KR101381222B1 - An apparatus and a method for taking an image - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for taking an image is disclosed. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus and a method for taking an image comprises: an image shooting device for shooting an image of a target object; at least one lighting device installed with a predetermined distance spaced apart from the image shooting device; a distance measuring sensor for measuring a distance between the image shooting device and the shooting target; and a control unit for controlling a lighting direction of the lighting device based on an image shooting direction of the image shooting device and the measured distance information by the distance measuring sensor. [Reference numerals] (400) Control unit; (500) Distance control unit

Description

Image acquisition apparatus and method for image acquisition {An apparatus and a method for taking an image}

The present invention relates to an image acquisition device and an image acquisition method.

Underwater robots are provided with an image capturing apparatus for underwater photography for image acquisition in order to recognize the environment and check the work target. The underwater environment is more attenuated by light than the ground environment, so artificial lighting is used when shooting. However, when artificial lighting is used, light is scattered by fine floats and the like present in water, which makes it difficult to clearly capture an image of a photographing target.

Embodiments of the present invention have an object to obtain a clearer image when using the illumination for image capture.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image acquisition apparatus for photographing an object underwater, an image photographing apparatus for photographing an image of a photographing target; At least one lighting device spaced apart from the image photographing device by a predetermined distance; A distance measuring sensor measuring a distance between the image photographing device and the photographing target; And a controller configured to control an illumination direction of the lighting apparatus based on an image photographing direction of the image photographing apparatus and distance information measured by the distance measuring sensor. An image acquisition device may be provided.

The apparatus may further include a distance controller configured to adjust the predetermined distance between the image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus.

The lighting device may include a light amount adjusting means for adjusting the light amount, and the light amount adjusting means may be an image acquisition device for adjusting the light amount of the lighting device based on a distance between the lighting device and the photographing target.

In addition, the lighting device closest to the object to be photographed among the one or more lighting devices may be an image acquisition device that illuminates the object to be photographed.

In addition, the at least one lighting device may be an image acquisition device that illuminates the object to be photographed.

The distance controller may be an image acquisition device that adjusts a distance between the image capture device and the lighting device based on contrast information of an image captured by the image capture device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an image acquisition method for photographing an object underwater, comprising: illuminating a photographing target by controlling an illumination direction of a lighting device; Photographing the illuminated photographing target by the image photographing apparatus disposed to be spaced apart from the lighting apparatus; The lighting of the photographing target may include determining an illumination direction of the lighting apparatus based on an image photographing direction of the image photographing apparatus and a distance between the image photographing apparatus and the lighting apparatus; It may be an image acquisition method including a.

Embodiments of the present invention can obtain a clearer underwater image by providing a space between the image capturing device and the lighting device.

1 and 2 illustrate an area in which blur occurs due to scattering of light according to a distance between an illumination device and an image photographing device.
3 and 4 illustrate a region in which blur occurs due to scattering of light according to an irradiation angle of the lighting device.
5 illustrates an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 illustrates a method of calculating an illumination direction of a lighting device in an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 illustrates an operation of an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 exemplarily illustrates an operation according to a location of a photographing target in an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 exemplarily illustrates adjusting a distance between the image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus based on contrast information of an image captured by the image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 exemplarily illustrates an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 illustrates that a lighting device closest to a photographing target operates during the operation of the image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
12 illustrates that one or more lighting devices illuminate a photographing target together in an operation of an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
13 is a diagram for describing an image acquisition method, according to an exemplary embodiment.

Other advantages and features of the present invention and methods of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical or scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly accepted by the generic art in the prior art to which this invention belongs. Terms defined by generic dictionaries may be interpreted to have the same meaning as in the related art and / or in the text of this application, and may be conceptualized or overly formalized, even if not expressly defined herein I will not.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. As used herein, the terms' comprise 'and / or various forms of use of the verb include, for example,' including, '' including, '' including, '' including, Steps, operations, and / or elements do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other compositions, components, components, steps, operations, and / or components.

The term 'and / or' as used herein refers to each of the listed configurations or various combinations thereof.

