Broadband bifunctional Luneburg–Fisheye lens based on anisotropic metasurface

Luneburg lenses and Maxwell fisheye lenses possess distinct properties of focusing, well beyond conventional lenses made of uniform materials. In this paper, a planar broadband bifunctional Luneburg-fisheye lens synthesized by gradient anisotropic metasurface is proposed. The proposed anisotropic metasurface is formed by non-resonant anisotropic cells, so that it can independently realize the equivalent gradient refractive indexes of Luneburg lens and Maxwell fisheye lens along orthogonal directions in a broad band, respectively. To verify the performance of the bifunctional lens, a prototype associated with a feeding log-periodic dipole antenna has been fabricated. Experimental results show that the proposed lens functions well over a wide frequency range with high efficiency and low profile, which coincides well with theoretical predictions and simulated results. It is expected that the proposed design will facilitate the applications of multifunctional metadevices in microwave and optical ranges.

A Parametric Method for Remapping and Calibrating Fisheye Images for Glare Analysis

High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging using a fisheye lens has provided new opportunities to evaluate the luminous environment in visual comfort research. For glare analysis, strict calibration is necessary to extract accurate luminous maps to achieve reliable glare results. Most studies have focused on correcting the vignetting effect in HDR imaging during post-calibration. However, the lens projection also contributes to luminous map errors because of its inherent distortion. To date, there is no simple method to correct this distortion phenomenon for glare analysis. This paper presents a parametric-based methodology to correct the projection distortion from fisheye lenses for the specific use in glare analysis. HDR images were captured to examine two devices: a 190° equisolid SIGMA 8 mm F3.5 EX DG fisheye lens mounted on a Canon 5D camera, and a 195° fisheye commercial lens with an unknown projection, mounted on the rear camera of a Samsung Galaxy S7. A mathematical and geometrical model was developed to remap each pixel to correct the projection distortion using Grasshopper and MATLAB. The parametric-based method was validated using Radiance and MATLAB through checking the accuracy of pixel remapping and measuring color distortion with Structural Similarity Index (SSIM). Glare scores were used to compare the results between both devices, which validates the use of mobile phones in photometric research. The results showed that this method can be used to correct HDR images projection distortion for more accurate evaluation of the luminous environment in glare research.

Real-Time Surround-View System for Mobile Robotic System

The paper is devoted to the problem of increasing the adequacy of perception of the environment by the mobile robot operator using remote control. A variant of a real-time surround-view system for mobile robot based on the multiple cameras with fisheye lenses and overlapping fields of view is proposed. A prototype of the circular view system has been developed. In this paper, the key features of the architecture and software of the surround-view system are considered. The algorithms for determining the internal parameters of cameras and distortion correction are researched. New models for describing the distortions of wide-angle and fisheye lens are used. Algorithms for finding the external parameters of cameras, as well as homography matrices using invariant descriptors, are implemented. Static homography matrices are used during stitching images into panorama. Various image-stitching techniques based on the overlapped images region blending are investigated and implemented. The methods of projective geometry and augmented reality were studied to obtain a perspective third-person view. A surface variant for projecting panorama of a surround view is proposed. For the implementation of the software selected cross-platform game engine "Unity". Directions for further research are identified.

Curved Space

This chapter develops the mathematical technology required to understand general relativity by taking the reader from the traditional flat space geometry of Euclid to the geometry of Riemann that describes general curved spaces of arbitrary dimension. The chapter begins with a comparison of Euclidean geometry and spherical geometry. The concept of the geodesic is introduced. The discovery of hyperbolic geometry is discussed. Gaussian curvature is defined. Tensors are introduced. The metric tensor is defined and simple examples are given. This leads to the use of covariant derivatives, expressed in terms of Christoffel symbols, the Riemann curvature tensor and all machinery of Riemannian geometry, with each step illustrated by simple examples. The geodesic equation and the equation of geodesic deviation are derived. The final section considers some applications of curved geometry: configuration space, mirages and fisheye lenses.

FISHEYE PHOTOGRAMMETRY: TESTS AND METHODOLOGIES FOR THE SURVEY OF NARROW SPACES

The research illustrated in this article aimed at identifying a good standard methodology to survey very narrow spaces during 3D investigation of Cultural Heritage. It is an important topic in today’s era of BIM modelling applied to Cultural Heritage. Spaces like staircases, corridors and passages are very common in the architectural or archaeological fields, and obtaining a 3D-oriented survey of those areas can be a very complex task when completeness of the model and high precision are requested. Photogrammetry appears to be the most promising solution in terms of versatility and manoeuvrability also considering the quality of the required data. Fisheye lenses were studied and tested in depth because of their significant advantage in the field of view if compared with rectilinear lenses. This advantage alone can be crucial to reduce the total amount of photos and, as a consequence, to obtain manageable data, to simplify the survey phase and to significantly reduce the elaboration time. In order to overcome the main issue that arise when using fisheye lenses, which is the lack of rules that can be employed to design the survey, a general mathematical formulation to precisely estimate the GSD (Ground Sampling Distance) for every optical projection is presented here. <br><br> A complete survey of a real complex case study was performed in order to test and stress the proposed methodology, and to handle a fisheye-based survey from beginning to end: the photogrammetric survey of the Minguzzi Staircase. It is a complex service spiral-staircase located in the Duomo di Milano with a total height of 25&amp;thinsp;meters and characterized by a narrow walkable space about 70&amp;thinsp;centimetres wide.

FISHEYE LENSES FOR 3D MODELING: EVALUATIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS

Fisheye lenses are becoming more popular in complete image-based modelling projects of small and narrow spaces. The growing interest in fisheye lenses is confirmed by the availability of different commercial software incorporating a fisheye camera model. Such software are now able to carry out the steps of the image processing pipeline in a fully automated way, from camera calibration and orientation to dense matching, surface generation, and orthophoto production. This paper highlights the advantages (and disadvantages) of fisheye lenses when used for 3D modelling projects through different commercial software. The goal is not only a comparison of commercial software, but also an analysis of the additional issues that arise when a fisheye lens is used for 3D modelling. Results confirm that a fisheye lens is suitable for accurate metric documentation, especially when limited space is available. On the other hand, additional issues where found during the camera calibration/image orientation step as well as the texture generation and orthophoto production phases, for which particular attention is required.