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Structured light source and vision system capable of 3D imaging in direct sunlight

Summary

Structured light is characterized by highly ordered pixels and is widely used for three-dimensional (3D) imaging. However, standard structured light vision systems operate on a limited power budget and are often impaired by sunlight. This technology is a prototype structured light source and vision system capable of 3D imaging under conditions of high ambient illumination, such as in direct sunlight. Using “light concentration”, the system intelligently distributes the power of the light source over the scene. The available power is concentrated into smaller regions if the ambient illumination is strong (e.g., direct sunlight), or is spread out over a larger area if the ambient illumination is weak (e.g., night time operation). By concentrating the light, as opposed to spreading it over the imaging plane, light distribution is optimized to enable fast and accurate 3D imaging on a limited power budget.

Technology Benefits

Enables high quality 3D scanning in direct sunlight Minimal power consumptionWorks under a wide range of illumination conditionsIntelligently distributes the power of the light sources based on the level of ambient illuminationPatent Information:Patent Pending (US 20160065945)Tech Ventures Reference: IR CU13274

Technology Application

Outdoors 3D imaging in areas of high illuminationRapid outdoor fingerprint identification for law enforcementRapid outdoor structural integrity modeling for civil engineersPath planning in robotics (e.g., autonomous vehicles)Advanced cinematography and photographyInspection for quality control in industrial automation

Detailed Technology Description

None

*Abstract

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*Inquiry

Satish RaoColumbia Technology VenturesTel: (212) 854-8444Email: TechTransfer@columbia.edu

*IR

cu13274

*Principal Investigator

*Publications

M. Gupta, Q. Yin, S.K. Nayer. Structured Light in Sunlight. IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision, 2013, pp. 545-552.

Country/Region

USA