It should be noted that the terms such as '~', '~ period', '~ block', 'module', etc. used in the entire specification may mean a unit for processing at least one function or operation. For example, a hardware component, such as a software, FPGA, or ASIC. However, '~ part', '~ period', '~ block', '~ module' are not meant to be limited to software or hardware. Modules may be configured to be addressable storage media and may be configured to play one or more processors. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > Thus, by way of example, the terms 'to', 'to', 'to block', 'to module' may refer to components such as software components, object oriented software components, class components and task components Microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and the like, as well as components, Variables. The functions provided in the components and in the sections ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ' , '~', '~', '~', '~', And '~' modules with additional components.

Underwater photography, it is difficult to obtain a clear image due to scattering of light due to a float in a common area where the irradiation angle of the illumination device and the angle of view of the image photographing device overlap. The present invention provides a clearer underwater image by narrowing a common area where the irradiation angle of the illumination device and the field of view of the image photographing device overlap.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus are spaced apart from each other to narrow the common area where the irradiation angle of the lighting apparatus and the field of view of the image capturing apparatus overlap. The lighting apparatus and the image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may be attached to a device capable of adjusting the angle up, down, left, and right, and may be controlled by a controller in conjunction with each other or independently of each other, and have an underwater moving means. It can be installed spaced apart from the exploration robot, underwater robot. The underwater exploration robot and the underwater work robot are exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention and may be used in any device provided that they can be spaced apart from the movable means in the water.

The present invention can provide a lighting direction control method for accurately lighting the object to be photographed by the lighting device independently of the image photographing device. Based on the distance between the image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus, the distance between the image capturing apparatus and the photographing apparatus, and the photographing direction of the image capturing apparatus, the distance between the illuminating apparatus and the photographing subject and the lighting direction can be calculated using the trigonometric function. It is possible to control the lighting direction of the lighting device. The distance measuring sensor according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be installed in close proximity to the image capturing apparatus or may be spaced apart from each other to measure the distance between the image capturing apparatus and the photographing target. The distance measuring sensor according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be, for example, a distance measuring laser sensor attached to an image photographing apparatus. This is illustrative and does not limit the scope of the invention. Hereinafter, the distance measuring sensor is described as measuring the distance between the image capturing apparatus and the photographing target, but this is exemplary and the distance measuring sensor may measure the distance between the lighting apparatus and the photographing target as needed, and the image from the The photographing direction of the photographing apparatus can be controlled.

In the image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the distance between the image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus may be adjusted by the distance controller. For example, the distance adjusting unit may include a distance adjusting unit and a rail attached to an image photographing device and a lighting device. This is illustrative and is not limited thereto. The distance adjusting unit according to an embodiment of the present invention may be any distance adjusting means as long as it can measure the distance between the image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus and the photographing direction of the image capturing apparatus. In one embodiment of the present invention, the distance adjustment may be made by moving one or both of the image photographing apparatus and the lighting apparatus.

Hereinafter, a person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be easily implemented.

1 and 2 illustrate a region in which a blurring effect due to light scattering occurs according to the distance between the lighting apparatus and the image photographing apparatus in the image obtaining apparatus including the lighting apparatus and the image photographing apparatus. The common region shaded corresponds to the region where the blurring effect due to light scattering occurs. As shown in the figure, in the case of using a lighting device and an imaging device having a constant irradiation angle and angle of view, as the distance between the lighting device and the imaging device increases, the common area formed by the angle of view and the irradiation angle decreases. The area where the blurring effect occurs is reduced.

3 and 4 illustrate a region in which a blur effect is generated due to scattering of light according to an irradiation angle of the lighting device when the distance between the lighting device and the imaging device is constant in the image capturing apparatus including the lighting apparatus and the image capturing apparatus. It is shown. As the illumination angle of the lighting device is wider, the common area formed by the angle of view and the irradiation angle increases, thereby increasing the area where the blurring effect due to light scattering occurs. Therefore, when the imaging device widens the irradiation angle without adjusting the direction of the lighting device to illuminate the object to be photographed, the common area increases, so that the image device can accurately illuminate the object to be photographed. Is needed. When the lighting device and the image capturing device are installed in close proximity, the lighting device and the image capturing device can be moved together so that the lighting device can always illuminate the object to be photographed, but when the lighting device and the image capturing device are spaced apart, Since the shooting direction and the lighting direction of the lighting device do not coincide, the lighting direction must be controlled.

