Image surveillance and reporting technology

• US 10,089,843 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2015
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Trundle, Stephen Scott, McCarthy, Jr., Robert J., Martin, Jean-Paul, Slavin, Alison Jane, Hutz, David James
• Primary Examiner(s): Ren, Zhubing
• Application Number:
  US14/873,508
• Publication Number:
  US 20160027269A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,096 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/196 using television cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19613 Recognition of a predetermined image pattern or behaviour pattern indicating theft or intrusion
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19634 Electrical details of the system, e.g. component blocks for carrying out specific functions
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19639 Details of the system layout
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1966 Wireless systems, other than telephone systems, used to communicate with a camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/008 Alarm setting and unsetting, i.e. arming or disarming of the security system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/14 Central alarm receiver or annunciator arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/046 prevention of tampering with detection circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/188 Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253

Abstract

Image surveillance and reporting technology, in which an event that is indicative of potential physical activity within an area corresponding to a location of a camera unit is detected. In response to detection of the event, the camera unit is controlled to capture one or more images of the area corresponding to the location of the camera unit. The one or more images captured by the camera unit are analyzed to determine whether the one or more images include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area corresponding to the location of the camera unit. The one or more images are handled based on the determination of whether the one or more images include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area corresponding to the location of the camera unit.

Claims

1. A camera unit comprising:

a camera configured to capture images of an area proximate to where the camera unit is located;

an illumination source configured to provide illumination over the area proximate to where the camera unit is located within a field of view of the camera, thereby illuminating objects within the area proximate to where the camera unit is located;

a memory configured to store one or more images captured by the camera;

a motion sensor configured to detect motion in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located within the field of view of the camera;

a battery configured to provide power to components of the camera unit;

an input/output port configured to provide a communication interface through which the camera unit sends and receives wireless communications; and

at least one processor configured to control operations of the camera unit, the operations comprising;

receiving, through the input/output port, a wireless communication that indicates sensor activity detected by at least one sensor located within a property in which the camera unit is located;

detecting a motion event based on output from the motion sensor of the camera unit;

detecting a combination of multiple events based on the wireless communication that indicates sensor activity detected by at least one sensor located within the property in which the camera unit is located and the motion event output from the motion sensor of the camera unit;

detecting potential presence of a person in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located based on the detection of the combination of multiple events;

based on the detection of potential presence of a person in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located, controlling the camera to capture one or more images of the area proximate to where the camera unit is located;

accessing one or more user-defined rules that indicate (i) a threshold number of images captured by the camera that are to be transmitted to a remote monitoring server over a particular time period;

determining, for a present time period associated with the potential presence of the person in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located, a number of images captured by the camera that have previously been transmitted to the remote monitoring server;

determining whether to transmit at least one of the one or more images captured by the camera over the present time period based on the number of images captured by the camera that have been previously been transmitted to the remote monitoring server over the present time period and the threshold number of images captured by the camera that are to be transmitted to the remote monitoring server over a particular time period; and

based on a determination to transmit at least one of the one or more images captured by the camera, transmitting, from the camera unit through the input/output port to the remote monitoring server, at least one wireless communication that includes at least one of the one or more images captured by the camera.

2. The camera unit of claim 1, further comprising an illumination sensor that is configured to sense a level of light in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located, wherein the operations further comprise determining whether to control the camera to capture a new reference image based on the level of light in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located sensed by the illumination sensor.

3. The camera unit of claim 1:

wherein the one or more images captured by the camera comprise multiple images;

wherein determining whether to transmit at least one of the one or more images captured by the camera comprises determining to transmit a subset of the multiple images to a remote monitoring server; and

wherein transmitting, from the camera unit through the input/output port, at least one wireless communication that includes at least one of the one or more images captured by the camera comprises transmitting, to the remote monitoring server, the subset of the multiple images.

4. The camera unit of claim 1, wherein determining whether to transmit at least one of the one or more images captured by the camera comprises accessing one or more security system rules that control whether the one or more images captured by the camera are transmitted to a remote monitoring server and determining whether to transmit at least one of the one or more images captured by the camera based on the one or more security system rules.

5. The camera unit of claim 4:

wherein accessing one or more security system rules that control whether the one or more images captured by the camera are transmitted to the remote monitoring server comprises accessing a security system rule that controls the one or more images captured by the camera unit to be transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on the security system detecting an alarm event that results in a notification to a central monitoring station and that controls the one or more images captured by the camera unit to be withheld from the remote monitoring server based on the security system detecting an absence of the alarm event that results in the notification to the central monitoring station; and

wherein determining whether to transmit at least one of the one or more images captured by the camera based on the one or more security system rules comprises determining whether the security system detects the alarm event that results in the notification to the central monitoring station.

6. The camera unit of claim 4:

wherein accessing one or more security system rules that control whether the one or more images captured by the camera are transmitted to the remote monitoring server comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by a combination of at least one motion sensor that is separate from the camera unit and at least one door contact sensor that is separate from the camera unit and that senses whether or not a door of the monitored property is in an open or closed position; and

wherein determining whether to transmit at least one of the one or more images captured by the camera based on the one or more security system rules comprises determining whether the at least one motion sensor has detected at least one motion sensor event after the camera captured the one or more images and determining whether the at least one door contact sensor has detected at least one door contact sensor event after the camera captured the one or more images.

