Multi-camera system and method of use
First Claim
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1. A method for aircraft operation comprising, at an aircraft comprising a set of cameras:
- selecting a first camera group from the set of cameras, the first camera group comprising a lateral camera and a first upward-facing camera, wherein a lateral camera view region and a first upward-facing camera view region each comprise a first overlapped subset;
selecting a second camera group from the set of cameras, the second camera group comprising the first upward-facing camera and a second upward-facing camera, wherein the first upward-facing camera view region and a second upward-facing camera view region each comprise a second overlapped subset;
sampling a set of images, comprising;
at the first upward-facing camera, sampling a first image at a first time;
at the second upward-facing camera, sampling a second image substantially at the first time; and
at the lateral camera, sampling a third image substantially at the first time;
based on the first camera group, selecting a first dataset comprising a first region of the first image and a region of the third image, wherein the first region of the first image and the region of the third image are each representative of a first obstacle within the first overlapped subset;
based on the first dataset, determining a lateral clearance between the aircraft and the first obstacle;
based on the second camera group, selecting a second dataset comprising a second region of the first image and a region of the second image, wherein the second region of the first image and the region of the second image are each representative of a second obstacle within the second overlapped subset;
based on the second dataset, determining an upward clearance between the aircraft and the second obstacle; and
based on the lateral clearance and the upward clearance, controlling flight of the aircraft.
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Abstract
A method for operating a system including a plurality of cameras, the method including: selecting a subset of the cameras, determining a subset of pixels captured by the camera subset, determining a pixel depth associated with each pixel of the pixel subset, and controlling system operation based on the pixel depth.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for aircraft operation comprising, at an aircraft comprising a set of cameras:
- selecting a first camera group from the set of cameras, the first camera group comprising a lateral camera and a first upward-facing camera, wherein a lateral camera view region and a first upward-facing camera view region each comprise a first overlapped subset;
selecting a second camera group from the set of cameras, the second camera group comprising the first upward-facing camera and a second upward-facing camera, wherein the first upward-facing camera view region and a second upward-facing camera view region each comprise a second overlapped subset; sampling a set of images, comprising; at the first upward-facing camera, sampling a first image at a first time; at the second upward-facing camera, sampling a second image substantially at the first time; and at the lateral camera, sampling a third image substantially at the first time; based on the first camera group, selecting a first dataset comprising a first region of the first image and a region of the third image, wherein the first region of the first image and the region of the third image are each representative of a first obstacle within the first overlapped subset; based on the first dataset, determining a lateral clearance between the aircraft and the first obstacle; based on the second camera group, selecting a second dataset comprising a second region of the first image and a region of the second image, wherein the second region of the first image and the region of the second image are each representative of a second obstacle within the second overlapped subset; based on the second dataset, determining an upward clearance between the aircraft and the second obstacle; and based on the lateral clearance and the upward clearance, controlling flight of the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- selecting a first camera group from the set of cameras, the first camera group comprising a lateral camera and a first upward-facing camera, wherein a lateral camera view region and a first upward-facing camera view region each comprise a first overlapped subset;
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13. A method for aircraft operation comprising, at an aircraft comprising a set of cameras:
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based on an aircraft traversal vector, selecting a camera group from the set of cameras, the camera group comprising;
a first camera, a second camera, and a third camera, wherein;a first camera view region, a second camera view region, and a third camera view region each comprise an overlapped subset; a first angle between a first camera central view axis and a third camera central view axis is greater than a threshold angle; and a second angle between a second camera central view axis and the third camera central view axis is greater than the threshold angle; sampling a set of images, comprising; at the first camera, sampling a first image; substantially concurrent with sampling the first image, at the second camera, sampling a second image; and substantially concurrent with sampling the first image, at the third camera, sampling a third image; based on the camera group, selecting a first dataset comprising a region of the first image, a region of the second image, and a first region of the third image, wherein the region of the first image, the region of the second image, and the first region of the third image are each representative of a first obstacle within the overlapped subset; based on the first dataset, determining a first obstacle clearance between the aircraft and the first obstacle; selecting a second dataset comprising a second region of the third image, wherein the second region of the third image is representative of a second obstacle outside the overlapped subset; based on the second dataset, determining a second obstacle clearance between the aircraft and the second obstacle; and based on the first obstacle clearance and the second obstacle clearance, controlling flight of the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification