초록 ▼

One or more time delay and integration camera assemblies (A) are mounted in a housing (100) which is rotated by a motor (40, 106) relative to a vertical axis. A tachometer or encoder (44) produces signals whose frequency or voltage varies in accordance with an angular velocity of the camera assembli

One or more time delay and integration camera assemblies (A) are mounted in a housing (100) which is rotated by a motor (40, 106) relative to a vertical axis. A tachometer or encoder (44) produces signals whose frequency or voltage varies in accordance with an angular velocity of the camera assemblies about the vertical axis. A clock generator (46) converts the angular velocity signals into clocking signals for controlling movement of vertical lines of data values (20) along an array (14) of light sensitive elements to a shift register (22). In one embodiment, the clock generator includes a divider (82) which converts the angular velocity signal into a voltage, a comparator (84) which compares the first voltage with a second voltage, and a voltage controlled oscillator (88) which oscillates to generate the clocking signal. A second divider (88) defines a feedback loop between the output of the voltage controlled oscillator and the comparator for generating the second voltage. Each line of data from the array update (64) a corresponding line of a panoramic memory (66). The selectable portion (72) of the data from the panoramic memory is retrieved (70) independently of the memory updating. Scan converters (74) convert retrieved portions of the panoramic memory data into appropriate format for display on video monitor (78). In this manner, the panoramic memory is updated as the array rotates and data is independently retrieved from the panoramic memory to form panable displays.

대표청구항 ▼

A panoramic camera system including a lens for focusing light from a field of view onto an array of light sensitive elements, the array of light sensitive elements being defined by a plurality of lines of light sensitive elements, a rotor for rotating the lens and the light sensitive element array t

A panoramic camera system including a lens for focusing light from a field of view onto an array of light sensitive elements, the array of light sensitive elements being defined by a plurality of lines of light sensitive elements, a rotor for rotating the lens and the light sensitive element array together about an axis of rotation, the array of light sensitive elements being mounted in a plane parallel to the axis of rotation, a control for controlling the light sensitive element array such that lines of data are shifted from each line of light sensitive elements to an adjacent line of light sensitive elements along the light sensitive element array in coordination with rotation of the lens and the light sensitive array about the axis of rotation, a converter for converting the lines of data from the light sensitive element array into electronic image signals representative of columns of a panoramic view, the system further including: a panoramic memory for storing electronic image data representative of a multiplicity of the columns which span a full 360°around the axis of rotation; a memory updating control for updating the electronic image data stored in the panoramic memory in real time with each electronic image signal representative of one column of the panoramic view such that the panoramic memory stores only the most recent data corresponding to each position along the entire 360°panoramic view; a memory access control for retrieving independent of the memory updating control an arbitrarily selectable fraction of the electronic image data from the panoramic memory which selectable fraction of the electronic image data represents a selectable viewing window which is a fraction of the panoramic view; a scan converter for converting the selectively retrieved row segments of the electronic image data into a video signal with timing independent of rotation of the lens; a video monitor for converting the video signal from the scan converter into a human-readable display.