Method and system for generating aerial imaging flight path

A system to determine a path for taking images of an area of interest, the system comprising:

• a storage device storing coordinates of the area of interest;
• a trajectory module coupled to the storage device, the trajectory module operative to:
• determine a series of trajectories, each trajectory determined based on a logarithmic spiral curve derived from a predetermined range of basis angles and selecting a constant tangent angle between a radial line from the location of an image sensor to a target location, and a tangent line to the logarithmic spiral curve at the location of the image sensor;
• store the series of trajectories in the storage device,
• select a set of trajectories from the series of trajectories,
• scale the selected set of trajectories to cover the area of interest,
• transform the scaled selected set of trajectories to coordinates to cover the area of the interest;
• and
• a display module coupled to the trajectory module, the display module displaying the selected set of trajectories over an image of the area of interest.

A system for imaging an area of interest, the system comprising:

• an image sensor operable to capture images;
• a flight controller having a flight plan, the flight plan generated by:
• determining a series of trajectories, each trajectory determined based on a logarithmic spiral curve derived from a predetermined range of basis angles and selecting a constant tangent angle between a radial line from the location of an image sensor to a target location, and a tangent line to the logarithmic spiral curve at the location of the image sensor;
• selecting a set of trajectories from the series of trajectories;
• scaling the selected set of trajectories to cover the area of interest;
• transforming the selected set of trajectories to coordinates corresponding to the area of interest;
• and
• generating a set of waypoints for the flight plan;
• and
• an aircraft having the image sensor, the aircraft controlled by the flight controller in accordance to the flight plan to fly over the area of interest.