The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Great Britain Application No. 1707968.2 filed on May 18, 2017, and under 35 U.S.C. § 365 to International Application No. PCT/GB2018/051301 filed on May 14, 2018. The entire contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the imaging of vehicles.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Over time vehicles may suffer external damage, such as scratches and dents, or structural damage. Current methods of assessment of this damage involve manual inspection and recording of the location and nature of visible surface damage. Manual damage inspection is a time consuming process which is susceptible to human error.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a vehicle imaging station comprising:one or more cameras, each camera having an adjustable shutter speed and a field of view, the fields of view of the one or more cameras covering an vehicle imaging volume;a control unit arranged to control the shutter speed of the cameras,a vehicle speed detection device arranged to measure the speed of a vehicle moving through the vehicle imaging volume and to output detected vehicle speed data to the control unit,wherein the control unit is arranged to automatically adjust the shutter speed of the cameras based on the detected vehicle speed data and to cause the cameras to capture one or more images with the adjusted shutter speed.

Thus the invention enables a fast but accurate way of imaging a vehicle, for example for recording the nature and location of visible damage to vehicles. This system enables capture of images for damage assessment of vehicles while the vehicle is on the move, which increases the speed of the process as well as making the system easier to use for a driver of the vehicle to be assessed because there is no need to stop the vehicle during imaging. Adjusting the shutter speed of the cameras automatically based on the detected speed of the vehicle ensures that the quality of the images that are obtained is optimised.

The apparatus may further comprises a light monitoring device including one or more light meters positioned around the vehicle imaging volume.

The control unit may be arranged to take into account light level data when adjusting the shutter speed, in addition to detected vehicle speed data.

The control unit can additionally be arranged to automatically adjust the field of view of the one or more cameras based on the adjusted shutter speed and/or a detected light level within the vehicle imaging volume.

The control unit can additionally be arranged to automatically adjust the ISO (international standards organisation) setting of the one or more cameras based on the adjusted shutter speed and/or a detected light level within the vehicle imaging volume.

Thus the imaging station can be arranged to adjust the ISO, field of view and the shutter speed together to optimise the camera settings to improve the quality of the images captured of a vehicle having a particular speed and taking into account the light level within the vehicle imaging volume.

The vehicle speed detection device may be arranged to monitor the speed of the vehicle at multiple points in the vehicle imaging volume and the control unit may be arranged to dynamically adjust the shutter speed of the cameras accordingly.

The vehicle speed detection device may be arranged to continuously monitor the speed of the vehicle as the vehicle passes through the vehicle imaging volume and the control unit may be arranged to continuously update the shutter speed of the one or more cameras as the vehicle passes through the vehicle imaging volume.

Thus even if the speed of the vehicle changes as it passes through the vehicle imaging volume, the shutter speeds of the one or more cameras will still be adjusted appropriately.

The image capture devices may be mounted on one or more upright supports.

The vehicle speed detection device may be a laser based system. It is preferred that the vehicle speed detection device comprises a laser scanner including a mirror that can be moved to move the laser beam.

An advantage of such systems is that this enables the speed of a vehicle to be measured while the vehicle is moving towards the system and also while the vehicle is moving away from the system.

The vehicle imaging station may include a vehicle length and/or height detection device and the control unit can cause the camera(s) to adjust the number of images captured depending on a detected length and/or height of the vehicle.

Thus a greater number of images can be captured for longer vehicles and less images can be captured for shorter vehicles.

The one or more cameras can be arranged to capture a minimum of at least three but more preferably four images of a relatively short vehicle (for example an average sized car), but may be arranged to capture six or more images of a longer vehicle such as a bus.

A single laser based system may be used for both the vehicle length detection device and the vehicle speed detection device.

The one or more cameras may be mounted on one or more support posts.

The vehicle imaging station may include a booth within which the one or more image capture devices are provided and which has an entrance and an exit for a vehicle.

Locating the image capture devices in a booth can reduce unwanted light interference in the captured images.

The apparatus may further comprises a unique identifier capture system (UICS) for capturing and processing images of unique identifiers associated with vehicle being imaged by the apparatus.

If the image capture devices are located within a booth, at least a portion of the walls of the booth may include a light absorption coating or an antireflection coating.

The apparatus may further comprise one or more light emitting devices for illuminating the vehicle imaging volume.

The light monitoring device may receive light level data from the light meters and adjust the output power of one or more of the light emitting devices depending on the received light level data.

Thus, the light level over the body of the vehicle can be kept constant and even in order to avoid light and dark spots over the vehicle body which may otherwise hide surface imperfections and/or damage.

If the image capture devices are located within a booth, the booth may comprise automatic doors at each end, arranged to open to enable the vehicle to pass in to the booth, to close automatically once the vehicle has entered the booth and to open again to enable the vehicle to exit the booth.

Thus the apparatus is arranged to block out light interference from outside the booth which improves the quality of the images captured.

The plurality of cameras can comprise two sets of cameras arranged to be located on either side of the path of the vehicle to be imaged, wherein each array comprises two or more cameras.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a camera array for imaging a vehicle, the camera array comprising first and second support structures located on either side of a vehicle imaging volume, first and second cameras attached to the first support structure, wherein the first camera is located at a first height and is angled to capture an image of a front of a vehicle as it enters the vehicle imaging volume, and the second camera is located at a second height, greater than the first height and is angled to capture an image of a rear of a vehicle as it exits the vehicle imaging volume second and third cameras attached to the second support structure wherein the third camera is located at the first height and is angled to capture the front of a vehicle as it enters the vehicle imaging volume.

There can be an angle of between 0° and 180° between the first and second cameras and between the third and fourth cameras.

The first height can be between 0.6 m and 1 m.

The second height can be between 1 m and 1.5 m

Thus the respective heights and angles of the cameras enable a substantial part of the bodywork of a vehicle passing through the vehicle imaging volume to be captured whilst minimising the number of cameras required.

The camera array can additionally include a fourth camera located at a third height. The third height can be between 1.5 m and 2 m.

The camera array can additionally include a further support structure arranged to support an additional overhead camera.

Thus the camera array is also arranged to capture one or more images of a roof of a vehicle passing through the vehicle imaging volume.

The skilled person will appreciate that the first and second aspects of the invention can be used in combination in a single vehicle imaging system.

