Perfect Focused Lens Inc. is a small company that created a focus indicator system for use with motion picture cameras. The device was patented by its author in Canada (2302463), US patent (6160607) and Europe (CA2302463) and received the Canadian Gemini Award for outstanding technical achievement in 2003.
The focus indicator system uses parallax to indicate when an object in the field of view of a motion picture camera is in focus. It has two video cameras mounted on opposite sides of the motion picture camera. Images produced by the video cameras are superimposed on the screen of a monitor. The video cameras rotate in responses to changes in the focus of the lens. Movements of the lens’ focus ring are detected by a transducer. A control circuit monitors the output from the transducer and operates a motor, which rotates the video cameras in opposite senses. The optical axes of the video cameras cross in the plane in which the lens is focused. The person operating as first assistant camera can determine when the motion picture camera is in focus by viewing the monitor. When an object is in focus, the superimposed images from the video cameras coincide. When the object is not in focus the superimposed images are separated. The focus indicator helps the person who is focusing the camera to rapidly and accurately focus on objects in the camera’s field of view. This reduces re-takes caused by inaccurate focusing and makes set up faster. This reduces production costs.
Contributions to the product:
| Conceptualization and Research | Software Development Process |
| Motion Controller Calibration Procedure Video Cameras Synchronization Solution Motion kinematics study and motor control solution | Overall firmware development process Internal coding standard Development tools selection Version control system Bug tracking system |
| Written Specifications and Procedures | Embedded System Architecture and Design |
| Hardware requirements and system I/O mapping Functional specification User interaction and HMI specification | Control system design Hardware design Overall firmware architecture Firmware design documents |
| Code Development | Testing & Debugging |
| Board start-up Device drivers Real-time OS porting PID motion loops implementation and tuning User interface | Firmware debug support Exception/error handler Error logging Testing platform Simple diagnostic tools |
| Technical leadership | Intellectual Property |
| Leading the overall development process Coordination between electronics, mechanical and firmware teams | International patent: EP1084437B1 US Patent: 6160607 Canadian Patent: 2302463 Author: Dan Diaconu |