MODULAR INFRARED CAMERA SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20140313343A1
• Filed: 08/23/2013
• Published: 10/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teledyne FLIR LLC (Teledyne Technologies Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: FLIR Systems, Inc. (Teledyne Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Frank, Jeffrey D., Deal, Mary L., Richardson, Patrick B., Richards, Austin A., Hgasten, Nicholas, Woolaway, James T., Chappez, Yves
• Granted Patent: US 10,425,595 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/164
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10048 Infrared image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20061 Hough transform
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30196 Human being; Person
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30252 Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/90 Dynamic range modification of images or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/00 Image analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/143 Sensing or illuminating at different wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/10 Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/08 responsive to the presence of persons in a body of water, e.g. a swimming pool; responsive to an abnormal condition of a body of water
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/20 for generating image signals from infrared radiation only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Modular infrared imaging systems and methods disclosed herein, in accordance with one or more embodiments, provide for capturing an infrared image, sensing a mode of operation, processing the captured infrared image according to the sensed mode of operation, generating a processed infrared image based on the sensed mode of operation, and displaying the processed infrared image.

Claims

1. An infrared camera system comprising:

an image capture component adapted to capture an infrared image; and

a mode sensing component adapted to automatically sense an intended application for the infrared camera system corresponding to a mode of operation and provide a first control signal indicative of the sensed mode of operation for processing the infrared image.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein if the sensed mode of operation comprises a vehicle or cycle application, then the captured image is to be processed to provide a basic monochrome display with selected automatic gain control parameters and pedestrian and/or animal detection enabled.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein if the sensed mode of operation comprises a maritime application, then the captured image is to be processed to provide a red hue display and with maritime automatic gain control selections.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein if the sensed mode of operation comprises a handheld application or a default mode of operation, then the captured image is to be processed to provide an absolute temperature readout and/or a low power mode of operation.

5. The system of claim 1, comprising:

a processing component adapted to receive the first control signal from the mode sensing component, process the captured infrared image according to the sensed mode of operation, and generate a processed infrared image;

a memory component adapted to store the processed infrared image; and

a display component adapted to display the processed infrared image in at least one of a black hot palette, a white hot palette, a red color palette, and a green color palette.

6. The system of claim 1, comprising:

a processing component adapted to receive the first control signal from the mode sensing component, process the captured infrared image according to the sensed mode of operation, and generate a processed infrared image;

a memory component adapted to store the processed infrared image;

a display component adapted to display the processed infrared image; and

an environmental sensing component adapted to provide environmental information to the processing component.

7. The system of claim 1, comprising:

a processing component adapted to receive the first control signal from the mode sensing component, process the captured infrared image according to the sensed mode of operation, and generate a processed infrared image;

a memory component adapted to store the processed infrared image;

a control component adapted to provide a plurality of selectable processing modes to a user, receive a user input corresponding to a user selected processing mode, and generate a second control signal indicative of the user selected processing mode; and

wherein the processing component is adapted to receive the second control signal from the control component, process the captured infrared image according to the user selected processing mode, and generate the processed infrared image according to the user selected processing mode.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of selectable processing modes includes a night docking mode that causes the processing component to histogram equalize and scale the captured infrared image to generate the processed infrared image according to the user selected processing mode.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of selectable processing modes includes a man overboard mode that causes the processing component to apply a high pass filter to the captured infrared image to generate the processed infrared image according to the user selected processing mode.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of selectable processing modes includes a night cruising mode that causes the processing component to extract a detailed part and a background part from the captured infrared image, separately scale the detailed part, separately histogram equalize and scale the background part, and add the detailed part to the background part to generate the processed infrared image according to the user selected processing mode.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of selectable processing modes includes a day cruising mode that causes the processing component to extract a detailed part and a background part from the captured infrared image, separately scale the detailed part, separately histogram equalize and scale the background part, and add the detailed part to the background part to generate the processed infrared image according to the user selected processing mode.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of selectable processing modes includes a hazy conditions mode that causes the processing component to apply a non-linear low pass filter on the captured infrared image, and then histogram equalize and scale the filtered image to generate the processed infrared image according to the user selected processing mode.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of selectable processing modes includes a shoreline mode that causes the processing component to apply a Huff or Hough transform operation to the captured infrared image to generate the processed infrared image according to the user selected processing mode.

14. A method of processing an infrared image, the method comprising:

sensing an intended application of use for an infrared detector corresponding to a mode of operation;

setting the mode of operation for processing the infrared image; and

capturing the infrared image.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising:

processing the captured infrared image according to the sensed mode of operation;

generating a processed infrared image based on the sensed mode of operation;

storing and/or displaying the processed infrared image;

wherein the sensing an intended application comprises sensing a vehicle or cycle application, and

wherein the processing the captured infrared image comprises providing a basic monochrome display with selected automatic gain control parameters and pedestrian and/or animal detection enabled.

16. The method of claim 14, comprising:

processing the captured infrared image according to the sensed mode of operation;

generating a processed infrared image based on the sensed mode of operation;

storing and/or displaying the processed infrared image;

wherein the sensing an intended application comprises sensing a maritime application, and

wherein the processing the captured infrared image comprises providing a red hue display and with maritime automatic gain control selections.

17. The method of claim 14, comprising:

transmitting the captured infrared image;

processing the captured infrared image according to the sensed mode of operation;

generating a processed infrared image based on the sensed mode of operation;

storing and/or displaying the processed infrared image;

wherein the sensing an intended application comprises sensing a handheld application or a default application, and

wherein the processing the captured infrared image comprises providing an absolute temperature readout and a low power mode of operation.

18. The method of claim 14, comprising displaying the captured infrared image, and wherein the displaying the infrared image comprises displaying the infrared image in at least one of a black hot palette, a white hot palette, a red color palette, and a green color palette.

19. The method of claim 14, comprising:

processing the captured infrared image according to the sensed mode of operation;

generating a processed infrared image based on the sensed mode of operation;

storing at least one of the captured infrared image and the processed infrared image; and

sensing environmental conditions for processing the captured infrared image according to the sensed environmental conditions.

20. The method of claim 14, comprising:

providing a plurality of selectable processing modes to a user;

processing the captured infrared image according to the user selected processing mode;

generating the processed infrared image according to the user selected processing mode; and

displaying the processed infrared image according to the user selected processing mode.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the plurality of selectable processing modes includes at least one of:

a night docking mode, wherein processing the captured infrared image includes histogram equalizing and scaling the captured infrared image to generate the processed infrared image;

a man overboard mode, wherein processing the captured infrared image includes applying a high pass filter to the captured infrared image to generate the processed infrared image;

a night cruising mode, wherein processing the captured infrared image includes extracting a detailed part and a background part from the captured infrared image, separately scaling the detailed part, separately histogram equalizing and scaling the background part, and adding the detailed part to the background part to generate the processed infrared image;

a day cruising mode, wherein processing the captured infrared image includes extracting a detailed part and a background part from the captured infrared image, separately scaling the detailed part, separately histogram equalizing and scaling the background part, and adding the detailed part to the background part to generate the processed infrared image;

a hazy conditions mode, wherein processing the captured infrared image includes applying a non-linear low pass filter on the captured infrared image, and then histogram equalizing and scaling the filtered image to generate the processed infrared image; and

a shoreline mode, wherein processing the captured infrared image includes applying at least a Huff or Hough transform operation on the captured infrared image to generate the processed infrared image.

22. A computer-readable medium on which is stored non-transitory information for performing the method of claim 14.