JPH11237211A - Image measuring equipment and its control equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image measuring equipment capable of measuring both a variable-density image and a distance image on the whole periphery. SOLUTION: An image measuring equipment 100b has a sensor 106 detecting a distance image and a sensor 112 detecting a variable-density image. In order to measure a distance image, an optical path control mirror 102 is put in the state of a turnout, and a laser measuring light is cast toward the center of equipment, reflected by a galvanomirror 104, made to face upward and outputted to the outside by a condenser mirror 101. The reflected light of the measuring light passes the condenser mirror 101 and the galvanomirror 104, and is reflected by a mirror 108, and measured as a distance image by a light receiving element 106. When a variable-density image is measured, the optical path control mirror 102 is turned into the state of ON. Lights from environment are made face downward by the condenser mirror 101, reflected by the optical path control mirror 102, and converted into a variable-density image by a CCD sensor 112.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image measuring apparatus for measuring a distance image and a grayscale image together. The present invention also relates to a control device for controlling the image measuring device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Distance information is indispensable for constructing a three-dimensional image. That is, a three-dimensional image is composed of a grayscale image (a two-dimensional image, in which pixels constituting the image have density information) and an image having distance information to individual pixels (hereinafter, referred to as a distance image). Is expressed.

Conventionally, as a device for measuring a distance image, 3
2. Description of the Related Art A range measuring device using a laser capable of scanning 60 degrees (hereinafter, referred to as a “scanning range measuring device”) is known. This scanning range measurement device emits laser light from the measurement device, and this laser light is reflected in the surrounding environment, and calculates the distance from the measurement device to the environment based on the propagation time of the returned laser light. is there. Then, by rotating the laser beam, it is possible to acquire distance information over the entire circumference around the measuring device. Further, since there is only one light source and the distance information over the entire circumference can be obtained without moving the position of the measuring device two-dimensionally, the distance image has high accuracy.

A scanning range measuring device using this laser beam converts distance information into a density value according to the value to form a grayscale image. The grayscale image expresses the distance as a grayscale. However, it does not represent the shading of the image of the target environment, and therefore, it is not possible to obtain a shading image of the environment, or even a color shading image of the environment. In addition, since the laser reflected by the surrounding environment is received by the light receiving intensity element, it is possible to obtain a distance image and an image representing the grayscale value as an intensity distribution image of the received light intensity. It only has a meaning to represent the reflectance distribution of the laser of the target environment when the target environment is set, and does not represent a normal shade of visible light of the target environment.

On the other hand, a non-contact type range measurement device (hereinafter, referred to as a "triangulation type range measurement device") capable of measuring a distance image and a grayscale image substantially simultaneously based on the principle of triangulation has also been proposed. Have been. This triangulation range measurement device emits a pattern with multiple stripes from the projector to the environment, captures the stripe pattern contained in the reflected light from the environment with a camera, and converts the captured image based on the principle of triangulation. To analyze and measure the distance to the environment.

[0006]

The above-described triangulation range measuring apparatus captures image light from the environment by the camera when measuring a grayscale image. However, since this triangulation range measuring device uses the principle of triangulation, it is difficult to capture images of a wide range of environments. Triangulation is based on the premise that the approximate position of the target is known, and it is difficult in principle to target an unspecified environment whose approximate position is unknown.

[0007] Therefore, the conventional triangulation type range measurement device is not suitable for range measurement in a wide angle range, especially over the entire circumference. On the other hand, the above-described scanning range measuring device can measure the entire circumference, but cannot obtain a grayscale image.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention has been proposed to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. The object of the present invention is to combine a distance image and a grayscale image (substantially or substantially). The present invention proposes an image measurement device having a novel structure that can be measured (at the same time) and is suitable for acquiring both images over the entire circumference.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a control device suitable for controlling an image measuring device for measuring a distance image and a grayscale image. The measuring device for measuring the distance image and the grayscale image of the surrounding environment includes a condensing unit (101, 104 ″) for condensing light from the surrounding environment, a measuring light in the first mode, and a predetermined standard. A distance image measuring unit that measures a distance from a point to a surrounding environment, which is reflected by the surrounding environment and is collected by the light collecting unit and measured by a propagation time of the measurement light;
Optical path control means (102, 102 ') for controlling an optical path of the measurement light toward the surrounding environment; and a second mode in which an optical path of the measurement light toward the surrounding environment is controlled by the optical path control means. , Characterized by comprising a gray-scale image measuring means for measuring a gray-scale image based on ambient light from the surrounding environment collected by the light collecting means.

According to this image measuring device, the distance image measuring means measures the distance image based on the propagation time of the measuring light. Therefore, the optical path of the measuring light emitted to the environment and the reflected light of the measuring light from the environment are measured. Can be set on substantially the same optical path. Therefore, the optical path of the environment light for obtaining the grayscale image can be set in parallel with the optical path of the measurement light, so that the grayscale image and the distance image can be measured by one measuring device. On the other hand, since the separation of the grayscale image and the distance image is achieved by the optical path control means, the grayscale image and the distance image are not mixed.

[0011] The distance image is usually represented by a black and white image. Therefore, according to claim 2 which is a preferable aspect of the present invention,
The gray image is effective when it is color image data.
In the image measuring device having the above configuration, the light path is not dispersed between the grayscale image and the distance image unlike the above-described conventional triangulation measuring device. That is, it is possible to provide a path to a measuring device that enables measurement of the grayscale image and the distance image at a wide range of angles. Thus, claim 3 is a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
According to the above, the main body of the light condensing means, the main body (102, 102 ') of the optical path control means, the light receiving intensity detecting element (106, 106') for the distance image measuring means, and the gray scale image measurement Image detecting element (112, 1)
2 ′) is further provided with a housing (130) for integrally holding the housing and a rotating means (118) for rotating the housing, so that measurement of the grayscale image and the distance image can be performed in a wide range, for example, in a range of 360 degrees. Becomes possible.

