Systems and methods for detecting threats and contraband in cargo

• US 10,302,807 B2
• Filed: 02/13/2017
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rapiscan Systems Incorporated (OSI Systems Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Rapiscan Systems Incorporated (OSI Systems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Yu, Songyang, Chittineni, Rupa, McCarthy, Mark J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Baker, Charlotte M
• Application Number:
  US15/431,011
• Publication Number:
  US 20170242148A1
• Time in Patent Office: 834 Days
• Field of Search: 382103
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 17/00 Methods or apparatus for determining the capacity of containers or cavities, or the volume of solid bodies measuring linear dimensions to determine volume G01B
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 22/00 Methods or apparatus for measuring volume of fluids or fluent solid material, not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2223/401 image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2223/639 material in a container
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 23/04 and forming images of the material
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/22 Active interrogation, i.e. by irradiating objects or goods using external radiation sources, e.g. using gamma rays or cosmic rays
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/271 using a network, e.g. a remote expert, accessing remote data or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/24 Classification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10116 X-ray image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/60 Analysis of geometric attributes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/62 of area, perimeter, diameter or volume
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/462 Salient features, e.g. scale invariant feature transforms [SIFT]
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/757 Matching configurations of points or features
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/424 Postal images, e.g. labels or addresses on parcels or postal envelopes

Abstract

The present specification discloses systems and methods for identifying and reporting contents of a tanker, container or vehicle. Programmatic tools are provided to assist an operator in analyzing contents of a tanker, container or vehicle. Manifest data is automatically imported into the system for each shipment, thereby helping security personnel to quickly determine container contents. In case of a mismatch between container contents shown by manifest data and the contents as ascertained from the scanning system, the container or vehicle may be withheld for further inspection.

Claims

1. A method for verifying contents of a tanker, the method comprising:

at a first physical location, using an X-ray scanner to generate an X-ray image;

from the first physical location, transmitting the X-ray image to a second physical location remote from the first physical location;

at the second physical location, receiving the X-ray image;

at the second physical location, processing the X ray image to detect a presence of contents within the tanker;

at the second physical location, processing the X ray image to determine a capacity of the tanker;

at the second physical location, determining a degree of fullness of the tanker based on said contents; and

at the second physical location, processing the X-ray image to characterize the contents and generate an output indicative of the contents.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the X-ray image to detect the presence of contents within the tanker comprises using a pixel attenuation value threshold.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the pixel attenuation value threshold is 2,500 for a low-energy channel of a 16-bit normalized dual-energy scanned image.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the X-ray image to determine the capacity of the tanker comprises determining a bottom edge and a top edge of the tanker.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising processing the X-ray image to determine whether a lower edge of the contents in the tanker coincides with the bottom edge of the tanker.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising using a pixel attenuation value threshold for determining the top edge of the tanker.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the pixel attenuation value threshold is 10,000for a low-energy channel of a 16-bit normalized dual-energy scanned image.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a degree of fullness of the tanker comprises calculating a quantity of the contents relative to the capacity of the tanker.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the X-ray image to characterize the contents comprises using X-ray attenuation characteristics for analyzing the contents.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the X-ray image to characterize the contents comprises determining whether the contents comprise at least one of water, regular gasoline, premium gasoline, or diesel.

11. A method of identifying firearms within a radiographic image of a conveyance carrying the firearms, the method comprising:

at a first physical location, using an X-ray scanner to generate the radiographic image;

from the first physical location, transmitting the radiographic image to a second physical location remote from the first physical location;

at the second physical location, receiving the radiographic image;

at the second physical location, obtaining from a database a template image of a firearm;

at the second physical location, comparing a set of predefined features of the template image of the firearm with the radiographic image to obtain image regions on the radiographic image comprising features matching the predefined features;

at the second physical location, filtering the obtained image regions of the radiographic image to obtain a final set of image regions;

at the second physical location, classifying the final set of image regions to determine one or more regions indicating a presence of a firearm; and

at the second physical location, marking the one or more regions on the radiographic image to communicate an alarm.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the template image of the firearm is a radiographic image of a firearm with minimal background and no clutter.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the template image of the firearm is based on the type of conveyance in which such firearm is transported.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the conveyance is at least one of a cargo container, a vehicle, a trailer, a boat, a truck, a bus, or a truck driver cab.