Light adjustment control for cameras of an aerial vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10086956-B2
Application number	US-201615008108-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2016
Priority date	Jan 27, 2016
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

This disclosure describes an aerial vehicle that includes a light alteration assembly that may be used to alter light entering a lens of a camera of the aerial vehicle. The light alteration assembly may include an adjustable visor and/or filters that may be selectively positioned over the lens of the camera. By altering light entering the lens of a camera of the aerial vehicle, the camera is able to obtain higher quality images of the area surrounding the aerial vehicle. The higher quality images may then be processed to accurately detect objects within a vicinity of the aerial vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aerial vehicle, comprising:
a frame;
a camera mounted to the frame;
an adjustable visor external to the camera and coupled to the frame and movable between a retracted position in which the adjustable visor is retracted toward the frame and an extended position in which the adjustable visor extends away from the frame and blocks at least a portion of light to reduce an intensity of light entering a lens of the camera; and
a control system, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor and storing program instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to at least:
determine a first flight transition in which the aerial vehicle is transitioning from a first flight that includes a substantially horizontal component to a second flight that includes a substantially vertical component; and
in response to a determination of the first flight transition, cause the adjustable visor to move from the retracted position to the extended position.

2. The aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions when executed by the processor further cause the processor to at least:
determine a second flight transition in which the aerial vehicle is transitioning from the second flight to a third flight that includes a substantially horizontal component; and
in response to a determination of the second flight transition, send instructions that cause the adjustable visor to move from the extended position to the retracted position.

3. The aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions when executed by the processor further cause the processor to at least:
determine a position of the aerial vehicle;
determine a position of a light source; and
wherein the program instructions that cause the adjustable visor to move from the retracted position to the extended position further cause the adjustable visor to move to a determined position with respect to the position of the aerial vehicle and the position of the light source such that the adjustable visor blocks at least a portion of light from the light source.

4. The aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the adjustable visor is aligned in the extended position to reduce an intensity of light entering the lens of the camera such that a quality of an image obtained by the camera is improved.

5. A method to operate a camera of an aerial vehicle, the method comprising:
under control of one or more computing devices configured with executable instructions,
determining a first flight transition in which the aerial vehicle is transitioning between a first flight that includes a substantially horizontal component and a second flight that includes a substantially vertical component; and
in response to determining the first flight transition, sending instructions that cause a component of a light alteration assembly that is external to the camera to be positioned between a light source and the camera of the aerial vehicle such that a light is altered prior to the light entering a lens of the camera.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the component of the light alteration assembly comprises at least one of an adjustable visor that is positionable between an extended position and a retracted position with respect to a frame of the aerial vehicle, or an adjustable filter that may be positioned over the lens of the camera to alter light entering the lens of the camera.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining a position of the aerial vehicle;
determining a position of the light source;
determining, based at least in part on the position of the aerial vehicle and the position of the light source, an extended position at which the component of the light alteration assembly is to be positioned such that the light alteration assembly will alter the light entering the lens of the camera; and
wherein the instructions indicate the extended position.

8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining an intensity of light entering the lens of the camera;
selecting a component of the light alteration assembly that will alter an amount of light entering the lens of the camera; and
wherein the instructions that cause the component of the light alteration assembly to be positioned between the light source and the camera of the aerial vehicle further include instructions that cause the selected component to be positioned over the lens of the camera such that the light is altered by the selected component prior to the light entering the lens of the camera.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the intensity of light entering the lens is determined based at least in part on an exposure level measured by the camera.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second flight comprises at least one of a landing, a takeoff, or a payload delivery.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first flight comprises an aerial transport of an item from an origin to a destination.

12. An aerial vehicle, comprising:
a frame;
a camera enclosure coupled to the frame;
a camera positioned within an interior of the camera enclosure such that the camera enclosure encompasses the camera; and
a light alteration assembly external to the camera and including at least one component that is adjustable with respect to the camera to alter light entering a lens of the camera, wherein the at least one component is incorporated into the camera enclosure, and wherein the at least one component is adjusted in response to a flight transition between a first flight including a substantially horizontal component and a second flight including a substantially vertical component.

13. The aerial vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the at least one component of the light alteration assembly includes a filter that may be positioned over the lens of the camera.

14. The aerial vehicle of claim 12 , wherein:
the at least one component is incorporated into the camera enclosure as a substantially spherical shape that surrounds the camera;
the substantially spherical shape comprises a plurality of sections, each section of the plurality of sections including a different filter of a plurality of filters; and
a section of the plurality of sections is positioned over the lens of the camera by rotating the substantially spherical shape such that the section is positioned in front of the lens of the camera.

15. The aerial vehicle of claim 12 , wherein:
the camera enclosure includes a substantially spherical shape that surrounds the camera;
the at least one component comprises a filter, wherein the filter is hingedly coupled to the substantially spherical shape at a first hinge and a second hinge such that the filter may be moved with respect to the substantially spherical shape; and
the filter is positioned over the lens of the camera by moving the filter with respect to the substantially spherical shape such that the filter is positioned in front of the lens of the camera.

16. The aerial vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the light alteration assembly includes a plurality of filters, each of the plurality of filters hingedly coupled to the substantially spherical shape at the first hinge and the second hinge such that each of the plurality of filters may be independently moved with respect to the substantially spherical shape.

17. The aerial vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the at least one component comprises an adjustable visor coupled to the frame of the aerial vehicle.

18. The aerial vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the adjustable visor may be moved between a retracted position

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• O'Brien Barry James
• Watson Joshua John

Classifications

• H04N23/75

  by influencing optical camera components · CPC title

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• H04N23/71

  Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation · CPC title

• B64U50/19

  using electrically powered motors · CPC title

• H04N23/51

  Housings · CPC title