Drainage channel for sports camera

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9787884-B2
Application number	US-201615083267-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 28, 2016
Priority date	Jul 2, 2015
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

An audio capture system for a sports camera includes at least one “enhanced” microphone and at least one “reference” microphone. The enhanced microphone includes a drainage enhancement feature to enable water to drain from the microphone more quickly than the reference microphone. A microphone selection controller selects between the microphones based on a microphone selection algorithm to enable high quality in conditions where the sports camera transitions in and out of water during activities such as surfing, water skiing, swimming, or other wet environments.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A camera, comprising:
a lens assembly for directing light received through a lens window to an image sensor;
a substantially cubic camera housing enclosing the lens assembly, the substantially cubic camera housing comprising a bottom face, left face, right face, back face, top face, and front face;
a first microphone integrated with the front face of the camera and positioned within a recess on an interior facing portion of the front face;
a lower drain below the first microphone comprising an opening in the substantially cubic camera housing near the front face, the lower drain to allow water that collects in the recess housing the first microphone to drain;
an upper drain above the first microphone comprising an opening in the substantially cubic camera housing near the front face, the upper drain to allow air to enter the recess as the water drains;
a channel through the interior facing portion of the front face that couples the recess to the lower drain; and
a second microphone integrated with a rear portion of the substantially cubic camera housing.

2. The camera of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of microphone ports comprising openings between the recess and an exterior facing portion of the front face.

3. The camera of claim 1 , further comprising:
a water submersion sensor to sense when the camera is submerged in water.

4. The camera of claim 1 , further comprising:
a microphone selection controller to select between the first microphone and the second microphone based on characteristics of a first audio signal captured by the first microphone and a second audio signal captured by the second microphone.

5. The camera of claim 4 , wherein the microphone selection controller comprises:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions executable by the processor for selecting between the first microphone and the second microphone, the instructions when executed causing the processor to perform steps including:
receiving the first audio signal from the first microphone representing ambient audio captured by the first microphone during a time interval;
receiving the second audio signal from the second microphone representing ambient audio captured by the second microphone during the time interval;
determining a correlation metric between the first audio signal and the second audio signal representing a similarity between the first audio signal and the second audio signal;
responsive to the correlation metric exceeding a predefined threshold, outputting the first audio signal for the time interval;
responsive to the correlation metric not exceeding the first predefined threshold, determining a first noise metric for the first audio signal and a second noise metric for the second audio signal;
responsive to a sum of the first noise metric and a bias value being less than the second noise metric, outputting the first audio signal for the time interval; and
responsive to the sum of the first noise metric and the bias value being greater than the second noise metric, outputting the second audio signal for the time interval.

6. The camera of claim 4 , wherein the microphone selection controller comprises:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions executable by the processor for selecting between the first microphone and the second microphone, the instructions when executed causing the processor to perform steps including:
receiving the first audio signal from the first microphone representing ambient audio captured by the first microphone during a time interval;
receiving the second audio signal from the second microphone representing ambient audio captured by the second microphone during the time interval;
determining a correlation metric between the first audio signal and the second audio signal representing a similarity between the first audio signal and the second audio signal;
responsive to the correlation metric exceeding a predefined threshold, outputting the first audio signal for the time interval;
responsive to the correlation metric not exceeding the predefined threshold, determining if the first and second microphones are submerged in liquid;
responsive to determining that the first and second microphones are not submerged, determining whether the first microphone is wet;
responsive to determining that the first microphone is wet, outputting the second microphone signal for the time interval;
responsive to determining that first microphone is not wet or that the first and second microphones are submerged, determining a first noise metric for the first audio signal and a second noise metric for the second audio signal;
responsive to a sum of the first noise metric and a bias value being less than the second noise metric, outputting the first audio signal for the time interval; and
responsive to the sum of the first noise metric and the bias value being greater than the second noise metric, outputting the second audio signal for the time interval.

7. The camera of claim 5 , wherein determining the correlation metric comprises correlating the first audio signal and the second audio signal over a predefined spectral range of approximately 600 Hz to approximately 1200 Hz.

8. The camera of claim 5 , wherein determining the first noise metric and the second noise metric comprises determining the first and second noise metrics over a predefined spectral range of approximately 20 Hz to approximately 16 kHz.

9. The camera of claim 5 , further comprising:
setting the predefined threshold to a first predefined value responsive to the correlation metric exceeding the predefined threshold in a prior time interval; and
setting the predefined threshold to a second predefined value responsive to the correlation metric not exceeding the predefined threshold in the prior time interval, wherein the first predefined value is higher than the second predefined value.

10. The camera of claim 5 , wherein determining the first noise metric and the second noise metric comprises:
setting the first noise metric to a first value based on a root-mean-square level of the first audio signal over a predefined time period; and
setting the second noise metric to a second value based on a root-mean-square level of the second audio signal over the predefined time period.

11. The camera of claim 5 , further comprising:
dynamically setting the bias value for each time interval based on whether the correlation metric is above an upper correlation threshold, below a lower correlation threshold, or in between the lower and upper correlation thresholds.

12. The camera of claim 6 , wherein determining if the wet microphone condition is met comprises:
determining an average signal level of the first audio signal and an average signal level for the second audio signal;
responsive to a ratio of the first average signal level to the second average signal level exceeding a second threshold or detecting a wind condition, determining that the wet microphone condition is not detected;
responsive to the ratio of the first average signal level to the second average signal level not exceeding the second threshold and not detecting the wind condition, determining that the wet microphone condition is detected.

13. The camera of claim 11 , wherein dynamically setting the bias value comprises:
setting the bias value to a positive predefined value responsive to the correlation metric being below the lower correlation threshold;
setting the bias value to a negative predefined value responsive to the correlation metric being ab

Assignees

• Gopro Inc

Inventors

• Tisch Erich
• Rosenbaum Joyce
• Hansson Magnus
• Coons Evan L
• Wroblewski Alexander

Classifications

• H04N23/51 Primary

  Housings · CPC title

• H04R5/04 Primary

  Circuit arrangements, {e.g. for selective connection of amplifier inputs/outputs to loudspeakers, for loudspeaker detection, or for adaptation of settings to personal preferences or hearing impairments (combinations of amplifiers H03F3/68; stereophonic systems H04S)} · CPC title

• H04R2410/07

  Mechanical or electrical reduction of wind noise generated by wind passing a microphone · CPC title

• H04R2499/11

  Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's · CPC title

• H04R29/004

  for microphones (H04R29/007 takes precedence) · CPC title