Data capture system for texture and geometry acquisition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10767975-B2
Application number	US-201816049124-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2018
Priority date	Jul 29, 2015
Publication date	Sep 8, 2020
Grant date	Sep 8, 2020

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 vehicle configured to be autonomously navigated, the vehicle 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 vehicle based at least on the determined time;
using the one or more sensors, acquiring environmental data from an environment; and
providing feedback associated with the acquired environmental data, wherein the feedback is used to autonomously navigate the vehicle.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the signal data is received from at least one of a navigation system and cellular network.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein processing the signal data further comprises performing a kinematic alignment of one or more components of the vehicle.

4. The vehicle of claim 3 , wherein performing the kinematic alignment comprises aligning a navigation system antenna of the vehicle with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) of the vehicle.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein synchronizing one or more sensors comprises using the time associated with the signal data to synchronize the one or more sensors to a common clock of the vehicle.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein synchronizing one or more sensors comprises:
determining spatial coordinate data associated with the signal data; and
using the spatial coordinate data to synchronize the one or more sensors to a spatial coordinate system of the vehicle.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the environmental data comprises image data of the environment and distance data between the one or more sensors and one or more objects in the environment.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the environmental data is used to construct a three dimensional representation of the environment.

9. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the environmental data is used to calculate movement information of the vehicle.

10. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the movement information is used to autonomously maneuver the vehicle in the environment.

11. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein providing the feedback comprises displaying a three dimensional representation of the environment, wherein the three dimensional representation is colored using image data in the environmental data and textured using texture data in the environmental data.

12. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein providing the feedback comprises providing instructions for operating the vehicle in the environment.

13. A computer-implemented method for autonomously navigating a vehicle, the method comprising:
receiving a first set of signal data;
processing the first set of signal data, wherein the processing comprises determining a time associated with the first set of signal data;
synchronizing one or more sensors of the vehicle based at least on the determined time;
using the one or more sensors, acquiring environmental data from an environment of the vehicle; and
using feedback associated with the acquired environmental data to autonomously navigate the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first set of signal data comprises geo-spatial positioning information and time signals for the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein processing the first set of signal data further comprises determining the geo-spatial location of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
receiving a second set of signal data;
comparing the second set of signal data to the first set of signal data; and
based on the comparison, determining a course of the vehicle.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein comparing the second set of signal data to the first set of signal data comprises:
determining an image in the first set of signal data;
determining a corresponding image in the second set of signal data; and
determining a change in position of the vehicle over time.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
receiving a second set of signal data;
comparing the second set of signal data to the first set of signal data; and
based on the comparison, determining an alteration to at least one of a velocity and a direction of an object in the environment.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the movement of the vehicle is modified based on the determined alteration to the object.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• G01C21/383

  Indoor data · CPC title

• G01C21/3867

  Geometry of map features, e.g. shape points, polygons or for simplified maps · CPC title

• G01C21/3848

  Data obtained from both position sensors and additional sensors · CPC title

• G01C11/00 Primary

  Photogrammetry or videogrammetry, e.g. stereogrammetry; Photographic surveying · CPC title

• G01S17/89

  for mapping or imaging · CPC title