Wide-angle Camera Rotated Sensors Baseball Stitching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 360 degree spherical camera devices with two fisheye lenses suffer from low pixel utilization due to the inscribed image circle within rectangular image sensors, resulting in wasted sensor resolution and lower image quality.
Innovation Solution
The camera device employs two camera modules with lenses having a field of view greater than 180 degrees, where each module is rotated relative to the other around the optical axis to minimize gaps and maximize pixel utilization through 'baseball stitching', allowing overflow pixels from one module to fill gaps in the other.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If two fisheye lenses are used to capture 360 degree spherical images, then the device can achieve wide-angle coverage, but pixel utilization is low due to the inscribed image circle within rectangular image sensors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent rotates the second image sensor by 90 degrees around the optical axis relative to the first image sensor. This rotational transformation changes the orientation dimension, allowing the rectangular sensors to capture overlapping regions that when stitched together provide complete 360-degree coverage without uncaptured regions, thereby improving pixel utilization while maintaining wide-angle coverage
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines images from two differently oriented image sensors through stitching to create a composite 360-degree spherical image. By merging the overlapping fields of view from sensors rotated at 90 degrees relative to each other, the system achieves complete coverage and maximizes pixel utilization across the entire sensor array
2Area of stationary object
If two image sensors are positioned on opposite sides to capture hemispheres, then the device achieves 360 degree coverage, but gaps and uncaptured regions appear in the final image
Solution Approach 1:
By rotating the second image sensor 90 degrees around the optical axis, the patent introduces a rotational dimension that creates overlapping coverage zones between the two sensors. This ensures that regions uncaptured by one sensor are captured by the other, eliminating gaps and achieving complete spherical coverage
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite imaging system where two image sensors with different orientations work together as a unified system. The combination of sensors captured hemispheres at different orientations, and through stitching, produces a complete composite 360-degree spherical image without uncaptured regions
Data Source
AI summary
Devices and methods related to capturing 360 degree spherical images are provided. A computing device can capture, substantially simultaneously, a first image with the first image sensor and a second image with a second image sensor. The first image sensor can be positioned on a first side of the computing device and oriented at a first orientation with respect to an axis of rotation. The second image sensor can be positioned on a second side of the device substantially opposite the first side of the device and oriented at a second orientation that is axially rotated from the first orientation with respect to the axis of rotation. The computing device can stitch together the first image and the second image to create an output image that captures a 360 degree field of view with respect to the computing device.