Various types of light path control means are possible. For example, the light path control means according to claim 4 guides the measurement light on the light path (102a) in the first mode, and guides the measurement light to the outside of the light path (102b) in the second mode. ', 115). Further, according to claim 5, which is a preferable aspect of the present invention, the optical path control means includes an optical path (121, 1) between the light source (110) of the measurement light and the light condensing means.
23) Reflector (102, 10) arranged at an intermediate position on
2 ′) and moving means (115) for positioning (102a) the reflecting mirror on the optical path (121) when controlling the measuring light, or moving the reflecting mirror out of the optical path when not controlling the measuring light. Is provided. The moving means is a solenoid that moves the reflecting mirror in parallel.

The image measurement mainly targets an image from an environment which is horizontally separated. On the other hand, in order to perform image measurement in a wide-angle range, the measurement device main body needs to be rotated. Therefore, it is preferable that the optical path in the device main body be vertical. Therefore,
A means for converting the optical path from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction is required. Therefore, according to claim 6 which is a preferred aspect of the present invention, the light condensing means has a plane mirror (102, 102 ') arranged at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to a horizontal plane. I do.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the distance image measuring means has a laser (110) for generating a laser beam as measuring light. In order to reduce the size of the device by using a common optical path in the device, it is necessary to separate different lights. Therefore, according to claim 8, which is a preferred aspect of the present invention, one of the laser light emitted from the laser and the laser light reflected and returned in the surrounding environment is transmitted and the other is reflected. The beam splitter (108)
The light receiving intensity detecting element (106) for the laser and the distance image measuring means and the light condensing means (101) are arranged in the middle.

The beam splitter can take various forms. If the image measurement device has a structure in which measurement light is generated internally, emitted to the outside, and the reflected light is captured inside, the beam shape of the measurement light generated inside is small, and conversely, Since the reflected light is scattered light, the beam shape becomes thick. Taking advantage of this, according to a ninth preferred embodiment of the present invention, the beam splitter has a reflecting mirror having a hole (108h) in the center.

The distance image also has a vertical size. In order to reduce the size of a light receiving element that detects a grayscale image by not performing electronic scanning in the vertical direction, mechanical scanning in the vertical direction is required. Therefore, according to claim 10 which is a preferred aspect of the present invention, furthermore, the light collecting means, the light receiving intensity detecting element of the distance image measuring means and the image detecting element of the grayscale image measuring means are provided in the middle. A rotating reflecting mirror (104) is provided, and the rotating reflecting mirror is rotated to scan at least one of the measurement light and the image light in the vertical direction.

Rotating the housing to perform horizontal scanning has a secondary advantage. Since the measuring device of the present invention measures a grayscale image and a distance image, these image measurements are sequentially measured, and a horizontal scan for one image measurement and a horizontal scan for the other image measurement are performed. Different rotation directions can be assigned to the directional scan.
Therefore, according to claim 11, which is a preferable aspect of the present invention, the rotation means (118) rotates the housing once and then reversely rotates the housing to efficiently perform the mechanical operation for horizontal scanning. Can be done.

The arrangement of the optical path control means (102) can be variously modified. For example, according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the first mode is disposed between the rotary reflecting mirror (104) and the light collecting means (101). The emitted measurement light is transmitted through the optical path (12).
1) The measurement light is radiated to the surrounding environment by guiding it upward, and in the second mode, the measurement light is radiated to the surrounding environment by guiding the emitted measurement light to the outside of the optical path (121). And the light collecting means (1
01), the environment light condensed by (01) is guided to the image detecting element (112) of the grayscale image measuring means.

For example, according to claim 13 which is a preferable aspect of the present invention, the optical path control means (102 ')
Is disposed between the rotary reflecting mirror (104 ′, 104 ″) and the distance image detecting element (106) of the distance image measuring means, and in the first mode, emits the emitted measurement light to the light source. In addition to guiding to the dynamic reflecting mirrors (104 ', 104 "), the reflected measuring light is guided to the distance image detecting element, and in the second mode, the emitted measuring light is guided to the outside of the optical path. This prevents the measurement light from being guided to the rotating reflecting mirrors (104 ', 104 "), and converts the environmental light reflected by the rotating reflecting mirror to the image detecting element (112') of the grayscale image measuring means. ).

The device according to claim 10 can be further downsized. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the light condensing means includes a rotating reflecting mirror (104 ") that reflects and scans the measurement light and the environment light to perform the light condensing function. It is not preferable to mechanically scan the entire apparatus in a vertical direction because vibrations are not preferable. Therefore, according to claim 15, which is a preferable aspect of the present invention, By setting the image detection element (112) of claim 3 to have a vertical pixel count equal to the vertical pixel count of the grayscale image,
Eliminates the need for vertical scanning.

When mechanical scanning is performed on the distance image in the vertical direction, the number of pixels in the vertical direction of the light receiving intensity detecting element (106) can be set to one pixel. To make the mechanical in the horizontal direction efficient,
As in claim 17, the image detection element (112) comprises:
A vertical pixel count equal to the vertical pixel count of the grayscale image;
The number of pixels in the horizontal direction should be two or more.

