Orientation calculation apparatus, orientation calculation method, imaging apparatus including orientation calculation apparatus, and method for controlling same

1 . An orientation calculation apparatus comprising one or more processors and/or circuitry which functions as:

an obtaining unit configured to obtain detection signals from a first sensor configured to detect movement of a moving apparatus and a second sensor configured to detect the movement of the moving apparatus on a same axis as that of the movement detected by the first sensor;

a first calculation unit configured to calculate first orientation information about the moving apparatus, by a first method, based on an output of the first sensor;

a second calculation unit configured to calculate second orientation information about the moving apparatus, by a second method different from the first method, based on the output of the first sensor and an output of the second sensor; and

a first determination unit configured to determine a state of movement of the moving apparatus based on the output of the second sensor, wherein the second sensor of which error components in a low frequency band or variations in the error components are smaller and noise components in the high frequency band are greater than those of the first sensor,

when the state of movement of the moving apparatus obtained based on the output of the second sensor is determined to be a first state, an orientation information about the moving apparatus is obtained by the first method based on the output of the first sensor, and

when the state of movement of the moving apparatus obtained based on the output of the second sensor is determined to be a second state where the movement is greater than in the first state, the orientation information about the moving apparatus is obtained by the second method based on the output of the first sensor and the output of the second sensor.

2 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the orientation information obtained by the first method and the orientation information obtained by the second method each include angle information about a yaw angle, a pitch angle, and a roll angle of the moving apparatus with respect to a predetermined orientation.

3 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the first sensor is configured to detect the movement of the moving apparatus on three axes, and

wherein the second sensor is configured to detect the movement of the moving apparatus on three axes.

4 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first calculation unit is configured to calculate the first orientation information based on a signal obtained by applying low-pass filter processing to the output of the first sensor.

5 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first method is calculating the orientation information based on a signal obtained by subtracting an average of the output of the first sensor in a predetermined period from the output of the first sensor.

6 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the first sensor is an angular velocity sensor configured to detect angular velocity of the movement of the moving apparatus, and

wherein the second sensor is at least either an acceleration sensor configured to detect acceleration of the movement of the moving apparatus or a geomagnetic sensor configured to detect a change in a direction of the moving apparatus.

7 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 6 ,

wherein the orientation information obtained by the first method and the orientation information obtained by the second method each indicate a yaw angle, a pitch angle, and a roll angle of the moving apparatus,

wherein the second sensor includes the geomagnetic sensor and the acceleration sensor, and

wherein the second method is configured to calculate the yaw angle based on an output of the geomagnetic sensor and an output of the angular velocity sensor, and calculate the pitch angle and the roll angle based on an output of the acceleration sensor and the output of the angular velocity sensor.

8 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first state is a state where the moving apparatus is stationary.

9 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second method is calculating the second orientation information by inputting a signal based on the output of the first sensor and a signal based on the output of the second sensor to a Kalman filter.

10 . An imaging apparatus comprising:

an image sensor configured to capture an object image formed by an imaging optical system; and

the orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the orientation of the moving apparatus for the orientation calculation apparatus to calculate is that of the imaging apparatus.

11 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 10 ,

wherein the processor(s) and/or circuitry further functions as a recording control unit configured to control recording of an image signal output by the image sensor, and

wherein the recording control unit is configured to record the image signal and the orientation of the imaging apparatus in synchronization with each other.

12 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising the first sensor and the second sensor.

13 . A moving body comprising:

a driving unit; and

the orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the orientation of the moving apparatus for the orientation calculation apparatus to calculate is that of the moving body.

14 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein one or more processors and/or circuitry further function as a second determination unit configured to determine an orientation of the moving apparatus based on a result of determination made by the first determination unit,

when the first determination unit determines that the moving apparatus is in the first state, the second determination unit determines an orientation information calculated by the first calculation unit to be the orientation of the moving apparatus, and

when the first determination unit determines that the moving apparatus is in the second state, the second determination unit determines an orientation information calculated by the second calculation unit to be the orientation of the moving apparatus.

15 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first calculation unit calculates the first orientation information about the moving apparatus by the first method without using the output of the second sensor.

16 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein depending on a state of the moving apparatus determined based on the output of the second sensor, a sensor to be used for calculating the orientation information of the moving apparatus is changed.

17 . The orientation calculation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the output of the first sensor includes less noise in a high frequency band and at least either a greater error component in a low frequency band or a greater variation in the error component than in the output of the second sensor.

18 . A method for controlling an orientation calculation apparatus configured to calculate information indicating an orientation of a moving apparatus, the method comprising:

obtaining detection signals from a first sensor configured to detect movement of the moving apparatus and a second sensor configured to detect the movement of the moving apparatus on a same axis as that of the movement detected by the first sensor;

calculating information indicating a first orientation of the moving apparatus, by a first method, as a first calculation based on an output of the first sensor;

calculating information indicating a second orientation of the moving apparatus as a second calculation by a second method different the first method, based on the output of the first sensor and an output of the second sensor; and

determining a state of movement of the moving apparatus as a determination based on the output of the second sensor, wherein the second sensor of which error components in a low frequency band or variations in the error components are smaller and noise components in the high frequency band are greater than those of the first sensor,

when the state of movement of the moving apparatus obtained based on the output of the second sensor is determined to be a first state, an orientation information about the moving apparatus is obtained by the first method based on the output of the first sensor, and

when the state of movement of the moving apparatus obtained based on the output of the second sensor is determined to be a second state where the movement is greater than in the first state, the orientation information about the moving apparatus is obtained by the second method based on the output of the first sensor and the output of the second sensor.