Methods and apparatus for performing angular measurements
First Claim
1. A method of determining an azimuth and an elevation of a point in a real world coordinate system, the method comprising:
- positioning an imaging device at a first position, the imaging device calibrated to provide a relationship between a coordinate frame associated with the imaging device and a coordinate frame associated with images acquired by the imaging device;
acquiring a first image at the first position, the first image including the point;
performing a first rotation of the imaging device without substantially changing an optical center of the imaging device;
acquiring a second image at the first position, where a portion of the first image overlaps a portion of the second image;
determining correspondences between features in overlapping portions of the first image and the second image;
determining a first transformation between coordinates of the first image and coordinates of the second image based on the correspondences;
determining a second transformation between the coordinates of the first image or the coordinates of the second image and the real world coordinate system using the relationship between the coordinate frame associated with the imaging device and the coordinate frame associated with images acquired by the imaging device; and
computing the azimuth and the elevation of the point in the real world coordinate system based on the first transformation and the second transformation.
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Abstract
A method of determining an azimuth and elevation of a point in an image is provided. The method comprises positioning an imaging device at a first position and acquiring a first image. The method also comprises rotating the imaging device and acquiring a second image at the first position. The first image includes the point, and a portion of the first image overlaps a portion of the second image. The method also includes determining correspondences between features in overlapping portions of the images, determining a first transformation between coordinates of the first image and coordinates of the second image based on the correspondences, and determining a second transformation between the coordinates of the second image and a local coordinate frame. The method also includes computing the azimuth and elevation of the point based on the first transformation and the second transformation.
29 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of determining an azimuth and an elevation of a point in a real world coordinate system, the method comprising:
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positioning an imaging device at a first position, the imaging device calibrated to provide a relationship between a coordinate frame associated with the imaging device and a coordinate frame associated with images acquired by the imaging device; acquiring a first image at the first position, the first image including the point; performing a first rotation of the imaging device without substantially changing an optical center of the imaging device; acquiring a second image at the first position, where a portion of the first image overlaps a portion of the second image; determining correspondences between features in overlapping portions of the first image and the second image; determining a first transformation between coordinates of the first image and coordinates of the second image based on the correspondences; determining a second transformation between the coordinates of the first image or the coordinates of the second image and the real world coordinate system using the relationship between the coordinate frame associated with the imaging device and the coordinate frame associated with images acquired by the imaging device; and computing the azimuth and the elevation of the point in the real world coordinate system based on the first transformation and the second transformation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of determining a horizontal angle and a vertical angle between a first point visible in a first image and a second point visible in a second image, the method comprising:
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obtaining a series of images including the first image and the second image using an imaging device, wherein a portion of each image in the series overlaps a portion of another image in the series and wherein each image in the series is obtained from a first position by rotating the imaging device without substantially changing an optical center of the imaging device, the imaging device calibrated to provide a relationship between a coordinate frame associated with the imaging device and a coordinate frame associated with images acquired by the imaging device; determining correspondences between features in overlapping portions of images in the series of images; determining first transformations between coordinates of overlapping images in the series of images based on the correspondences; and computing the horizontal angle and the vertical angle between the first point and the second point based on the first transformations. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A surveying apparatus comprising:
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a support structure; a rotatable member mechanically coupled to the support structure; an imaging device mechanically coupled to the rotatable member, the imaging device calibrated to provide relationships between a coordinate frame associated with the imaging device and coordinate frames associated with images acquired by the imaging device, wherein the rotatable member is configured to rotate the imaging device without substantially changing a position of an optical center of the imaging device; an image sensor disposed in the imaging device, the image sensor configured to acquire the images; a memory in electrical communication with the image sensor, the memory configured to store the images; and a processor in electrical communication with the image sensor and the memory, the processor configured to; determine correspondences between features in overlapping portions of the images; determine first transformations between coordinates of overlapping images based on the correspondences; determine a second transformation between coordinates of one of the images and a real world coordinate system using the relationship between the coordinate frame associated with the imaging device and the coordinate frame associated with images acquired by the imaging device; and compute an azimuth and an elevation of each of a plurality of points visible in the images, the azimuth and the elevation computed in the real world coordinate system based on the first transformations and the second transformation. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of registering a series of overlapping images acquired using an imaging device positioned at a first position in a real world coordinate system, the method comprising:
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determining correspondences between features in overlapping portions of images in the series; determining first transformations between coordinates of overlapping images in the series, the first transformations determined based on the correspondences; and determining a second transformation between coordinates of an image in the series and the real world coordinate system using a relationship between a coordinate frame associated with the imaging device and a coordinate frame associated with images acquired by the imaging device.
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Specification