WO2018162407A1

WO2018162407A1 - Camera ring for producing a panoramic image

Info

Publication number: WO2018162407A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/055336
Authority: WO
Inventors: Heiko AMELSBERG
Original assignee: Rheinmetall Electronics Gmbh
Priority date: 2017-03-07
Filing date: 2018-03-05
Publication date: 2018-09-13
Also published as: DE102017104777A1; WO2018162407A4

Abstract

The invention relates to a camera ring for producing a panoramic image, in particular a surface of an airport. The camera ring comprises a cylindrical housing having a plurality N of cameras distributed on the periphery, each camera being designed to capture an individual image, and a computing unit for transforming the captured individual images into a panoramic image according to a determined transformation rule.

Description

CAMERA CREAM FOR CREATING A PANORAMIC IMAGE

The present invention relates to a camera for creating a rim Pa ^¬ noramabildes, in particular an airport area of an airport.

The technical field of the invention relates to the creation of panoramic ^{stable ¬} countries. A panoramic image is characterized by the cover of a large Be ^¬ trachtungswinkels. For example, a panoramic image can be created by assembling different frames of a scene using a stitching process. For example, a panoramic image of an airport area is helpful for a pilot of the airport to get a good overview of the recorded airport area.

To create panoramic images, for example, multiple cameras and stitching software are used. Using the stitching software, the panorama image is assembled from individual camera images taken by the camera.

Furthermore, electronic methods can also be used in which the geometric juxtaposition of the individual images or individual videos takes place via image transformations that have been defined once. The resulting Panora ^¬ mabild is then fixed in the frame and / or the image orientation and can not be changed. Against this background, an object of the present invention is to improve the creation of a panoramic image from frames of a number of cameras.

Accordingly, a camera collar is proposed for creating a panoramic image, in particular an airport area of an airport. The Kamerak ^¬ tolerance comprises a cylindrical housing having a plurality of N circumferentially ver ^¬ divides arranged cameras, the respective camera for recording an Single image is set up, and a computing unit for transforming the captured individual images by means of a certain transformation ^{vor ¬} font to the panoramic image. The camera collar for creating a panoramic image can advantageously monitor the airport area or the airspace of an airport. A ^further example is the application on ships, in which the camera collar can observe the surrounding sea area. The camera collar can also be referred to as a camera system, panorama camera system or panoramic camera.

The respective camera can be, for example, an infrared camera or a visual camera. The N cameras can be selected such that a first UN term narrow in a visual spectral range and a second working submenu ^¬ ge of the cameras working in an infrared spectral region. Consequently, a mixture of the spectral ranges in the N cameras is possible. The construction of two (redundant) systems in the infrared range and in the visual range is also possible.

Further, the cameras of the camera ring are preferably adapted to adapt automatically to different ratios of brightness and / or contrast ^¬ relationships. The camera wreath can also be preferably supplemented by wide-angle ^¬ modules and / or tele modules.

A panoramic image is understood to be an image from a plurality of individual images, which covers a large viewing angle. A single image is an image which will be ^¬ taken by a camera at a certain time. In the present case, a single image can also be understood as an individual video. Accordingly, a Pano ^¬ ramavideo can be understood as a panorama. By the use of the arranged over the circumference of the housing Kame ^¬ ras the present camera ring advantageously has a viewing angle of 360 ° ^¬ can cover. Thus, the camera collar can advantageously cover the entire 360 ° panorama and, if necessary, ensure the tracking of an object in the entire area. For this purpose, a tracking device can be provided. The housing of the camera collar is preferably a weatherproof housing, which allows continuous operation over a wide temperature ^¬ range. The generated panoramic image is preferably output to a pilot of the airport via one or more screens. For example, the generated panoramic image is output via a number of four to sixteen Monito ^¬ ren kilter ^¬ sen. Preferably, the panoramic image is formatted into at least one predetermined format and the formatted panoramic image is transmitted over a communications network to an ATM (Air Traffic Management) system.

According to one embodiment, the housing is a circular cylindrical housing. The housing comprises a bottom, a lateral surface and a lid.

According to a further embodiment, the lateral surface of the kreiszylind ^{¬ ¬} metallic housing N circumferentially arranged windows, wherein a respective one of the N windows is assigned to one of the N cameras. So that the field of view of each camera is on or aligned by the window of the supplied ^¬ child window.

According to a further embodiment, the respective one of the N window is beheiz ^¬ bar. The fact that the windows are heated, icing of the window can be advantageously prevented. According to a further embodiment, the respective one of the N windows has a heatable frame.

