| US 7,496,293 B2 | ||
| Versatile camera for various visibility conditions | ||
| Hanan Shamir, Haifa (Israel); and Yossi Yaeli, Haifa (Israel) | ||
| Assigned to Elbit Systems Ltd., Haifa (Israel) | ||
| Filed on Jul. 15, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/182,302. | ||
| Application 11/182302 is a continuation in part of application No. PCT/IL2004/000038, filed on Jan. 14, 2004. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0291849 A1, Dec. 28, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. G03B 41/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 396—333 [348/216; 348/262; 348/342] | 44 Claims |
| 1. Versatile camera for various visibility conditions, comprising:
at least two sensors for capturing images of a scene and providing a digital signal representation of said images;
an optical and routing module for receiving incoming rays from said scene and routing said incoming rays toward said at least
two sensors, respectively; and
a processor for merging in registration and processing the images provided by said at least two sensors,
wherein at least one of said at least two sensors comprises a good visibility conditions sensor having low sensitivity and
high resolution in a first wavelength range;
wherein at least another of said at least two sensors comprises a poor visibility conditions sensor having high sensitivity
and low resolution in a second wavelength range at least partially overlapping said first wavelength range; and
wherein said optical and routing module directs, for the partially overlapping portion of said first wavelength range and
said second wavelength range a small-portion of the light intensity of said incoming rays toward said good visibility conditions
sensor, said optical and routing module further directing a large-portion of the light intensity of said incoming rays toward
said poor visibility conditions sensor, and for the non-overlapping portion of said second wavelength range, said optical
and routing module directs said incoming rays toward said poor visibility conditions sensor.
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