Control of an Underwater Stereo Camera Embedded in a Single Canister Capable of Measuring Distance

거리측정이 가능한 단동형 수중 스테레오 카메라의 제어

This paper presents the vergence control of a parallel stereo camera and its application to underwater stereo camera to enhance the working efficiency of underwater vehicles that equips with manipulators in seabed operation. The stereo camera consists of two parallel lenses mounted on a lateral moving base and two CCD cameras mounted on a longitudinal moving base, which is embedded in a small pressure canister for underwater application. Because the lateral shift is related to the backward shift with a nonlinear relation, only one control input is needed to control the vergence and focus of the camera with a special driving device. We can get a clear stereo vision with the camera for all the range of objects in air and in water, especially in short range objects. The control system of the camera is so simple that we are able to realize a small stereo camera system and to apply it to a stereo vision system for underwater vehicles. This paper also shows how to acquire the distance information of an underwater object with this stereo camera. Whenever we focus on an underwater object with the camera, we can obtain the three-dimensional images and the distance information in real-time.