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US 8,497,905 B2Granted
Systems and methods of capturing large area images in detail including cascaded cameras and/or calibration features
AssigneeNearmap Australia Pty Ltd.
InventorStuart William Nixon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and system are presented in which images are captured from overview and detail imaging devices such that overview images are created with a first degree of redundancy, and detail images are captured with less overlap and a second degree of redundancy.
Claims34
An image capture system comprising:
- a first image capture subsystem comprising a first imaging device configured to capture, at a first instance in time, at least one overview image of an overview area, the at least one overview image having a first resolution;
- and
- a second image capture subsystem comprising a second imaging device configured to capture, substantially concurrent with the first instance in time, at least one detail image of at least a portion of the overview area, the at least one detail image having a second resolution higher than the first resolution, the first and second image capture subsystems being configured such that a plurality of overview images overlap to result in an overview redundancy of overview image elements appearing in the plurality of overview images and a plurality of detail images overlap to result in a detail redundancy of detail image elements appearing in the plurality of detail images,
- wherein a percentage overlap among the plurality of overview images is greater than a percentage overlap among the plurality of detail images,
- wherein after capture of the plurality of overview images and the plurality of detail images, interior and exterior orientations of the detail images are determined based on a bundle adjustment process using the plurality of overview images and the plurality of detail images in order to determine 3-dimensional coordinates of detail image elements,
- wherein the overview redundancy is greater than 10 images and the detail redundancy is less than or equal to 10 images,
- wherein an area of at least one overlapping overview portion between a first and second overview image is greater than or equal to 50% of an area of one of the first and second overview images, and
- wherein an area of at least one overlapping detail portion of a first and second detail image is less than or equal to 20% of an area of one of the first and second detail images.
5 more elements
An image capture system comprising:
- a first image capture subsystem comprising a first imaging device configured to capture, at a first instance in time, at least one overview image of an overview area at a first ground resolution;
- and
- a second image capture subsystem comprising a second imaging device configured to capture, substantially concurrent with the first instance in time, at least one detail image of at least a portion of the overview area, the at least one detail image being at a second ground resolution that is higher than the first ground resolution, wherein
- the at least one overview image overlaps with previously captured overview images by a first overlap,
- the at least one detail image overlaps previously captured detail images by a second overlap, a percentage overlap of the first overlap being greater than a percentage overlap of the second overlap,
- after capture of a plurality of overview images and a plurality of detail images, interior and exterior orientations of the detail images are determined based on a bundle adjustment process using the plurality of overview images and the plurality of detail images in order to determine 3-dimensional coordinates of detail image elements,
- wherein the first overlap corresponds to a first image redundancy of greater than 10 images and the second overlap corresponds to a second image redundancy of less than or equal to 10 images,
- wherein an area of at least one overlapping overview portion between a first and second overview image is greater than or equal to 50% of an area of one of the first and second overview images, and
- wherein an area of at least one overlapping detail portion of a first and second detail image is less than or equal to 20% of an area of one of the first and second detail images.
6 more elements
A method of capturing images, the method comprising:
- (a) capturing, by a first image capture subsystem, a first overview image of an overview area, the first overview image being at a first ground resolution;
- and
- (b) capturing, by a second image capture subsystem, substantially simultaneously with the capture of the first overview image, a first detail image of at least a portion of the overview area, the first detail image being at a second ground resolution that is higher than the first ground resolution;
- (c) translating the first and second image capture subsystems along a first axis;
- (d) capturing, by the first image capture subsystem, a second overview image of a second overview area at the first ground resolution, wherein the first and second overview images have at least one overlapping overview portion with respect to each other;
- (e) capturing, by the second image capture subsystem, a second detail image at a second ground resolution, wherein the first and second detail images have at least one overlapping detail portion with respect to each other with a percentage overlap that is substantially smaller than a percentage overlap of the overlapping overview portion of the first and second overview images;
- and
- (f) after capturing of the first and second overview images and the first and second detail images, determining interior and exterior orientations of the first and second detail images based on a bundle adjustment process using the first and second overview images and the first and second detail images in order to determine 3-dimensional coordinates of detail image elements,
- wherein at least one of the overlapping overview portion and the overlapping detail portion results in an overview redundancy with respect to the first and second overview images and a detail redundancy with respect to the first and second detail images,
- wherein the overview redundancy is greater than 10 images and wherein the detail redundancy is less than or equal to 10 images,
- wherein an area of the at least one overlapping overview portion along the first axis is greater than or equal to 50% of an area of one of the first and second overview images, and
- wherein an area of the at least one overlapping detail portion along the first axis is less than or equal to 20% of an area of one of the first and second detail images.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.