Patent ID: 7825956

Claim:
An imaging device installed on an autonomously movable body which comprises an image-taking section for taking images of the surrounding environment, and an object detecting section for detecting objects and obstacles by processing the obtained images, said imaging device comprising: an image processing section to perform color detection of said images taken by said image-taking section; a white calibration plate for said image-taking section to perform color correction; and a calibration plate control section for moving said calibration plate into a field of view of said image-taking section, wherein it is determined, depending on changes in surrounding ambient light, whether color information which is sufficient to perform color detection is obtainable from said images taken by said image-taking section, and color correction is performed using said calibration plate when it is determined that said images taken by said image-taking section do not provide color information sufficient to perform color detection, and wherein the determination as to whether color information which is sufficient to perform color detection is obtainable from said images is performed depending on whether each intensity of RGB of an expected object is within a predetermined range.