Compact and lightweight panoramic annular lens for computer vision tasks

Abstract

We propose a focal power distribution theory for the design of a compact panoramic annular lens (PAL) system based on Petzval sum correction. The system has a large field of view (FoV) of 360° ×(25°-100°). Its total length is 29.2 mm and weight is only 20 g. The proposed compact PAL system achieves large FoV and loose tolerances while maintaining small volume and low cost. It solves the shortcomings of traditional PAL systems that cannot be mounted on miniaturized portable devices due to their large volume and weight. We equip the compact PAL system with a novel and customized image enhancement model: PAL-Restormer to achieve better imaging quality. The produced images are further evaluated in various panoramic environment perception tasks. Extensive experiments show the promising potential of our proposed compact PAL system for the applications in wearable devices and mobile robots.

The Current Situation of Family Education and School and Kindergarten Admission of Migrant Children in Zhejiang Province, China: A Survey of Hangzhou, Ningbo and Jiaxing

“…In the design process, we first calculated the initial structure of ASPAL using the Petzval sum correction and focal power distribution theory, where the number of lenses is only 3 [18]. Based on the results of the ray tracing analysis in Section 2.2, we can effectively control and optimize the compactness of the PAL.…”

“…Huang et al developed a dual-channel FoV entrance pupil preposition panoramic annular lens in the front and rear directions [15]. In terms of miniaturization, Q-type surfaces, and freeform surfaces have been successively used in the panoramic lens design to improve the compactness of the panoramic system [16][17][18]. In terms of achieving high performance, panoramic lens designs with spherical and aspherical surfaces have been proposed to realize high quality designs close to the diffraction limit and low distortion designs, respectively [19,20].…”

Surround-View Fisheye Optics in Computer Vision and Simulation: Survey and Challenges

“…Primarily, the large incidence angle of light due to field curvature in fisheye systems leads to much more serious astigmatism and a higher-order chromatic aberration, which is difficult to correct especially as the FOV angle increases [10], [11]. Most papers only discuss strategies to compensate or correct for optical artifacts which is much more apparent in fisheye or wide FOV panoramic optical systems [11], [12], [13]. In contrast, in this paper, we discuss the optical artifacts associated with wide FOV systems and their impact on computer vision performance.…”

Design of a single-sensor gazing panoramic stereo imaging system with no central blind area

“…Additionally, PALs offer more expansive fields of view (FoV), higher resolution, and less distortion at the marginal FoV. Due to the above advantages, it has great potential in the future development, [1][2][3][4][5][6] especially in the multidimensional information perception field. The existing panoramic stereo imaging system usually has a large and irregular mirror in the front, whose irregular surface is too complex and expensive to manufacture and it demands very strict assembly accuracy.…”