Image surveillance and reporting technology

• US 9,153,111 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2014
• Issued: 10/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Trundle, Stephen Scott, McCarthy, Robert J. Jr., Martin, Jean-Paul, Slavin, Alison Jane, Hutz, David James
• Primary Examiner(s): Holder, Anner
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ren, Zhubing
• Application Number:
  US14/200,524
• Publication Number:
  US 20140247360A1
• Time in Patent Office: 578 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/196 using television cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19613 Recognition of a predetermined image pattern or behaviour pattern indicating theft or intrusion
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19634 Electrical details of the system, e.g. component blocks for carrying out specific functions
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19639 Details of the system layout
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1966 Wireless systems, other than telephone systems, used to communicate with a camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/008 Alarm setting and unsetting, i.e. arming or disarming of the security system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/14 Central alarm receiver or annunciator arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/046 prevention of tampering with detection circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/188 Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253

Abstract

Image surveillance and reporting technology, in which an event that is indicative of potential physical activity within an area corresponding to a location of a camera unit is detected. In response to detection of the event, the camera unit is controlled to capture one or more images of the area corresponding to the location of the camera unit. The one or more images captured by the camera unit are analyzed to determine whether the one or more images include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area corresponding to the location of the camera unit. The one or more images are handled based on the determination of whether the one or more images include image data that is indicative of relevant physical activity within the area corresponding to the location of the camera unit.

Claims

1. A monitoring system comprising:

a camera unit that is configured to capture images of an area in a monitored property and that includes a passive InfraRed sensor that is embedded in the camera unit and that is configured to measure InfraRed light radiating from objects in the area in the monitored property;

a remote monitoring server that is located remote from the camera unit and that is configured to process image data captured by camera units associated with multiple, different customers of a monitoring company;

a gateway that is located in the monitored property and that is configured to communicate with the camera unit using a short range wireless protocol and that is configured to communicate, over a network, with the remote monitoring server; and

at least one processor of the camera unit configured to perform operations comprising;

detecting a motion event based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor that is embedded in the camera unit;

in response to detection of the motion event based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor, controlling the camera unit to capture one or more images of the area in the monitored property; and

transmitting, from the camera unit to the gateway, the one or more images captured by the camera unit; and

wherein the gateway is separate from the camera unit and configured to perform operations comprising;

in response to receipt of the one or more images captured by the camera unit, accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor;

comparing one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor;

based on the comparison of the one or more sensor events to the security system rule, determining to transmit, from the gateway to the remote monitoring server, the one or more images that were captured by the camera unit in response to the motion event; and

based on a determination to transmit the one or more images captured by the camera unit from the gateway to the remote monitoring server, transmitting, from the gateway to the remote monitoring server, the one or more images captured by the camera unit.

2. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor includes a processor embedded in the camera unit.

3. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the camera unit includes an illumination sensor that is configured to sense a level of light in the area in the monitored property and wherein the operations further comprise determining whether to control the camera unit to capture a new reference image based on the level of light in the area in the monitored property sensed by the illumination sensor.

4. The monitoring system of claim 1:

wherein accessing the security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by a combination of at least one motion sensor that is separate from the camera unit and at least one door contact sensor that is separate from the camera unit and that senses whether or not a door of the monitored property is in an open or closed position, and

wherein comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor comprises comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether at least one motion sensor event and at least one door contact sensor event have been detected within the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images.

5. The monitoring system of claim 1:

wherein accessing the security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by at least one motion sensor that is separate from the camera unit, and

wherein comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor comprises comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether at least one motion sensor event has been detected within the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images.

6. The monitoring system of claim 1:

wherein accessing the security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by at least one door contact sensor that is separate from the camera unit and that senses whether or not a door of the monitored property is in an open or closed position, and

wherein comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor comprises comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether at least one door contact sensor event has been detected within the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images.

7. The monitoring system of claim 1:

wherein the one or more images captured by the camera unit comprise multiple images;

wherein determining whether to transmit the one or more images comprises determining to transmit a subset of the multiple images to the remote monitoring server based on the comparison of the one or more sensor events to the security system rule; and

wherein transmitting, to the remote monitoring server, the one or more images captured by the camera unit comprises transmitting, to the remote monitoring server, the subset of the multiple images without one or more images from the multiple images that are outside of the subset.

8. The monitoring system of claim 1:

wherein the operations further comprise accessing one or more user-defined rules that control whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on a number of images that have been transmitted to the remote monitoring server within a particular period of time; and

wherein determining whether to transmit the one or more images comprises;

determining the number of images that have been transmitted to the remote monitoring server within the particular period of time;

comparing the determined number of images that have been transmitted to the remote monitoring server within the particular period of time to the one or more user-defined rules; and

determining whether to transmit the one or more images captured by the camera unit to the remote monitoring server based on a combination of the comparison of the determined number of images that have been transmitted to the remote monitoring server within the particular period of time to the one or more user-defined rules and the comparison of the one or more sensor events to the security system rule.

