Patent ID: 11889051
Assignee: MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  B | IPC B  H

Claim 4:
5. A method for testing a vehicular camera for a vehicular vision system, the method comprising:
providing a vehicular camera suitable for use on a vehicle, wherein the vehicular camera has a field of view;
providing a collimator assembly comprising an optic fixedly disposed within the collimator assembly and a plurality of target elements fixedly disposed within the collimator assembly, wherein the plurality of target elements comprise (i) a center target and (ii) a plurality of staircase step targets, and wherein, during testing of the vehicular camera, the plurality of target elements do not move relative to the collimator assembly;
each staircase step target is rotated about a longitudinal axis of the collimator assembly, and wherein each staircase step target is spaced longitudinally along the collimator assembly relative to the other staircase step targets, and wherein the center target is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the collimator assembly;
positioning the collimator assembly in the field of view of the vehicular camera such that (i) the vehicular camera images light that has reflected off the target elements and that has passed through the optic and (ii) the longitudinal axis of the collimator assembly is aligned with a principal axis of the field of view of the vehicular camera;
wherein each target element comprises a respective face, and wherein the faces of the target elements combine to form a stepped target;
wherein, with the collimator assembly positioned in the field of view of the vehicular camera, the optic is perpendicular to the principal axis of the field of view of the vehicular camera and each face of the stepped target is at a different distance from the vehicular camera than each other face of the stepped target;
capturing image data with the vehicular camera, wherein the captured image data is representative of a plurality of the faces of the stepped target;
processing, via an image processor, image data captured by the vehicular camera; and
responsive to processing by the image processor of image data captured by the vehicular camera, estimating a defocus of the vehicular camera at each of the plurality of the faces of the stepped target.