According to a further embodiment, the window pane of the window and the heatable frame are flush with one another. Characterized in that the windows ticket ^¬ be the window and the frame are heated flush with each other, since ^¬ up incident rays, such as water jets of a cleaning nozzle, advantageously not broken. According to a further embodiment, the respective one of the N windows has a cleaning device for cleaning the window. The Reinigungsseinrich ^¬ tion can advantageously clean the window of dirt. For this purpose, the cleaning means may comprise a single nozzle or a plurality of nozzles aufwei ^¬ sen.

According to a further embodiment, the cleaning ^device comprises at least one water nozzle for spraying the window with a water jet having a predetermined pressure. The predetermined pressure of the water jet is less than or equal to 100 bar, preferably between 50 and 100 bar.

According to a further embodiment, the cleaning ^device comprises at least one air nozzle for spraying the window with an air jet having a predetermined pressure. By spraying the window with an air jet ^¬ the drying of the window can after cleaning with water be accelerated. Furthermore, this can ensure that the windowpane of the window is drip-free, as a result of which the viewing area is optimized for the camera arranged to ^¬ order.

According to a further embodiment, the cleaning device comprises a single nozzle, which is adapted for spraying the window with a jet of water and with an air jet. According to a further embodiment, the camera ring a sun roof for the N window and thus protects the lying behind the windows Elect ^¬ ronik, for example the cameras. The sun roof protects the windows and there ^¬ with the visual range of the associated cameras from sunlight, which could be harmful for the cameras.

According to a further embodiment, the sunroof comprises at least two spaced-apart elements and a circulation ^space arranged between the two elements for the passive cooling of the windows. The examples of the elements can be formed for example as bent sheets, wel ^¬ che form the sunroof for the windows. Between the two elements is a gap of, for example 4 cm, is provided, which forms a circulation ^¬ space, which the window and / or the lying behind the windows electronics can cool passively.

According to a further embodiment, the sunroof has a heatable edge. The heated edge has the advantage that it can prevent the formation of ice ^¬ tap into the sunroof, which may interfere with the viewing range of Kame ^¬ ras.

According to a further embodiment, the camera ring comprises a rotatable sensor head arranged coaxially to the longitudinal axis of the circular-cylindrical housing and projecting beyond the cover of the circular-cylindrical housing for receiving sensor data.

According to a further embodiment of the sensor head is formed as a Infrarotka ^¬ ra, which is adapted to rotate at a speed of at least 300 U / min and at least five frames per second take aufzu ^¬.

According to a further embodiment, the N cameras are arranged uniformly distributed over the circumference of the cylindrical housing. According to a further embodiment comprise the N cameras Nl infrared ^¬ cameras, N2 thermal imaging cameras and N3 visual cameras, with Nl e [l, ..., N], N2 e [1, N], N3 e [l, N] and N = Nl + N2 + N3.

In accordance with a further embodiment, maintenance ^openings which are arranged circumferentially in the floor N are provided in a distributed manner. The respective War ^¬ tung opening is closed by a respective support member, wherein the per ^¬ stays awhile support element carries one of the N cameras. For example, a visual camera and an infrared camera may be attached ^¬ assigns to the respective support element. Thus, the maintenance openings and the associated Trä ^¬ gerelemente allow a modular design of the camera collar. If, for example, a camera of the N cameras, the respective support member may Example ^¬ from below to be unscrewed, the support element is removed, the defective camera is replaced in a simple manner and the carrier element is screwed back onto the maintenance opening. Thus, such modules are easily interchangeable in the maintenance and Repa ^¬ raturfall. Special knowledge is not necessary for this, it is enough a simple instruction of general technical maintenance personnel.

According to another embodiment the camera comprises a ring Reg ^¬ te- means for alignment of the cameras. For this orientation zoom optics, pan-tilt heads or pan-tilt systems and / or beam guiding systems can be used.

The pan-tilt system includes, for example, a number of pan-tilt heads. The pan and tilt head can then be used to adjust the orientation of the cameras. According to a further embodiment, the frames will be taken by the ^¬ a ^¬ individual cameras with a predetermined overlap between the frames. The predetermined overlap of the frames allows the use of a stitching method or a stitching method to combine the frames into the panoramic image. Under Stitching The interplay is understood larger panorama image menfügen a plurality of frames or individual images to the ge ^¬ genüber of each frame in the present case. When Sti ^¬ tching the individual recordings of excerpts of the image to be created are joined to the larger panoramic image. According to a further embodiment, the transformation rule is selected as a function of a selected zoom level from a plurality of predetermined transformation rules.

