3D Camera Module with Dynamic Lens Alignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 3D camera modules face quality issues due to assembly errors between cameras, leading to degraded 3D image quality and user fatigue, especially during zooming operations, as the baseline gap between cameras is fixed and prone to misalignment.
Innovation Solution
A 3D camera module design that includes a first and second camera lens group, an image sensor, and a movement control unit to adjust the camera lens groups in forward, backward, left, and right directions, along with a shutter unit or prism/mirror system to synchronize and refract light bundles, ensuring accurate disparity calibration and preventing crosstalk during zooming.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If two fixed cameras are arranged with a predetermined gap to capture left and right view images, then stereoscopic image capture is achieved, but assembly errors between the two cameras occur leading to degraded 3D quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two separate camera systems into a single integrated camera module where both camera lens groups share a common image sensor and housing structure. This integration eliminates the need for precise alignment between two independent cameras, as the baseline distance is mechanically fixed within the same housing, thereby reducing assembly errors and improving manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a movement control unit that can dynamically adjust the position of the first and second camera lens groups along the optical axis and laterally. This dynamic adjustment capability allows for real-time calibration of the baseline distance and alignment, compensating for any manufacturing tolerances and maintaining high 3D image quality.
2Reliability
If the baseline gap between two cameras is fixed, then 3D depth measurement range is determined, but the error between cameras increases during zooming operations degrading image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The movement control unit enables dynamic adjustment of the camera lens groups' positions during zooming operations. As the focal length changes, the system can compensate for baseline errors by laterally shifting the lens groups or adjusting their separation distance, thereby maintaining alignment and image quality throughout the zoom range.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the movement control unit monitors the positions of both camera lens groups and makes real-time adjustments to maintain proper alignment. This feedback loop ensures that any deviations caused by zooming are corrected, preserving image quality and reducing crosstalk between left and right view images.
3Productivity
If two independent cameras are used with two lenses and two sensors, then left and right view images are captured simultaneously, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines two camera systems into one integrated module where both camera lens groups share a common image sensor, housing, and control electronics. This merging reduces the total component count, simplifies the device structure, and lowers manufacturing costs while still enabling simultaneous capture of left and right view images through the movement control unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The single image sensor serves dual functions by capturing images from both the first and second camera lens groups. The movement control unit enables the same sensor to receive light bundles from different optical paths, making the system more versatile and reducing the need for duplicate components.
4Reliability
If a shutter unit is added to prevent crosstalk between light bundles, then image quality improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shutter unit acts as an intermediary element positioned between the camera lens groups and the image sensor. It selectively blocks light bundles from either the first or second camera lens group to prevent crosstalk during image capture. This mediator approach maintains image quality by ensuring that each pixel receives light from only one optical path at a time.
Solution Approach 2:
The shutter unit operates periodically, alternately opening and closing to allow light bundles from the first and second camera lens groups to reach the image sensor in sequence. This periodic action prevents crosstalk by ensuring that both light bundles do not simultaneously illuminate the same pixel area, thereby maintaining image quality without requiring complex spatial separation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables high-quality stereoscopic image capture without crosstalk, maintains image disparity during zooming, and reduces the size and cost of the camera module by eliminating the need for separate 2D compatibility configurations.
Implementation Method 1
a prism for refracting the first light bundle and the second light bundle in different directions may be disposed between both of the first camera lens group and the second camera lens group and the image sensor
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a 3D camera module, comprising: a first camera lens group for forming a light path of a first light bundle so as to be one of a left-eye lens group and a right-eye lens group in the 3D camera module; a second camera lens group, disposed apart from the first camera lens group, for forming a light path of a second light bundle so as to be the other of the left-eye lens group and the right-eye lens group in the 3D camera module; an image sensor disposed on the movement path of the first and second light bundles so as to sense a first image by the first light bundle and a second image by the second light bundle; and a movement control unit configured to move the first camera lens group and the second camera lens group in at least one direction of a forward and backward direction and a left and right direction so as to control the first and second images.