Camera With Light-Guide Array For Automated Vehicles

• Main Authors: YEO KOK WEE, YEO CHEE KENG, LOW YEW KWANG
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 11.05.2017
• Subjects: ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS, OR APPARATUS; OPTICS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL; VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISEPROVIDED FOR

A camera suitable for use on an automated vehicle includes an imager-device, a lens-module, and an array of light-guides. The imager-device is operable to determine an image and includes a plurality of light-detecting pixels. Each pixel is overlaid with a micro-lens. The lens-module directs light from a field-of-view of the camera toward the imager-device. The array of light-guides is interposed between the lens-module and the imager-device, and is arranged so each instance of light-guide is aligned with a corresponding instance of micro-lens. Each light-guide is defined by a lens-end and an imager-end. The lens-end of each of the light-guides cooperates to define a planar-surface of the array, and imager-end of the light-guide is characterized by an angle selected to direct light within the light-guide toward the corresponding instance of the micro-lens. The angle is determined based on a chief-ray-angle (CRA) of light from the lens-module impinging on the lens-end.