MOBILE IMAGE ACQUISITION

• US 20150131849A1
• Filed: 11/12/2013
• Published: 05/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GlobalFoundries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Connell, Jonathan H. II, Pankanti, Sharathchandra U.
• Granted Patent: US 9,412,110 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69

Abstract

A set of conditions associated with monitoring a given environment is received. One or more locations in the given environment are determined, based on at least a portion of the received set of conditions, for which data is to be acquired. The given environment is traversed through the one or more locations. Data at the one or more locations is acquired. The acquired data is stored for subsequent review. One or more of the above steps are performed under control of a processing device at least a part of which is mounted on a mobile platform that is configured to move through the given environment. Determination of the one or more locations in the given environment may further include determining an extended region to be observed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a set of conditions associated with monitoring a given environment;

determining one or more locations in the given environment, based on at least a portion of the received set of conditions, for which data is to be acquired;

traversing the given environment through the one or more locations;

acquiring data at the one or more locations; and

storing the acquired data for subsequent review;

wherein one or more of the above steps are performed under control of a processing device at least a part of which is mounted on a mobile platform that is configured to move through the given environment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of analyzing at least a portion of the stored data for compliance with the set of conditions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of conditions comprise at least one of one or more safety conditions, one or more security conditions, and one or more health conditions.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of generating one or more alerts as a result of the analysis step.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving a set of conditions associated with monitoring a given environment further comprises receiving the set of conditions via input speech.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining one or more locations in the given environment, based on at least a portion of the received set of conditions, for which data is to be acquired further comprises determining an extended region to be observed.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein locations for the extended region to be observed are determined from a pre-stored map of the given environment.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein locations for the extended region to be observed are determined from one or more visual properties of the given environment.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of determining one or more locations in the given environment, based on at least a portion of the received set of conditions, for which data is to be acquired further comprises updating the one or more locations based on data acquired during at least a part of a traversal of the given environment.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of traversing the given environment to the one or more locations further comprises the processing device instructing the mobile platform regarding a path to traverse so as to reach the one or more determined locations.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of traversing the given environment to the one or more locations further comprises instructing the mobile platform to repeat at least part of the path.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of acquiring data at the one or more locations further comprises acquiring at least one of an image and a video at the one or more locations via at least one camera.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of acquiring at least one of an image and a video at the one or more locations via at least one camera further comprises determining one or more feasible camera positions and viewing angles prior to acquiring the image or the video.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of acquiring at least one of an image and a video at the one or more locations via at least one camera further comprises directing the camera to the one or more feasible camera positions and viewing angles prior to acquiring the image or the video.

15. A computer program product comprising a processor-readable storage medium having encoded therein executable code of one or more software programs, wherein the one or more software programs when executed by the one or more processing devices implement steps of:

receiving a set of conditions associated with monitoring a given environment;

determining one or more locations in the given environment, based on at least a portion of the received set of conditions, for which data is to be acquired;

causing a traversal of the given environment through the one or more locations;

acquiring data at the one or more locations; and

storing the acquired data for subsequent review;

wherein one or more of the above steps are performed under control of the one or more processing devices at least a part of which is mounted on a mobile platform that is configured to move through the given environment.

16. A system, comprising:

a processing sub-system;

a data capture sub-system; and

a mobility sub-system configured to support and move the processing sub-system and the data capture sub-system through a given environment;

wherein the processing sub-system comprises a memory and at least one processing device configured to;

receive a set of conditions associated with monitoring a given environment;

determine one or more locations in the given environment, based on at least a portion of the received set of conditions, for which data is to be acquired;

cause a traversal of the given environment through the one or more locations via the mobility sub-system; and

acquire data at the one or more locations via the data capture sub-system; and

store the acquired data for subsequent review.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the processing sub-system is further configured to analyze at least a portion of the stored data for compliance with the set of conditions.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processing sub-system is further configured to generate one or more alerts as a result of the analysis step.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein receiving a set of conditions associated with monitoring a given environment further comprises receiving the set of conditions via input speech.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein determining one or more locations in the given environment, based on at least a portion of the received set of conditions, for which data is to be acquired further comprises determining locations for an extended region to be observed.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein locations for the extended region to be observed are determined from a pre-stored map of the given environment.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein locations for the extended region to be observed are determined from one or more visual properties of the given environment.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein traversing the given environment to the one or more locations further comprises the processing device instructing the mobile sub-system regarding a path to traverse so as to reach the one or more determined locations.

24. The system of claim 16, wherein acquiring data at the one or more locations further comprises acquiring at least one of an image and a video at the one or more locations via at least one camera of the data capture sub-system.

25. A mobile imaging system for assessing compliance in an environment comprising:

one or more conditions to be assessed using a plurality of acquired images;

a processing device for determining an extended region of the environment in which to acquire the plurality of images in order to best assess the one or more conditions;

a mobile platform for guiding a camera to and through the determined extended region; and

a database in which the acquired images are retained as evidence of compliance or lack thereof.