7. The camera unit of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on a determination not to transmit the one or more images captured by the camera unit to the remote monitoring server, determining whether to discard the one or more images captured by the camera unit based on application of one or more security system rules; and

based a determination not to discard the one or more images captured by the camera unit, maintaining the one or more images captured by the camera unit in the memory and continuing to monitor for events sensed by the at least one sensor located within the property.

8. The camera unit of claim 1:

wherein the motion sensor comprises a passive InfraRed sensor that is configured to measure InfraRed light radiating from objects in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located; and

wherein detecting the motion event comprises detecting motion in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor.

9. The camera unit of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

analyzing the one or more images captured by the camera unit to determine whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area proximate to where the camera unit is located.

10. The camera unit of claim 9, wherein analyzing the one or more images captured by the camera unit to determine whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area proximate to where the camera unit is located comprises:

extracting a subset of image data from each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit;

comparing the extracted subset of image data from each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit to image data from a reference image captured by the camera unit;

detecting portions of each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit that have a threshold difference from a corresponding portion of the reference image; and

determining whether each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit includes image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area proximate to where the camera unit is located based on the detected portions of each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit that have a threshold difference from a corresponding portion of the reference image.

11. The camera unit of claim 10:

wherein extracting the subset of image data from each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit comprises extracting luminance data from each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit; and

wherein comparing the extracted subset of image data from each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit to image data from a reference image captured by the camera unit comprises comparing the extracted luminance data from each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit to luminance data from a reference image captured by the camera unit.

12. The camera unit of claim 10:

wherein detecting portions of each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit that have a threshold difference from a corresponding portion of the reference image comprises detecting pixels within each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit that have a threshold difference from a corresponding pixel within the reference image; and

wherein determining whether each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area proximate to where the camera unit is located based on the detected portions of each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit that have a threshold difference from a corresponding portion of the reference image comprises;

determining a number of pixels within each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit detected as having a threshold difference from a corresponding pixel within the reference image, and

determining whether each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area proximate to where the camera unit is located based on the determined number of pixels within each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit detected as having a threshold difference from a corresponding pixel within the reference image.

13. The camera unit of claim 10:

wherein detecting portions of each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit that have a threshold difference from a corresponding portion of the reference image comprises detecting pixels within each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit that have a threshold difference from a corresponding pixel within the reference image; and

wherein determining whether each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area proximate to where the camera unit is located based on the detected portions of each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit that have a threshold difference from a corresponding portion of the reference image comprises;

analyzing a shape of the pixels within each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit detected as having a threshold difference from a corresponding pixel within the reference image; and

determining whether each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area proximate to where the camera unit is located based on the analysis of the shape of the pixels within each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit detected as having a threshold difference from a corresponding pixel within the reference image.

14. The camera unit of claim 10, wherein the camera unit includes an illumination sensor that is configured to sense a level of light in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located and wherein the operations further comprise determining whether to control the camera unit to capture a new reference image based on the level of light in the area proximate to where the camera unit is located sensed by the illumination sensor.

15. The camera unit of claim 10, wherein comparing the extracted subset of image data from each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit to image data from the reference image captured by the camera unit comprises:

determining a time of day corresponding to capture of the one or more images captured by the camera unit;

selecting, from among multiple, different reference images that each correspond to a particular time of day, a particular reference image that corresponds to the determined time of day; and

comparing the extracted subset of image data from each of the one or more images captured by the camera unit to image data from the particular reference image that corresponds to the determined time of day.

16. The camera unit of claim 1:

wherein receiving, through the input/output port, the wireless communication that indicates sensor activity detected by at least one sensor located within the property in which the camera unit is located comprises receiving, through the input/output port, a wireless communication that indicates entry into the property based on sensor activity detected by a door or window sensor; and

wherein detecting the combination of multiple events based on the wireless communication that indicates sensor activity detected by at least one sensor located within the property in which the camera unit is located and the motion event output from the motion sensor of the camera unit comprises detecting the entry into the property from the wireless communication in combination with the motion event occurring after the entry into the property.

17. The camera unit of claim 1:

wherein receiving, through the input/output port, the wireless communication that indicates sensor activity detected by at least one sensor located within the property in which the camera unit is located comprises receiving, through the input/output port, a command sent by a security system panel in response to the security system panel detecting a door opening event; and

wherein the operations further comprise checking output of the motion sensor more frequently based on receiving the command.

18. The camera unit of claim 1:

wherein receiving, through the input/output port, the wireless communication that indicates sensor activity detected by at least one sensor located within the property in which the camera unit is located comprises receiving, through the input/output port, a command sent by a security system panel in response to the security system panel detecting a door opening event; and

wherein the operations further comprise lowering a sensitivity threshold used to detect motion in output of the motion sensor based on receiving the command.