360-DEGREE CAMERA HEAD FOR UNMANNED SURFACE SEA VEHICLE

摘要

A camera head for use in a marine environment having a cylindrical watertight housing, top and bottom plate members closing the cylindrical housing, and a plurality of ports through the vertical wall of the housing and positioned at a regular angular intervals. A transparent pane is sealed over each port, retained in place by compression against a gasket or O-ring by a compression member. A corresponding plurality of cameras are fixedly positioned behind the ports and the angular field of view of each camera is selected to be greater than the angular interval between the ports such that a continuous 360-degree view of the marine environment is always visible. Six 72-degree FOV cameras spaced at regular 60-degree intervals are preferred. The housing contains cooling/ventilation as well as power and image processing and control systems so as to be self contained.