Electro-Optical Hunting System with Automated Game Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional optical observation devices for hunting require continuous manual monitoring, leading to mental and visual fatigue, and lack efficient automated systems for identifying game animals in low-light conditions or darkness.
Innovation Solution
An electro-optical observation system equipped with an image detector, optical unit, and processor that analyzes image streams for game animals, using machine learning algorithms to detect and identify objects based on thermal signatures or silhouettes, and provides automated notifications to the user, with optional features like image processing and object localization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual monitoring is used in conventional optical observation devices, then the hunter can observe the image field directly, but mental and visual fatigue increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automated detection and identification of game animals through the processor analyzing image streams from the image detector. The processor independently performs object detection, classification, and notification without requiring continuous manual observation by the hunter, allowing the system to serve itself in monitoring tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/manual observation system with an electro-optical system. The image detector captures thermal radiation or light, and the processor automatically analyzes images to detect and identify game animals, substituting human visual and mental effort with automated electronic detection and processing.
2Productivity
If automated detection systems are added to observation devices, then detection efficiency improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the image detector, processor, and user interface into an integrated observation system. The processor merges multiple functions including image acquisition, object detection, classification, and notification generation into a single coordinated system, reducing overall complexity compared to separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The processor serves multiple functions within the system: it processes image streams from the image detector, detects objects of interest, classifies detected objects as game animals or background elements, and controls the user interface for notifications. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each task.
3Illumination intensity
If thermal imaging or night vision devices are used, then observation capability in low-light conditions improves, but the system requires indirect display through image converters rather than direct optical transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The image detector acts as an intermediary between the incident radiation (thermal radiation or low-light photons) and the user. It converts incident radiation into electrical signals that can be processed and displayed, enabling observation in low-light conditions where direct optical transmission to the human eye is insufficient.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system reduces mental and visual exertion for hunters by automatically detecting and identifying game animals, allowing for increased comfort and efficiency in hunting, even in low-light conditions, by providing timely and accurate notifications about the presence and type of game animals.
Implementation Method 1
the display of heat signatures and/or residual light-amplified images should be mentioned in this context, which allow an observation of objects even in the case of darkness
Implementation Method 2
the incident radiation is not transmitted optically to a person using the observation device (for short: a user), but indirectly via image converter equipment
Data Source
AI summary
An electro-optical observation system for hunting includes an electronic image detector and an optical unit assigned to the image detector. The observation system further includes a processor configured to indirectly or directly exchange data with the image detector, to analyze an image stream, which was acquired with the image detector, in view of the presence of an object that is sufficiently different from an image background, and to control a user interface to output a notification to a user in the case of the presence detected on the basis of the analysis of the image stream.