Image Processing Device for Specular Reflection Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image processing devices struggle to acquire clear images due to blown-out highlights and blocked-up shadows caused by specular reflection or insufficient light, which can lead to missed defects in image diagnosis.
Innovation Solution
An image processing device with a lighting unit and camera unit controlled by a control unit that adjusts light emission patterns and photographing timing to capture multiple intermediate images, then generates a final image by extracting and combining representative regions based on gray value rankings, effectively reducing the impact of specular reflection and blocked-up shadows.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If brightness adjustment is performed to prevent blown-out highlights or blocked-up shadows, then the brightness state improves, but the fundamental influence of specular reflection cannot be removed and the object state still cannot be grasped
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the light source position variable rather than fixed. The light source is moved to multiple different positions around the object, capturing images from various angles. This dynamic approach allows the system to adapt to specular reflection conditions by changing the illumination geometry, thereby obtaining images where the object state can be properly grasped without blown-out highlights or blocked-up shadows.
2Measurement precision
If multiple intermediate images are captured with different light emission patterns, then the final image quality improves, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by creating multiple copies of the object image under different lighting conditions (different light emission patterns and light source positions). Instead of attempting to directly process a single complex image, the system captures multiple simplified copies from different angles and conditions, then synthesizes them to produce the final high-quality image that eliminates specular reflection artifacts.
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 the acquisition of inspection images without blown-out highlights or blocked-up shadows, improving the accuracy of image diagnosis by maintaining the object's state details while minimizing the influence of specular reflection and insufficient light.
Implementation Method 1
a lighting unit including a plurality of light sources that irradiates an object with light
Implementation Method 2
specular reflection occurs and blown-out highlights are generated at the position
Data Source
AI summary
In order to obtain an inspection image without blown-out highlights generated due to specular reflection or the like or blocked-up shadows generated at a position to which light hardly reaches, an image processing device includes a plurality of light sources that irradiates an object with light and a control circuit that controls light emission of the plurality of light sources, a camera that photographs the object, and a processor that controls switching of a light emission pattern of the plurality of light sources and controls photographing execution timing of the camera, controls the plurality of light sources to emit light with a plurality of light emission patterns, performs photographing at timings during at least two or more patterns among the plurality of light emission patterns to obtain a plurality of intermediate images, and generates one final image based on the plurality of obtained intermediate images.