Ground tracking apparatus, systems, and methods
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A ground tracker for tracking movement over a surface, comprising:
- a housing;
a first camera element disposed on or in the housing;
a second camera element disposed on or in the housing offset in position relative to the first camera element; and
a processing element coupled to an output from the first camera element and the second camera element, the processing element programmed to;
receive an image from the first camera element and an image from the second camera element, wherein the first camera element image and the second camera element image are captured with the ground tracking apparatus at a first position;
detect a ground feature in both the image from the first camera element and the image from the second camera element;
determine, based on a position of the ground feature in the image from the first camera element and a position of the ground feature in the image from the second camera element, a height value of the ground tracker above the ground feature at the first position; and
store the height value at the first position in a non-transitory memory;
determine, based on one or both of the image from the first camera element and the image from the second camera element, the height value at the first position, and one or both of another image from the first camera element captured at a second position and another image from the second camera element captured at the second position, a change in position of the ground tracker relative to the first position; and
store data associated with the change in position as a tracking parameter in the non-transitory memory.
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Abstract
Apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed for tracking movement over the ground or other surfaces using two or more spaced apart cameras and an associated processing element to detect ground features in images from the cameras and determine tracking parameters based on the position of the detected ground features in the images.
12 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A ground tracker for tracking movement over a surface, comprising:
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a housing; a first camera element disposed on or in the housing; a second camera element disposed on or in the housing offset in position relative to the first camera element; and a processing element coupled to an output from the first camera element and the second camera element, the processing element programmed to; receive an image from the first camera element and an image from the second camera element, wherein the first camera element image and the second camera element image are captured with the ground tracking apparatus at a first position; detect a ground feature in both the image from the first camera element and the image from the second camera element; determine, based on a position of the ground feature in the image from the first camera element and a position of the ground feature in the image from the second camera element, a height value of the ground tracker above the ground feature at the first position; and store the height value at the first position in a non-transitory memory; determine, based on one or both of the image from the first camera element and the image from the second camera element, the height value at the first position, and one or both of another image from the first camera element captured at a second position and another image from the second camera element captured at the second position, a change in position of the ground tracker relative to the first position; and store data associated with the change in position as a tracking parameter in the non-transitory memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A ground tracker for tracking movement over a surface, comprising:
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a housing; a first camera element disposed on or in the housing; a second camera element disposed on or in the housing offset in position relative to the first camera element; and a processing element coupled to an output from the first camera element and the second camera element, the processing element programmed to; receive an image from the first camera element and an image from the second camera element, wherein the first camera element image and the second camera element image are captured with the ground tracking apparatus at a first position; detect a ground feature in both the image from the first camera element and the image from the second camera element; determine, based on a position of the ground feature in the image from the first camera element and a position of the ground feature in the image from the second camera element, a height value of the ground tracker above the ground feature at the first position; store the height value at the first position in a non-transitory memory; receive another image from the first camera element and another image from the second camera element, wherein the another images are captured at a second position different from the first position; detect a ground feature in the another image from the first camera element and the another image from the second camera element; determine, based on a position of the ground feature in the another image from the first camera element and a position of the ground feature in the another image from the second camera element, a height value of the ground tracker above the ground feature at the second position; and store the height value at the second position in a non-transitory memory. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of motion tracking in a ground tracking device that includes a first camera element and a second camera element offset from the first camera element, the method comprising:
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generating, in the first camera element with the ground tracking device at a first position, a first camera element image; generating, in a second camera element with the ground tracking device at the first position, a second camera element image; providing the first camera element image and the second camera element image to a processing element; detecting a ground feature in the first camera element image and the second camera element image; determining, based in part on a position of the detected ground feature in the first camera element image and a position of the detected ground feature in the second camera element image, a height value of the ground tracking device above the ground feature; storing the determined height value in a non-transitory memory; determining, based on one or both of the image from the first camera element and the image from the second camera element, the height value at the first position, and one or both of another image from the first camera element captured at a second position and another image from the second camera element captured at the second position, a change in position of the ground tracker relative to the first position; and storing data associated with the change in position as a tracking parameter in the non-transitory memory. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method of motion tracking in a ground tracking device that includes a first camera element and a second camera element offset from the first camera element, the method comprising:
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generating, in the first camera element with the ground tracking device at a first position, a first camera element image; generating, in a second camera element with the ground tracking device at the first position, a second camera element image; providing the first camera element image and the second camera element image to a processing element; detecting a ground feature in the first camera element image and the second camera element image; determining, based in part on a position of the detected ground feature in the first camera element image and a position of the detected ground feature in the second camera element image, a height value of the ground tracking device above the ground feature; storing the determined height value in a non-transitory memory; receiving another image from the first camera element and another image from the second camera element, wherein the another images are captured at a second position different from the first position; detecting a ground feature in the another image from the first camera element and the another image from the second camera element; determining, based on a position of the ground feature in the another image from the first camera element and a position of the ground feature in the another image from the second camera element, a height value of the ground tracker above the ground feature at the second position; and storing the height value at the second position in a non-transitory memory. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A non-transitory storage medium containing programming instructions for one or more processors to:
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generate, in the first camera element with the ground tracking device at a first position, a first camera element image; generate, in a second camera element with the ground tracking device at the first position, a second camera element image; provide the first camera element image and the second camera element image to a processing element; detect a ground feature in the first camera element image and the second camera element image; determine, based in part on a position of the detected ground feature in the first camera element image and a position of the detected ground feature in the second camera element image, a height value of the ground tracking device above the ground feature; store the determined height value in a non-transitory memory; receive another image from the first camera element and another image from the second camera element, wherein the another images are captured at a second position different from the first position; detect a ground feature in the another image from the first camera element and the another image from the second camera element; determine, based on a position of the ground feature in the another image from the first camera element and a position of the ground feature in the another image from the second camera element, a height value of the ground tracker above the ground feature at the second position; and store the height value at the second position in a non-transitory memory.
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Specification