5 illustrates an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may include the image capturing apparatus 100, the lighting apparatus 200, the distance measuring sensor 300, the control unit 400, and the distance adjusting unit 500.

)을 제어하며, 거리 측정 센서(300) 및 거리 조절부(500)를 제어한다. 거리 조절부(500)는 영상 촬영 장치(100)와 조명 장치(200) 간의 거리를 조절할 수 있고, 영상 촬영 장치(100)와 조명 장치(200) 간의 거리를 제어부(400)로 전송할 수 있다.
The image capturing apparatus 100 may adjust the photographing direction up, down, left, and right to capture a photographing target. The lighting apparatus 200 may adjust the lighting directions up, down, left, and right to illuminate the image photographing apparatus 100 without widening the irradiation angle in a direction to be photographed. The distance measuring sensor 300 may measure a distance between the image capturing apparatus 100 and a photographing target, and transmit the measured distance to the controller 400. Distance measuring sensor 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be a laser sensor capable of measuring the distance. The controller 400 controls the photographing operation and the photographing direction of the image photographing apparatus 100, and controls the amount of light, the irradiation angle, and the illumination direction of the illumination device 200 (

) To control the distance measuring sensor 300 and the distance adjusting unit 500. The distance adjuster 500 may adjust the distance between the image capturing apparatus 100 and the lighting apparatus 200, and transmit the distance between the image capturing apparatus 100 and the lighting apparatus 200 to the controller 400.

)를 계산하는 방법을 나타낸 것이다.6 illustrates an illumination direction of the lighting apparatus 200 in the image capturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

) Shows how to calculate.

)는 다음과 같은 방법으로 계산할 수 있다. 먼저 영상 촬영 장치(100)와 조명 장치(200) 간의 거리(

)는 거리 조절부(500)에 의해 미리 정해지고 거리(

)는 제어부(400)로 전송된다. 영상 촬영 장치(100)의 촬영 방향(

)의 경우, 영상 촬영 장치(100)를 상하좌우로 촬영 방향을 조절하기 위한 구동모터의 인코더 값을 읽어 측정이 가능하다. 영상 촬영 장치(100)와 촬영 대상 간의 거리(

)은 거리 측정 센서(300)가 측정하여 제어부(400)로 전송할 수 있다. 제어부(400)는 영상 촬영 장치(100)와 조명 장치(200)간의 거리(

), 영상 촬영 장치(100)와 촬영 대상 간의 거리(

) 및 영상 촬영 장치(100)의 촬영 방향(

)로부터 수학식1을 이용하여 조명 장치(200)와 촬영 대상 간의 거리(

)을 계산할 수 있다.Lighting direction of the lighting device 200 (

) Can be calculated in the following way. First, the distance between the image capturing apparatus 100 and the lighting apparatus 200 (

) Is predetermined by the distance adjusting unit 500 and the distance (

) Is transmitted to the control unit 400. Shooting direction of the image photographing apparatus 100 (

), It is possible to measure by reading the encoder value of the drive motor for adjusting the imaging direction in the image capture device 100 up, down, left and right. The distance between the image capturing apparatus 100 and the object to be photographed (

) May be measured by the distance measuring sensor 300 and transmitted to the control unit 400. The controller 400 may determine a distance between the image photographing apparatus 100 and the lighting apparatus 200 (

), The distance between the imaging device 100 and the shooting target (

) And the shooting direction of the imaging device 100

Distance between the lighting device 200 and the photographing target using Equation 1 from

) Can be calculated.

을 이용하여 수학식2를 이용하여

을 계산할 수 있다.The calculated

Using Equation 2

Can be calculated.

을 조명 장치(200)로 전달하여 조명 장치(200)가 촬영 대상을 정확히 조명할 수 있도록 제어할 수 있다.
The control unit 400 is calculated in this way

By transmitting the to the lighting device 200, the lighting device 200 can be controlled to accurately illuminate the photographing target.

7 to 9 exemplarily illustrate operations of an image capturing apparatus including one lighting apparatus 200 in the image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 illustrates a general operation of the image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The illumination device 200 is located at a relatively close distance to the photographing target to be imaged by the image capturing apparatus 100, and thus shows a case where the amount of light is sufficient. In this case, the controller 400 controls the lighting direction of the lighting apparatus 200 by the method described with reference to FIG. 6 so that the image capturing apparatus 100 can capture an image.

