Object-tracking and situation-analysis system

• US 7,885,784 B2
• Filed: 03/20/2006
• Issued: 02/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lars Maria Schnatmann, Margit Frank
• Original Assignee: Lars Maria Schnatmann, Margit Frank
• Inventors: Schnatmann, Lars Maria, Frank, Margit
• Primary Examiner(s): Nghiem; Michael P
• Application Number:
  US11/908,900
• Publication Number:
  US 20080281553A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,786 Days
• Field of Search: 702/94, 702/95, 702/97, 702150-154, 702/158, 702/159, 702/188, 702/189, 700/302, 701/213, 701/214
• US Class Current: 702/150
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0025 Tracking the path or location of one or more users, e.g. players of a game
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/806 Video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/836 Sensors arranged on the body of the user
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2243/0025 Football
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0021 Tracking a path or terminating locations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0605 Decision makers and devices using detection means facilitating arbitration
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves

Abstract

A situation analysis system for detecting and tracking moving objects within a limited space over a predetermined time period and for analyzing object combinations and episodes in relation to time as well as situations during the period of time, includes at least one tracking unit which has at least one sub-unit which is arranged and oriented to detect the limited space and moving and stationary objects disposed therein, and a central position data processing unit which for each real object determines a global position of the object in the detected space and generates a global object identification and an associated time-dependent global position data set. Each tracking unit has a data transmission unit connected to the central position data processing unit and allows bidirectional communication so that the central position data processing unit can simultaneously transmit data to each at least one tracking unit.

Claims

1. A situation analysis system for detecting and tracking moving objects within a limited space over a predetermined period of time and for analyzing object combinations and episodes in relation to time as well as situations during the period of time, the analysis system comprising:

at least one tracking unit which has at least one sub-unit which is arranged and oriented to detect the limited space and moving and stationary objects disposed therein,

and a central position data processing unit which is adapted, in relation to a respective real object, to determine a global position of the respective real object in the detected space and for each real object to generate a global object identification and an associated time-dependent global position data set, wherein,

each at least one tracking unit has at least one data transmission unit, by way of which each tracking unit is connected to the central position data processing unit and which is adapted to allow bidirectional communication so that each tracking unit can communicate data to the central position data processing unit and the central position data processing unit can simultaneously transmit data by way of a backward channel to each at least one tracking unit,

wherein at least one tracking unit of the situation analysis system has at least one sensor placed at one of the objects to be detected and is adapted to determine the position of the object provided with the sensor by means of sonar waves or electromagnetic signals,

wherein at least one tracking unit of the situation analysis system has, as a camera-based tracking unit, at least two sub-units with a respective measurement camera, wherein each measurement camera of the at least two sub-units of the tracking unit is so arranged and oriented that they can detect the limited space and the moving and stationary objects disposed therein from different perspectives and each include an objective, an image sensor, a frame grabber unit and an image processing unit which are so arranged and adapted that the respective objective projects a two-dimensional image of the detected space and the objects on to a respective image sensor which in turn is connected to a respective frame grabber unit for pre-processing of the image detected by the image sensor, wherein the image processing unit takes over image data from the frame grabber unit, and

wherein each camera-based tracking unit has at least one object detection unit which is adapted to simultaneously apply at least one keying process to the detected image data in accordance with predetermined criteria which are provided to each of the tracking units by way of the backward channel.

2. A situation analysis system as set forth in claim 1, wherein each measurement camera has a buffer memory which is adapted to store a plurality of the images last recorded by the measurement camera at each moment in time in operation.

3. A situation analysis system as set forth in claim 2, wherein at least one object detection unit of a tracking unit is adapted to detect individual objects in the respective detected two-dimensional image and to detect the position thereof within the two-dimensional image and to generate for each detected object at the respective time a camera-specific position data set with a unique identification which is allocated only a single time during a game and to transmit the position data set to the central position data processing unit, wherein the camera-specific position data set for each object obtains an individual object identification and the camera-specific position data associated with that object at the respective moment in time, and

the central position data processing unit is adapted to mutually associate the respective object identifications originating from the individual measurement cameras in such a way that all object identifications in relation to a respective real object are associated with each other, and to determine the global position of the respective real object in the detected space from the camera-specific position data of the camera-specific position data sets and to generate for each real object a global object identification and an associated time-dependent global position data set.

4. A situation analysis system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the analysis module is adapted to derive the direction of movement and the speed of movement on the basis of comparison of already detected positions of objects, and to anticipate particular game situations on the basis of game-related rules and for the detection of said particular game situations to already predetermine prior to the occurrence thereof adapted operating parameters for at least one tracking unit by way of the backward channel.

5. A situation analysis system as set forth in claim 4, additionally comprising a visualization module having a visualization unit which is connected to the analysis module and which is adapted to access data structures provided by the analysis module at any time and to derive therefrom graphic time-dependent dynamic representations of the object positions and combinations.

6. A situation analysis system as set forth in claim 5, wherein the visualization module is adapted to compute by data procedures a virtual graphic representation of a view of at least a part of the game from any selectable in particular movable perspective and to output same.

