Structured Light Imaging Subwindowing for High Frame Rate 3D Reconstruction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current structured light illumination (SLI) systems face challenges in miniaturization and cost reduction due to large camera sizes and high costs, which limit their ability to capture fast, high-resolution images of moving 3D objects, leading to low frame rates and increased likelihood of errors in 3D reconstruction.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of subwindowing technology, where a subset of camera pixels is used to capture images within a smaller frame period, increasing frame rates while maintaining high resolution, allowing SLI systems to operate effectively with moving 3D objects by reducing the number of pixels processed and output during each frame period.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high resolution cameras are used to capture 3D objects, then image quality and measurement precision are improved, but frame rate decreases and system cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The camera sensor is divided into multiple subwindows, each capturing a portion of the image. By processing only the relevant subwindow regions, the system achieves high frame rates while maintaining the resolution needed for accurate 3D reconstruction, effectively resolving the contradiction between image quality and frame rate.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of processing the entire image frame, the system selectively processes only the necessary subwindow regions. This partial action approach reduces the data processing load significantly, enabling high frame rates without sacrificing the measurement precision required for accurate 3D object capture.
2Measurement precision
If large optical path length is used for high resolution imaging, then image quality is improved, but system size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging system uses multiple subwindows that can be processed independently, allowing for a more compact optical path design. The segmentation enables shorter optical paths while maintaining sufficient resolution through selective region processing, thus reducing overall system size without compromising image quality.
3Productivity
If fast frame rate is achieved by reducing pixels processed, then productivity is improved, but image resolution decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The camera frame is segmented into multiple subwindows, and the system processes only the necessary subwindow regions at high frame rates. This segmentation allows the system to maintain effective resolution for 3D reconstruction while achieving high frame rates by avoiding the processing bottleneck of entire large-resolution frames.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the image are treated differently based on their importance for 3D reconstruction. The subwindow approach applies local quality processing, focusing computational resources on regions that provide the most valuable information for accurate 3D modeling, thereby achieving high frame rates without uniformly reducing resolution.
Data Source
AI summary
A structured light imaging (SLI) system includes a projection system, image sensor system and processing module. The projection system is operable to project a single SLI pattern into an imaging area. The image sensor system is operable to capture images of a 3D object moving through the imaging area. The image sensor system outputs a subset of camera pixels corresponding to a subwindow of a camera frame to generate subwindow images. The processing module is operable to create a 3D surface map of the 3D object based on the subwindow images.