Method of evaluating the horizontal speed of a drone, in particular a drone capable of performing hovering flight under autopilot
US8498447B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 8, 2011 |
| Grant date | Jul 30, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 15, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/30252
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The method operates by estimating the differential movement of the scene picked up by a vertically-oriented camera. Estimation includes periodically and continuously updating a multiresolution representation of the pyramid of images type modeling a given picked-up image of the scene at different, successively-decreasing resolutions. For each new picked-up image, an iterative algorithm of the optical flow type is applied to said representation. The method also provides responding to the data produced by the optical-flow algorithm to obtain at least one texturing parameter representative of the level of microcontrasts in the picked-up scene and obtaining an approximation of the speed, to which parameters a battery of predetermined criteria are subsequently applied. If the battery of criteria is satisfied, then the system switches from the optical-flow algorithm to an algorithm of the corner detector type.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.