The predetermined transformation rules can be stored, for example, in a memory. Then, the data stored in the memory transformation rules can be ^¬ selected depending on the selected zoom level.

According to a further embodiment, the recorded Einzelbil- be composed of using control points or control patterns by means stit ching ^¬ to the panoramic image.

According to a further embodiment, at least one camera of the N cameras has a wide-angle lens.

The respective unit, for example the arithmetic unit, can be implemented in terms of hardware and / or software. In one implementation, the rule hardwaretechni ^¬ unit as a device or as part of for example be formed as a computer or microprocessor as a pre ^¬ direction. In a software implementation, the unit may Computer program product as ^¬, as a function, as a routine, be formed as part of a program ^¬ codes or as an executable object. A computer program product, such as a computer program means, for example, can be provided or supplied as a storage medium, such as memory card, USB stick, CD-ROM, DVD, or in the form of a downloadable file from a server in a network. This can be done, for example, in a wireless communication network by the transmission of a ent ^¬ speaking file with the computer program product or program Computerpro ^¬ agent. Other possible implementations of the invention include non-expli ^¬ zit Combinations of above or below with respect to the exporting approximately ^¬ Examples features or embodiments described. The skilled person will also add individual aspects as improvements or additions to the respective basic form of the invention.

Further advantageous embodiments and aspects of the invention are counter ^¬ stand of the dependent claims and the embodiment described below ^¬ embodiments of the invention. Furthermore, the invention by way of Favor ^¬ th embodiments with reference will be explained in more detail to the accompanying figures. shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a camera collar for creating a panoramic image; shows a bottom view of the embodiment of the camera garland according to Fig. L; shows a front view of the embodiment of the camera garland according to Fig. L; and FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the embodiment of the camera collar according to FIG. 1. In the figures, identical or functionally identical elements have the same reference numbers have been provided ^¬ Be, unless otherwise specified. FIGS. 1 to 4 show different views of an exemplary embodiment of a camera collar 1 for producing a panoramic image. This Ausführungsbei ^¬ game of the camera collar 1 is explained in more detail below with simultaneous reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. For this purpose, FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the exemplary embodiment of a camera collar 1 for producing a panoramic image.

The camera ring 1 has a cylindrical housing 2 with a plurality of N ^¬ arranged circumferentially distributed cameras 3. For this purpose, only a single camera 3 is drawn in the bottom view of FIG. 2 for reasons of clarity. For example, without limitation of generality, N is 12, 24, or 32. For the example that N = 32, 16 visual cameras and 16 infrared cameras may be provided. The respective camera 3 is set up to take a single picture.

Furthermore, the camera rim 1 comprises a computer unit 4. The computer unit 4 is shown schematically in FIG. 2. The arithmetic unit 4 can be arranged in the housing 2 of the camera collar 1. Alternatively, the arithmetic unit 4 can also be arranged externally to the housing 2. The computing unit 4 is directed to einge- to transform the recorded individual images by means of a specific transformers ^¬ tion procedure of the panoramic image or sammenzusetzen to ^¬.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the housing 2 is a circular cylindrical housing. Thus, the housing 2 may also be referred to as a circular cylinder. The circular ^¬ cylindrical housing 2 comprises a bottom 5, a lateral surface 6 and a cover. 7 A respective one of the N windows 8 is assigned to one of the N cameras 3. This is for example in the exemplified camera 3 of Fig. 2 it clearly ^¬ clearly.

Furthermore, the N windows 8 are preferably designed to be heatable. For this purpose, the respective window 8 has a heatable frame 9 (see FIG. 1). The windows ticket ^¬ be the window 8 and the frame 9 are heated in particular flush zuei ^¬ Nander arranged. Furthermore, a cleaning device 10 is associated with the respective window 8 (see FIG. 1). In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the cleaning device 10 has a single nozzle. This nozzle is to be ^¬ aimed to clean the window 8 with a water jet and dry with an air jet ^¬ again. Further comprising the camera rim 1 of Fig. 1 to 4, a sun roof 11 for the window 8. The canopy 11 includes two spaced apart Ele ^¬ elements 12 and 13. Between the two elements 12 and 13 is a circulation ^¬ space 14 is provided. The circulation space 14 is adapted to passively cool the windows 8. Furthermore, the sunroof 11 has a heatable edge 15. The heatable edge 15 is suitable for preventing the formation of icicles on the sunroof 11, which could disturb the field of vision of the cameras 3.

