Color filter array for machine vision system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018088588-A1
Application number	US-201715713125-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 22, 2017
Priority date	Sep 23, 2016
Publication date	Mar 29, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A machine vision system having a first camera configured to be coupled to a vehicle, The camera includes an optical stack having a color filter array with a plurality of sections. Each section includes a first white filter portion, a yellow filter portion, a magenta filter portion, and a second white filter portion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A machine vision system, comprising:
a first camera configured to be coupled to a vehicle, the camera having an optical stack comprising:
a color filter array having a plurality of sections, each section comprising:
a first white filter portion,
a yellow filter portion,
a magenta filter portion, and
a second white filter portion,

wherein the machine vision system is configured to provide information to an autonomous vehicle to operate the autonomous vehicle along a path.

2 . The machine vision system of claim 1 , wherein the first white filter portion and the second white filter portion are disposed diagonally with respect to each other.

3 . The machine vision system of claim 1 , wherein the optical stack further comprises a lens and an image sensor.

4 . The machine vision system of claim 3 , wherein the image sensor comprises a plurality of pixels, and wherein each pixel has a section of the color filter array disposed over the pixel.

5 . The machine vision system of claim 1 , wherein the optical stack comprises, in order, a lens, an infrared filter, a microlens layer, the color filter array, and an image sensor.

6 . The machine vision system of claim 1 , further comprising a central processing unit coupled to the first camera.

7 . The machine vision system of claim 6 , wherein the central processing unit is configured to analyze an image captured by the first camera.

8 . The machine vision system of claim 7 , wherein the central processing unit is configured to identify at least one of a vehicle, a street light, a traffic sign, and a roadway marking in the image captured by the first camera.

9 . The machine vision system of claim 1 , wherein the first camera is configured to operate in lighting conditions of less than 1 lux.

10 . The machine vision system of claim 1 , further comprising a second camera configured to be coupled to the vehicle, the second camera having a second optical stack, comprising:
a second color filter array having a plurality of sections, each section comprising:
a third white filter portion,
a second yellow filter portion,
a second magenta filter portion, and
a fourth white filter portion.

11 . The machine vision system of claim 10 , wherein the first camera and the second camera are coupled to a central processing unit of the vehicle, and wherein the central processing unit is configured to send vehicle maneuver instructions in response to image data received from the first camera and the second camera.

12 . The machine vision system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle.

13 . The machine vision system of claim 7 , wherein the central processing unit is configured to analyze the image captured by the first camera using a noise difference optimized color space.

14 . The machine vision system of claim 7 , wherein the central processing unit is configured to analyze the image captured by the first camera using an automotive reference color chart.

15 . An autonomous vehicle, comprising:
a plurality of cameras, wherein a first camera comprises:
a color filter array having a plurality of sections, each section comprising:
a first white filter portion,
a yellow filter portion,
a magenta filter portion, and
a second white filter portion,
wherein the first camera is configured to provide information to the autonomous vehicle to operate the autonomous vehicle along a path.

16 . The autonomous vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the first camera is configured to operate in lighting conditions of less than 1 lux.

17 . The autonomous vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the first camera is disposed on a front end of the vehicle.

18 . The autonomous vehicle of claim 15 , further comprising a central processing unit coupled to the camera, wherein the camera is configured to send image data to the central processing unit.

19 . The autonomous vehicle of claim 18 , wherein the central processing unit is configured to detect at least one of a vehicle, a street light, a traffic sign, and a roadway marking from the image data.

20 . The autonomous vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the autonomous vehicle is an electric vehicle.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Ion Lucian
• Krishnamurthy Mahesh

Classifications

• H04N25/11 Primary

  Arrangement of colour filter arrays [CFA]; Filter mosaics · CPC title

• G02B5/201

  in the form of arrays · CPC title

• G01S2013/9318

  Controlling the steering · CPC title

• G06T2207/30252

  Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle · CPC title

• G05D1/0251

  extracting 3D information from a plurality of images taken from different locations, e.g. stereo vision (stereoscopic image analysis H04N13/00; depth recovery from images G06T7/593) · CPC title