Image capturing apparatus, movable apparatus, image capturing method, and storage medium
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorRyo Fueda
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In order to make it easier for a user of a movable apparatus to grasp the relationship between an automobile as a movable apparatus and the peripheral conditions thereof, an image capturing apparatus that is disposed on the movable apparatus comprises an image capturing unit configured to capture images of a portion or the entirety of a front side transparent member of the movable apparatus and at least one of a right lateral region and a left lateral region of the movable apparatus at the same time as a video image, wherein the image capturing unit is disposed in front of the front side transparent member of the movable apparatus.
Claims20
An image capturing apparatus disposed on a movable apparatus, the image capturing apparatus comprising:
- an image capturing unit configured to capture images of (1) a portion or the entirety of a front side transparent member of the movable apparatus and (2) at least one of a region on the right lateral side and a region on the left lateral side of the movable apparatus, at the same time as video images,
- wherein the image capturing unit is disposed in front of the front side transparent member of the movable apparatus,
- wherein the image capturing unit comprises an optical system and an image capturing element,
- wherein the optical system has different image forming magnifications between (1) a first angle of view that includes the center of the optical axis and (2) a second angle of view that is more towards the peripheral side than the first angle of view,
- wherein a light receiving surface of the image capturing element comprises (1) a first region in which images are captured of objects that are included in the first angle of view and (2) a second region in which images are captured of objects that are included in the second angle of view, and
- wherein a pixel number per unit angle of view in the second region is larger than a pixel number per unit angle of view in the first region.
An image capturing method using an image capturing apparatus disposed on a movable apparatus, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises an image capturing unit configured to capture images of (1) a portion or the entirety of a front side transparent member of the movable apparatus and (2) at least one of a right lateral region and a left lateral region of the movable apparatus, at the same time as video images, and wherein the image capturing unit is disposed in front of the front side transparent member of the movable apparatus, the method comprising:
- extracting a region comprising the front side transparent member and at least one of the right lateral region and the left lateral region of the movable apparatus as an extracted video image from the video image that has been captured by the image capturing unit;
- acquiring control information for the movable apparatus;
- and
- switching and outputting, to a display unit, a selected one of (1) the video image that has been captured by the image capturing unit and (2) the extracted video image, based on the control information,
- wherein the image capturing unit comprises an optical system and an image capturing element,
- wherein the optical system has different image forming magnifications between (1) a first angle of view that includes the center of the optical axis and (2) a second angle of view that is more towards the peripheral side than the first angle of view,
- wherein a light receiving surface of the image capturing element comprises (1) a first region in which images are captured of objects that are included in the first angle of view and (2) a second region in which images are captured of objects that are included in the second angle of view, and
- wherein a pixel number per unit angle of view in the second region is larger than a pixel number per unit angle of view in the first region.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store a computer program to control an image capturing apparatus disposed on a movable apparatus, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises an image capturing unit configured to capture images of (1) a portion or the entirety of a front side transparent member of the movable apparatus and (2) at least one of a right lateral region and a left lateral region of the movable apparatus, at the same time as video images, wherein the image capturing unit is disposed in front of the front side transparent member of the movable apparatus, and wherein the computer program comprises instructions for executing a method comprising:
- extracting a region comprising the front side transparent member and at least one of the right lateral region and the left lateral region of the movable apparatus as an extracted video image from the video image that has been captured by the image capturing unit;
- acquiring control information for the movable apparatus;
- and
- switching and outputting, to a display unit, a selected one of (1) the video image that has been captured by the image capturing unit and (2) the extracted video image, based on the control information,
- wherein the image capturing unit comprises an optical system and an image capturing element,
- wherein the optical system has different image forming magnifications between (1) a first angle of view that includes the center of the optical axis and (2) a second angle of view that is more towards the peripheral side than the first angle of view,
- wherein a light receiving surface of the image capturing element comprises (1) a first region in which images are captured of objects that are included in the first angle of view and (2) a second region in which images are captured of objects that are included in the second angle of view, and
- wherein a pixel number per unit angle of view in the second region is larger than a pixel number per unit angle of view in the first region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.