)보다 조명 장치(200)와 촬영 대상 간의 거리(

) 가 더 큰 경우(조명 장치(200)가 영상 촬영 장치(100)보다 멀리 위치하는 경우), 제어부(400)는 조명 장치(200)의 광량을 증가시켜 충분한 광량을 제공할 수 있도록 할 수 있다. 또한, 영상 촬영 장치(100)와 촬영 대상 간의 거리(

)보다 조명 장치(200)와 촬영 대상 간의 거리(

) 가 더 크지 않은 경우라 하더라도, 제어부(400)는 촬영 영상의 명암 정보를 분석하여 광량이 부족하다고 판단되는 경우 광량을 증가시켜 촬영하도록 할 수 있다.
8 exemplarily illustrates another operation of an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The distance between the image capturing apparatus 100 and the object to be photographed (

Distance between the lighting device 200 and the shooting target (

) Is larger (when the lighting device 200 is located farther than the image capturing device 100), the controller 400 may increase the amount of light of the lighting device 200 to provide a sufficient amount of light. . Also, the distance between the image capturing apparatus 100 and the object to be photographed (

Distance between the lighting device 200 and the shooting target (

) Is not greater, the control unit 400 may analyze the contrast information of the photographed image to increase the amount of light to be photographed when it is determined that the amount of light is insufficient.

)를 줄이도록 제어할 수 있다. 이 경우 빛의 산란에 의한 흐려짐 효과는 증가하지만, 보다 밝은 촬영 영상을 획득할 수 있다.
9 illustrates another operation of the image capturing apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As described above with reference to FIG. 8, when the lighting apparatus 200 is located far from the photographing target or analyzes the photographed image to determine that the amount of light is insufficient, the controller 400 may increase the amount of light. However, when the amount of light cannot be increased or a sufficient amount of light is not provided even when the amount of light is increased, the controller 400 controls the distance adjusting unit 500 to control the distance between the illumination device 200 and the image photographing device 100 (

Can be controlled to reduce In this case, the blur effect due to light scattering is increased, but a brighter captured image can be obtained.

10 exemplarily illustrates an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image capturing apparatus may include one or more lighting devices 220 and 240 and one or more distance adjusting units 520 and 540. In the drawing, the lighting devices 220 and 240 are represented as two, but are not necessarily limited to two, and a plurality of lighting devices 200 may be used. In addition, the image capturing apparatus may include an image capturing apparatus 100, a distance measuring sensor 300, and a controller 400, and each function is the same as that described with reference to FIG. 6.

), 영상 촬영 장치(100)와 촬영 대상 간의 거리(

) 및 영상 촬영 장치(100)의 촬영 방향(

)을 이용하여 조명 장치(220, 240)의 조명 방향(

)를 계산할 수 있다. 이로부터 조명 장치(220, 240)과 촬영 대상 간의 거리

를 계산할 수 있다. 제어부(400)는

를 비교하여 촬영 대상에서 보다 가까운 쪽의 조명 장치(220)를 제어하여 촬영 대상을 조명할 수 있도록 할 수 있다. 또한, 제어부(400)는 촬영 영상을 분석하여 광량이 부족하다고 판단되는 경우, 조명 장치(220)의 광량을 증가시키거나, 조명 장치(220)와 영상 촬영 장치(100) 간의 거리

를 감소시키거나, 다른 조명 장치(240)을 동작시켜 부족한 광량을 증가시키도록 제어할 수 있다.
11 exemplarily illustrates an operation of an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Similar to the image capturing apparatus including the above-described lighting apparatus 200, the distance between the image capturing apparatus 100 and the lighting apparatuses 220 and 240 (

), The distance between the imaging device 100 and the shooting target (

) And the shooting direction of the imaging device 100

Lighting direction of the lighting device (220, 240) using

) Can be calculated. From this, the distance between the lighting devices 220 and 240 and the shooting target

Can be calculated. The control unit 400

By comparing the control to the lighting device 220 closer to the shooting target to be able to illuminate the shooting target. In addition, when it is determined that the amount of light is insufficient by analyzing the captured image, the controller 400 increases the amount of light of the lighting apparatus 220 or distances between the lighting apparatus 220 and the image capturing apparatus 100.

