Audio/video recording and communication devices with multiple cameras

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11113938-B2
Application number	US-201715831854-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2017
Priority date	Dec 9, 2016
Publication date	Sep 7, 2021
Grant date	Sep 7, 2021

Abstract

Audio/video (A/V) recording and communication devices with multiple cameras in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure are provided. In one embodiment, an A/V recording and communication device is provided, the device comprising a first camera having a first resolution; a second camera having a second resolution, wherein the second resolution is higher than the first resolution; a communication module; and a processing module operatively connected to the first camera, the second camera, and the communication module, the processing module comprising: a processor; and a camera application, wherein the camera application configures the processor to: maintain the first camera in a powered-on state; maintain the second camera in a low-power or powered-off state; and determine when to power up the second camera based on an output signal from the first camera.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An audio/video recording and communication device (A/V device), comprising:
a first camera having a first resolution;
a second camera having a second resolution, wherein the second resolution is higher than the first resolution;
a communication module;
a processor operatively connected to the first camera, the second camera, and the communication module; and
a memory storing a camera application comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the A/V device to:
maintain the first camera in a powered-on state;
record first video image data using the first camera;
maintain the second camera in a low-power or powered-off state;
power up the second camera based on an output signal from the first camera;
record second video image data using the second camera;
prepend at least a portion of the first video image data, captured before the second camera is powered up, to the second video image data to form combined video image data; and
transmit the combined video image data to a network device.

2. The A/V device of claim 1 , wherein the camera application comprises further instructions, that when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to store the first video image data recorded using the first camera in the memory.

3. The A/V device of claim 1 , wherein the memory comprises a rolling buffer.

4. The A/V device of claim 1 , wherein the camera application comprises further instructions, that when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to power up the second camera when the output signal from the first camera indicates that motion has been detected in a field of view of the first camera.

5. The A/V device of claim 1 , the network device being a client device.

6. The A/V device of claim 1 , the network device being a server.

7. The A/V device of claim 1 , wherein the camera application comprises further instructions, that when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to generate the output signal in response to detection of a person in a field of view of the first camera.

8. The A/V device of claim 1 , wherein a field of view of the first camera is at least partially coincident with a field of view of the second camera.

9. The A/V device of claim 1 , wherein the A/V device comprises a doorbell having a front button.

10. The A/V device of claim 7 , wherein the camera application comprises further instructions, that when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to differentiate motion caused by a person from motion caused by other objects by comparing a set of motion characteristics of a moving object with a dataset.

11. The A/V device of claim 10 , wherein the camera application comprises further instructions, that when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to detect an object region in the first video image data recorded using the first camera.

12. The A/V device of claim 11 , wherein the camera application comprises further instructions, that when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to extract at least one feature from the object region.

13. The A/V device of claim 12 , wherein the camera application comprises further instructions, that when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to compare the at least one feature with trained features in the dataset.

14. An audio/video recording and communication device (A/V device), comprising:
a first camera having a first resolution;
a second camera having a second resolution, wherein the second resolution is higher than the first resolution;
a processor operatively connected to the first camera, the second camera, and the communication module; and
memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the A/V device to:
record first image data using the first camera;
detect motion using the first image data;
in response to detection of the motion:
power up the second camera and record second image data using the second camera; and
transition the first camera from a first power state to a second power state, the second power state consuming lower power than the first power state; and

after recording the second image data using the second camera:
power down the second camera, and
transition the first camera from the second power state to the first power state.

15. The A/V device of claim 14 , the instructions that detect the motion in the first image data comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the A/V device to compare successive frames recorded by the first camera.

16. The A/V device of claim 14 , the memory storing further computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to detect a person in the first image data; wherein the instructions to power up the second camera are only executed when the person is detected.

17. The A/V device of claim 14 , a field of view of the first camera being at least partially overlapping with a field of view of the second camera.

18. The A/V device of claim 14 , the memory storing further computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to prepend the first image data to the second image data to form combined image data, and store the combined image data.

19. The A/V device of claim 18 , the memory storing further computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the A/V device to transmit the combined image data to a network device.

20. The A/V device of claim 19 , the network device being a server.

Assignees

• Ring Inc
• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Siminoff James

Classifications

• G06V10/62

  relating to a temporal dimension, e.g. time-based feature extraction; Pattern tracking · CPC title

• H04N23/651

  for reducing power consumption by affecting camera operations, e.g. sleep mode, hibernation mode or power off of selective parts of the camera · CPC title

• H04N23/661

  Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet · CPC title

• H04N23/90

  Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums · CPC title

• H04N23/51

  Housings · CPC title