Height Measurement Using Parallax-Optimized Imaging Positions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional height measurement devices face challenges in obtaining sufficient parallax, especially when dealing with larger targets, which affects the precision of height measurement.
Innovation Solution
A height measurement device that uses a camera with a rectangular visual field, a moving device, and a control system to image a target from multiple positions, where a circumscribed rectangular area is set with an extension area to maximize parallax within the camera's visual field, allowing precise height estimation through triangulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the camera visual field size is increased to accommodate larger targets, then the measurable target size increases, but the parallax becomes insufficient leading to reduced measurement precision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a single-camera 2D imaging approach to a multi-camera 3D imaging system. By arranging multiple cameras at different positions and angles, the system captures images from multiple dimensions simultaneously, ensuring sufficient parallax for large targets while maintaining measurement precision through three-dimensional spatial information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the imaging task into multiple segments by using several cameras positioned at different locations. Each camera captures a specific portion or angle of the target, and the control device integrates these multiple images to calculate height, thereby maintaining sufficient parallax across the entire visual field.
2Measurement precision
If multiple imaging positions are determined to maximize parallax, then measurement precision improves, but the complexity of determining and coordinating these positions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control device pre-calculates and determines the optimal imaging positions and angles for multiple cameras before actual measurement. By establishing the spatial arrangement and imaging parameters in advance, the system maximizes parallax for measurement precision while reducing real-time control complexity through predetermined configurations.
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
Enables precise height measurement of targets, even when they are large, by securing sufficient parallax and preventing the extension area from protruding from the camera's visual field, thereby improving measurement accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
a camera (imaging device) having a rectangular visual field
Implementation Method 2
estimate the height of the target from parallax of a two-dimensional image of the target imaged at each of the multiple imaging positions
Data Source
AI summary
A height measurement device images a target, extracts a contour of the target from a two-dimensional image, sets a circumscribed rectangular area of which each side is parallel to a corresponding side of the visual field of the camera and each side is circumscribed with the extracted contour of the target, and sets an extension area in which each of four sides of the set circumscribed rectangular area is extended outward by a predetermined amount. The height measurement device determines multiple imaging positions such that maximum parallax is obtained within a range where the extension area does not protrude from the visual field of the camera. Then, the height measurement device images the target at each of the determined multiple imaging positions, and estimates a height of the target from parallax of a two-dimensional image of the target imaged at each of the multiple imaging positions.