Abstract: The present invention provides a camera for detecting a driver's drowsiness state, which can increase the number of pixels in an image of a driver's eye even when using an image sensor having the same number of pixels as a conventional camera instead of a high definition camera. The camera of the present invention is, thus, capable of determining whether the driver's eyes are open or closed. The camera for detecting the driver's state according to the present invention includes a cylindrical lens mounted in front of the camera configured so as to enlarge an image in the vertical direction, a convex lens located in the rear of the cylindrical lens, an image sensor for taking an image of a driver's face formed by the cylindrical lens and the convex lens, and an image processor for extracting an eye area from the image of the driver's face and determining whether the driver's eyes are open or closed.

Abstract: The present invention features an apparatus and method for displaying a bird's eye view image of around a vehicle in a relatively simple manner without causing a large amount of processing load, in which a driver can easily perceive a three-dimensional obstacle placed adjacent to a seam.

Abstract: The present invention provides a camera for detecting a driver's drowsiness state, which can increase the number of pixels in an image of a driver's eye even when using an image sensor having the same number of pixels as a conventional camera instead of a high definition camera. The camera of the present invention is, thus, capable of determining whether the driver's eyes are open or closed. The camera for detecting the driver's state according to the present invention includes a cylindrical lens mounted in front of the camera configured so as to enlarge an image in the vertical direction, a convex lens located in the rear of the cylindrical lens, an image sensor for taking an image of a driver's face formed by the cylindrical lens and the convex lens, and an image processor for extracting an eye area from the image of the driver's face and determining whether the driver's eyes are open or closed.

Abstract: The present invention features an apparatus and method for displaying a bird's eye view image of around a vehicle in a relatively simple manner without causing a large amount of processing load, in which a driver can easily perceive a three-dimensional obstacle placed adjacent to a seam.

Abstract: A wavelength locked tunable laser source comprising a tunable laser source, an optical reference source characterized by a frequency spectrum with two combs of discrete components of different spacing, an optical mixing device and feedback control circuitry. An optical output of the laser source is heterodyned with an output of the optical reference source at the optical mixing device to produce an electrical signal in dependence on a difference beat frequency of the two optical outputs, the feedback control circuitry being operative to process the electrical signal to provide a feedback signal which is used to tune the wavelength of the laser source so as to minimize the beat frequency and thereby substantially lock the wavelength of the laser source to a wavelength in the spectrum of the optical reference source. The use of an optical reference source with a spectrum comprising two frequency combs provides a mechanism for determining the absolute frequency to which the laser has been locked.

Abstract: A wavelength locked tunable laser source comprising a tunable laser source, an optical reference source characterized by a frequency spectrum with two combs of discrete components of different spacing, an optical mixing device and feedback control circuitry. An optical output of the laser source is heterodyned with an output of the optical reference source at the optical mixing device to produce an electrical signal in dependence on a difference beat frequency of the two optical outputs, the feedback control circuitry being operative to process the electrical signal to provide a feedback signal which is used to tune the wavelength of the laser source so as to minimize the beat frequency and thereby substantially lock the wavelength of the laser source to a wavelength in the spectrum of the optical reference source. The use of an optical reference source with a spectrum comprising two frequency combs provides a mechanism for determining the absolute frequency to which the laser has been locked.

Abstract: An acoustic pipe length measuring apparatus for measuring the length of a pipe-like member in accordance with the time between the emission of a pulse-like sound wave from a speaker at one end thereof and the collection of sound waves reflected at the other end thereof, by a microphone, and a sonic velocity, in which data of a sonic velocity at a reference temperature of a gas present in the pipe-like member is stored in memory, and a sonic velocity value at a temperature of gas detected in the pipe-like member is computed with the use of the data of a sonic velocity value which is read from the memory in accordance with a kind of gas in the pipe-like member, thereby it is possible to calculate the length of the pipe-like member from the sonic velocity value obtained through the computation and the above-mentioned time.