Adjustable parallax distance, wide field of view, stereoscopic imaging system

A wide field-of-view stereoscopic camera system comprising:

• a support structure having L sets of arms, where L is an integer greater than 1, and each set has at least 2 arms, each of the arms in a particular one of the sets being spaced around a distinct one of L constructive circles, and having a mount point, coincident with the distinct one circle, defining a radius of the circle, wherein the radius is half of a parallax distance and the radius of each of the L constructive circles is different, and the circle defines a plane that is parallel to a horizontal plane and the circle defines a constructive right cylinder that contains that circle and that has an axis perpendicular to the horizontal plane and each of the L distinct planes is at a height from the horizontal plane, where the height is measured as a distance along a constructive axis that is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and wherein the plane corresponding to each of the L constructive circles is at a distinct height;
• N digital cameras, wherein N−1 is at least equal to the number of arms in the camera system, each digital camera having a lens with a focal point and an optical axis and producing an image encoded in a digital output and having a horizontal field of view and a vertical field of view;
• the digital cameras mounted to the support structure so that each arm supports at least one digital camera so that (i) the focal point thereof is proximate to such arm's mount point and (ii) the optical axis thereof is generally tangent to the constructive cylinder corresponding to that mount point;
• wherein at least two digital cameras are mounted proximal to at least one mount point such that their vertical fields of view partially overlap to capture an extended elevation field of view;
• and
• at least one image processor, coupled to the digital output of each of the N digital cameras, that forms at least one stereo view pair, wherein, for each stereo view pair, the processor forms a left view from the digital outputs of a first set of the N cameras and forms a right view from the digital outputs of a second set of the N cameras, wherein the first and second sets are disjoint.