Method and System for Optically Tracking Moving Objects

System for tracking an object moving through a three-dimensional space within a field of view of a digital camera, the system comprising:

• a radar information analyzer configured to obtain, from a radar, directional information regarding the object in relation to the radar;
• and
• a digital image analyzer configured to obtain, from the digital camera, a series of consecutively captured images representing optical input from the three-dimensional space,
• the system further being configured to
• transform the directional information into image plane coordinates specific to the digital camera to determine a region of interest corresponding to a location in the consecutively captured images of the object;
• for each of a plurality of pixels of the images, determine if the pixel is a blob candidate by determining if a current signal value for the pixel deviates from a baseline value for the pixel by more than a pixel signal noise threshold value;
• combine individual ones of the plurality of pixels having been determined to be blob candidates into one or more blobs;
• and
• correlate the respective blobs in two or more different images of the series of consecutively captured images to determine a trajectory of the object through the three-dimensional space, wherein
• the determining if individual ones of the plurality of pixels are blob candidates is performed based on the region of interest by the system being configured to perform at least one of
• the determining of if individual ones of the plurality of pixels are blob candidates only with respect to pixels of the plurality of pixels that are within the region of interest and not with respect to pixels of the plurality of pixels that are not within the region of interest;
• the determining of if individual ones of the plurality of pixels are blob candidates with respect to pixels of the plurality of pixels that are within the region of interest before pixels of the plurality of pixels that are outside of the region of interest;
• and
• the determining of respective pixel noise threshold values for individual ones of the plurality of pixels based on the region of interest so that pixel noise threshold values for pixels of the plurality of pixels that are within the region of interest are determined to be relatively lower than pixel noise threshold values for pixels of the plurality of pixels that are outside of the region of interest.

Non-transitory computer-readable medium encoding instructions for tracking an object moving through a three-dimensional space within a field of view of a digital camera, the instructions configured to, when executing on one or more processors, perform operations comprising:

• obtaining from a radar directional information regarding the object in relation to the radar;
• obtaining from the digital camera a series of consecutively captured images representing optical input from the three-dimensional space;
• transforming the directional information into image plane coordinates specific to the digital camera to determine a region of interest corresponding to a location in the consecutively captured images of the object;
• for each of a plurality of pixels of the images, determining if the pixel is a blob candidate by determining if a current signal value for the pixel deviates from a baseline value for the pixel by more than a pixel signal noise threshold value;
• combining individual ones of the plurality of pixels having been determined to be blob candidates into one or more blobs;
• and
• correlating the respective blobs in two or more different images of the series of consecutively captured images to determine a trajectory of the object through the three-dimensional space, wherein
• the determining if individual ones of the plurality of pixels are blob candidates is performed based on the region of interest by the computer program being configured to, when executed on the one or more processors, perform at least one of
• the determining of if individual ones of the plurality of pixels are blob candidates only with respect to pixels of the plurality of pixels that are within the region of interest and not with respect to pixels of the plurality of pixels that are not within the region of interest;
• the determining of if individual ones of the plurality of pixels are blob candidates with respect to pixels of the plurality of pixels that are within the region of interest before pixels of the plurality of pixels that are outside of the region of interest;
• and
• determining of respective pixel noise threshold values for individual ones of the plurality of pixels based on the region of interest so that pixel noise threshold values for pixels of the plurality of pixels that are within the region of interest are determined to be relatively lower than pixel noise threshold values for pixels of the plurality of pixels that are outside of the region of interest.