Electronic panoramic camera

A panoramic camera comprising:

• a housing having a longitudinal axis and including a first section coaxial with said longitudinal axis and a second section also coaxial with said axis, said second section being driven in rotation about said longitudinal axis with respect to said first section;
• means for driving in rotation said second section of said housing;
• a lens mounted on said second section of said housing, an optical axis of said lens being perpendicular and radial to said longitudinal axis;
• a linear CCD array placed at the focal point of said lens in order to capture images transmitted by said lens, said linear CCD array having an input for a control signal and an analog signal output representing one line of said image;
• an analog-to-digital converter operatively connected to said linear CCD array for converting said analog signal output of said linear CCD array into a digital information, said converter having an input for said analog signal, an input for a control signal and an output for digital information;
• means for storing said digital information operatively connected to said converter;
• means for encoding the azimuth of said camera, having an output for data corresponding to said azimuth;
• and
• a control system for controlling said rotation of said housing, for sending a control signal to said analog-to-digital converter to digitize said image and for sending a control signal to said means for storing said digital information sent by said converter;
• whereby, when said second section is driven into rotation, said control system sends a control signal to said converter at regular intervals to indicate to said converter that said image is to be digitized and to send a signal to said means for storing said digital information to store said digital information sequentially and including said data corresponding to said azimuth.