JP2005051318A - Multiple electrostatic camera module, picture processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multiple electrostatic camera module which makes compact electrostatic camera module units multiple to output a plurality of images, thus obtaining various features. <P>SOLUTION: The module comprises a plurality of compact electrostatic camera module units disposed with their shooting ranges partly overlapped each other, and an image processor 40 for processing a plurality of image data outputted from the cameral module units. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a multi-electrostatic camera module including a plurality of electrostatic camera modules, an image processing method, and a program.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, an electrostatic camera module using an electrostatic actuator is known. The electrostatic camera module includes, for example, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped stator, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped movable element that holds a lens while being reciprocally moved along a hollow portion of the stator, and the movable An image sensor or the like is provided at a position where an image is formed by the child lens. The gap between the stator and the mover is set to several microns, and by applying a voltage sequentially to the stripe electrodes provided on the stator side, an electrostatic force can be generated between the projecting electrodes provided on the mover. It is generated and the mover is moved to a desired position by the driving force (see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
On the other hand, a technique for arraying lenses in order to reduce the size of an imaging apparatus is known (see Patent Documents 2 and 3).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-107975
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2001-61109 [0006]
[Patent Document 3]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-199747
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The above-described lens array has the following problems. That is, when there are a plurality of subjects on the screen and there are subjects close to and far from the electrostatic camera module, it is difficult to focus optimally at both near and far points. When a pinhole camera is used, an image with less blur can be acquired regardless of the distance to the subject, but there is a problem that a clearer image cannot be acquired with a lens system. In addition, the pan focus lens has a problem that a minimum distance of several meters is required to a subject at a near point.
[0008]
On the other hand, when a conventional electrostatic camera module is mounted on a small device, it is necessary to hold down the height of the module as much as possible. There was a problem that the height could not be lowered to the number.
[0009]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-electrostatic camera module, an image processing method, and a program that can realize various functions by obtaining a plurality of images by multi-compacting a small electrostatic camera module. .
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the multi-electrostatic camera module, the image processing method, and the program of the present invention are configured as follows.
[0011]
(1) A plurality of electrostatic camera modules arranged so that at least a part of their imaging ranges overlap each other and an image processing unit that processes a plurality of image data obtained from these electrostatic camera modules are provided. It is characterized by.
[0012]
(2) The multi-electrostatic camera module described in (1) above, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged so as to image the same imaging range and are different in each electrostatic camera module. The imaging is performed at the focal position.
[0013]
(3) The multi-electrostatic camera module described in (1) above, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged so as to image the same imaging range and are different in each electrostatic camera module. It is characterized by taking an image with exposure.
[0014]
(4) The multi-electrostatic camera module described in (1) above, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged so as to capture the same imaging range, and the same imaging range at different timings It is a thing which images.
[0015]
(5) The multi-electrostatic camera module described in (1) above, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged so as to image the same imaging range, and lenses that capture images at different magnifications. It is characterized by having.
[0016]
(6) The multi-electrostatic camera module described in (1) above, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged so as to image different imaging ranges.
[0017]
(7) The multi-electrostatic camera module described in (1), wherein the image processing unit combines at least two pieces of image data among the plurality of pieces of image data into one piece of image data. It is characterized by.
[0018]
(8) In an image processing method for processing a plurality of image data obtained by a plurality of electrostatic camera modules, an image data selection step of selecting at least one image data based on a predetermined reference from the plurality of image data And an image data forming step of forming new image data based on the selected image data.
[0019]
(9) In the image processing method described in (8) above, at least two of the plurality of image data are obtained by imaging the same imaging range, and the image data forming step is the same as described above. Of the image data in the imaging range, the in-focus parts are combined with each other.
[0020]
(10) The image processing method according to (8), wherein the image data selection step selects at least one criterion among an imaging range, focus, and exposure. .
[0021]
(11) In a program for operating a computer, an image data acquisition function for acquiring image data by a plurality of electrostatic camera modules, and at least one image data based on a predetermined standard among the acquired image data And an image data forming function for forming new image data based on the selected image data.
[0022]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a multi-electrostatic camera module 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the relationship between the multi-electrostatic camera module 10 and images. The multi-electrostatic camera module 10 is mounted on a portable electronic device such as a small camera or a mobile phone.
