Denise Diane Padilla

US Patent:

7742640, Jun 22, 2010

Filed:

Oct 13, 2006

Appl. No.:

11/580572

Inventors:

Jeffrey J. Carlson - Albuquerque NM, US
Michael K. Giles - Las Cruces NM, US
Denise D. Padilla - Albuquerque NM, US
David K. Novick - Albuquerque NM, US
Christopher W. Wilson - Albuquerque NM, US

Assignee:

Sandia Corporation - Albuquerque NM

International Classification:

G06K 9/34

US Classification:

382173

Abstract:

Methods for segmenting the reflected light of an illumination source having a characteristic wavelength from background illumination (i. e. clutter) in structured lighting systems can comprise pulsing the light source used to illuminate a scene, pulsing the light source synchronously with the opening of a shutter in an imaging device, estimating the contribution of background clutter by interpolation of images of the scene collected at multiple spectral bands not including the characteristic wavelength and subtracting the estimated background contribution from an image of the scene comprising the wavelength of the light source and, placing a polarizing filter between the imaging device and the scene, where the illumination source can be polarized in the same orientation as the polarizing filter. Apparatus for segmenting the light of an illumination source from background illumination can comprise an illuminator, an image receiver for receiving images of multiple spectral bands, a processor for calculations and interpolations, and a polarizing filter.