According to claim 18 which is a preferred aspect of the present invention, the image detecting element (112 ') has a size of one pixel in a vertical direction. Further, in order to achieve the other objects, the control device of the present invention is to collectively measure the distance image and the grayscale image,
A distance image measurement unit that emits measurement light and receives the reflected light of the measurement light in the outside world to measure a distance image, and a gray image measurement unit that receives environmental light from the outside and forms a gray image. A control device for controlling an image measuring device having a main body including the main body and a rotating means for rotating the main body around a vertical axis, wherein the distance image measuring means and the grayscale image measuring means while rotating the main body in one direction. After operating either one, the other means is operated while rotating the main body in the reverse direction.

According to this control device, the efficiency of the rotation operation can be improved by making the rotation operation for the distance image measurement and the rotation operation for the grayscale image measurement into a sequence. If the vertical scanning for the distance image measurement in the image measurement device is realized by mechanical scanning, it is preferable that the time required for the distance image measurement be longer than that for the grayscale image measurement. Therefore, according to Claim 20, which is a preferred aspect of the present invention, the distance image measuring means includes:
Scanning means (104, 10) for scanning measurement light in the vertical direction
4 ′, 104 ″), wherein the rotating means rotates the body when rotating the body while operating the distance image measuring means, and rotates the body when rotating the body while operating the density image measuring means. The speed is set lower than the speed.

In order to realize horizontal scanning with good positioning accuracy, the rotating means is a stepping motor for rotating the main body. In order to realize smooth horizontal scanning, the rotating means is a DC motor for rotating the main body. Scanning means (10) for the image measuring device to scan the measuring light and the ambient light in the vertical direction.
4 "), the rotation means of the control device sets the rotation speed when rotating the main body while operating the distance image measurement means as in Claim 23, It is characterized in that the rotation speed is set to be the same as the rotation speed when rotating the main body while operating.

[0025]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
A preferred image measurement system to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail. This system emits a laser beam to generate distance data (R
ANGE) and a laser scanner / camera unit 100 for obtaining a grayscale image (RGB) of the environment;
And a control unit 200 for controlling the

In this specification, three structures (first to third embodiments) are proposed as scanner / camera units, and a control device corresponding to each scanner / camera unit is also proposed. <Scanner / Camera Unit> First Embodiment A scanner / camera unit (hereinafter abbreviated as “scanner unit”) 100a according to the first embodiment basically has the configuration of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the scanner unit 100a according to the first embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the scanner unit 100
a has a main body housing 130, and the housing 130 has a rotating shaft 11 for rotating the entire scanner unit 100a.
1 is provided. The scanner unit 100a is connected to an external controller unit 200 via a cable 201. The scanner unit according to the present embodiment includes:
The purpose is to capture images of the entire environment,
As described later, there is no need to rotate more than one rotation,
It is sufficient for the cable 201 to have a sufficient length that does not cause twisting or damage even if the housing 130 rotates up to 360 degrees.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 122 denotes an imaging lens, 112 denotes a CCD sensor, and 101 denotes a reflecting mirror fixed at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to a horizontal plane. As will be described later, the mirror 101 has a function of capturing ambient light from the outside and laser light reflected by the outside into the scanner unit, and thus corresponds to the “light collecting means” of the present invention. For the purpose of focusing, the focusing means may be constituted by a lens system other than a mirror, or may be constituted by a concave mirror or a convex mirror. The mirror 101 is hereinafter referred to as “condensing mirror” for convenience.
Call.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a reflecting mirror which is fixed at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane, and is provided so as to be able to move in parallel with the horizontal plane while maintaining the obliquely fixed state. CCD
The sensor 112 is a color image signal RGB as a grayscale image.
Is output. The reflecting mirror 102 is moved by a solenoid 115. That is, the reflecting mirror 102 is moved to the position 102a when the solenoid is turned on, and is returned to the position 102b when the solenoid is turned off. The mirror 102 that has been moved to the position 102a has a 45-degree inclination with respect to the optical path 121. Mirror 1
02 has a control function of blocking or passing the optical path 121, and is hereinafter referred to as an "optical path control mirror".
Light from the external environment is collected along the optical path 120 by the condensing mirror 101.
And the optical path is changed by 90 degrees. Optical path control mirror 102
Is located at the position 102a, the light from the outside
22 forms an image on the CCD 112. This image is a grayscale image of the environment. The grayscale image is output as RGB color signals, and is output via the cable 201 to the controller unit 2.
Sent to 00.

FIG. 2 shows the shape of the CCD sensor 112. The CCD sensor of the first embodiment uses a two-dimensional area sensor as an example. That is, the sensor 112 has m pixels in the horizontal direction and n pixels (m
Xn) is read at a time. As will be described later, the housing 130 is rotated by a stepping motor, that is, the horizontal scanning of the apparatus of the present embodiment is performed by the motor, but in the horizontal direction, the sensor 112 sets the prime number to m, The efficiency of horizontal scanning is improved.

The unit rotation angle of the stepping motor is CC
It is determined according to the number m of pixels of the D sensor 112 in the width direction. As described above, the condenser mirror 101 and the CCD sensor 1
12. Since the imaging lens 113 is fixed with respect to the housing 130 while maintaining its attitude, when the stepping motor rotates the housing 130, it is possible to capture a 360-degree gray image of the outside world.

