Patent Document ID: 9876954
Application ID: 14865483
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A panoramic view imaging system, comprising: a first image acquisition assembly comprising a first lens and a first sensor that produce a first image from light in a visible spectrum, where the first image acquisition assembly produces first images at a rate of at least sixty images per second; a rotational position controller that pans the first image acquisition assembly through a range of horizontal imaging positions; an elevation position controller that tilts the first image acquisition assembly through a range of vertical imaging positions; a zoom controller that changes the focal length of the first image acquisition assembly; an image processor that produces a panoramic image from a plurality of images produced by the first image acquisition assembly, where the panoramic image has a field of view greater in both a horizontal dimension and a vertical dimension than a single image acquired by the first image acquisition assembly, and where the panoramic image is produced without using a hemispherical mirror; and a calibration processor that calibrates the panoramic view imaging system by: calibrating the first lens with a pre-characterized sensor; calibrating the first sensor with a pre-characterized lens; calibrating the first lens and the first sensor arranged together in the first image acquisition assembly; or calibrating the first image acquisition assembly mounted in the panoramic view imaging system, where calibrating the panoramic view imaging system facilitates mitigating an effect of an aberration in the first lens or an aberration in the first sensor; a second image acquisition assembly comprising a second lens and a second sensor that produce a second image from electromagnetic radiation in a spectrum outside the visible spectrum, where the second image acquisition assembly produces second images at a rate of at least sixty images per second, and where the calibration processor calibrates the panoramic view imaging system by: calibrating the second lens with a second pre-characterized sensor; calibrating the second sensor with a second pre-characterized lens; calibrating the second lens and the second sensor arranged together in the second image acquisition assembly; or calibrating the second image acquisition assembly mounted in the panoramic view imaging system, where calibrating the panoramic view imaging system facilitates mitigating an effect of an aberration in the second lens or in the second sensor; where calibrating the second lens with the second pre-characterized sensor includes: acquiring a first plurality of second images of at least one member of a second set of target patterns using the second lens and the second pre-characterized sensor, where members of the first plurality of second images are acquired with a first set of calibration parameter values; identifying a first aberration in the second lens from the first plurality of second images; determining a second set of first correction values for mitigating an effect of the first aberration in the second lens; and storing, on a computer-readable medium, the second set of first correction values, the first set of calibration parameter values, and data that relates the second set of first correction values and the first set of calibration parameter values: where calibrating the second sensor with the second pre-characterized lens includes: acquiring a second plurality of second images of at least one member of the second set of target patterns using the second pre-characterized lens and the second sensor, where members of the second plurality of second images are acquired with a second set of calibration parameter values; identifying a second aberration in the second sensor from the second plurality of second images; determining a second set of second correction values for mitigating an effect of the second aberration in the second sensor; and updating a member of the second set of first correction values stored on the computer-readable medium based, at least in part, on the second set of second correction values; where calibrating the second lens and the second sensor arranged together in the second image acquisition assembly includes: acquiring a third plurality of second images of at least one member of the second set of target patterns using the second lens and the second sensor arranged together in the second image acquisition assembly, where members of the third plurality of second images are acquired with a third set of calibration parameter values; identifying a third aberration in the second lens or a third aberration in the second sensor from the third plurality of second images; determining a third set of second correction values for mitigating an effect of the third aberration in the second lens or the third aberration in the second sensor; and updating a member of the second set of first correction values stored on the computer-readable medium based, at least in part, on the third set of second correction values; where calibrating the second image acquisition assembly mounted in the panoramic view imaging system includes: acquiring a fourth plurality of second images of at least one member of the second set of target patterns using the second image acquisition assembly mounted in the panoramic view imaging system, where members of the fourth plurality of second images are acquired with a fourth set of calibration parameter values; identifying a fourth aberration in the second lens or a fourth aberration in the second sensor from the fourth plurality of second images; determining a fourth set of second correction values for mitigating an effect of the fourth aberration in the second lens or the fourth aberration in the second sensor; and updating a member of the second set of first correction values stored on the computer-readable medium based, at least in part, on the fourth set of correction values: producing a second strip of images from two or more second images acquired by the second image acquisition assembly, where producing the second strip of images includes positioning the two or more second images based, at least in part, on pattern matching of an item visible in the overlapping portions of the two or more images; identifying a fifth aberration in the second lens or a fifth aberration in the second sensor from the second strip of images; determining a fifth set of second correction values for mitigating an effect of the fifth aberration in the second lens or the fifth aberration in the second sensor; and updating a member of the second set of first correction values stored on the computer-readable medium based, at least in part, on the fifth set of second correction values; producing a second panoramic image from two or more second strips of images, where producing the second panoramic image includes positioning the two or more second strips of images based, at least in part, on pattern matching of an item visible in the overlapping portions of the two or more second strips of images; identifying a sixth aberration in the second lens or a sixth aberration in the second sensor from the second panoramic image; determining a sixth set of second correction values for mitigating an effect of the sixth aberration in the second lens or the sixth aberration in the second sensor; and updating a member of the second set of first correction values stored on the computer-readable medium based, at least in part, on the sixth set of second correction values: acquiring, under a known set of calibration parameter values, a second test image of a target item having a known size, where the second test image is acquired with the target item positioned at a known location; determining a second effective focal length of the second image acquisition assembly based, at least in part, on a number of elements in the second sensor that receive electromagnetic radiation in the spectrum outside the visible spectrum from the target item while acquiring the second test image, and updating a member of the second set of first correction values stored on the computer-readable medium based on the second effective focal length.