Light adjustment control for cameras of an aerial vehicle
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsBarry James O'Brien, Joshua John Watson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This disclosure describes an aerial vehicle that includes a light alteration assembly that may be used to alter light entering a lens of a camera of the aerial vehicle. The light alteration assembly may include an adjustable visor and/or filters that may be selectively positioned over the lens of the camera. By altering light entering the lens of a camera of the aerial vehicle, the camera is able to obtain higher quality images of the area surrounding the aerial vehicle. The higher quality images may then be processed to accurately detect objects within a vicinity of the aerial vehicle.
Claims20
An aerial vehicle, comprising:
- a frame;
- a camera mounted to the frame;
- an adjustable visor external to the camera and coupled to the frame and movable between a retracted position in which the adjustable visor is retracted toward the frame and an extended position in which the adjustable visor extends away from the frame and blocks at least a portion of light to reduce an intensity of light entering a lens of the camera;
- and
- a control system, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory coupled to the processor and storing program instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to at least:
- determine a first flight transition in which the aerial vehicle is transitioning from a first flight that includes a substantially horizontal component to a second flight that includes a substantially vertical component;
- and
- in response to a determination of the first flight transition, cause the adjustable visor to move from the retracted position to the extended position.
A method to operate a camera of an aerial vehicle, the method comprising:
- under control of one or more computing devices configured with executable instructions,
- determining a first flight transition in which the aerial vehicle is transitioning between a first flight that includes a substantially horizontal component and a second flight that includes a substantially vertical component;
- and
- in response to determining the first flight transition, sending instructions that cause a component of a light alteration assembly that is external to the camera to be positioned between a light source and the camera of the aerial vehicle such that a light is altered prior to the light entering a lens of the camera.
An aerial vehicle, comprising:
- a frame;
- a camera enclosure coupled to the frame;
- a camera positioned within an interior of the camera enclosure such that the camera enclosure encompasses the camera;
- and
- a light alteration assembly external to the camera and including at least one component that is adjustable with respect to the camera to alter light entering a lens of the camera, wherein the at least one component is incorporated into the camera enclosure, and wherein the at least one component is adjusted in response to a flight transition between a first flight including a substantially horizontal component and a second flight including a substantially vertical component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.