The CCD sensor 112 can also be constituted by a one-dimensional line sensor in which pixels are arranged in a vertical direction. In this case, the unit rotation angle of the stepping motor is
2 may be determined in correspondence with one pixel. The above is the first
4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for the scanner unit 100a of the embodiment to acquire a gray image of the outside world. Hereinafter, a configuration for acquiring a distance image will be described.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 110 denotes a laser unit for emitting a laser beam. Since this laser light is used for measuring a distance image, it is hereinafter referred to as “measurement light”. "Measurement light"
Is preferably coherent, but need not be coherent depending on the extent of the environment. The measurement light is collected through the collimator lens 09 along the optical path 124. Mirror 10 as "beam splitter"
8 has an opening large enough to pass the condensed measurement light from the laser unit 110,
The collected measurement light passes through a mirror 108 (hereinafter, referred to as a “beam splitter mirror”) and reaches a galvano mirror 104.
The galvanometer mirror 104 has a rotation axis perpendicular to the optical path 124, and performs a swing operation of a predetermined angular width (= 2θ ₀ ) around the rotation axis by the stepping motor 114. The rotation axis is perpendicular to the optical path 124 and the optical path 123 above and perpendicular to the optical path 124.
4 has a mirror surface whose optical path 124
And 123 are formed so as to form 45 degrees. Therefore, the measurement light that has passed through the beam splitter mirror 108 is the measurement light that has passed through the galvanometer mirror 104, and the measurement light that has passed through the galvanometer mirror 104.
The optical path is bent by the
Go to 01 direction.

As will be described later, the optical path control mirror 102 is retracted to the position 102b in the mode for measuring the grayscale image. Therefore, the measurement light whose optical path is bent by the galvanometer mirror 104 reaches the condenser mirror 101 along the optical path 121 without being disturbed by the optical path control mirror 102,
The optical path is bent by 90 degrees by the condenser mirror 101, and the optical path 12
It is radiated to the outside along 0.

The measurement light reflected by the object in the external environment enters the condenser mirror 101 of the scanner unit 100a along the optical path 120. The measurement light whose direction has been changed by 90 degrees by the condenser mirror 101 passes through the optical path 121 and the optical path 123, reaches the galvano mirror 104, further changes the optical path by 90 degrees, and reaches the beam splitter mirror. Since the reflection in the outside world is irregular reflection, the measurement light reaching the beam splitter mirror 108 has a spread. To this end, a part of the opening 108
h, but many are turned 90 degrees downward,
The imaging lens 107 is reached. The imaging lens 107 forms an image of the measurement light on the laser light receiving element 106. Element 106
Since the output signal indicates the distance, it is referred to as a RANGE signal in this specification.

The timing chart of FIG. 3 explains the principle of obtaining distance information from a RANGE signal. This measurement is performed in the controller unit 200. That is, the third
When a drive signal having a sinusoidal waveform as shown in the timing chart on the upper side of the figure is applied to the laser unit 110, the laser beam as the measurement light also has a sinusoidal intensity. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the distance can be calculated from the phase difference (light propagation time) of the RANGE signal with respect to the drive signal.

As shown in FIG. 5, the laser detecting element 106 which outputs a RANGE signal as a distance image has a size of m pixels in the horizontal direction and one pixel in the vertical direction, that is, a size of m × 1 pixel. Having FIG. 4 shows three points (1001, 1002, 10) of an object 1000 having a two-dimensional size.
The manner in which the three measurement light beams reflected by 03) are reflected by the galvanometer mirror 104 and reach the light receiving element 106 will be described. In FIG. 4, the reflection by the condenser mirror 101 and the beam splitter mirror 108 is omitted.

The measurable range in the vertical direction of the scanner unit 100a is determined by the swing angle of the galvanometer mirror 104. Assuming that the deflection angle around the rotation axis of the galvano mirror 104 is θ, the distance of an object having a spread of 2θ radians can be measured. That is, when the galvano mirror 104 is at the center position, the center point 1000 of the object 1000 is
Assuming that the galvanometer mirror 104 and the element 106 are adjusted and arranged so that the reflected measurement light from the point b reaches the light receiving element 106, the reflected light from the point 1000a above the point 1000b by an angle θ radian is When the light source 104 is located at a position 104a rotated counterclockwise (in FIG. 4) by an angle θ / 2 radians from the center position, the light reaches the light receiving element 106. On the other hand, from the point 1000b, the angle θ
The reflected light from the point 1000c lower by radians reaches the light receiving element 106 when the galvano mirror 104 is placed at the position 104c rotated clockwise by the angle θ / 2 radians from the center position.

FIG. 5 also shows a galvano mirror 104,
It has a correspondence with the light receiving element 106 of m × 1. That is,
Since the CCD sensor 112 has a size of m pixels in the horizontal direction, the size of the light receiving element 106 in the horizontal direction is also set to m pixels. Thus, even with the light receiving element 106 for m × 1 pixel, the object 100 having the vertical spread can be obtained by rotating and scanning the galvanometer mirror 104.
The distance to each point of 0 can be obtained.

<Control Unit> First Embodiment FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the control unit 200 and
Control unit 200 and scanner unit 100
The connection with the above-described components will be described. The control unit 200 includes a data RAM 201 for storing data.
And a program RAM 202 for storing programs and a CPU 204 for controlling the whole. Further, a color image input circuit 2 for A / D converting RGB image data detected by the CCD sensor 112 and converting it into digital image data.
08. The image data is stored in the data RAM 201 (or a disk file (not shown)) under the control of the CPU 204, and is fixed in the scanner unit 100a as a grayscale image. Note that, as described above, the sensor 112 was a two-dimensional area sensor (m × n). m
In order to output × n image signals from the sensor 112, the CPU 204 sends a shift signal to the color image input circuit.
Send SHFT. The sensor 112 synchronizes with the signal SHFT and outputs RGB image data for m × n pixels to the image input circuit 20.
9 is output.

