Array cameras incorporating independently aligned lens stacks

1. An array camera, comprising:

a processor;

memory containing an image capture application;

an array camera module, comprising:

at least one carrier in which at least one window is formed;

at least one sensor mounted relative to the at least one carrier so that light passing through the at least one window in the at least one carrier is incident on a plurality of focal planes formed by at least one array of pixels on the at least one sensor;

a plurality of lens barrels mounted to the at least one carrier, so that a lens stack in each lens barrel directs light through the at least one window in the at least one carrier and focuses the light onto one of the plurality of focal planes; and

wherein the image capture application directs the processor to:

obtain image data captured by the array camera module, where the image data forms a set of images captured from different viewpoints;

determine depth estimates using at least a subset of the set of images;

fuse pixels from the set of images using the depth estimates to create a fused image.

2. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the array camera module further comprises a module cap mounted over the lens barrels, where the module cap includes at least one opening that admits light into the lens stacks contained within the plurality of lens barrels, wherein each lens stack in the plurality of lens barrels has a field of view that focuses light so that the plurality of arrays of pixels that form the focal planes sample the same object space within a scene.

3. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the image capture application further directs the processor to:

trigger the capture of image data by the array camera module;

store the obtained image data captured by the array camera module;

select a reference viewpoint relative to the viewpoints of the set of images captured from different viewpoints; and

normalize the set of images to increase similarity of corresponding pixels within the set of images;

wherein the depth estimates are determined for pixel locations in an image from the reference viewpoint.

4. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the fused image has a resolution that is greater than the resolutions of the images in the set of images.

5. The array camera of claim 4 , wherein:

the pixel arrays of the focal planes define spatial resolutions for each pixel array;

the lens stacks focus light onto the focal planes so that the plurality of arrays of pixels that form the focal planes sample the same object space within a scene with sub-pixel offsets that provide sampling diversity; and

the lens stacks have modulation transfer functions that enable contrast to be resolved at a spatial frequency corresponding to a higher resolution than the spatial resolutions of the pixel arrays.

6. The array camera of claim 5 , wherein the image capture application further directs the processor to fuse pixels from the set of images using the depth estimates to create a fused image by:

determining the visibility of the pixels in the set of images from the reference viewpoint by:

identifying corresponding pixels in the set of images using the depth estimates; and

determining that a pixel in a given image is not visible in the reference viewpoint when the pixel fails a photometric similarity criterion determined based upon a comparison of corresponding pixels;

applying scene dependent geometric shifts to the pixels from the set of images that are visible in an image from the reference viewpoint to shift the pixels into the reference viewpoint, where the scene dependent geometric shifts are determined using the current depth estimates; and

fusing the shifted pixels from the set of images to create a fused image from the reference viewpoint having a resolution that is greater than the resolutions of the images in the set of images.

7. The array camera of claim 6 , wherein the image capture application further directs the processor to synthesize an image from the reference viewpoint by performing a super-resolution process based upon the fused image from the reference viewpoint, the set of images captured from different viewpoints, the current depth estimates, and visibility information.

8. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein determining a depth estimate for a given pixel location in the image from the reference viewpoint comprises:

identifying pixels in the at least a subset of the set of images that correspond to the given pixel location in the image from the reference viewpoint based upon expected disparity at a plurality of depths;

comparing similarity of the corresponding pixels identified at each of the plurality of depths; and

selecting the depth from the plurality of depths at which the identified corresponding pixels have the highest degree of similarity as a depth estimate for the given pixel location in the image from the reference viewpoint.

9. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the at least one carrier is a single carrier.

10. The array camera of claim 9 , wherein:

the at least one sensor is a plurality of sensors;

each of the plurality of sensors is mounted to a first side of the single carrier;

each of the plurality of lens barrels is mounted to a second opposite side of the single carrier; and

the plurality of sensors comprises a separate sensor for each of the plurality of lens barrels.

11. The array camera of claim 9 , wherein:

the at least one sensor is a plurality of sensors;

the plurality of sensors is mounted to a substrate and the single carrier is mounted in a fixed location relative to the substrate; and

the plurality of sensors is positioned proximate a first side of the single carrier and each of the plurality of lens barrels is mounted to a second opposite side of the single carrier.

12. The array camera of claim 9 , wherein the at least one sensor is a single sensor.

13. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein at least one spectral filter is mounted within at least one window in the at least one carrier.

14. The array camera of claim 13 , wherein the at least one spectral filter is selected from the group consisting of a color filter and an IR-cut filter.

15. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein at least one spectral filter is applied to an array of pixels forming a focal plane on at least one of the sensors.

16. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein at least one lens stack includes at least one spectral filter.

17. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein:

the plurality of images comprises image data in multiple color channels; and

the image capture application directs the processor to compare similarity of pixels that are identified as corresponding at each of the plurality of depths by comparing the similarity of the pixels that are identified as corresponding in each of a plurality of color channels at each of the plurality of depths.

18. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of lens barrels and the plurality of focal planes form an M×N array of cameras.

19. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the array camera module further comprises an interface device in communication with the at least one sensor, where the interface device multiplexes data received from the sensors and provides an interface via which the processor reads multiplexed data and via which the processor controls the imaging parameters of the focal planes formed by the plurality of pixel arrays.

20. The array camera of claim 19 , wherein:

the interface device is mounted to the carrier and the carrier includes circuit traces that carry signals between the interface device and the at least one sensor; and

a common clock signal coordinates the capture of image data by the at least one sensor and readout of the image data from the at least one sensor via the interface device.

21. The array camera of claim 19 , wherein:

the at least one sensor and the interface device are mounted to a substrate, which includes circuit traces that carry signals between the interface device and the at least one sensor;

the at least one carrier is mounted in a fixed location relative to the at least one sensor; and

a common clock signal coordinates the capture of image data by the at least one sensor and readout of the image data from the at least one sensor via the interface device.

22. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the module cap is mounted to the at least one carrier so that a small air gap exists between the module cap and the top of the lens barrels and a small bead of adhesive seals the air gaps between the module cap and the lens barrels.