Animal detecting device, system, method and computer program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12465025-B2
Application number	US-202218078947-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2022
Priority date	Jan 10, 2022
Publication date	Nov 11, 2025
Grant date	Nov 11, 2025

Abstract

An animal detecting device includes circuitry configured to: obtain one or more images; perform image processing on the one or more images, wherein the image processing includes detecting the presence of an animal in one of the one or more images, produce, when the presence of an animal is detected, image representation data associated with the one or more images according to a result of the image processing; and send, in the event of a predetermined condition being met, the image representation data to another device over a communication link.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An animal detecting device comprising circuitry configured to:
obtain one or more images; perform image processing on the one or more images, wherein the image processing comprises detecting the presence of an animal in one of the one or more images, produce, when the presence of an animal is detected, image representation data associated with the one or more images according to a result of the image processing; and send, in the event of a predetermined condition being met, the image representation data to another device over a communication link, wherein the image representation data is metadata associated with the one or more images, wherein the predetermined condition relates to a result of the image processing, and wherein the image processing further comprises assigning a priority level to a detected animal based on one or more characteristics of the detected animal, and wherein the predetermined condition respectively varies depending on whether at least a first priority or a second priority is assigned to the detected animal.

2 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the image processing further comprises determining a number of detected animals in one of the one or more images.

3 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the image processing further comprises determining a position of a detected animal in one of the one or more images.

4 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the image processing further comprises identifying a species of a detected animal in one of the one or more images.

5 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the image processing further comprises detecting the presence of a human in one of the one or more images.

6 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the image processing further comprises identifying a pose of a detected animal in one of the one or more images.

7 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to send an alert to a user device according to a result of the image processing.

8 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to send the image representation data to a central management system.

9 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to receive information relating to a detected animal.

10 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more images are infra-red, near infra-red, Time of Flight, Dynamic Vision Sensing, Structured Light, Radar or Lidar images.

11 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , further comprising an image capturing device configured to capture the one or more images.

12 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the image representation data includes data values indicative of the result of image processing.

13 . The animal detecting device according to claim 1 , wherein image data associated with the one or more images is not sent by the animal detecting device.

14 . A system comprising:
a central management system; and an animal detecting device having circuitry configured to:
obtain one or more images;
perform image processing on the one or more images, wherein the image processing comprises detecting the presence of an animal in one of the one or more images;
produce, when the presence of an animal is detected, image representation data associated with the one or more images according to a result of the image processing, wherein the image representation data is metadata associated with the one or more images; and
send, in the event a predetermined condition being met, the image representation data to the central management system in place of image data;
wherein the image processing further comprises assigning a priority level to a detected animal based on one or more characteristics of the detected animal, and wherein the predetermined condition respectively varies depending on whether at least a first priority or a second priority is assigned to the detected animal, and wherein the central management system is configured to receive the image representation data from the animal detecting device, perform an analysis of the image representation data, and send a result of the analysis to another device.

15 . The system according to claim 14 , further comprising a master device, and wherein the animal detecting device is configured to send the image representation data to the central management system via the master device.

Assignees

• Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp
• Sony Europe Bv

Inventors

• Finatti Salvatore
• Lee Shaun
• Avitabile Antonio

Classifications

• G06T2207/30242

  Counting objects in image · CPC title

• G06V40/10 Primary

  Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands · CPC title

• G06T7/70

  Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) · CPC title

• G06V20/52 Primary

  Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69) · CPC title

• G06V20/00

  Scenes; Scene-specific elements (control of digital cameras H04N23/60) · CPC title