Detecting optical discrepancies in captured images
AssigneeSkydio, Inc.
InventorsRyan Kennedy, Peter Henry, Abraham Bachrach
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments are described for detecting optical discrepancies associated with image capture analyzing pixels in multiple images corresponding to common points of reference in a physical environment. In an embodiment, photometric error values are averaged over time to compute the mean error at each pixel. Once the estimate of the mean error has a sufficient number of updates above a specified value, the estimate is thresholded to provide a mask of any optical discrepancies occurring in the stereo pair of images. Applications include detecting optical discrepancies in images captured for use by a visual navigation system in guiding an autonomous vehicle (e.g., an unmanned aerial vehicle).
Claims7
An unmanned aerial vehicle UAV) configured for autonomous flight through a physical environment, the UAV comprising:
- a first image capture device;
- a second image capture device, the second image capture device different than the first image capture device;
- a propulsion system;
- a visual navigation system configured to:
- process a first plurality of images received from the first image capture device;
- and
- generate control commands based at least in part on the first plurality of images received from the first image capture device, the control commands configured to maneuver the UAV using the propulsion system;
- a subject tracking system configured to automatically adjust an orientation of the second image capture device relative to the UAV such that a subject in the physical environment remains in a field of view of the second image capture device while the UAV is in flight;
- and
- an optical discrepancy detection system configured to:
- receive, from the first image capture device, a first image of the physical environment from a first position;
- receive, from the second image capture device, a second image of the physical environment from a second position;
- process the first image and the second image to compare photometric characteristics of pixels in the first image and the second image corresponding to a common point of reference in the physical environment;
- and
- detect an optical discrepancy associated with the capture of the first image and/or the second image based on the processing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.