May be reduced, or another lighting device 240 may be operated to increase the amount of insufficient light.

를 비교하여 선택하지 않고 하나 이상의 조명 장치(220, 240)를 제어하여 동시에 촬영 대상을 조명하도록 제어할 수 있다. 도면에서는 두 개의 조명 장치(220, 240)을 포함하고 있는 것으로 도시하고 있으나, 본 발명의 일 실시예에 따른 영상 획득 장치는 하나 이상의 조명 장치를 포함할 수 있고, 제어부(400)는 하나 이상의 조명 장치가 동시에 촬영 대상을 조명하도록 제어할 수 있다.
12 illustrates an operation of an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The other parts as described in FIG. 11 operate in the same manner, but the controller 400 controls the distance between the lighting devices 220 and 240 and the photographing target.

It is possible to control one or more lighting devices 220 and 240 to simultaneously illuminate the photographing target without comparing them. Although the drawings show that the lighting apparatus includes two lighting apparatuses 220 and 240, the image capturing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment may include one or more lighting apparatuses, and the controller 400 may include one or more lighting apparatuses. The device can be controlled to illuminate the subject at the same time.

13 is a flowchart illustrating an image acquisition method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus may be spaced apart by the distance adjusting unit, and distance information between the image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus may be obtained (S1010). In operation S1020, an image capturing angle of the image capturing apparatus may be obtained from an encoder value of a driving motor that adjusts a capturing direction of the image capturing apparatus. In operation S1030, distance information between the image capturing apparatus and the photographing target may be obtained from the distance measuring sensor. The distance information between the lighting device and the shooting target is calculated from the obtained information (S1040), and the lighting angle between the lighting device and the shooting target is calculated using the same (S1050), and the controller adjusts the lighting angle of the lighting device using the same. Allows video recording (S1060). The controller determines whether the amount of light is insufficient based on the contrast information of the captured image (S1070). If not, the controller terminates the process and if it is determined to be insufficient, decreases the distance between the image photographing apparatus and the lighting apparatus (S1080) and retakes the image. Make sure

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are provided to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and do not limit the scope of the present invention, and it is to be understood that various modified embodiments may be included within the scope of the present invention. For example, each component shown in the embodiment of the present invention may be distributed and implemented, and conversely, a plurality of distributed components may be combined. Therefore, the technical protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical idea of the claims, and the technical protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the literary description of the claims, The invention of a category.

100: video recording device 200, 220, 240: lighting device
300: distance measuring sensor 400: control unit
500, 520, 540: distance adjuster

Claims (7)

delete In the image acquisition apparatus for photographing an object underwater,
An image capturing apparatus for capturing an image of a photographing target;
At least one lighting device spaced apart from the image photographing device by a predetermined distance;
A distance measuring sensor measuring a distance between the image photographing device and the photographing target;
A controller configured to control an illumination direction of the lighting apparatus based on an image photographing direction of the image photographing apparatus and distance information measured by the distance measuring sensor; And
And a distance controller configured to adjust the predetermined distance between the image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus. 3. The method of claim 2,
The lighting device includes a light amount adjusting means for adjusting the light amount,
And the light amount adjusting means adjusts the light amount of the lighting device based on a distance between the lighting device and the photographing target. 3. The method of claim 2,
And an illumination device closest to the photographing object among the one or more lighting devices illuminates the photographing object. 3. The method of claim 2,
And at least one lighting device illuminates the object to be photographed. 3. The method of claim 2,
And the distance controller adjusts a distance between the image capturing apparatus and the lighting apparatus based on contrast information of an image captured by the image capturing apparatus. In the image acquisition method of photographing an object underwater,
Illuminating a photographing target by controlling an illumination direction of a lighting device;
Photographing the illuminated photographing target by the image photographing apparatus disposed to be spaced apart from the lighting apparatus; Lt; / RTI >
Illuminating the shooting target
Determining an illumination direction of the lighting apparatus based on an image photographing direction of the image photographing apparatus and a distance between the image photographing apparatus and the lighting apparatus; And
Adjusting a distance between the image photographing device and the lighting device;
/ RTI >

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