Data capture system for texture and geometry acquisition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10048058-B2
Application number	US-201514812565-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 29, 2015
Priority date	Jul 29, 2015
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

Examples of the present disclosure describe systems and methods for capturing data to acquire indoor and outdoor geometry. In aspects, a data capture system may be configured to acquire texture data, geometry data, navigation data and/or orientation data to support geolocation and georeferencing within indoor and outdoor environments. The data capture system may further be configured to acquire seamless texture data from a 360° horizontal and vertical perspective to support panoramic video and images.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, performs a method comprising:
receiving signal data;
processing the signal data, wherein the processing comprises determining a time associated with the signal data;
synchronizing one or more sensors of the system;
using the one or more sensors, acquiring environmental data from an environment; and
providing feedback associated with the acquired environmental data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signal data is received from a global navigation system.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises a rigid frame, wherein the one or more sensors are mounted to the rigid frame.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the synchronizing comprises aligning the one or more sensors in pose and position with respect to the rigid frame.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the acquiring comprises at least one of:
measuring a distance between at least one of the one or more sensors and one or more objects in the environment;
recording image data of the environment, wherein the image data comprises at least one of the group consisting of images, still video and video;
recording a change in position over time of the one or more sensors; and
measuring a velocity, an orientation, and gravitational forces of one or more objects in the environment.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the environmental data is used to construct a geometry representing the environment, and wherein the environmental data is further used to texture the geometry.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the environmental data is further used to interpolate movement data within the textured geometry.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the feedback comprises a three-dimensional, textured representation of the environment.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising: generating one or more timestamps using the time associated with the signal data, wherein the one or more timestamps are affixed to the environmental data.

10. A system comprising:
an antenna configured to receive signal data;
a panoramic head configured to acquire image data of an environment, wherein the image data comprises at least one of the group consisting of images, still video and video;
a radar sensor configured to measure a distance between the radar sensor and one or more objects in an environment;
a visual odometry sensor configured to determine a change in a position of the visual odometry sensor over time;
an orientation and navigation sensor configured to determine a position, a velocity and an orientation of the orientation and navigation sensor; and
a processing unit configured to process information received from at least one of the antenna, the panoramic head, the radar sensor, the visual odometry sensor, and the orientation and navigation sensor;
wherein one or more sensors of the system are operable to be kinematically aligned upon receiving the signal data.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising: a rigid frame, the rigid frame comprising the antenna, the panoramic head, the radar sensor, and the orientation and navigation sensor.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the panoramic head comprises a rigid construction and a plurality of cameras, wherein the plurality of cameras are mounted to the rigid construction in a configuration that provides for a panoramic image of the environment.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of cameras comprises a first camera having a first focal point and a second camera having a second focal point, wherein the first camera and the second camera are positioned with respect to one another to avoid visible parallaxes.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the panoramic head comprises a cooling system having an active portion and a passive portion, wherein the active portion includes a fan assembly and the passive portion includes affixing cooling fins to one or more of the plurality of cameras.

15. The system of claim 12 , further comprising: a software readout mechanism that provides for a selection of a readout direction for each of the plurality of cameras.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein processing the information comprises:
constructing a geometry representing the environment, wherein the geometry is constructed based at least in part on the information; and
applying a texture to the geometry.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein processing the information further comprises:
identifying a correspondence between two or more portions of the information; and
generating a representation of an apparent motion of one or more objects in the textured geometry.

18. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a system clock, wherein at least the radar sensor, the visual odometry sensor, and the orientation and navigation sensor are synchronized to the system clock.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the synchronized sensors are used to transform the information into a spatial coordinate system.

20. A method for capturing data, the method comprising:
receiving, by a data capture system, signal data from a global navigation system;
processing the signal data, wherein the processing comprises determining a time associated with the signal data;
synchronizing one or more sensors of the data capture system, wherein the synchronizing comprises aligning the one or more sensors in pose and position with respect to a rigid frame;
using the one or more sensors, acquiring environmental data from an environment, wherein the environmental data is used to construct a geometry representing the environment; and
providing feedback associated with the acquired environmental data, wherein the feedback comprises a three-dimensional representation of the environment.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Cosic Zanin
• Hegenbarth Hannes
• Ponticelli Martin
• Schweighofer Gerald
• Sormann Mario

Classifications

• G01S17/86

  Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders · CPC title

• G01S17/89

  for mapping or imaging · CPC title

• G01S13/86

  Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder · CPC title

• G01S13/89

  for mapping or imaging · CPC title

• G01C21/20

  Instruments for performing navigational calculations (G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence) · CPC title