Method and System for Visualization Enhancement for Situational Awareness

Abstract

An after-action, mission review tool that displays camera and navigation sensor data allowing a user to pan, tilt, and zoom through the images from front and back cameras on an vehicle, while simultaneously viewing time / date information, along with any available navigation information such as the latitude and longitude of the vehicle at that time instance.Also displayed is a visual representation of the path the vehicle traversed; when the user clicks on the path, the image is automatically changed to the image corresponding to that position. If aerial images of the area are available, the path can be plotted on the geo-referenced image.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority from and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13 / 604,842, entitled “Method and System for Visualization Enhancement for Situational Awareness”, filed on Sep. 6, 2012. The benefit under 35 USC §119e of the United States provisional application is hereby claimed, and the aforementioned application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH[0002]Not ApplicableSEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM[0003]Not ApplicableTECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0004]This invention relates to robotic mapping systems. In particular, the invention relates to a robotic mapping system providing situational awareness based on previously recorded mapping data.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0005]Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) are useful for taking people out of harm's way. Although there have been many advances in using these vehicles, one of the key areas that is currently lacking is the poor sit...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a tool that lets you review events in real-time and after-action. It shows images from cameras and navigation sensors on a robot, along with information about the time and location. You can pan, tilt, and zoom through the images and see a visual representation of the path the robot took. If there are aerial images, the path can be plotted on top of them. The system also lets you compare information from different collections of data by "locking" the images as you pan, tilt, and zoom.

Problems solved by technology

Although there have been many advances in using these vehicles, one of the key areas that is currently lacking is the poor situational awareness provided to operators.

However, conducting “sweeps” of unknown areas can results in casualties and fatalities for warfighters.

Additionally, a soldiers' ability to successfully complete a mission is frequently impaired by a lack of information about a structure and / or the locations of potentially hostile individuals within that structure.

However, with a video stream, the user cannot easily change perspective, zoom, follow the image frames in an order other than that with which they were captured, or gain a sense of depth for objects within the image.

Moreover, video imposes high bandwidth requirements.

Images