Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Ichiro Oyama

Tomokuni Iijima

Toru Tazawa

Kazushige Narazaki

Taku Hirasawa

Michiyoshi Nagashima

Kenichi Suzuki

Norihiro Imamura

Masaru Nishizono

Yasuyuki Yokouchi

Yukinori Maruyama

An imaging apparatus restores a deteriorated image to a high-resolution image when the deteriorated image is restored based on a PSF image captured by an optical system. An imaging apparatus includes an optical system, and a PSF capturing unit that acquires point spread function (PSF) information captured by the optical system and outputs corrected PSF information. A subject capturing unit acquires subject information captured by the optical system and outputs the subject information; and an image restoration unit performs a restore operation for restoring the subject information, based on the corrected PSF information and the subject information. The PSF capturing unit subtracts a correction luminance value from the PSF information, and outputs the corrected PSF information. The correction luminance value is greater by a luminance value Is than a luminance value Nf of fixed value noise that does not fluctuate with time.

Imaging apparatus and image restoration method

An image processing device includes: a luminance saturation position detection unit which detects a luminance saturation position to produce a light source image; a flare model production unit which produces a flare model image based on the light source image and optical characteristics data of the optical system; a flare position setting unit which sets, as a flare position, a predetermined image position in the captured image and located near the luminance saturation position and on a side of an optical axis relative to the luminance saturation position; a flare model luminance adjustment unit which produces the estimated flare image by adjusting luminance gain of the flare model image, based on a relationship between a luminance value of the captured image at the flare position and a luminance value of the flare model image at the flare position; and an unnecessary light subtraction unit which subtracts the estimated flare image from the captured image.

Image processing device, imaging device, and image processing method

The present invention aims to provide a parallax detecting apparatus () and the like which is capable of suppressing the degree of parallax detection error even in the case of using cameras each having a lens whose resolution is low for the pitch of the pixels of the imaging devices. The parallax detecting apparatus () which calculates a parallax that occurs between optical systems includes: a PSF approximating unit () configured to modify at least one of images obtained from the respective optical systems such that point spread functions of the optical systems are made to sufficiently approximate a point spread function of a predetermined optical system; and a parallax calculating unit () configured to calculate the parallax that occurs between the optical systems, using the image modified by the PSF approximating unit ().

Parallax detecting apparatus, distance measuring apparatus, and parallax detecting method

An image processing device includes: a luminance saturation position detection unit which detects a luminance saturation position that is a position in a captured image at which a luminance value is greater than a predetermined value; a luminance gradient detection unit which detects a luminance gradient around the luminance saturation position; a light source image estimation unit which estimates a luminance distribution on an imaging surface, based on (i) an image at the luminance saturation position, (ii) a point spread function image which corresponds to the luminance saturation position, and (iii) the luminance gradient, such that the luminance value increases as the luminance gradient increases, the luminance distribution being formed by an object whose image is captured at the luminance saturation position; and an unnecessary light subtraction unit which subtracts a luminance value of unnecessary light from the captured image by using the luminance distribution.

A calibration device and method calibrates a distance measuring device which provides captured images with significant lens aberration. The calibration device and method estimate a camera parameter representing a characteristic of each imaging system of a distance measuring device, and perform the following: capture, using the distance measuring device, an image of a reference chart which (i) represents a geometric pattern in which elements are arranged and (ii) is positioned to have a predetermined positional relationship with the distance measuring device; modify a luminance distribution affected by aberration of the lens in the captured image of the reference chart; calculate, as a feature point position, a gravity center position of each element in the captured image whose luminance distribution is modified; and estimate the camera parameter using the feature point position calculated in the calculating and an approximate actual gravity center position in the reference chart.

Calibration method, calibration device, and calibration system including the device

A compound eye imaging apparatus can estimate a sub-pixel disparity with a high degree of accuracy without depending on a brightness of a surface of an object. The compound eye imaging apparatus includes: a standard imaging optical system generating a picture including a standard image; reference imaging optical systems of an even number equal to or larger than two arranged substantially point-symmetrically with respect to the standard imaging optical system, which generate an picture including a reference image; a correlation value calculation unit () calculating a correlation value for each shifting amount by which one of the reference images is shifted parallel to a baseline, with respect to the standard image, for each of the reference imaging optical systems of an even number equal to or larger than two; a correlation value addition unit () calculating an integrated correlation value by adding, to each corresponding shifting amount, the correlation value calculated for each of said reference imaging optical systems of an even number equal to or larger than two; and a disparity calculation unit () calculating a disparity that is a shifting amount resulting in the largest degree of similarity between the standard image and the reference image.

Compound eye imaging apparatus, distance measuring apparatus, disparity calculation method, and distance measuring method

A plurality of lensestoarranged in the same plane form a plurality of subject images on a plurality of imaging regionsto. Vertical line directions and horizontal line directions of the pixel arrangement in the respective plurality of imaging regions are equal to one another among the plurality of imaging regions. Further, at least one pair of subject images received by at least one pair of imaging regions having a parallax in the vertical line (or horizontal line) direction among the plurality of imaging regions are shifted from each other by a predetermined amount in the horizontal line (or vertical line) direction. By performing pixel shifting in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which a parallax is generated, it always is possible to obtain a high-resolution image even when the subject distance varies.

Imaging device with plural lenses and imaging regions

A plurality of imaging optical lenses (to) form a plurality of subject images on a plurality of imaging regions (to), respectively. When viewed along a direction parallel with optical axes, at least one straight line connecting corresponding points in at least one pair of the subject images that are formed by at least one pair of the imaging optical lenses is inclined with respect to a direction in which pixels are arranged in the imaging regions. In this way, a high-resolution image always can be obtained regardless of the subject distance.

Compound-eye imaging apparatus

An apparatus and method for controlling an electric motor is disclosed. The apparatus includes an instruction inputting section for transmitting an instruction for an electric motor or a control object coupled to said electric motor and a prefilter section for outputting a follow-up instruction value by acting on the instruction. The prefilter section has a prefilter concurrently having characteristics of lowered gain at a prescribed frequency and frequencies in the vicinity thereof, and characteristics of limiting the gain in a high range. An instruction follow-up controlling section provides a controlling instruction follow-up so that a quantity of a state of said electric motor or control object follows the follow-up instruction value.

Method for controlling electric motor and apparatus for controlling the same

An electric motor position control apparatus in accordance with the present invention has a plurality of sets of control parameters including at least the proportional gain of a position control section and the proportional gain of a speed control section beforehand, wherein set selection and the measurement of the response state of an electric motor to a position command at the time when the electric motor is controlled by using the control parameters of the selected set are carried out sequentially, one preferable set is selected depending on the measured response state, the control parameters of the selected set are set, and the control parameters are changed as a set.

Position control apparatus for motor

A method for position-sensorless motor control is provided, wherein a rotor-position estimation current signal is superimposed on the &ggr;-axis direction component of a target current vector representing target currents of stator windings. The period of the current signal is an even multiple of a PWM carrier period and varies at random. The amplitude of the current signal increases with the amplitudes of the target currents. An even number of samples are obtained from the &dgr;-axis direction component of a current vector representing detected currents of the stator windings in each period of the current signal. A discrete Fourier integration of the samples determines the amplitude of a current response to the current signal in the &dgr;-axis direction. The &ggr;-axis direction is corrected so that the current response substantially shrinks to zero in the &dgr;-axis direction.

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Osaka, Japan

Ichiro Oyama