US 12,392,901 B2
In-vehicle imaging apparatus
Masato Gomi, Shizuoka (JP); Shintaro Sugimoto, Shizuoka (JP); and Yuta Haruse, Shizuoka (JP)
Assigned to KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD., Tokyo (JP)
Filed by KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD., Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Jul. 16, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/377,456.
Application 17/377,456 is a continuation of application No. PCT/JP2019/051193, filed on Dec. 26, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 2019-006086 (JP), filed on Jan. 17, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0341618 A1, Nov. 4, 2021
Int. Cl. G01S 17/00 (2020.01); B60Q 1/04 (2006.01); G01S 7/4861 (2020.01); G01S 17/89 (2020.01)
CPC G01S 17/89 (2013.01) [B60Q 1/04 (2013.01); G01S 7/4861 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An in-vehicle imaging apparatus comprising:
an illumination apparatus structured to irradiate reference light having a random pattern to be switched for each illumination period having a first length of time;
a photodetector structured to detect reflected light from an object and to generate a detection signal; and
a processing device structured to reconstruct a reconstructed image of the object based on a detection intensity based on the detection signal and a light intensity distribution of the reference light,
wherein an interval period in which the light intensity of the reference light is set to zero or the reference light has a uniform light intensity distribution is inserted between irradiation periods,
wherein, with an upper limit of a sensing distance in a depth direction of the in-vehicle imaging apparatus as LMAX, and with the speed of light as c, the interval period is designed to be equal to or larger than 2×LMAX/C,
and wherein the processing device is structured to start a detection period having a second length of time when the detection signal exceeds a threshold value, and to reconstruct the reconstructed image of the object based on the detection intensity generated in the detection period and the light intensity distribution of the reference light during the detection period according to equation (1)

OG Complex Work Unit Math
wherein br represents the detection intensity at r-th irradiation, Ir represents the light intensity distribution of the reference light at r-th irradiation, and M represents the number of irradiation during the detection period.