Released by Toshiba:

Toshiba Develops Active Camera System to Track High-Speed Objects

Visual sensor follows objects moving at up to 100km/hour – even in ambient light conditions

Toshiba Corporation has developed an active camera system that can track a fast moving object in ambient light conditions. The new sensor overcomes limitations seen in present systems, which typically require a strong light source to capture image sequences at high frame rates.

Toshiba expects the camera to be used in home and office environments, as part of robots, intelligent video cameras or potentially surveillance cameras.

How does it work?
Toshiba has adopted a two-fold approach in developing the camera, concentrating on its image capture system and object-tracking algorithm.

Improvements in the sensitivity of the imaging system have made it possible to capture 320x128-pixel images at a rate of 1000 frames per second, even under normal fluorescent lighting.

The object-tracking algorithm, based on Toshiba’s established motion-estimation technique, analyses information as a high frame-rate image sequence. This enables it to track an object moving at 100km an hour, placed 15 metres away from the camera. The algorithm runs on a dual-processor PC, and allows real-time object tracking and image processing.

What’s next?
Toshiba will now start to develop a system LSI to bring the camera system to robots, as well as to man-machine interfaces that recognise movements such as hand signals. Toshiba plans to commercialise a system LSI for high performance image processing, including an active camera system by 2006.

About Toshiba
Toshiba Corporation is a leader in information and communications systems,
electronic components, consumer products and power systems. The company's integration of these wide-ranging capabilities assures its position as an innovator in advanced components, products and systems. Toshiba has more than 166,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over US$47 billion (2002).
www.toshiba.co.uk