Strip-Shaped Modular Camera System for Simplified Calibration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing monitoring systems require complex and costly calibration and installation of multiple cameras to effectively cover extensive areas, which can be time-consuming and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A modular camera system with a strip-shaped or bar-shaped configuration of low-cost cameras, including color, black-and-white, or infrared cameras, that can be easily coupled and rearranged, featuring a communication section for data transmission and a camera attachment section that allows for flexible deployment and simplified calibration, enabling efficient monitoring of large areas without gaps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If multiple cameras are arranged to cover extensive monitoring areas, then monitoring coverage is improved, but system complexity and calibration requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into independent monitoring modules, each containing a defined number of cameras (at least three) with fixed geometric relationships. Each module can be independently installed and calibrated, eliminating the need for complex system-wide calibration while achieving extensive coverage through modular deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple cameras are integrated into a single monitoring module with a common evaluation device that processes images from all cameras. The module combines mechanical coupling of cameras with integrated data communication connections, creating a unified unit that simplifies installation and calibration while providing comprehensive monitoring capability.
2Reliability
If cameras are installed to provide comprehensive monitoring coverage, then monitoring effectiveness is improved, but calibration time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cameras within each monitoring module are pre-configured with fixed geometric relationships and known positions relative to each other during manufacturing. This preliminary configuration eliminates the need for complex post-installation calibration, as the evaluation device can directly use the predefined spatial relationships to process images and determine object positions accurately.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring module is designed to be self-calibrating through its integrated architecture. The evaluation device receives images from all cameras and uses the known geometric relationships within the module to automatically compute three-dimensional positions and monitor the area effectively without requiring external calibration equipment or procedures.
3Manufacturing precision
If cameras are arranged in fixed positions for optimal coverage, then monitoring quality is improved, but installation flexibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the monitoring area into multiple independent modules, each with internally fixed camera positions. This segmentation allows each module to maintain precise camera geometry while the overall system can be flexibly deployed in different configurations to suit various installation environments and monitoring requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from fixed two-dimensional camera arrangements to three-dimensional modular units that can be positioned and oriented in space. Each module maintains precise internal camera positioning while the module itself can be installed at different locations and angles, providing installation flexibility without compromising positioning precision.
4Ease of manufacture
If low-cost cameras are used to reduce system cost, then economic efficiency is improved, but system integration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system integrates multiple low-cost cameras into a unified monitoring module with a common evaluation device. By combining the cameras and their data streams into a single integrated unit with predefined geometric relationships, the system achieves cost efficiency through affordable camera components while maintaining simplicity through unified processing architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The evaluation device serves multiple functions: it receives and processes images from all cameras in the module, determines three-dimensional positions of objects, and provides comprehensive monitoring capabilities. This multi-functional design allows the use of simple, low-cost cameras while achieving sophisticated monitoring outcomes through the versatile evaluation system.
Data Source
AI summary
Extensive monitoring areas must often be monitored for security-related monitoring. Particularly the installation and calibration of the cameras is complex. A monitoring module 4 for the visual monitoring of a monitoring area 5 is proposed, having at least three cameras 6 to monitor the monitoring area 5, wherein the monitoring module 4 is configured as strip-shaped and/or bar-shaped, wherein the cameras 6 are arranged at defined camera intervals along a longitudinal extension L of the monitoring module 4.