The RANGE signal output from the light receiving element 106 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 203 via the light receiving circuit. The digital RANGE signal is processed by the application program in the program RAM 202 in the manner shown in FIG. 3 to form a range image. The control unit 200 further includes a control circuit 205 that drives a stepping motor 114 that vibrates the galvanometer mirror 104 and a control circuit that drives a stepping motor 118 that rotates the housing 130 by transmitting a rotational force to a rotation shaft 111 of the housing 130. A control circuit 207 for driving a solenoid 115 for moving the position of the optical path control mirror 102;
And a driving circuit 208 for driving the. CPU 204
A control signal to be sent to the control circuit 205 to control the rotation angle of the galvanometer mirror 104 is called DRθ, and the motor 118
A control signal to be sent to the control circuit 206 to control the rotation angle of is referred to as DRΦ.

FIG. 7 explains how the distance image and the gray image relate to the various control signals. Note that the size of the distance image and the density image is p pixels (horizontal direction) × n pixels (vertical direction) for convenience of explanation. The purpose of this scanner unit 100a is to obtain a gray-scale image and a range image over the entire circumference, so that the number of p pixels is 360.
It has a spread of degrees (2π radians).

Since the CCD sensor 112 has a size of m pixels in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 2, it is sufficient to perform imaging p / m times to obtain p pixels. That is, in order to obtain one grayscale image, the control signal DRΦ for the number of p / m pulses is sent to the control circuit 206. On the other hand, n
As for the pixels, since the CCD sensor 112 has a size corresponding to n pixels, it is not necessary to drive the pixels in order to obtain a grayscale image of n pixels in the vertical direction.

Since the detecting element 106 has a size corresponding to m pixels in the horizontal direction, as shown in FIG. 8, when the control signal DRΦ having the number of pulses of p / m is sent to the control circuit 206, p pixels in the horizontal direction are obtained. And a range image having a size of p pixels in the horizontal direction can be obtained at the same time as the grayscale image having the size of.
When a one-pulse control signal DRΦ is sent to the control circuit 206, the housing 130 rotates by 2 mπ / p radians.

On the other hand, since the detection element 106 has a size of one pixel in the vertical direction, DRΦ of n pulses is sent to the control circuit 205 in order to obtain a distance image having a size of n pixels in the vertical direction. There is a need. Assuming that the size of n pixels in the vertical direction corresponds to the angle (radian) range of the galvano mirror 104 by θ ₀ , the one-pulse control signal DRθ causes the galvano mirror 104 to swing by θ ₀ / n (radian).
If reduced, the stepping motor 114 and the control circuit 20
5 is set so that the control signal DRθ of one pulse causes the galvano mirror 104 to swing by θ ₀ / n (radian).
See FIG.

FIG. 9 shows a method of controlling the light receiving element 106 having a size of m pixels in the horizontal direction. That is, as described above, when the signal DRθ is input, the galvano mirror 104 is rotated by one step, so that the distance information for m pixels must be collected within one cycle of the control signal DRθ. Must. For this purpose, the measurement light is preferably a pulse waveform rather than a sine waveform, and if a pulse waveform is used, as shown in FIG. 9, a T / m second cycle (T seconds is a time width of one cycle of the signal DRθ). Is given to the laser driver 110 to generate pulsed laser light as measurement light. The reflected light is received by the light receiving element 106 as pulse light having a period of about T / m seconds. The CPU 204 calculates the distance by calculating the delay time (propagation time) of the reception time of each pulse of the received reflection measurement light with respect to the laser driving time according to the application program.

It is not possible to make T / m seconds too short, that is, to increase the number of m pixels. Because
Since the delay time of the reflected light is unpredictable depending on the object in the environment, the delay time may be large depending on a distant object. Therefore, two reflection measurement light pulses are generated within a time width of T / m seconds. This is because it may be received. Since the speed of light is high, the above is unlikely to occur when measuring the distance of an object within a normal distant distance.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show that the control unit 200 controls the laser driver 110, the motor 118 (ie, the signal DRΦ) for rotating the housing 130, the stepping motor 114 for driving the galvano mirror 104, and the optical path control mirror 102. 9 is a timing chart showing how the solenoids 115 to be moved are controlled in cooperation with each other. In particular, FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of the portion 300 in FIG. 10 over time.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the present system for measuring a distance image and a grayscale image together, the control unit 200 first sets a mode (section 304) for measuring a distance image, and then sets a color mode. A mode (section 306) for measuring an image (shade image) is set. In the mode (304) for measuring the distance image, the optical path control mirror 102
Must not interrupt the light path 121, that is, the light path control mirror 102 must be retracted. On the other hand, in the range image measurement mode (304), the galvanomirror 104 must be vibrated in order to perform scanning in the vertical direction.

On the other hand, in the gray scale image measurement mode (306), the optical path control mirror 102 has to block the optical path 121 and guide the ambient light to the CCD sensor 112. Further, it is not necessary to vibrate the galvanometer mirror 104. Accordingly, a section 305 in the figure is a period during which preparations are made to shift from the distance image measurement mode to the grayscale image measurement mode, and specifically, the optical path control mirror 102 is moved from the retracted state to the operating state. May be set to the time required.

In the distance image measurement mode, the optical path control mirror 10
2 in the refuge state, and in that section, p / m
The control signals DRΦ are output. In FIG. 10, 3
02 is a motor 115 driven by the control signal DRΦ.
(I.e., the angle of rotation of the housing 130)
When the control signals DRΦ are output, the rotation angle of the motor 115 becomes 360 degrees (that is, one rotation).

