UAV Ground Plane Overlay for Distance Measurement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) lack effective systems for rendering a ground plane overlay on video feeds, making it difficult for operators to accurately navigate and measure distances without human intervention.
Innovation Solution
A remote station comprising a processor, communication interface, and memory device that receives video feeds and telemetry information from UAV cameras, calculates the camera horizon, and renders a ground plane as an overlay image, enabling accurate distance measurements and navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If no ground plane overlay system is used on UAV, then device complexity is reduced, but navigation precision and distance measurement accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a ground plane overlay system as an intermediary layer between the UAV operator and the actual terrain. This virtual overlay, rendered on the video feed, mediates the operator's perception and control actions, providing accurate distance and terrain information without requiring direct physical measurement instruments on the UAV itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a virtual dimension to the existing video feed by rendering a ground plane overlay. This overlay exists in a different dimension (visual information layer) superimposed on the real-world video feed, enabling operators to perceive three-dimensional terrain and distance information from a two-dimensional screen without adding physical sensors.
2Ease of operation
If ground plane overlay system is implemented, then navigation capability is enhanced, but computational requirements and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations by determining the camera horizon position and ground plane parameters in advance based on camera telemetry data. This preliminary action establishes the geometric framework for the overlay before actual navigation operations, reducing real-time computational burden during flight.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously receives camera telemetry information and adjusts the ground plane overlay parameters accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures the overlay remains accurate as camera position and orientation change, while optimizing computational resources by only recalculating necessary parameters rather than complete scene reconstruction.
Data Source
AI summary
A remote station and method for rendering a ground plane over video feed are provided. The remote station comprises a processor, a communication interface for communicating with an unmanned vehicle (UV), and a non-transitory memory device storing a communications module. The communications module comprises machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to render a ground plane over video feed. The method comprises receiving a video feed from a camera on a UV, receiving from the UV telemetry information of the camera, receiving from the camera a zoom factor of the camera, calculating a horizon of the camera at a UV controller of the UV, and rendering the horizon as an overlay image on the video feed at a display of the UV controller.