Honeywell International Inc.

Darren Duane Cofer

Rida M Hamza

Ridha M Hamza

Marek Gierczak

A safety system receives access monitoring information from sensors to detect intrusion into a mutual exclusion zone by either an operator or mechanical equipment. The border of the mutual exclusion zone is segmented into portals that allow both the operator and equipment to access a common work area such as for loading material. When intrusion into one of the portals is detected, intrusion into any other selected portals triggers a safety violation. Access to the mutual exclusion zone via the other portals is prohibited until the interior of the zone is determined to be empty again.

Machine safety system with mutual exclusion zone

A visual object detection system to provide access and/or presence monitoring of an area of interest. In steady state operation, that is when no object is entering or within the area of interest, only those portions of the incoming images that correspond to the border of the area of interest are analyzed. Once the border is breached by an object, the present invention may begin analyzing the entire area or selected regions inside the border of the area of interest. This may provide some level of presence monitoring of the area of interest. It is contemplated that both modes of analysis can take place simultaneously or sequentially, depending on the application. Once the object leaves the area of interest, the present invention preferably returns to the original steady state, and monitors only the border regions of the incoming images.

Object detection

A method for object detection that utilizes a patterned background. Patterned backgrounds are chosen such that each reference image analyzed will have both light and dark pixels. The method calculates the difference between the expected value for the light pixels and the expected value of the dark pixels in the reference image. This difference is used to chose a threshold value. The difference in expected values for the corresponding pixels in a live image is calculated and compared to the threshold value. If the difference in expected values of the live image are less than the threshold value, object detection is indicated.

An object detection system is provided that projects one or more patterns onto a monitored area, captures one or more live images of the monitored area, and detects objects that enter the monitored area by detecting changes in the one or more patterns in the live images. Such an object detection system may be less susceptible to dynamic lighting conditions, and more sensitive to object intrusions. One illustrative example projects a pattern of dots onto an area to be monitored, and captures images corresponding to the monitored area, comparing live images to reference images to determine whether an object has intruded a defined area. The area to be monitored does not consist solely of the area captured in the images and may include a volume illuminated by the pattern as well as a volume corresponding to the captured image area. Objects not in the field of view may be detected by the disclosed systems and methods. Several illustrative analytical methods are disclosed as well.

Method and apparatus for detecting objects using structured light patterns

An object detection system is provided that projects one or more patterns onto a monitored area, captures one or more live images of the monitored area, and detects objects that enter the monitored area by detecting changes in the one or more patterns in the live images. Such an object detection system may be less susceptible to dynamic lighting conditions, and more sensitive to object motion and/or presence.

Method and apparatus for detecting objects

Device configuration information is automatically determined with respect to a physical process that multiple devices monitor or control. The physical process is exercised, with each device tracking progression of the process and determining a preceding device and a successor device. Messages are produced in a configuration mode by each device in a system indicating when some phase of the process monitored by the device begins and ends.

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Minnetonka, MN, United States of America

Darren Duane Cofer