Hyper Camera Shared Mirror Dynamic Aperture Vignetting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aerial camera systems face challenges such as difficulty in fitting long focal length lenses, inefficiencies in spacing due to circular yaw correction requirements, and issues with low quality images like blurriness and vignetting.
Innovation Solution
The proposed imaging system includes a camera with a scanning mirror structure and a drive that rotates the mirror about a scan axis based on a scan angle, allowing for efficient capture of images along a scan path. The system dynamically tunes the aperture to mitigate vignetting and ensures optimal illumination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a scanning mirror structure is used to capture images along a scan path, then the coverage area and imaging efficiency are improved, but vignetting and illumination reduction occur due to constrained space and scan angle limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The aperture is made dynamically adjustable rather than fixed, allowing real-time optimization of the aperture size and shape to compensate for vignetting effects at different scan angles. The system dynamically tunes the aperture based on the current scan angle to maintain uniform illumination across the image sensor.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the aperture parameter (size, shape, position) as a function of scan angle to compensate for illumination variations. By adjusting the aperture parameters dynamically based on the scan angle, the system maintains consistent illumination quality across the entire scan path.
2Device complexity
If the aperture is fixed, then the device complexity is reduced, but vignetting cannot be compensated and illumination is non-uniform
Solution Approach 1:
The aperture transitions from a fixed state to a dynamically adjustable state, enabling real-time compensation of vignetting effects. The dynamic aperture adjustment adds complexity to the device but eliminates the illumination non-uniformity problem.
3Device complexity
If the scan angle range is limited, then the mechanical constraints are simplified, but the coverage area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system compensates for limited scan angle range by dynamically changing the aperture parameters to optimize the effective field of view. This allows the system to achieve broader coverage area despite mechanical limitations on the scan angle range.
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
This solution enhances the quality of aerial images by reducing vignetting and improving illumination, leading to sharper and more accurate images, which is crucial for creating high-quality orthomosaics and textured 3D models.
Implementation Method 1
reflecting an imaging beam from an object area using a scanning mirror structure having at least one mirror surface to an image sensor of a camera
Implementation Method 2
the camera includes a lens to focus an imaging beam reflected from the scanning mirror structure to an image sensor of the camera
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure is related to improving image quality in a scanning camera system via scan angle selection to obtain images having overlap for performing image stitching, dynamically tuning an aperture of a camera in the scanning camera system, updating pixel values of an image using vignetting data, or a combination thereof.