Interference Avoidance for Two Time-of-Flight Cameras Using Autonomous Optical Synchronization
| Autor: | Thorben Wubbenhorst, Beate Meffert, Felix Wermke |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
multi-camera interference
0209 industrial biotechnology Computer science Real-time computing ComputingMethodologies_IMAGEPROCESSINGANDCOMPUTERVISION Time division multiple access Synchronizing 02 engineering and technology optical synchronization Synchronization law.invention 020901 industrial engineering & automation Software Interference (communication) law 0502 economics and business Pixel business.industry 05 social sciences Process (computing) multiple camera system 004 Informatik Microprocessor time-of-flight cameras ddc:004 business autonomous synchronization 050203 business & management |
| Zdroj: | 2020 6th International Conference on Control, Automation and Robotics (ICCAR). |
| DOI: | 10.1109/iccar49639.2020.9107975 |
| Popis: | Time-of-Flight (ToF) cameras acquire 3-D images where each pixel relates to the distance in the observed scene. These images are acquired by emitting modulated light and measuring the phase of its reflection from an object. Improvements in ToF camera technology make it a promising alternative to current 3-D imaging sensors despite possessing comparatively lower resolution. Overcoming lower resolution, of single ToF camera images, is achieved using a multi-camera setup. However, the simultaneous operation of multiple ToF cameras causes interference resulting in erroneous depth measurements. An option to mitigate interference is the arrangement of multiple cameras in a consecutive order sharing the same frequency in assigned time slots, such that each camera illuminates the scene exclusively, a procedure known as time division multiple access (TDMA). The assignment of acquisition times is usually performed by a master synchronizing device implementing a time synchronization protocol that requires an additional communication channel. This paper presents a different approach requiring no additional infrastructure to utilize TDMA by adding a synchronization software procedure to the camera's microprocessor which effectively enables a camera to sense the acquisition process of other cameras and rapidly synchronize itself autonomously to operate without interference. Experimental results with two ToF cameras provide substantive evidence of the efficacy of this approach. The operation of the standalone cameras achieved the desired synchronization without illumination interference. The proposed synchronization procedure takes advantages of the zero interference of TDMA and overcomes traditional hard-wired synchronization setups, offering an autonomous and potentially mobile operation of ToF camera deployment. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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