| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080239316 | Method and apparatus for quantitative 3-D imaging - Described is a method and apparatus for obtaining additional information from an object and a method for surface imaging and three-dimensional imaging. Single lens, single aperture, single sensor system and stereo optic systems are enhanced via selective filtering, use of defocusing information, use of an addressable pattern, image matching, and combinations thereof. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080259354 | Single-lens, single-aperture, single-sensor 3-D imaging device - A device and method for three-dimensional (3-D) imaging using a defocusing technique is disclosed. The device comprises a lens having a substantially oblong aperture, a sensor operable for capturing light transmitted from an object through the lens and the substantially oblong aperture, and a processor communicatively connected with the sensor for processing the sensor information and producing a 3-D image of the object. The aperture may have an asymmetrical shape for distinguishing objects in front of versus in back of the focal plane. The aperture may also be rotatable, where the orientation of the observed pattern relative to the oblong aperture is varied with time thereby removing the ambiguity generated by image overlap. The disclosed device further comprises a light projection system configured to project a predetermined pattern onto a surface of the desired object thereby allowing for mapping of unmarked surfaces in three dimensions. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080278570 | Single-lens, single-sensor 3-D imaging device with a central aperture for obtaining camera position - A device and method for three-dimensional (3-D) imaging using a defocusing technique is disclosed. The device comprises a lens, a central aperture located along an optical axis for projecting an entire image of a target object, at least one defocusing aperture located off of the optical axis, a sensor operable for capturing electromagnetic radiation transmitted from an object through the lens and the central aperture and the at least one defocusing aperture, and a processor communicatively connected with the sensor for processing the sensor information and producing a 3-D image of the object. Different optical filters can be used for the central aperture and the defocusing apertures respectively, whereby a background image produced by the central aperture can be easily distinguished from defocused images produced by the defocusing apertures. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080278572 | Aperture system with spatially-biased aperture shapes and positions (SBPSP) for static and dynamic 3-D defocusing-based imaging - A device and method for three-dimensional (3-D) imaging using a defocusing technique is disclosed. The device comprises a lens, a plurality of spatially-biased apertures obstructing the lens, a sensor operable for capturing light transmitted from an object through the lens and the plurality of spatially-biased apertures, and a processor communicatively connected with the sensor for processing the sensor information and producing a 3-D image of the object. The spatially-biased apertures may differ in shape, size, and/or distance from the optical axis. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080278804 | Method and apparatus for quantitative 3-D imaging - Described is a method and apparatus for obtaining additional information from an object and a method for surface imaging and three-dimensional imaging. Single lens, single aperture, single sensor system and stereo optic systems may be modified in order to successfully generate surface maps of objects or three-dimensional representations of target objects. A variety of the aspects of the present invention provide examples of the use of an addressable pattern in order to overcome mismatching common to standard defocusing techniques. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20090295908 | Method and device for high-resolution three-dimensional imaging which obtains camera pose using defocusing - A method and device for high-resolution three-dimensional (3-D) imaging which obtains camera pose using defocusing is disclosed. The device comprises a lens obstructed by a mask having two sets of apertures. The first set of apertures produces a plurality of defocused images of the object, which are used to obtain camera pose. The second set of optical filters produces a plurality of defocused images of a projected pattern of markers on the object. The images produced by the second set of apertures are differentiable from the images used to determine pose, and are used to construct a detailed 3-D image of the object. Using the known change in camera pose between captured images, the 3-D images produced can be overlaid to produce a high-resolution 3-D image of the object. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20100007660 | Pattern inversion for improved resolution in 3D imaging - A system and method for improving resolution of a 3-D image by pattern inversion is disclosed. An image of a marker pattern transmitted from the surface of a 3-D object is captured with a sensor and analyzed using a 3-D image analysis method. The respective light and dark areas in the image are then inverted. The inverted image is then analyzed using a 3-D image analysis method, whereby the inversion allows for analysis of a greater portion of the image, resulting in a higher resolution 3-D image than without inversion. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20110037832 | Defocusing Feature Matching System to Measure Camera Pose with Interchangeable Lens Cameras - A lens and aperture device for determining 3D information. An SLR camera has a lens and aperture that allows the SLR camera to determine defocused information. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110058740 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FAST THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING USING DEFOCUSING AND FEATURE RECOGNITION - Described is a method and system for fast three-dimensional imaging using defocusing and feature recognition is disclosed. The method comprises acts of capturing a plurality of defocused images of an object on a sensor, identifying segments of interest in each of the plurality of images using a feature recognition algorithm, and matching the segments with three-dimensional coordinates according to the positions of the images of the segments on the sensor to produce a three-dimensional position of each segment of interest. The disclosed imaging method is “aware” in that it uses a priori knowledge of a small number of object features to reduce computation time as compared with “dumb” methods known in the art which exhaustively calculate positions of a large number of marker points. | 03-10-2011 |
