Patent ID: 7877003

Claim:
A self-contained imaging system comprising: a dome, said dome having a truncated four-sided pyramid shape; a crown adapted to be operatively coupled to an apex portion of said dome; a plurality of light sources adapted to illuminate an object, each of said plurality of light sources located at a predetermined distance and a predetermined orientation relative to a viewing plane of a camera adapted to be supported by said dome and adapted to obtain an image of said illuminated object, said viewing plane perpendicular to a viewing axis of said camera, said plurality of light sources comprising: a set of low angle direct light sources operatively coupled to said dome, said low angle direct light sources adapted to illuminate said object via a set of apertures defined by said dome, said set of apertures adapted to cause light rays from said low angle direct light sources to intersect said viewing plane at an angle of approximately 30 degrees; a set of medium angle direct light sources attached to said dome, slots defined by said dome adapted to cause light rays from said medium angle direct light sources to intersect said viewing plane at an angle of approximately 45 degrees; and a light source that is directed toward said dome, said dome adapted to reflect light rays from said light source toward said viewing plane at an angle with respect to said viewing plane of between approximately 45 degrees and approximately 90 degrees, said light source comprising a rim that prevents light rays from said light source directed toward said dome from directly illuminating said object; and a light controller adapted to, responsive to information obtained via said camera, automatically illuminate at least one of said plurality of light sources to illuminate said object.