Gimbaled camera object tracking system
First Claim
1. A system for automatically controlling a gimbaled camera system of a vehicle, comprising:
- a camera positioned relative to a body of the vehicle;
one or more sensors configured to sense the pointing direction of the camera;
one or more sensors configured to monitor movement of the vehicle relative to a surface; and
a processor configured toreceive first sensed pan and tilt orientation data acquired when the camera was aimed at a first point on or adjacent to a target object while the vehicle was at a first stationary position, receive second sensed pan and tilt orientation data acquire when the camera was aimed at the first point while the vehicle was at a second stationary position, and vehicle movement data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s movement from the first stationary position to the second stationary position,use vehicle movement data and the first and second sensed pan and tilt orientation data to establish a target position representative of the position of the target object relative to the vehicle body based on an object independent association, andautomatically adjust the pointing direction of the camera in response to the vehicle'"'"'s movement such that the camera remains aimed on the target position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for automatically controlling a gimbaled camera system of a vehicle. The system includes a camera positioned relative to a body of the vehicle and one or more sensors configured to sense the pointing direction of the camera. One or more sensors are configured to monitor movement of the vehicle relative to a surface. A processor is configured to receive the sensed camera pointing direction data and vehicle movement data. The processor establishes and stores a target position representative of the position of a target object relative to the vehicle body based on an object independent association and automatically adjusts the camera pointing direction in response to the vehicle movement data such that the camera remains aimed on the target position. A method for automatically controlling the gimbaled camera system is also provided.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system for automatically controlling a gimbaled camera system of a vehicle, comprising:
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a camera positioned relative to a body of the vehicle; one or more sensors configured to sense the pointing direction of the camera; one or more sensors configured to monitor movement of the vehicle relative to a surface; and a processor configured to receive first sensed pan and tilt orientation data acquired when the camera was aimed at a first point on or adjacent to a target object while the vehicle was at a first stationary position, receive second sensed pan and tilt orientation data acquire when the camera was aimed at the first point while the vehicle was at a second stationary position, and vehicle movement data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s movement from the first stationary position to the second stationary position, use vehicle movement data and the first and second sensed pan and tilt orientation data to establish a target position representative of the position of the target object relative to the vehicle body based on an object independent association, and automatically adjust the pointing direction of the camera in response to the vehicle'"'"'s movement such that the camera remains aimed on the target position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for automatically controlling a gimbaled camera system of a vehicle comprising:
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a camera positioned relative to a body of the vehicle; one or more sensors configured to sense the pointing direction of the camera; one or more sensors configured to monitor movement of the vehicle relative to a surface; and a processor configured to receive the sensed pan and tilt orientation data and vehicle movement data, wherein the processor establishes and stores a target position representative of the position of a target object relative to the vehicle body based on an object independent association; and automatically adjusts the pointing direction of the camera in response to the vehicle movement data such that the camera remains aimed on the target position; wherein the object independent association includes aiming the camera at a first point on the target object when the vehicle is in a first stationary position such that the processor stores the camera pointing direction data representative of the first stationary position, and moving the vehicle to a second stationary position and aiming the camera at the first point on the target object such that the processor stores the camera pointing direction data representative of the secondary stationary position and the movement data representative of the movement from the first stationary position to the second stationary position; and wherein the processor is configured to establish and store the first point as the target position based on a comparison of the camera pointing direction data representative of the first stationary position, the camera pointing direction data representative of the second stationary position, and the movement data representative of the movement from the first stationary position to the second stationary position. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A method for automatically controlling a gimbaled camera system of a vehicle, comprising:
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manually aiming a camera of the gimbaled camera system at a first point on or adjacent to a target object while the vehicle is at a first stationary position; generating first camera pointing direction data while the camera is aimed at the first point and the vehicle is at the first stationary position; manually aiming the camera at the first point while the vehicle is at a second stationary position; generating second camera pointing direction data while the camera is aimed at the first point and the vehicle is at the second stationary position; obtaining vehicle movement data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s movement from the first stationary position to the second stationary position; activating the auto-tracking mode of the camera; using the first camera pointing direction data, the second camera pointing direction data, and the vehicle movement data to establish a target position through an object independent association between a location of the camera and the target object; storing the target position; monitoring movement of the vehicle relative to the position of the vehicle when the target position was established; and automatically adjusting the pointing direction of the camera in response to movement of the vehicle such that the aim of the camera remains on the target position. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for automatically controlling a gimbaled camera system of a vehicle comprising:
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manually aiming a camera of the gimbaled camera system at a target object; activating the auto-tracking mode of the camera; establishing a target position through an object independent association between a location of the camera and the target object; storing the target position; monitoring movement of the vehicle relative to the position of the vehicle when the target position was established; and automatically adjusting the pointing direction of the camera in response to movement of the vehicle such that the aim of the camera remains on the target position; wherein the step of establishing a target position through an object independent association between a location of the camera and the target object comprises; aiming the camera at a first point on the target object when the vehicle is in a first stationary position and storing the camera pointing direction data representative of the first stationary position; moving the vehicle to a second stationary position and aiming the camera at the first point on the target object and storing camera pointing direction data representative of the secondary stationary position and movement data representative of the movement from the first stationary position to the second stationary position; and establishing the first point as the target position based on a comparison of the camera pointing direction data representative of the first stationary position, the camera pointing direction data representative of the second stationary position and the movement data representative of the movement from the first stationary position to the second stationary position.
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Specification