7. A situation analysis system for detecting and tracking moving objects within a limited space over a predetermined period of time and for analyzing object combinations and episodes in relation to time as well as situations during the period of time, the analysis system comprising:

at least one tracking unit which has at least one sub-unit which is arranged and oriented to detect the limited space and moving and stationary objects disposed therein,

and a central position data processing unit which is adapted, in relation to a respective real object, to determine a global position of the respective real object in the detected space and for each real object to generate a global object identification and an associated time-dependent global position data set, wherein,

each at least one tracking unit has at least one data transmission unit, by way of which each tracking unit is connected to the central position data processing unit and which is adapted to allow bidirectional communication so that each tracking unit can communicate data to the central position data processing unit and the central position data processing unit can simultaneously transmit data by way of a backward channel to each at least one tracking unit,

wherein at least one tracking unit of the situation analysis system has, as a camera-based tracking unit, at least two sub-units with a respective measurement camera, wherein each measurement camera of the sub-units of the tracking unit is so arranged and oriented that they can detect the limited space and the moving and stationary objects disposed therein from different perspectives and each include an objective, an image sensor, a frame grabber unit and an image processing unit which are so arranged and adapted that the respective objective projects a two-dimensional image of the detected space and the objects on to a respective image sensor which in turn is connected to a respective frame grabber unit for pre-processing of the image detected by the image sensor, wherein the image processing unit takes over image data from the frame grabber unit, and

wherein each camera-based tracking unit has at least one object detection unit which is adapted to simultaneously apply at least one keying process to the detected image data in accordance with predetermined criteria which are provided to each of the tracking units by way of the backward channel.

8. A situation analysis system as set forth in claim 7, additionally comprising an analysis module, wherein the analysis module is adapted to derive the direction of movement and the speed of movement on the basis of comparison of already detected positions of objects, and to anticipate particular game situations on the basis of game-related rules and for the detection of said particular game situations to already predetermine prior to the occurrence thereof adapted operating parameters for at least one tracking unit by way of the backward channel.

9. A situation analysis system for detecting and tracking moving objects within a limited space over a predetermined period of time and for analyzing object combinations and episodes in relation to time as well as situations during the period of time, the analysis system comprising:

at least one tracking unit which has at least one sub-unit which is arranged and oriented to detect the limited space and moving and stationary objects disposed therein,

and a central position data processing unit which is adapted, in relation to a respective real object, to determine a global position of the respective real object in the detected space and for each real object to generate a global object identification and an associated time-dependent global position data set, wherein,

each at least one tracking unit has at least one data transmission unit, by way of which each tracking unit is connected to the central position data processing unit and which is adapted to allow bidirectional communication so that each tracking unit can communicate data to the central position data processing unit and the central position data processing unit can simultaneously transmit data by way of a backward channel to each at least one tracking unit,

wherein at least one tracking unit of the situation analysis system has, as a camera-based tracking unit, at least two sub-units with a respective measurement camera, wherein each measurement camera of the sub-units of the tracking unit is so arranged and oriented that they can detect the limited space and the moving and stationary objects disposed therein from different perspectives and each include an objective, an image sensor, a frame grabber unit and an image processing unit which are so arranged and adapted that the respective objective projects a two-dimensional image of the detected space and the objects on to a respective image sensor which in turn is connected to a respective frame grabber unit for pre-processing of the image detected by the image sensor, wherein the image processing unit takes over image data from the frame grabber unit, and wherein each measurement camera has a buffer memory which is adapted to store a plurality of the images last recorded by the measurement camera at each moment in time in operation, and

wherein at least one object detection unit of a tracking unit is adapted to detect individual objects in the respective detected two-dimensional image and to detect the position thereof within the two-dimensional image and to generate for each detected object at the respective time a camera-specific position data set with a unique identification which is allocated only a single time during a game and to transmit the position data set to the central position data processing unit, wherein the camera-specific position data set for each object obtains an individual object identification and the camera-specific position data associated with that object at the respective moment in time, and

the central position data processing unit is adapted to mutually associate the respective object identifications originating from the individual measurement cameras in such a way that all object identifications in relation to a respective real object are associated with each other, and to determine the global position of the respective real object in the detected space from the camera-specific position data of the camera-specific position data sets and to generate for each real object a global object identification and an associated time-dependent global position data set.

10. A situation analysis system for detecting and tracking moving objects within a limited space over a predetermined period of time and for analyzing object combinations and episodes in relation to time as well as situations during the period of time, the analysis system comprising:

at least one tracking unit which has at least one sub-unit which is arranged and oriented to detect the limited space and moving and stationary objects disposed therein,

and a central position data processing unit which is adapted, in relation to a respective real object, to determine a global position of the respective real object in the detected space and for each real object to generate a global object identification and an associated time-dependent global position data set, wherein,

each at least one tracking unit has at least one data transmission unit, by way of which each tracking unit is connected to the central position data processing unit and which is adapted to allow bidirectional communication so that each tracking unit can communicate data to the central position data processing unit and the central position data processing unit can simultaneously transmit data by way of a backward channel to each at least one tracking unit,

wherein at least one tracking unit of the situation analysis system has, as a camera-based tracking unit, at least two sub-units with a respective measurement camera, wherein each measurement camera of the sub-units of the tracking unit is so arranged and oriented that they can detect the limited space and the moving and stationary objects disposed therein from different perspectives and each include an objective, an image sensor, a frame grabber unit and an image processing unit which are so arranged and adapted that the respective objective projects a two-dimensional image of the detected space and the objects on to a respective image sensor which in turn is connected to a respective frame grabber unit for pre-processing of the image detected by the image sensor, wherein the image processing unit takes over image data from the frame grabber unit, and

additionally comprising an analysis module

which on the basis of the global position data sets generated by the central position data processing unit, generates a data structure which includes time and position data which identify those periods of time and locations in relation to individual detected objects at a spatial and temporal distance relative to each other, wherein the spatial and temporal distance does not exceed a predetermined threshold value, and wherein the analysis module is adapted to ascertain in mutually time-dependent relationship the proximity by comparison of a predetermined and stored spacing value as the threshold value, to the spacings of the objects which arise out of the position data relating to the individual objects.