9. A method comprising:

detecting a motion event based on output from a passive InfraRed sensor that is embedded in a camera unit and that is configured to measure InfraRed light radiating from objects in an area in a monitored property, the camera unit being configured to capture images of the area in the monitored property;

in response to detection of the motion event based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor, controlling the camera unit to capture one or more images of the area in the monitored property; and

accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to a remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor, the remote monitoring server being located remote from the camera unit and being configured to process image data captured by camera units associated with multiple, different customers of a monitoring company;

comparing one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor;

based on the comparison of the one or more sensor events to the security system rule, determining to transmit, from the gateway to the remote monitoring server, the one or more images that were captured by the camera unit in response to the motion event; and

based on a determination to transmit the one or more images captured by the camera unit from the gateway to the remote monitoring server, transmitting, from the gateway to the remote monitoring server, the one or more images captured by the camera unit.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising sensing a level of light in the area in the monitored property and determining whether to control the camera unit to capture a new reference image based on the level of light in the area in the monitored property sensed by the illumination sensor.

11. The method of claim 9:

wherein accessing the security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by a combination of at least one motion sensor that is separate from the camera unit and at least one door contact sensor that is separate from the camera unit and that senses whether or not a door of the monitored property is in an open or closed position, and

wherein comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor comprises comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether at least one motion sensor event and at least one door contact sensor event have been detected within the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images.

12. The method of claim 9:

wherein accessing the security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by at least one motion sensor that is separate from the camera unit, and

wherein comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor comprises comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether at least one motion sensor event has been detected within the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images.

13. The method of claim 9:

wherein accessing the security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by at least one door contact sensor that is separate from the camera unit and that senses whether or not a door of the monitored property is in an open or closed position, and

wherein comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor comprises comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether at least one door contact sensor event has been detected within the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images.

14. The method of claim 9:

wherein the one or more images captured by the camera unit comprise multiple images;

wherein determining whether to transmit the one or more images comprises determining to transmit a subset of the multiple images to the remote monitoring server based on the comparison of the one or more sensor events to the security system rule; and

wherein transmitting, to the remote monitoring server, the one or more images captured by the camera unit comprises transmitting, to the remote monitoring server, the subset of the multiple images without one or more images from the multiple images that are outside of the subset.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising accessing one or more user-defined rules that control whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on a number of images that have been transmitted to the remote monitoring server within a particular period of time;

and

wherein determining whether to transmit the one or more images comprises;

determining the number of images that have been transmitted to the remote monitoring server within the particular period of time;

comparing the determined number of images that have been transmitted to the remote monitoring server within the particular period of time to the one or more user-defined rules; and

determining whether to transmit the one or more images captured by the camera unit to the remote monitoring server based on a combination of the comparison of the determined number of images that have been transmitted to the remote monitoring server within the particular period of time to the one or more user-defined rules and the comparison of the one or more sensor events to the security system rule.

16. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

detecting a motion event based on output from a passive InfraRed sensor that is embedded in a camera unit and that is configured to measure InfraRed light radiating from objects in an area in a monitored property, the camera unit being configured to capture images of the area in the monitored property;

in response to detection of the motion event based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor, controlling the camera unit to capture one or more images of the area in the monitored property; and

accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to a remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor, the remote monitoring server being located remote from the camera unit and being configured to process image data captured by camera units associated with multiple, different customers of a monitoring company;

comparing one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor;

based on the comparison of the one or more sensor events to the security system rule, determining to transmit, from the gateway to the remote monitoring server, the one or more images that were captured by the camera unit in response to the motion event; and

based on a determination to transmit the one or more images captured by the camera unit from the gateway to the remote monitoring server, transmitting, from the gateway to the remote monitoring server, the one or more images captured by the camera unit.

17. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16:

wherein accessing the security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by a combination of at least one motion sensor that is separate from the camera unit and at least one door contact sensor that is separate from the camera unit and that senses whether or not a door of the monitored property is in an open or closed position, and

wherein comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor comprises comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether at least one motion sensor event and at least one door contact sensor event have been detected within the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images.

18. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16:

wherein accessing the security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by at least one motion sensor that is separate from the camera unit, and

wherein comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor comprises comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether at least one motion sensor event has been detected within the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images.

19. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16:

wherein accessing the security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on detecting activity in the monitored property that confirms the motion event detected based on output from the passive InfraRed sensor comprises accessing a security system rule that controls whether the one or more images captured by the camera unit are transmitted to the remote monitoring server based on activity detected within the monitored property by at least one door contact sensor that is separate from the camera unit and that senses whether or not a door of the monitored property is in an open or closed position, and

wherein comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether activity that confirms the motion event has been detected in the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images, the one or more sensor events being sensed by one or more sensors that are different than the passive InfraRed sensor comprises comparing the one or more sensor events to the security system rule to assess whether at least one door contact sensor event has been detected within the monitored property after the camera unit captured the one or more images.

20. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16:

wherein the one or more images captured by the camera unit comprise multiple images;

wherein determining whether to transmit the one or more images comprises determining to transmit a subset of the multiple images to the remote monitoring server based on the comparison of the one or more sensor events to the security system rule; and

wherein transmitting, to the remote monitoring server, the one or more images captured by the camera unit comprises transmitting, to the remote monitoring server, the subset of the multiple images without one or more images from the multiple images that are outside of the subset.