Apparatus and methods for tracking salient features
First Claim
1. A robotic apparatus configured to track a target object comprising:
- a camera; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, that when executed by at least one processor apparatus, configure the at least one processor apparatus to,obtain a plurality of images via the camera while navigating a trajectory associated with a physical task;
identify a salient area in the plurality of images, the identification of the salient area being based at least on a contrast between (i) a relative motion associated with the target object and (ii) a relative motion associated with another object within a field of view of the camera, the target object being within the field of view, where the relative motion associated with the target object is determined from a combination of a motion component associated with a movement of the object and a motion component associated with the navigation of the trajectory of the robotic apparatus;
initialize an object tracking process based at least on the identification of the salient area, the object tracking process comprising a detection of the object from the salient area; and
adjust the trajectory associated with the physical task based on the detection of the object from the salient area.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for detecting and utilizing saliency in digital images. In one implementation, salient objects may be detected based on analysis of pixel characteristics. Least frequently occurring pixel values may be deemed as salient. Pixel values in an image may be compared to a reference. Color distance may be determined based on a difference between reference color and pixel color. Individual image channels may be scaled when determining saliency in a multi-channel image. Areas of high saliency may be analyzed to determine object position, shape, and/or color. Multiple saliency maps may be additively or multiplicative combined in order to improve detection performance (e.g., reduce number of false positives). Methodologies described herein may enable robust tracking of objects utilizing fewer determination resources. Efficient implementation of the methods described below may allow them to be used for example on board a robot (or autonomous vehicle) or a mobile determining platform.
221 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A robotic apparatus configured to track a target object comprising:
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a camera; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, that when executed by at least one processor apparatus, configure the at least one processor apparatus to, obtain a plurality of images via the camera while navigating a trajectory associated with a physical task; identify a salient area in the plurality of images, the identification of the salient area being based at least on a contrast between (i) a relative motion associated with the target object and (ii) a relative motion associated with another object within a field of view of the camera, the target object being within the field of view, where the relative motion associated with the target object is determined from a combination of a motion component associated with a movement of the object and a motion component associated with the navigation of the trajectory of the robotic apparatus; initialize an object tracking process based at least on the identification of the salient area, the object tracking process comprising a detection of the object from the salient area; and adjust the trajectory associated with the physical task based on the detection of the object from the salient area.
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2. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, that when executed by at least one processor, configure the at least one processor to,
determine a relative motion of an object in a sequence of one or more images when a robotic apparatus is in motion along a trajectory, the relative motion of the object being determined based on (i) determining a first motion component, (ii) determining a second motion component, and (iii) combining the first motion component and the second motion component, the first motion component being associated with the motion along the trajectory of the robotic apparatus, the second motion component being associated with a movement or an absence of the movement of the object, the object being located within a visual scene; -
identify a salient area in the sequence of one or more images based on the determined relative motion of the object, the salient area identified being based on determining a contrast between (i) the determined relative motion of the object and (ii) a relative motion of at least one other object within the visual scene, the relative motion of the at least one other object being based on the first motion component and a third motion component, the third motion component being associated with a movement or an absence of the movement of the at least one other object; and initialize an object tracking process based at least on the identifying of the salient area. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification