System and method of navigation with captured images

• US 20060244830A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 11/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Mendonca, Paulo R., Bhotika, Rahul, Davenport, David M., Shaffer, Glenn R.
• Application Number:
  US11/479,559
• Publication Number:
  US 20060244830A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 2205/04 Satellite based navigation systems, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/021 Measuring and recording of train speed
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/025 Absolute localisation, e.g. providing geodetic coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/40 Handling position reports or trackside vehicle data
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/53 for trackside elements or systems, e.g. trackside supervision of trackside control system conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/57 for vehicles or trains, e.g. trackside supervision of train conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/73 using feature-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/245 by locating a pattern; Special marks for positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a method that relates to mobile platform navigation through landmark recognition. The method including capturing images with at least one imaging device on the mobile platform and recognizing the captured images by comparing the captured images to images of landmarks stored in a database of location labeled landmark images. The method further including, navigating the mobile platform through tracking a location of the mobile platform relative to locations of the location labeled landmark images.

Claims

1. A method of mobile platform navigation through landmark recognition, comprising:

capturing images with at least one imaging device at the mobile platform;

recognizing the captured images by comparing the captured images to images of landmarks stored in a database of location labeled landmark images; and

navigating the mobile platform through tracking a location of the mobile platform relative to locations of the location labeled landmark images.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

augmenting the landmark recognition navigation with an on-board global positioning system (GPS).

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

incorporating dead reckoning to enhance navigational accuracy.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

anticipating recognition of upcoming landmarks by predicting a future location of the mobile platform.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the predicting of a future location of the mobile platform is calculated with Kalman filters.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating ground speed by processing captured images.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the images include evenly spaced railroad ties.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

capturing images outside the visible wavelengths.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the wavelengths captured are infrared.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

illuminating landmarks by projecting radiation from the mobile platform.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing captured images to recognize text.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the images captured are video images.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recognizing projecting landmarks that project radiation capturable by the imaging device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

decoding information encoded in the radiation that is projected by the projecting landmarks.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

activating the projecting landmarks in response to the mobile platform being in a vicinity of the projecting landmarks.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

varying image capturing parameters to adapt to a vicinity being traveled.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

requesting image capturing parameters with an input device.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the mobile platform is a locomotive.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying specifically which track among a plurality of tracks the mobile platform is actually on.

20. A computer program product for providing navigation of a mobile platform in a computer environment, the computer program product comprising a storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for facilitating a method comprising:

receiving images from at least one imaging device at the mobile platform;

recognizing the captured images by comparing the captured images to images of landmarks stored in a database of location labeled landmark images; and

navigating the mobile platform through tracking a location of the mobile platform relative to the locations of the location labeled landmark images recognized.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

augmenting the landmark recognition navigation with an on-board global positioning system (GPS).

22. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

anticipating recognition of upcoming landmarks by predicting a future location of the mobile platform.

23. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

predicting a future location of the mobile platform with Kalman filters.

24. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

calculating location of the mobile platform with dead reckoning between recognition of landmarks.

25. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

calculating ground speed by processing images of evenly spaced railroad ties.

26. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

recognizing text in the capture images.

27. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

decoding information encoded in the received images.

28. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

varying image capturing parameters to adapt to a vicinity being traveled.

29. A navigational system for a mobile platform, comprising:

an imaging device at the mobile platform for capturing images of landmarks;

a landmark database for storing a plurality of location labeled landmark images;

a processor for comparing and recognizing the received landmark images to the stored landmark images and tracking a location of the mobile platform based on the known locations of recognized landmarks.

30. The navigational system of claim 29, further comprising:

a global positioning system (GPS) for augmenting the landmark recognition based navigational system.