COMBINING DEPTH AND THERMAL INFORMATION FOR OBJECT DETECTION AND AVOIDANCE
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (“
- UAV”
) comprising;
a frame;
a plurality of propulsion mechanisms to aerially lift and navigate the UAV;
an imaging component, including;
a first camera at a first position, wherein the first camera is configured to form a first image of a scene using visible light;
a second camera at a second position, wherein the first position and the second position are separated by a known baseline distance, wherein the second camera is configured to form a second image of the scene using visible light;
a third camera positioned approximately equidistant between the first camera and the second camera, wherein the third camera is configured to form a third image of the scene using infrared radiation;
an image-processing component, configured to at least;
receive the first image and the second image;
process the first image and the second image to form a depth map wherein each pixel representative of a position includes a horizontal dimension, a vertical dimension, and a depth dimension;
receive the third image;
process the third image to determine for each corresponding horizontal dimension and vertical dimension, a thermal dimension; and
generate combined information representative of the scene that includes for each pixel of the combined information the horizontal dimension, the vertical dimension, the depth dimension, and the thermal dimension.
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Abstract
Described is an imaging component for use by an unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) for object detection. As described, the imaging component includes one or more cameras that are configured to obtain images of a scene using visible light that are converted into a depth map (e.g., stereo image) and one or more other cameras that are configured to form images, or thermograms, of the scene using infrared radiation (“IR”). The depth information and thermal information are combined to form a representation of the scene based on both depth and thermal information.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (“
- UAV”
) comprising;a frame; a plurality of propulsion mechanisms to aerially lift and navigate the UAV; an imaging component, including; a first camera at a first position, wherein the first camera is configured to form a first image of a scene using visible light; a second camera at a second position, wherein the first position and the second position are separated by a known baseline distance, wherein the second camera is configured to form a second image of the scene using visible light; a third camera positioned approximately equidistant between the first camera and the second camera, wherein the third camera is configured to form a third image of the scene using infrared radiation; an image-processing component, configured to at least; receive the first image and the second image; process the first image and the second image to form a depth map wherein each pixel representative of a position includes a horizontal dimension, a vertical dimension, and a depth dimension; receive the third image; process the third image to determine for each corresponding horizontal dimension and vertical dimension, a thermal dimension; and generate combined information representative of the scene that includes for each pixel of the combined information the horizontal dimension, the vertical dimension, the depth dimension, and the thermal dimension. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
- UAV”
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6. An image capture apparatus, comprising:
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a frame; a first image capture device coupled to the frame at a first position; a second image capture device coupled to the frame at a second position; a third image capture device coupled to the frame at a third position; wherein the first image capture device and the second image capture device have an overlapping field of view and are configured to form images of a scene using a visible light spectrum; and wherein the third image capture device is positioned such that a field of view of the third image capture device comprises the overlapping field of view and the third image capture device is configured to form an image of the scene using an infrared spectrum. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method to detect a warm-blooded object, the method comprising:
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initiating with an unmanned aerial vehicle (“
UAV”
) a descent toward a delivery location;obtaining combined information corresponding to a position, a depth, and a thermal representation of each portion of a delivery location within a field of view of an imaging component, wherein each pixel of the image includes a horizontal dimension, a vertical dimension, a depth dimension, and a thermal dimension; determining, based at least in part on the combined information, whether an object within the field of view corresponds to a warm-blooded object; and altering a descent of the aerial vehicle based at least in part on a determination that the object corresponds to a warm-blooded object. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification