Vision-based method of determining cargo status by boundary detection
First Claim
1. A method of determining a cargo status of a container having a floor and sidewalls, comprising the steps of:
- producing a digital image encompassing said floor and boundaries between said floor and said sidewalls;
edge-processing said image, and identifying a floor portion of said image bounded by detected edges that correspond to the boundaries between said floor and said sidewalls;
evaluating the detected edges within the identified floor portion of said image to detect edges of cargo; and
determining the cargo status of said container based on said evaluation.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The empty vs. non-empty status of a cargo container is detected based on boundary analysis of a wide-angle image obtained by a monocular vision system. The wide-angle image is warped to remove distortion created by the vision system optics, and the resulting image is edge-processed to identify the boundaries of the container floor. If package boundaries are detected within the floor space, or a large foreground package is blocking the floor boundaries, the cargo status is set to non-empty. If floor boundaries are detected and no package boundaries are detected within the floor space, the cargo status is set to empty.
-
Citations
12 Claims
-
1. A method of determining a cargo status of a container having a floor and sidewalls, comprising the steps of:
-
producing a digital image encompassing said floor and boundaries between said floor and said sidewalls; edge-processing said image, and identifying a floor portion of said image bounded by detected edges that correspond to the boundaries between said floor and said sidewalls; evaluating the detected edges within the identified floor portion of said image to detect edges of cargo; and determining the cargo status of said container based on said evaluation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
Specification