Aerial Polarization-Imaging System and Method for Detection of Subsurface Fish
OwnerVincent Loccisanoinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aerial polarimetric fish-detection system and method acquire polarization-resolved imagery from an elevated platform over a water area, compute per-pixel polarization metrics (degree and angle of linear polarization), compensate for viewing geometry and environmental factors, and detect candidate subsurface scatterers consistent with fish via spatial and temporal anomaly analysis. The system geolocates candidate fish positions, estimates confidence and depth proxies, and add more details about how the polarization may happen to allow seeing below the surface and reducing glare.
Claims15
A vessel-deployed remote fish-finding system comprising:
- a launch and recovery subsystem mountable to a fishing vessel;
- and
- an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) deployable from the launch and recovery subsystem, the UAV comprising:
- a stabilized, multi-modal sensor payload including at least one camera configured for visible-band camera and thermal imaging;
- and
- a positioning subsystem comprising a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and an inertial measurement unit (IMU);
- and
- a communications subsystem configured to stream sensor data from the UAV to the vessel;
- and
- a detection processing subsystem configured to:
- receive the sensor data from the UAV;
- and
- detect, using the sensor data, a plurality of fish-indicating cues from a group consisting of (i) surface fish action, (ii) subsurface fish activity, (iii) sea surface thermal anomalies, and (iv) bird feeding behavior in an area beyond a direct visual range of the vessel;
- and
- generate one or more georeferenced waypoints corresponding to one or more detected areas of interest;
- and
- an interface module configured to present the georeferenced waypoints and live sensor data on a multifunction device (MFD) integrated with the vessel's navigation systems.
A method for providing remote fishing guidance from a vessel, the method comprising:
- deploying an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from a launch and recovery subsystem mounted to the vessel, the UAV comprising a multi-modal sensor payload;
- and
- capturing, with the multi-modal sensor payload, sensor data of a remote water area, the sensor data including at least visible imagery and thermal imagery;
- and
- transmitting the sensor data from the UAV to an onboard processing subsystem;
- and
- detecting, using the processing subsystem, a plurality of fish-indicating cues within the sensor data;
- and
- fusing, with the processing subsystem, two or more of the detected fish-indicating cues to generate a confidence-scored detection for an area of interest;
- and
- generating one or more georeferenced waypoints corresponding to the confidence-scored detection;
- and
- streaming the georeferenced waypoints and live sensor data to an onboard multifunction device (MFD) for presentation to a vessel operator.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform a method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of streamed sensor data feeds from a multi-modal sensor payload of a UAV deployed from a vessel, the sensor data feeds including at least a visible-band video feed and a thermal data feed;
- and
- applying a plurality of detection algorithms to the sensor data feeds to identify a plurality of fish-indicating cues in a remote water area;
- and
- executing a sensor fusion model to combine two or more distinct fish-indicating cues that are spatially correlated to compute a confidence score for an area of interest;
- and
- generating a georeferenced waypoint corresponding to the area of interest;
- and
- transmitting the georeferenced waypoint and an annotated video feed to a multifunction device onboard the vessel for display.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.