Thermal imaging camera with range detection

• Main Authors: BERGSTROM PETER A, MCMANUS THOMAS J, SCHMIDT ROGER, JOHNSON KIRK R
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 01.12.2015
• Subjects: COLORIMETRY; ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; MEASUREMENT OF INTENSITY, VELOCITY, SPECTRAL CONTENT,POLARISATION, PHASE OR PULSE CHARACTERISTICS OF INFRA-RED,VISIBLE OR ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHT; MEASURING; PHYSICS; PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION; RADIATION PYROMETRY; TESTING

A thermal imaging camera may be used to capture a visible-light (VL) image and an infrared (IR) image. In some examples, the camera includes a range imaging camera module that captures the VL and an infrared camera module that captures the IR image. In such examples, the VL image may include a plurality of different portions that each correspond to a different portion of the scene and distance-to-target data associated with each of the different portions of the scene. The camera may align each of the plurality of different portions of the VL image based on the distance-to-target data associated with corresponding portions of the scene so as to correct a parallax error between the VL image and the IR image. The camera may then concurrently display the VL image in alignment with the IR image.