Object detection
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring an area of interest containing a hazardous or sensitive object, the area of interest having a border and an interior region, wherein the interior region is at least partially defined by the border region, the method comprising the steps of:
- defining an interior region containing the hazardous or sensitive object;
defining a border region around at least part of the interior region, the border region defining at least part of a safety zone that extends around at least part of the hazardous or sensitive object;
monitoring at least a portion of the border region of the area of interest for breach by an object while not monitoring at least part of the interior region of the area of interest; and
monitoring at least a portion of the interior region of the area of interest for the object after the object breaches the border region.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A visual object detection system to provide access and/or presence monitoring of an area of interest. In steady state operation, that is when no object is entering or within the area of interest, only those portions of the incoming images that correspond to the border of the area of interest are analyzed. Once the border is breached by an object, the present invention may begin analyzing the entire area or selected regions inside the border of the area of interest. This may provide some level of presence monitoring of the area of interest. It is contemplated that both modes of analysis can take place simultaneously or sequentially, depending on the application. Once the object leaves the area of interest, the present invention preferably returns to the original steady state, and monitors only the border regions of the incoming images.
128 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring an area of interest containing a hazardous or sensitive object, the area of interest having a border and an interior region, wherein the interior region is at least partially defined by the border region, the method comprising the steps of:
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defining an interior region containing the hazardous or sensitive object; defining a border region around at least part of the interior region, the border region defining at least part of a safety zone that extends around at least part of the hazardous or sensitive object; monitoring at least a portion of the border region of the area of interest for breach by an object while not monitoring at least part of the interior region of the area of interest; and monitoring at least a portion of the interior region of the area of interest for the object after the object breaches the border region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 42)
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11. A method for monitoring an area of interest having a border and an interior, the method comprising the steps of:
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capturing a sequence of capture images of the area of interest, wherein each of the capture images capture at least part of the interior of the area of interest; identifying one or more border regions in each of the captured images that correspond to the border of the area of interest; analyzing the one or more border regions in the captured images and determining if an object has entered the one or more border regions of the area of interest; and outputting a signal indicating when an object has entered the one or more border regions of the area of interest, wherein at least part of the interior of the area of interest of the capture images is not monitored until a determination is made that an object has entered the one or more border regions. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for monitoring an area of interest having a border and an interior region, the method comprising the steps of:
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capturing at least two images of the area of interest using two separate image capturing devices; identifying one or more border regions in each captured image that corresponds to the border of the area of interest, each captured image including at least a portion of the interior region; analyzing the one or more border regions of the captured images but not at least part of the interior region to determine when an object enters the area of interest; and outputting a signal indicating whether or not an object has entered the area of interest. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. A system for monitoring an area of interest having a border and an interior region, comprising:
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capturing means for capturing a capture image of the area of interest; and analyzing means for analyzing at least a portion of the capture image corresponding to the border region of the area of interest for breach by an object, and for analyzing at least a portion of the capture image corresponding to the interior region of the area of interest for the presence of the object after the object breaches the border;
wherein the analyzing means does not analyze at least part of the capture image corresponding to at least part of the interior region unless an object breaches the border region. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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28. A system for monitoring an area of interest, comprising:
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image capturing means for capturing at least one image of the area of interest; first processing means for processing at least one of the capture images to determine if an object has entered the area of interest; second processing means for processing at least one of the capture images to determine if an object has entered the area of interest; and output means for outputting a signal indicating that an object has entered the area of interest when both the first processing means and second processing means indicate that an object has entered the object of interest. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A method for monitoring an area of interest having a border region and an interior region, the method comprising the steps of:
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monitoring at least a portion of the border region of the area of interest for breach by an object having a first minimum size; and monitoring at least a portion of the interior region of the area of interest for an object having a second minimum size after the object breaches the border region of the area of interest. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method for monitoring an area of interest having two or more regions, each region having a border region and an interior region, the method comprising the steps of:
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capturing a capture image of the area of interest; monitoring the border region of a first region of the area of interest for breach by an object while not monitoring at least part of the interior region of the first region, and monitoring at least a portion of the interior region of the first region for the object after the object breaches the border region of the first region; monitoring the border region of a second region of the area of interest for breach by an object while not monitoring at least part of the interior region of the second region, and monitoring at least a portion of the interior region of the second region for the object after the object breaches the border region of the second region. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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44. A method for monitoring an area of interest in a field of view of an image capture device, the method comprising the steps of:
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defining a border in the field of view of the image capture device, wherein the border at least partially defines an interior region of the area of interest; monitoring at least a portion of the border region of the area of interest for breach by an object while not monitoring at least part of the interior region of the area of interest; and monitoring at least a portion of the interior region of the area of interest for the object after the object breaches the border.
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45. A method for monitoring an area of interest having a border and an interior, the method comprising the steps of:
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capturing a capture image of the area of interest; identifying one or more border regions in the captured image that correspond to the border of the area of interest; analyzing the one or more border regions of the captured image and determining if an object has entered the one or more border regions of the area of interest, wherein the one or more border regions of the captured image are analyzed by comparing the one or more border regions of the capture image to corresponding regions of two or more reference images, wherein at least one comparison detects relatively immediate changes, and at least one comparison detects accumulated changes; and outputting a signal indicating when an object has entered the one or more border regions of the area of interest.
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Specification