[0023]
The multi-electrostatic camera module 10 includes a module substrate 11. Four plate-like stators 12 to 15 are provided on the module substrate 11, and nine movable elements 20 are arranged between these stators 12 to 15 so as to reciprocate along the arrow X direction in the figure. ing. Further, an imaging module 30 is provided corresponding to each mover 20 of the module substrate 11. A control unit 40 is connected to the module substrate 11. Each of the stators 12 to 15, one movable element 20, and one imaging module 30 constitutes one electrostatic camera module. In the figure, W indicates the imaging range of each electrostatic camera module.
[0024]
Electrode substrates 16 are respectively provided at positions corresponding to the movers 20 of the stators 12 to 15. Electric power is supplied to these electrode substrates 16 from a drive unit 41 described later.
[0025]
The mover 20 includes a cylindrical casing 21 and a lens 22 held by the casing 21. On the surface of the casing 21 on the side of the stators 12 to 15, an electrode surface (not shown) made of convex stripe electrodes is formed by etching or the like. The gap between the stators 12 to 15 and the mover 20 is about several microns.
[0026]
The imaging module 30 includes a substrate 31 that is substantially the same size as the cross section of the movable element 20. On the substrate 31, an imaging element 32 that forms an image by the lens 22 and an IC chip 33 that controls the imaging element 32. Is formed.
[0027]
The control unit 40 supplies a voltage to the linear electrodes of the electrode substrate 16 in a predetermined order to drive the movable element 20 with electrostatic force, and image processing in which an image signal from the image sensor 30 is input. Part 42. In addition, each drive part 41 can control the position of the needle | mover 20 separately.
[0028]
The multi-electrostatic camera module 10 configured as described above is roughly classified into two types depending on the imaging range of the lenses 22 of the nine movable elements 20. That is, when the stators 12 to 15 and the movable element 20 are arranged so as to divide a predetermined imaging range into nine images, and the stator so that the predetermined imaging range is imaged with substantially the same angle of view. 12 to 15 and the mover 20 are arranged.
[0029]
First, the case where the stators 12 to 15 and the movable element 20 are arranged so as to divide a predetermined imaging range into nine and perform imaging will be described. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to divide one landscape into nine images. At this time, focusing is performed by adjusting the position of each movable element 20, and the positioning is performed so as to be an optimum position within the imaging range. Then, the divided and captured images are combined into one image by the image processing unit 42 and output.
[0030]
In this way, since an image having an optimum focus position within each imaging range is obtained, even when a far subject and a close subject are mixed in the entire imaging range, each of these By synthesizing the images, it is possible to obtain an image that is entirely in focus.
[0031]
For this reason, since it is not necessary to increase the depth of field in each imaging region, it is possible to perform shooting with the aperture opened and the shutter speed increased. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an image in which each subject is in focus even when there is a movement and a subject that is near and far is mixed.
[0032]
Next, a case where the stators 12 to 15 and the movable element 20 are arranged so as to capture a predetermined imaging range with substantially the same angle of view will be described. In this case, the same imaging range can be imaged with various focus. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, an image obtained with one image sensor 30 is focused on a distant subject α, and an image obtained with another image sensor 30 is shown in FIG. As shown in b), there may be a case where the subject β is in focus. It is assumed that the images obtained by the other seven imaging elements 30 are not in focus with either of the subjects α and β.
[0033]
In such a case, only a portion where the focus is matched is extracted from the two image data and synthesized as one image as shown in FIG. Even when β is mixed, it is possible to obtain an image in which the subjects α and β are in focus.
[0034]
In addition, by picking up the same image range with different exposures, it is difficult to determine the optimal exposure.For example, in the case of backlighting, an image with the optimal exposure can be selected after shooting. It is also possible to obtain an image by selecting and synthesizing portions with various exposures. In addition, it is also possible to perform continuous shooting at very short intervals by imaging the same imaging range at different timings.
[0035]
As described above, according to the multi-electrostatic camera module 10 according to the present embodiment, even when a distant subject and a close subject are mixed in the imaging range, by combining these images, overall, Various functions can be realized such as being able to obtain an in-focus image.
[0036]
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configuration example of the imaging module 30 incorporated in the multi-electrostatic camera module 10 described above. That is, in the case of imaging by dividing the predetermined imaging range described above into nine, it is not necessary to provide the imaging element 32 on the entire substrate 31, and the imaging element 32 may be arranged only at a position where an image is formed. For this reason, since the IC chip 33 can be provided in the space on the substrate 31 where the image sensor 32 is not disposed, there is an advantage that the overall configuration can be reduced in size.
