7/55; stereo camera calibration G06T7/85) · CPC title

• H04N17/002

  for television cameras · CPC title