As shown in FIG. 11, one control signal D
During RΦ, ie, while the motor 115 is stopped,
As shown at 301, the galvanometer mirror 104 needs to perform a reciprocating motion for vertical scanning. As described above, since the light receiving element 106 for measuring the distance image has a size of one pixel in the vertical direction, the waveform 301 represents n steps. In other words, while the housing of the scanner unit is stopped (during one control signal DRΦ)
Requires a signal DRθ of n pulses, and the next signal D
While the galvanometer mirror 104 is stopped up to Rθ (that is,
During one fixed period of the waveform 301), the laser driver 1
10 is driven.

When the acquisition of the distance image is completed, the optical path control mirror 102 is evacuated during the section 305. Then, the grayscale image measurement mode starts from the section 306. When the distance image measurement mode ends, the housing 130 has been rotated 360 degrees, and thus has returned to its original position. The gray image measurement mode is performed after the distance image measurement mode. In the gray image measurement mode, the housing 130 is reversely rotated to prevent the cable 201 from being entangled or damaged. Also, if you do n’t need a full range image,
After the end of the gray scale image measurement mode, the housing has the effect of returning to the initial position.

In the gray scale image measurement mode, the motor 115 is driven to rotate the housing, and while the housing is stopped,
A grayscale image is obtained from the CCD sensor 112. As is clear from FIG. 10, the period 306 of the grayscale image measurement mode
Is shorter than the period 304 of the distance image measurement mode. This is because in the grayscale image measurement mode, there is no need to mechanically vibrate the galvanometer mirror 104, so that the motor 115 can be rotated at high speed, that is, the housing 130 can be rotated at high speed.

In the timing chart of FIG.
Although the acquisition of the distance image has been performed prior to the acquisition of the grayscale image, this is exactly the same even if the reverse is true. <Modification of Control Unit> First Modification As shown in FIG. 10, since the motor 115 uses a stepping motor, the housing 130 repeatedly rotates and stops in a stepwise manner. However, since many of the casings are relatively heavy, it is not stable to repeat the rotation and the stop operation. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
It is proposed to use a DC servo motor for 15 and make the rotation angle of the motor 115 smooth.

<Modification of Scanner Unit> Second Modification The configuration of a scanner unit 100b according to a second modification will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the scanner unit 100a of the first embodiment in principle, and the scanner unit 100b of the second modification is a slightly modified version of the scanner unit 100a of the first embodiment.

That is, as shown in FIG.
The shape of No. 1 was enlarged to increase the light amount of the gray image.
Further, the large condensing mirror 101 can collect the reflected light in a wide range even if the measurement light is irregularly reflected in the external environment, so that the power of the light received by the light receiving element 106 can be increased. FIG. 14 shows the appearance of the scanner unit 100b of FIG.

The scanner unit of the second modification is different from the first embodiment only in the mechanical structure, so that the signal control of the first embodiment and the signal control of the first modification are applied to the second embodiment as they are. can do. <Scanner Unit> Second Embodiment In the scanner units of the first embodiment and the second modification, the optical path control mirror 102 is located between the condenser mirror 101 and the galvano mirror 104. This is because in the first embodiment and the second modification, the horizontal scanning of the distance image or the grayscale image is performed by the housing 1.
An area sensor or a line sensor having a size of n pixels in the vertical direction is used for the CCD sensor 112 in order to increase the speed by eliminating the need for vertical scanning. By this electronic scanning in the vertical direction, at least the mechanical scanning in the vertical direction is unnecessary for the grayscale image. On the other hand, for the distance image, since the diffusely reflected measurement light is condensed and received by the element 106, the resolution is reduced, and a plurality of pixels are set to the light receiving element 106.
There is little need to provide them. Therefore, in the first embodiment and the second modified example, a plurality of the elements 106 for receiving the distance image do not set the spread in the vertical direction (that is, do not perform the electronic scanning), and instead use the galvanometer mirror. Mechanical scanning by 104 was performed.

The scanner unit 100c of the second embodiment
The object of the present invention is to realize vertical scanning at the time of acquiring not only the distance image but also the grayscale image by the vibration (or reciprocating rotation) of the galvanometer mirror 104 ′. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 15, a CCD sensor 112 for detecting a grayscale image and an optical path control mirror 102 are arranged between a galvano mirror 104 ′ and a range image receiving element 106. is there. In order to mechanically scan the grayscale image in the vertical direction, the CCD sensor 112 'according to the second embodiment has m × 1 pixels, that is, one pixel in the vertical direction, as described later.

The configuration and operation of the scanner unit 100c according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the CCD sensor 112 is supported by a hollow holder 119. The holder 119 is provided with minute openings 119a and 119b at two places. CCD sensor 112 'and opening 119 of the second embodiment
Is as shown in FIG. That is, in the second embodiment, in order to mechanically scan the grayscale image in the vertical direction, it is necessary to set the sensor 112 'to a size (mx1) of only one pixel in the vertical direction. Apertures 119a and 119b are provided to narrow down the ambient light incident on such a sensor 112 'so as to have a spread of one pixel.

<Control Unit> Second Embodiment In order to control the scanner unit 100c of the second embodiment, it is necessary to employ a control unit with a different control timing of the control unit 200 of the first embodiment.
That is, the control unit according to the second embodiment is hardly different from the control unit according to the first embodiment. The control timing of the second embodiment will be described with reference to the timing charts of FIG. 15 and FIG.

