Classifying and tracking orbital debris objects using an optical camera
AssigneeUniversity of Utah Research Foundation
InventorsNeda NATEGH, Yasin ZAMANI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Technology is described for a method for tracking orbital debris objects using an optical camera. The method can include identifying (2610) a location and brightness for a plurality of spots with various motion features and trajectories over ranges of background conditions in an image sequence from the optical camera. A centroid location can be computed (2620) for each of the plurality of spots and associated brightness values using a plurality of image frames. Another operation may be classifying (2630) the plurality of points as debris objects using centroid data from the plurality of frames. The plurality of classified debris objects can be tracked (2640) in near real-time over a time period.
Claims23
A method for classifying and tracking orbital debris objects using an optical camera, comprising:
- identifying a location and brightness for a plurality of spots in a plurality of image frames from the optical camera;
- computing a centroid location for the plurality of spots in the plurality of image frames;
- classifying the plurality of spots as debris objects or stars using centroid data from the plurality of image frames to produce a plurality of classified debris objects, by computing a matrix of distances between pairs of centroids across two frames and determining a corresponding matched centroid from among the pairs of centroids to produce a plurality of matched centroids across the two frames, calculating a translation vector for the plurality of matched centroids, and identifying a plurality of matched triplets across three frames from among the plurality of matched centroids, and calculating a rotation for the plurality of matched triplets;
- and
- tracking the plurality of classified debris objects over time.
A system for tracking orbital debris objects using an optical camera, comprising:
- at least one processor;
- and
- a memory device including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
- identify a location and brightness for a plurality of spots in a plurality of image frames from the optical camera;
- compute a centroid location for the plurality of spots in the plurality of image frames;
- classify the plurality of spots as debris objects using centroid data from the plurality of image frames to produce a plurality of classified debris objects, by computing a matrix of distances between pairs of centroids across two frames and determining a corresponding matched centroid from among the pairs of centroids to produce a plurality of matched centroids across the two frames, calculate a translation vector for the plurality of matched centroids, identify a plurality of matched triplets across three frames from among the plurality of matched centroids, and calculating a rotation for the plurality of matched triplets;
- and
- track the plurality of classified debris objects over a time period.
A computer readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon, the instructions when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a process comprising:
- identifying a location and brightness for a plurality of spots in a plurality of image frames from an optical camera;
- computing a centroid location for the plurality of spots in the plurality of image frames;
- classifying the plurality of spots as debris objects using centroid data from the plurality of image frames to produce a plurality of classified debris objects, by computing a matrix of distances between pairs of centroids across two frames and determining a corresponding matched centroid from among the pairs of centroids to produce a plurality of matched centroids across the two frames, calculating a translation vector for the plurality of matched centroids, and identifying a plurality of matched triplets across three frames from among the plurality of matched centroids, and calculating a rotation for the plurality of matched triplets;
- and
- tracking the plurality of classified debris objects over a time period.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.