Patent attributes
The invention presents catadioptric (single-camera) sensors using one or more mirrors to produce rectified stereoscopic images. By combining multiple views (using the mirrors) to form a composite stereo image that is already rectified (i.e., has scan-line correspondence), the invention aids provision of real-time stereo images by avoiding computational cost and image degradation due to computer-rectification-related resampling when rectifying. The invention specifies the number of mirrors that must be used and the geometric/locational constraints on those mirrors that must be substantially satisfied to obtain rectified stereo images with a single camera. The invention also discloses specific configurational techniques for how the mirrors should be placed to minimize sensor size. The configurational/geometric parameters disclosed enable cost-efficient, compact, and error-tolerant single-camera stereoscopic image sensing system and methods, removing the need for computer-controlled image rectifying steps and allowing for convenient computerized capture, processing, manipulation, storage, and transmission of stereo images.