First, in the distance image measurement mode, the optical path control mirror 102 is placed at the retracted position (102b). During the range image measurement mode, the control signal DRΦ is sequentially sent to the motor 115 to increase the rotation angle of the motor 115 in a stepwise manner. Rotate 360 degrees. Motor 115
While the motor is stopped, the control circuit 205 sends the motor 114
Control signal DRθ to send the galvanomirror 104 ′ in a stepwise manner to stop / join. Thus, a distance image can be obtained.

Prior to the gray scale image measurement mode, the optical path control mirror 102 is moved to a position (102a) where the optical path 129 is interrupted. At this point, the measurement light is prevented from going to the outside world by the optical path control mirror 102, so that the galvanometer mirror 1
The light that is reflected by 04 and enters the control 102 is only ambient light. Thus, the grayscale image is detected by the sensor 112 '.

In the first embodiment, it is not necessary to vibrate the galvanometer mirror 104 ', but in the second embodiment,
To obtain a vertical scan of the grayscale image, a galvano mirror 10
4 'is vibrated. Thus, a gray image can be obtained also in the second embodiment. <Modification to Second Embodiment> Third Modification A first modification (FIG. 12) is a motor 1 for rotating a housing.
The vibration of the housing was suppressed by smoothly rotating 18. The same control timing as that of the first modification of the first embodiment can be applied to the second embodiment. FIG. 18 shows the control timing waveform.

<Scanner Unit> Third Embodiment In the second embodiment, the condensing mirror 101 changes the light path in the horizontal direction from the environment in the vertical direction because the rotation axis of the housing 130 is vertical. Needed for. In the third embodiment, the condenser mirror 101 is removed from the second embodiment, and the function of the condenser mirror 101 is replaced by the galvano mirror 104.

FIG. 19 shows the configuration of a scanner unit 100d according to the third embodiment. In the figure, a galvanometer mirror 104 ″ is arranged at the position of the condenser mirror 101 of the second embodiment. For this reason, the CCD sensor for the grayscale image has a size of only one pixel in the vertical direction. Therefore, the sensor of the third embodiment can use the CCD sensor 112 'of the second embodiment, and it is necessary to arrange the holder 119 at the same time.

The control timing of the third embodiment can use the timing of the second embodiment (FIGS. 17 and 18). <Modified Example of Sensor>... Fourth Modified Example In the first to third embodiments, the CCD sensor 112 (or 112 ′) whose horizontal size is m pixels is used.
And the light receiving element 106. This sensor and element may have m = 1 as described above.

In the fourth modification, the CCD sensor 112 has m ×
This is a modification to the first and second embodiments in which the light receiving element 106 is an m × 1 element in an n-dimensional two-dimensional sensor. That is, in the fourth modified example, the cost is reduced by setting the size of the light receiving element 106 ′ for the distance image to 1 × 1. 1 × light receiving element 106 ′
If the size is 1, the relationship with the CCD sensor 112 is as shown in FIG. That is, the size of the element 106 'is set to 1
Using pixels means that the resolution of the distance image is lower than that of the grayscale image obtained by the sensor 112 of m pixels. However, in the three-dimensional image display, the necessity of the resolution of the distance image is not as high as that of the gray image. Therefore, according to the fourth modified example, the advantage of cost reduction exceeds the disadvantage of resolution reduction.

<Other Modifications> In all of the above embodiments and modifications, the grayscale image is a color image. However, the present invention can be applied to a monochrome grayscale image. Various optical elements can be changed to other optical elements. For example, the collecting mirror 101 can be replaced by a convex mirror or a concave mirror or even a prism. Further, if the rotation axis of the housing 130 is made horizontal, the condenser mirror 101 itself can be omitted.

Similarly, the optical path control mirror 102 can be replaced by a convex mirror or a concave mirror, or even a prism. Further, a half mirror can be substituted for the beam splitter mirror 108 having a hole. In the above embodiment, the light path control mirror 102 is used as the light path control means. However, for example, a liquid crystal shutter can be used instead.

[0071]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image measuring apparatus having a novel configuration capable of acquiring both a distance image and a grayscale image. Further, according to the control device of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently control the image measurement device that acquires the distance image and the grayscale image together.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a scanner unit 100a according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a CCD sensor 112 and an optical path control mirror 102 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the principle of measuring a distance by a light propagation time used in the apparatus according to the first to third embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the relationship between the galvanometer mirror 104 and the light receiving element 106 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the relationship between the galvanometer mirror 104 and the light receiving element 106 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a control unit 200 according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the control unit 200 and the connection relationship between the control unit 200 and the scanner unit 100a.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the relationship between the size of a grayscale image and various control signals according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the relationship between the size of a distance image and various control signals according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the timing of emitting laser measurement light and the timing of receiving reflected measurement light in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing control timing according to the first embodiment.

11 is an enlarged timing chart showing a part of the control timing of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a timing chart of control timing according to a first modified example.

FIG. 13 shows a scanner unit 10 according to a second modification.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of Ob.

FIG. 14 shows a scanner unit 10 according to a second modification.
0b is a perspective view.

FIG. 15 shows a scanner unit 1 according to a second embodiment.
The block diagram showing the composition of 00c.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a CCD sensor 112 ′ according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a timing chart of control timing according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a timing chart of control timing according to a third modification.

FIG. 19 shows a scanner unit 1 according to a third embodiment.
The block diagram showing the composition of 00d.

FIG. 20 shows a sensor 112 and a light receiving element 10 according to a fourth modification.
The figure explaining the relationship with 6 '.