[0037]
FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a multi-electrostatic camera module 50 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the same functional parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
[0038]
In the multi-electrostatic camera module 50, a mover 60 is provided separately from the mover 20, and a zoom function is added. The position of the mover 60 is also controlled by the drive unit 41 of the control unit 40.
[0039]
According to the multi-electrostatic camera module 50, the same effects as those of the multi-electrostatic camera module 10 described above can be obtained, and the stators 12 to 15 and the mover can be used so that a predetermined imaging range can be imaged with substantially the same angle of view. In the case where 20 and 60 are arranged, the same subject can be imaged at different magnifications, and an advantage that the user can select an image with the optimum magnification after the image capture can be obtained.
[0040]
In addition, it is possible to obtain an image having a special video effect by performing image processing such that images of different magnifications are combined into a single image.
[0041]
6A and 6B are views showing a multi-electrostatic camera module 70 according to a third embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 6A is a perspective view showing the overall configuration, and FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the principal part. The multi-electrostatic camera module 70 includes a casing 71 and three small electrostatic camera modules 80 provided in the casing 71. Each electrostatic camera module 80 includes a stator 81, a mover 82 that is reciprocally movable along a hollow portion of the stator 81 in the direction of arrow R in the figure, and a lens held by the mover 82. An image pickup device 84 formed by the image pickup device 83 and a control unit 85 that drives the movable element 82 and processes an image obtained by the image pickup device 84 are provided.
[0042]
In the multi-electrostatic camera module 70 configured in this way, a very wide-angle image is obtained at a relatively low cost by synthesizing the images obtained by the three electrostatic camera modules 80 into one image. be able to.
[0043]
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a multi-electrostatic camera module 90 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. 7, the same functional parts as those in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The multi-electrostatic camera module 90 includes a spherical casing 91 and a plurality of electrostatic camera modules 80 held in the casing 91.
[0044]
With the multi-electrostatic camera module 90 configured in this manner, a very wide-angle image can be obtained at a relatively low cost by combining the images obtained by the plurality of electrostatic camera modules 80 into one image. Can do.
[0045]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.
[0046]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, various functions can be realized by obtaining a plurality of images.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a multi-electrostatic camera module according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a relationship between the multi-electrostatic camera module and an image.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of image composition by the multi-electrostatic camera module.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configuration example of an imaging module incorporated in the multi-electrostatic camera module.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a multi-electrostatic camera module according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
6A and 6B are diagrams showing a multi-electrostatic camera module according to a third embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 6A is a perspective view, and FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view showing a main part.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a multi-electrostatic camera module according to a fourth embodiment of the invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10, 50, 70, 90 ... multi-electrostatic camera module, 12-15 ... stator, 20 ... mover, 30 ... imaging module, 40 ... control unit

Claims (11)

A plurality of electrostatic camera modules arranged such that at least a part of each other's imaging range overlaps;
A multi-electrostatic camera module comprising an image processing unit for processing a plurality of image data obtained from these electrostatic camera modules. The multi-electrostatic camera according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged so as to capture the same imaging range, and each electrostatic camera module captures images at different focal positions. module. 2. The multi static camera according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged to capture the same imaging range, and each electrostatic camera module captures images with different exposures. Electric camera module. 2. The multi-electrostatic camera according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged so as to capture the same imaging range and capture the same imaging range at different timings. The camera module. 2. The multi-electrostatic camera module according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged so as to capture the same imaging range and include lenses that capture images at different magnifications. 3. The multi-electrostatic camera module according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrostatic camera modules are arranged so as to image different imaging ranges. The multi-electrostatic camera module according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit synthesizes at least two of the plurality of image data into one image data. In an image processing method for processing a plurality of image data obtained by a plurality of electrostatic camera modules,
An image data selection step of selecting at least one image data based on a predetermined criterion among the plurality of image data;
An image processing method comprising: an image data forming step of forming new image data based on the selected image data. Among the plurality of image data, at least two image data are obtained by imaging the same imaging range,
The image processing method according to claim 8, wherein the image data forming step is to combine in-focus portions of the image data in the same imaging range. The image processing method according to claim 8, wherein the image data selection step selects at least one criterion among an imaging range, a focus, and an exposure. In a program for operating a computer,
An image data acquisition function for acquiring image data by a plurality of electrostatic camera modules;
An image data selection function for selecting at least one of the acquired image data based on a predetermined criterion;
An image data forming function for forming new image data based on the selected image data.

Images