Sony patents method to align 3D sensors and cameras automatically
Sony describes a system that helps align a 3D sensor, such as LiDAR, with a standard camera. It works by flashing light from the sensor, finding the matching spot in the camera image, and adjusting the alignment settings to ensure both devices see the same scene accurately.
In the filing’s own words
The present technology relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program which enable calibration of a positional relationship between a three-dimensional sensor and a camera to be easily executed with high accuracy. The information processing apparatus of the present technology includes an irradiation control unit that controls an irradiation timing of measurement light of a three-dimensional sensor; a corresponding point detection unit that detects, in a camera image acquired by a camera, a corresponding point that corresponds to an observation point detected using the measurement light by the three-dimensional sensor; and a correction unit that corrects a parameter indicating a positional relationship between the three-dimensional sensor and the camera on the basis of a position of the observation point in a predetermined three-dimensional coordinate system and a position of the corresponding point in a two-dimensional coordinate system of the camera image. The present technology can be applied to a system using LiDAR and a camera, for example.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An information processing apparatus comprising: an irradiation control unit that controls an irradiation timing of measurement light of a three-dimensional sensor; a corresponding point detection unit that detects, in a camera image acquired by a camera, a corresponding point that corresponds to an observation point detected using the measurement light by the three-dimensional sensor; and a correction unit that corrects a parameter indicating a positional relationship between the three-dimensional sensor and the camera on a basis of a position of the observation point in a predetermined three-dimensional coordinate system and a position of the corresponding point in a two-dimensional coordinate system of the camera image.
Facts
- Company
- Sony (SONY GROUP CORPORATION)
- Official title
- INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM
- Publication number
- US20260299131A1
- Application number
- 19477797
- Filed
- Apr 15, 2024
- Published
- Oct 1, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 17
Classified under
G01S 17/89 Physics & computingG01S 7/4817 Physics & computingG01S 7/484 Physics & computingG01S 17/86 Physics & computingG06T 7/73 Physics & computingG06T 2207/10028 Physics & computingMore from Sony in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.