In addition, Figs. 1, 2 and 4, that is provided coaxially with the longitudinal axis of Gehäu ^¬ ses 2 is a sensor receptacle 17. In the sensor receptacle 17, a sensor head for receiving sensor data can be used. The sensor ^¬ head may protrude beyond the circular cylindrical housing 2 (not shown). In ^¬ example, such a sensor head is designed as an infrared camera. A sol ^¬ che infrared camera is preferably arranged to rotate at a VELOCITY ^¬ speed of at least 300 U / min and receive at least five frames per second. 1 and 2 as shown in Figs. Circumferentially distributed ^¬ disposed maintenance openings 16 are provided in the bottom 5. The respective maintenance port 16 is connected to a respective support member (not shown) closed, the depending ^¬ stays awhile support member may carry at least one of the N cameras.

Although the present invention has been described on the basis of ^exemplary embodiments, it can be varied in many ways.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 camera wreath

2 housings

3 camera

4 arithmetic unit

5 floor

6 lateral surface

7 lids

8 windows

9 heatable frame

10 cleaning device

11 sun roof

12 element of the sunroof

13 element of the sunroof

14 circulation room

15 heatable edge

16 maintenance opening

17 sensor recording

Claims

1. Camera ring (1) for creating a panoramic image, in particular an airport area of an airport, with:

a cylindrical housing (2) with a plurality N circumferentially distributed cameras arranged (3), wherein the respective camera (3) is adapted to receive a single image, and

a computing unit (4) for transforming the recorded Einzelbil ^¬ by means of a specific transformation rule to the panoramic image.

2. Camera collar according to claim 1,

characterized,

the housing (2) is a circular-cylindrical housing which has a bottom (5), a lateral surface (6) and a cover (7).

3. Camera ring according to claim 2,

characterized,

that the outer surface (7) of the circular cylindrical housing (2) N peripherally at ^¬ parent window (8), wherein a respective one of N window (8) one of the N cameras (3) is assigned.

4. Camera ring according to claim 3,

characterized,

that the respective one of the N windows (8) is designed to be heatable.

5. Camera collar according to claim 4,

characterized,

that the respective windows of the N (8) comprises a heated frame (9), where ^¬ are flush with the window pane of the window (8) and the heated frame (9) to each other.

6. Camera ring according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized,

that the respective one of the N window (8) has a cleaning device (10) for cleaning ^¬ gene of the window (8).

7. Camera ring according to claim 6,

characterized,

that the cleaning device (10) has at least one water nozzle for spraying the window (8) with a water jet at a predetermined pressure on ^¬.

8. Camera ring according to claim 6 or 7,

characterized,

in that the cleaning device (10) has at least one air nozzle for spraying the window (8) with an air jet having a predetermined pressure.

9. camera ring according to claim 6,

characterized,

in that the cleaning device (10) has a nozzle which is adapted for spraying the window (8) with a jet of water and with an air jet.

10. Camera collar according to one of claims 3 to 9,

characterized,

a sunroof (11) is provided for the N windows (8).

11. Camera ring according to claim 10,

characterized,

the sunroof (11) has at least two spaced-apart elements (12, 13) and a circulation space (14) arranged between the two elements (12, 13) for passively cooling the windows (8).

12. Camera collar according to claim 10 or 11, characterized,

the sunroof (11) has a heatable edge (15).

13. Camera ring according to one of claims 2 to 12,

marked by

a coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the circular cylindrical housing (2) ^{arrange ¬} th and on the cover (7) of the circular cylindrical housing (2) protruding, rotatable sensor head for receiving sensor data.

14. Camera ring according to claim 13,

characterized,

that the sensor head is designed as an infrared camera, which is to be ^¬ oriented to rotate at a speed of at least 300 U / min and receive at least five frames per second.

15. Camera collar according to one of claims 1 to 14,

characterized,

that the N cameras (3) include Nl infrared cameras, N2 thermal imaging cameras and N3 vi ^¬ coamings cameras, with Nl e [l, ..., N], N2 e [l, N], N3 e [l, N] and N = Nl + N2 + N3.

16. Camera collar according to one of claims 2 to 15,

characterized,

that in the bottom (5) N circumferentially distributed arranged maintenance openings (16) are provided, wherein the respective maintenance opening (16) is closable with a jewei ^{¬ age} support element, wherein the respective support member of one of the N cameras (3).