Real-time moving platform management system

• US 9,723,269 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2012
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pictometry International Corporation (EagleView Technologies Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Pictometry International Corporation (EagleView Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Giuffrida, Frank D., Winkelbauer, Mark A., Schultz, Stephen L., Mondello, Charles, Bradacs, Robert S., Woodward, Craig D., Lawrence, Scott D., Kusak, Matt, Willard, Kevin G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Huq, Farzana
• Application Number:
  US13/730,209
• Publication Number:
  US 20130135471A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,677 Days
• Field of Search: 348116, 348143-144, 348156-206, 370335-337, 370344, 370352, 370428, 370503, 455427, 455429, 455432
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 11/02 Picture taking arrangements specially adapted for photogrammetry or photographic surveying, e.g. controlling overlapping of pictures
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/05 Geographic models
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/377 for mixing or overlaying two or more graphic patterns G09G5/02, G09G5/397 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/005 using at least one opto-electrical conversion device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a method for creating data products in real-time with the aid of a ground station system. The method includes the steps of monitoring one or more communication links for newly captured sensor data and positional data of oblique images, saving the sensor data and positional data to one or more directories of one or more computer readable media, monitoring the one or more directories of one or more computer readable media for sensor data and positional data, processing the sensor data and positional data to create one or more data products for use by one or more mapping and exploitation systems responsive to the sensor data and positional data being saved in the one or more directories, and storing the one or more data products to one or more directories of one or more computer readable media.

Claims

1. A method for creating data products in real-time, comprising the steps of:

on a moving platform;

capturing sensor data comprising one or more images;

producing position files comprising georeferencing data for the images, at least a portion of the georeferencing data being calculated using elevation data of ground depicted in the respective images;

transmitting the images and the position files to a ground station system from the moving platform using one or more communication links between the moving platform and the ground station system, the images being developed and compressed;

with the aid of the ground station system;

monitoring the one or more communication links for images and position files newly transmitted from the moving platform;

saving the images and position files to one or more directories of one or more computer readable media;

monitoring the one or more directories of the one or more computer readable media for newly saved images and position files;

creating one or more data products, comprising at least a portion of the images and the georeferencing data for the images from the position files, by processing the images and position files responsive to the images and position files being saved in the one or more directories;

storing the one or more data products to the one or more directories of the one or more computer readable media; and

rendering the data products in real time onto a geospatial map of a map visualization computer program.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the georeferencing data for the images in the position files is calculated by a computer system of a moving platform system on the moving platform using a predetermined elevation value for each image.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of saving the images to one or more directories is defined further as saving discrete frames of images, and wherein at least a portion of the georeferencing data is calculated using elevation data of ground depicted in the respective images.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the moving platform is selected from a group consisting of an airplane, an airship, a ground vehicle, a helicopter and a boat.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting the one or more data products to a client system via the Internet.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the images saved in the one or more directories is selected from the group consisting of raw images and developed images.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the georeferencing data includes geo-reference information for one or more corners of the image.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating one or more data products, comprising at least a portion of the images and the georeferencing data for the images from the position files, by processing the images and the position files, is defined further to include the step of dividing the image into a plurality of view based regions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps occurs in real-time.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein all of the steps occur in real-time.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating one or more data products, comprising at least a portion of the images and the georeferencing data for the images from the position files, by processing the images and the position files, further comprises processing the images and the position files by scaling and slicing the images.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein before transmitting the images and the position files to the ground station system from the moving platform using one or more communication links between the moving platform and the ground station system, the images are developed using a debayer development methodology.

11. A method for creating data products in real-time, comprising the steps of:

on a moving platform;

capturing sensor data comprising images;

producing position files comprising georeferencing data for the images, at least a portion of the georeferencing data being calculated using elevation data of ground depicted in the respective images;

transmitting the images and the position files to a ground station system using one or more communication links, the images being developed and compressed;

with the aid of the ground station system and occurring at a ground station;

monitoring one or more communication links for new images and position files transmitted from the moving platform;

saving the images and position files to one or more directories of one or more computer readable media;

monitoring the one or more directories of the one or more computer readable media for newly saved images and position files;

creating one or more data products, comprising at least a portion of the images and the georeferencing data for the images from the position files, by processing the images and position files responsive to the images and position files being saved in the one or more directories;

storing the one or more data products to the one or more directories of the one or more computer readable media; and

rendering the data products in real time onto a geospatial map of a map visualization computer program.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one of the steps occurs in real-time.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of creating one or more data products, comprising at least a portion of the images and the georeferencing data for the images from the position files, by processing the images and the position files, further comprises processing the images and the position files by scaling and slicing the images.