Camera image georeferencing systems
AssigneePureTech Systems Inc.
InventorsFereydoun Maali, Monroe M. Thomas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for constructing a georeferencing-enabled camera model and its deployment in georeferencing targets located in video sequences due to a single video camera. A video surveillance camera is modeled by a collection of rays converging at a virtual camera point and the retina resolution cell coordinates associated with those rays wherein the ray equations are first established, in the course of a calibration process, for a given camera view, with the aid of other views of the same video surveillance camera, as necessary, and using such a model for mapping image coordinates to terrain coordinates and vice versa in the intended view or its adaptation for use in other views of the same video surveillance camera.
Claims1
A method of adapting an existing georeferencing-enabled camera model derived for a
- given camera view of a single security surveillance camera, to a new camera view of the
- single security surveillance camera, such existing georeferencing-enabled camera model
- relating image pixel-coordinates of the given camera view to rays in three-dimensional space, relative to a virtual camera point, such method comprising the steps of:
- a) locating in the new camera view a minimum of two located landmarks to be used
- for alignment of the given camera view with the new camera view, such minimum of two located landmarks comprising a first located landmark and a second located landmark;
- b) deriving for the new camera view, ray equations associated with the first located
- landmark and the second located landmark, such ray equations outputting two respective rays;
- c) intersecting each such two respective rays, along with all such rays of the existing
- georeferencing-enabled camera model, by a sphere of arbitrary radius and centered on the virtual camera point to yield a first ray-end point and a second ray-end point respectively located at the end of each such two rays;
- d) locating in the given camera view two corresponding ray-end points, each one associated with the same pixel coordinates to those of first ray-end point and a second ray-end point respectively;
- e) locating in the given camera view a third ray-end point comprising the intersection of a first intersecting sphere-set comprising three spheres respectively centered on the first ray-end point, the second ray-end point, and the virtual camera point, wherein each sphere of the first intersecting sphere-set comprise radii equal to a distance extending from their centers to the third ray-end point in
- the given view;
- f) using a second intersecting sphere-set to calculate a corresponding third ray-end
- point in the new camera view, the second intersecting sphere-set comprising three corresponding spheres respectively centered on the two corresponding ray-end points and the virtual camera point, wherein each corresponding sphere of the second intersecting sphere-set comprise radii equal to the respective spheres of the first intersecting sphere-set;
- g) locating in the new view at least one corresponding third ray-end point along with its associated pixel coordinates in the new view;
- h) confirming the corresponding third ray-end using the signed distance of the corresponding third ray-end to a plane formed by the virtual camera point and the two corresponding ray-end points of the new view and the third ray-end point to a plane formed by the first ray-end point, the second ray-end point, and the virtual camera point;
- and
- i) deriving such georeferencing-enabled camera model by repeating steps (e) through (h) for all other ray-end points of such given view;
- j) wherein adaptation, of such existing georeferencing-enabled camera model derived for a given camera view to a new camera view, may be achieved.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.