Visual observer for unmanned aerial vehicles

A method comprising:

• receiving, by one or more processors, from a first camera, a plurality of images of an airspace corresponding to an area of operation of a first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);
• detecting, using a first computer vision algorithm, and based on the plurality of images from the first camera, a candidate object approaching or within the airspace;
• determining, based on a second computer vision algorithm, an indication of whether an output of the first computer vision algorithm is correct;
• based on detecting the candidate object and determining that the output of the first computer vision algorithm is indicated to be correct, controlling a second camera to direct a field of view of the second camera toward the candidate object;
• determining, based on images from the second camera captured at a first location and images from at least one other camera captured at a second location that the candidate object is an object of interest;
• and
• performing at least one action based on determining that the candidate object is the object of interest.

An apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of cameras and at least one processor configured by executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, from a first camera of the plurality of cameras, a plurality of images of an airspace corresponding to an area of operation of a first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);
• detecting, using a first computer vision algorithm, and based on the plurality of images from the first camera, a candidate object approaching or within the airspace;
• determining, based on a second computer vision algorithm, an indication of whether an output of the first computer vision algorithm is correct;
• based on detecting the candidate object and determining that the output of the first computer vision algorithm is indicated to be correct, controlling movement of a movable camera of the plurality of cameras to direct a field of view of the movable camera toward the candidate object;
• and
• sending images captured using the movable camera at a first location to at least one of the first UAV or a computing device located over a network, the at least one of the first UAV or the computing device configured to perform recognition on the sent images.