Vehicle Underbody Imaging Mirror Optics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for recording a vehicle's underbody face challenges in achieving high optical resolution while minimizing space requirements and costs, often requiring multiple cameras or large installation spaces with reduced resolution in field of view.
Innovation Solution
A device using mirrors to project adjacent areas of the underbody transversely into a single camera's field of view, allowing for efficient recording of large-area objects with reduced camera count and space requirements, while maintaining or improving resolution by dividing the image into halves or using extended optical paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If multiple cameras are used to record the entire underbody, then the field of view is improved, but the cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The underbody area is divided into multiple zones that are sequentially recorded as the vehicle passes over the device. Each camera records a specific segment of the underbody, and the complete image is reconstructed by combining these segments in post-processing, eliminating the need for multiple simultaneous cameras.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from capturing all areas simultaneously in space (requiring multiple cameras) to capturing areas sequentially in time as the vehicle moves. This temporal dimension allows a single camera to record the entire underbody by capturing different zones at different moments during vehicle passage.
2Device complexity
If a single camera is used with extended optical path, then the device complexity is reduced, but the installation space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using static mirrors to extend the optical path (which would require large installation space), the system uses the dynamic motion of the vehicle to bring different underbody areas into the camera's field of view sequentially. The vehicle's movement provides the necessary spatial variation without requiring physical space extension.
3Device complexity
If conventional cameras are used without mirrors, then the device simplicity is maintained, but the manufacturing precision and optical resolution deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Mirrors are introduced as intermediary elements to redirect light paths and enable the camera to capture underbody areas that would otherwise be inaccessible. The mirrors act as mediators between the camera and the underbody surfaces, allowing conventional cameras to achieve high-resolution images of areas requiring complex optical arrangements without the mirrors.
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 cost-effective and compact recording of vehicle underbodies with improved horizontal resolution and reduced vertical resolution, or vice versa, without the need for high-resolution cameras, and minimizes optical distortions by using mirrors to extend the line of sight.
Implementation Method 1
mirrors which are designed and arranged in such a way that they project adjacent areas of the underbody transversely to the direction of travel of the vehicle as an image area arranged one above the other into the image recording area of the camera
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2c
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The invention relates to a recording device for recording images (10) of an underbody (6a) of a vehicle (6) which has at least one camera (2), which is designed to record images of regions of the underbody (6a), and mirrors (3, 3a, 3b, 7a, 7b, 8), which are designed and arranged to project images of the underbody into the at least one camera (2). The mirrors (3, 3a, 3b, 7a, 7b, 8) are arranged in such a way that the mirrors project regions of the underbody (6a) lying adjacent to each other perpendicularly to the direction of travel of the vehicle (6) into the camera (2) as image regions arranged one over the other.