Anomalous pixel detection systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12166959-B2
Application number	US-202117543538-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2021
Priority date	Dec 30, 2020
Publication date	Dec 10, 2024
Grant date	Dec 10, 2024

Abstract

Various techniques are disclosed to provide for detection of temporally anomalous flickering pixels. In one example, a method includes capturing, by a thermal imager of an imaging device, a plurality of thermal images in response to infrared radiation received from a uniform black body, wherein the thermal images comprise a plurality of pixels having associated pixel values. The method also includes determining, for each pixel, a standard deviation of the associated pixel values for the thermal images. The method also includes comparing the standard deviations with a threshold. The method also includes identifying a subset of the pixels as temporally anomalous pixels in response to the comparing. Additional methods, devices, and systems are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
storing a bad pixel map that identifies static anomalous pixels identified during a factory calibration of a thermal imager of an imaging device;
initiating a run-time in-field calibration of the thermal imager, the calibration comprising:
capturing, by the thermal imager, a plurality of thermal images in response to infrared radiation received from a uniform black body, wherein the thermal images comprise a plurality of pixels each having an associated pixel value for each of the thermal images,
determining, for each pixel, a temporal standard deviation of its associated pixel values corresponding to the same pixel location for each of the thermal images,
comparing the standard deviations with a threshold, and
identifying a subset of the pixels as flickering temporally anomalous pixels in response to the comparing; and

updating the bad pixel map to further identify the flickering temporally anomalous pixels identified during the run-time in-field calibration of the thermal imager.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the uniform black body is a surface of a shutter of the imaging device.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
translating the shutter to a closed position to present the surface to the thermal imager.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the run-time calibration further comprises updating offset correction terms using the captured thermal images to reduce fixed pattern noise associated with the thermal imager.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thermal images are a first plurality of thermal images, the method further comprising:
capturing a second plurality of thermal images of a scene; and
replacing pixel values of the second plurality of thermal images using the bad pixel map.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the standard deviation for each of the pixels is a running standard deviation updated in realtime as each of the thermal images are captured.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the captured thermal images, wherein the standard deviation for each of the pixels is a full standard deviation determined from the stored thermal images.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is a predetermined threshold or a mean standard deviation of all pixels for the captured thermal images.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging device is a portable thermal camera.

10. A system comprising:
a thermal imager configured to capture a plurality of thermal images in response to infrared radiation received from a uniform black body, wherein the thermal images comprise a plurality of pixels each having an associated pixel value for each of the thermal images;
a memory configured to store a bad pixel map that identifies static anomalous pixels identified during a factory calibration of the thermal imager; and
a logic device configured to:
initiate a run-time in-field calibration of the thermal imager by performing operations comprising:
determine, for each pixel, a temporal standard deviation of its associated pixel values corresponding to the same pixel location for each of the thermal images,
compare the standard deviations with a threshold, and
identify a subset of the pixels as flickering temporally anomalous pixels in response to the comparing, and

update the bad pixel map to further identify the temporally anomalous pixels identified during the run-time in-field calibration of the thermal imager.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the uniform black body is a surface of a shutter of the system.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the logic device is configured to:
translate the shutter to a closed position to present the surface to the thermal imager.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the logic device is configured to update offset correction terms using the captured thermal images to reduce fixed pattern noise associated with the thermal imager, wherein the run-time calibration comprises the update.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the thermal images are a first plurality of thermal images, and wherein:
the thermal imager is configured to capture a second plurality of thermal images of a scene; and
the logic device is configured to replace pixel values of the second plurality of thermal images using the bad pixel map.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the standard deviation for each of the pixels is a running standard deviation updated in realtime as each of the thermal images are captured.

16. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:
a memory configured to store the captured thermal images; and
wherein the standard deviation for each of the pixels is a full standard deviation determined from the stored thermal images.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the threshold is a predetermined threshold or a mean standard deviation of all pixels for the captured thermal images.

18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the system is a portable thermal camera.

Assignees

• Teledyne Flir Commercial Systems Inc

Inventors

• Moreira Julie R
• Lin Stephanie

Classifications

• H04N23/23

  from thermal infrared radiation · CPC title

• H04N25/68 Primary

  applied to defects · CPC title

• H04N25/671

  for non-uniformity detection or correction · CPC title

• H04N25/674

  based on the scene itself, e.g. defocusing · CPC title

• H04N17/002 Primary

  for television cameras · CPC title