Measuring device, system, method, and program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019339063-A1
Application number	US-201615735868-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 28, 2016
Priority date	Jul 1, 2015
Publication date	Nov 7, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

Problem: To provide a device, system, method, and program able to easily measure retroreflective coefficients using a commercially available mobile terminal having an imaging unit. Resolution Means: A device is provided that has an imaging unit for capturing an image of a target object, an observation angle acquiring unit for acquiring an observation angle determined by a positional relationship between the imaging unit, a light source for emitting light for capture and the target object, an entrance angle acquiring unit for acquiring an entrance angle of light emitted for capture incident on the target object, a converting unit for converting image data of an image to a luminance value of the target object using capture information of the image, and a calculating unit for calculating a value of a retroreflective coefficient of the target object based on an illuminance value and the luminance value of the target object.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A device comprising:
an imaging unit for capturing an image of a target object;
an observation angle acquiring unit for acquiring an observation angle determined by a positional relationship between the imaging unit, a light source for emitting light for capture and the target object;
an entrance angle acquiring unit for acquiring an entrance angle of light emitted for capture incident on the target object;
a converting unit for converting image data of an image to a luminance value of the target object using capture information of the image; and
a calculating unit for calculating a value of a retroreflective coefficient of the target object based on an illuminance value and the luminance value of the target object.

2 . The device according to claim 1 further comprising:
an output unit for outputting the values of the observation angle, the entrance angle, and the retroreflective coefficient,
a determining unit for determining whether the observation angle and entrance angle are included within a range of reference, wherein
the output unit also outputs determination results from the determining unit.

3 . The device according to claim 2 further comprising:
a storage unit for storing a correspondence relationship between the observation angle and the entrance angle that determines the range of reference.

4 . The device according to claim 3 , wherein the storage unit stores a plurality of correspondence relationships based on the type of the target object, and the determining unit references correspondence relationships according to the type of the target object to be captured, and then determines whether the observation angle and the entrance angle are included within the obtained range of reference.

5 . The device according to claim 3 , wherein the storage unit also stores a second correspondence relationship between the type of the light source, the observation angle, the entrance angle, and the illuminance value of the target object.

6 . The device according to claim 2 , wherein the imaging unit, in addition to capturing a first image of the target object using the light emitted for capture, also captures a second image of the target object without using the light emitted for capture, and the conversion unit, in addition to converting the image data of the first image to a first luminance value, also converts the image data of the second image to a second luminance value, and then acquires a luminance value of the target object by calculating the difference between the first luminance value and the second luminance value.

7 . The device according to claim 2 , wherein the imaging unit captures images that include portions other than the target object, and the conversion unit corrects the luminance value of the target object based on the portions other than the target object obtained from the image data of the image.

8 . The device according to claim 2 further comprising:
an illuminance value calculating unit for calculating an illuminance value of the target object based on a luminance value of a retroreflective material when light is irradiated from the light source onto a retroreflective material for which the retroreflective coefficient is known.

9 . The device according to claim 2 , wherein the imaging unit, regardless of the operation of a user, captures an image of the target object when it has been determined that the observation angle and the entrance angle are included within the range of reference.

10 . The device according to claim 2 , wherein the output unit is a display unit for displaying an area captured by the imaging unit, the determination results of the determining unit, and the value of the retroreflective coefficient calculated by the calculating unit.

11 . The device according to claim 1 further comprising:
an exposure correcting unit for adjusting an exposure amount during capture by the imaging unit.

12 . The device according to claim 1 further comprising:
a filter for reducing the intensity of the light from the light source.

13 . The device according to claim 1 further comprising:
a prism for deflecting the light path of the light from the light source, and then adjusting the observation angle.

14 . The device according to claim 1 further comprising:
a reference target object that includes one or a plurality of retroreflective areas for which the retroreflective coefficients are known, wherein
the calculating unit performs calculation using the feature values of the one or the plurality of retroreflective areas.

15 . The device according to claim 14 , wherein the reference target object includes a plurality of retroreflective areas for which the values of the retroreflective coefficients are known, and the retroreflective coefficients of the plurality of retroreflective areas are all different from one another.

16 . The device according to claim 15 , wherein the plurality of retroreflective areas are arranged on the reference target object in a pattern determined in advance.

Assignees

• 3M Innovative Properties Co

Inventors

• Karasawa Fumio
• Geldmacher Andreas M
• Somasundaram Guruprasad

Classifications

• G01N2021/551

  Retroreflectance · CPC title

• G01N21/55 Primary

  Specular reflectivity · CPC title

• G01N21/251

  Colorimeters; Construction thereof · CPC title

• G06T7/80

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

• G01B11/14 Primary

  for measuring distance or clearance between spaced objects or spaced apertures (G01B11/26 takes precedence; rangefinders G01C3/00) · CPC title