Distance measuring apparatus and distance measuring method

A distance measuring method, by using a distance measuring apparatus including a reference object being structurally part of the distance measuring apparatus, a plurality of optical systems for imaging an object for distance measurement and the reference object, an imaging section having imaging regions having a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of optical systems, the imaging section converting images of the object for distance measurement and the reference object formed in the respective imaging regions by the plurality of optical systems into electrical signals, of measuring a distance to an object based on a parallax of images with the plurality of optical systems, comprising:

• a step of generating, from the electrical signals, a plurality of picture data of the reference object by light of a first wavelength band received from the reference object in the plurality of imaging regions and a plurality of picture data of the object for distance measurement by light of a second wavelength band received from the object for distance measurement in the plurality of imaging regions, the second wavelength band being longer in wavelength than the first wavelength band;
• a step of calculating the parallax amount of the reference object and the parallax amount of the object for distance measurement, respectively, from the plurality of picture data of the reference object and the plurality of picture data of the object for distance measurement;
• and
• a step of, based on the parallax amount of the reference object and an initial value of the parallax amount of the reference object, correcting the parallax amount of the object for distance measurement, and calculating a distance to the object for distance measurement by using the corrected parallax amount of the object for distance measurement.