SURVEILLANCE APPARATUS HAVING AN OPTICAL CAMERA AND A RADAR SENSOR

• US 20160125713A1
• Filed: 04/29/2014
• Published: 05/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: BOEHNKE, Ralf, DAYI, Furkan, BLECH, Marcel
• Granted Patent: US 10,157,524 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/187 by interference of a radiation field
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19619 Details of casing
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1963 Arrangements allowing camera rotation to change view, e.g. pivoting camera, pan-tilt and zoom [PTZ]
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19689 Remote control of cameras, e.g. remote orientation or image zooming control for a PTZ camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19695 Arrangements wherein non-video detectors start video recording or forwarding but do not generate an alarm themselves

Abstract

A surveillance apparatus, a corresponding method, surveillance radar apparatus, computer program, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, the surveillance apparatus including an optical camera that captures images based on received light, the optical camera having a first field of view, a radar sensor that emits and receives electromagnetic radiation, the radar sensor having a second field of view, and wherein the first field of view is variable with respect to the second field of view.

Claims

1. A surveillance apparatus comprising

an optical camera that captures images based on received light, said optical camera having a first field of view,

a radar sensor that emits and receives electromagnetic radiation, said radar sensor having a second field of view, and

wherein said first field of view is variable with respect to said second field of view.

2. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein size and/or orientation of said first field of view are variable with respect to said second field of view.

3. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said optical camera is movable with respect to the radar sensor.

4. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 1,

further comprising a control unit that controls the optical camera based on radar information obtained with the radar sensor.

5. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the optical camera further comprises a translucent camera cover.

6. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the camera cover comprises a substantially hemispheric camera dome, in particular having a polygonal, cylindrical or circular outline.

7. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the radar sensor comprises an antenna element arranged on the periphery of the surveillance apparatus.

8. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the radar sensor is adapted to provide at least one of a direction, range and speed of an object relative to the surveillance apparatus.

9. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the camera cover further comprises a translucent antenna.

10. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein the translucent antenna comprises an electrically conductive layer comprising at least one of a translucent electrically conductive material and an electrically conductive mesh structure.

11. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein a first electrically conductive layer comprises a ground plane and a second electrically conductive layer comprises an antenna element.

12. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 11,

wherein the ground plane comprises a slot for feeding the antenna element.

13. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 12,

wherein the camera cover comprises at least one dielectric layer, in particular made from at least one of glass or a translucent polymer, and two electrically conductive layers.

14. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 1,

further comprising processing circuitry that processes the captured images of the optical camera and the received electromagnetic radiation of the radar sensor and providing an indication of the detection of the presence of one or more objects.

15. A surveillance apparatus comprising

an optical camera that captures images based on received light, said optical camera having a first field of view,

a radar sensor that emits and receives electromagnetic radiation, said radar sensor having a second field of view, and

wherein said second field differs from said first field of view.

16. The surveillance apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein the second field of view is larger than the first field of view and/or covers an angular range of at least 90°

.

17. A surveillance radar apparatus for retrofitting an optical surveillance camera, having a first field of view, comprising

a housing for arrangement of the surveillance radar apparatus at the surveillance camera,

a radar sensor that emits and receives electromagnetic radiation, said radar sensor having a second field of view, and

wherein said first field of view is variable with respect to said second field of view.

18. The surveillance radar apparatus according to claim 17,

wherein the housing of the surveillance radar apparatus encompasses the surveillance camera and/or further comprises an alignment member for aligning a position of the surveillance radar apparatus with respect to the surveillance camera.

19. A surveillance method comprising the steps of

capturing images based on received light with an optical camera, said optical camera having a first field of view,

emitting and receiving electromagnetic radiation with a radar sensor, said radar sensor having a second field of view, and

wherein said first field of view is variable with respect to said second field of view.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium that stores therein a computer program product, which, when executed by a processor, causes the method according to claim 19 to be performed.