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. A measuring device for measuring a distance image and a grayscale image of an ambient environment, comprising: a light condensing means (101, 1) for condensing light from the ambient environment.
04 "), the measurement light is emitted in the first mode, and the distance from a predetermined reference point to the surrounding environment is measured by the propagation time of the measurement light reflected by the surrounding environment and collected by the light collecting means. A distance image measurement unit, an optical path control unit (102, 102 ′) for controlling an optical path of the measurement light toward the surrounding environment, and an optical path of the measurement light toward the surrounding environment is controlled by the optical path control unit. In a second mode to be performed, there is provided an image measuring device comprising: a gray-scale image measuring unit that measures a gray-scale image based on ambient light from the surrounding environment collected by the light collecting unit. 2. The image measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the grayscale image includes color image data. 3. A main body of the condensing means, a main body of the optical path control means (102, 102 '), a light receiving intensity detecting element (106, 106') for the distance image measuring means,
An image detecting element (112,
2. The image measuring device according to claim 1, further comprising: a housing (130) for integrally holding the housing (12 ′); and rotating means (118) for rotating the housing. 4. The optical path control means transmits the measurement light to an optical path (102) in the first mode.
a) leading up and out of the optical path (10
2. The image measuring device according to claim 1, further comprising light guiding means (102, 102 ′, 115) for guiding to 2b). 3. 5. A reflecting mirror (102, 102 ′) arranged at an intermediate position on an optical path (121, 123) between the light source (110) of the measurement light and the light condensing means. And controlling the reflection mirror to control the measurement light by using the optical path (12).
1) The moving means (11) for positioning (102a) above or moving out of the optical path when the measurement light is not controlled.
5. The image measuring device according to claim 1, comprising: 6. The light condensing means is provided at a position substantially 45 degrees from a horizontal plane.
2. The image measuring device according to claim 1, comprising a plane mirror (102, 102 ') arranged at an angle of degrees. 7. The image measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said range image measuring means has a laser (110) for generating a laser beam as measuring light. 8. A laser beam emitted from the laser,
A beam splitter (10) that transmits one of the laser beams reflected back in the surrounding environment and reflects the other.
8. The image measurement according to claim 7, wherein the light-receiving intensity detecting element for the laser and the distance image measuring means and the light-receiving intensity detecting element for the distance image measuring means are arranged in the middle of the light condensing means. apparatus. 9. The beam splitter has a hole (10) in the center.
The image measuring device according to claim 8, further comprising a reflecting mirror defined in 8h). And a rotating reflector (104) intermediate the light-collecting means, the light-receiving intensity detecting element of the distance image measuring means, and the image detecting element of the grayscale image measuring means, 2. The image measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotary reflecting mirror rotates to scan at least one of the measurement light and the image light in a vertical direction. 11. The image measuring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the rotation unit (118) rotates the housing once and then reversely rotates the housing. 12. The light path control means (102) is arranged between the rotary reflecting mirror (104) and the light condensing means (101), and in the first mode, the emitted light is measured. The measurement light is emitted to the surrounding environment by guiding the light on the optical path (121). In the second mode, the measurement light is guided to the outside environment by guiding the emitted measurement light to the outside of the optical path (121). And the light condensing means (10).
11. The image measuring apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the environmental light collected by 1) is guided to an image detecting element (112) of the grayscale image measuring means. 13. The optical path control means (102 ') is arranged between the rotary reflecting mirrors (104', 104 ") and the distance image detecting element (106) of the distance image measuring means, and In the second mode, the emitted measurement light is guided to the rotating reflecting mirrors (104 ', 104 "), and the reflected measurement light is guided to the distance image detecting element. Guides the emitted measurement light out of the optical path so that the measurement light is
4 ', 104 "), and guides the environment light reflected by the rotary reflecting mirror to the image detecting element (112') of the grayscale image measuring means. An image measuring device according to claim 1. 14. The image measuring apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the light condensing means includes a rotary reflecting mirror (104 ″) that scans while reflecting the measurement light and the environment light. 15. The image measuring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image detecting element has a vertical pixel number equal to the vertical pixel number of the grayscale image. 16. The light receiving intensity detecting element (106) has one pixel in the vertical direction.
The image measurement device according to 0. 17. The image detection device according to claim 3, wherein the number of vertical pixels is equal to the number of vertical pixels of the grayscale image, and the number of horizontal pixels is two or more.
An image measuring device according to claim 1. 18. The image measuring apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the image detecting element has a size of one pixel in a vertical direction. 19. A distance image measurement unit that emits measurement light, receives reflected light of the measurement light in the outside world, and measures the distance image in order to collectively measure the distance image and the grayscale image; A control device for controlling an image measurement device including a main body including a grayscale image measurement unit configured to receive ambient light from the outside to form a grayscale image and forming a grayscale image, and a rotation unit configured to rotate the main body around a vertical axis, A control device characterized by operating one of the distance image measuring means and the grayscale image measuring means while rotating the main body in one direction, and then operating the other means while rotating the main body reversely. 20. The distance image measuring means scans the measuring light in a vertical direction.
4 "), wherein the rotating means is configured to rotate the main body while operating the distance image measuring means at a rotational speed higher than the rotational speed when rotating the main body while operating the density image measuring means. 20. The control device according to claim 19, wherein the control device is set low. 21. The control device according to claim 19, wherein said rotating means has a stepping motor for rotating a main body. 22. The control device according to claim 19, wherein said rotating means has a DC motor for rotating a main body. 23. A scanning unit (104 ″) for scanning the measuring light and the ambient light in a vertical direction, wherein the rotating unit rotates the main body while operating the distance image measuring unit. 20. The control device according to claim 19, wherein the rotation speed is set to be equal to a rotation speed when rotating the main body while operating the grayscale image measurement unit.