The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 22, 2020
Filed:
Aug. 23, 2018
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US);
Scott Raymond Harris, Bainbridge Island, WA (US);
Stephen Thomas Safarik, Seattle, WA (US);
Paul Viola, Seattle, WA (US);
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
Described are systems and methods for surveying a destination as an unmanned aerial vehicle ('UAV') descends toward the destination. To confirm that the destination is clear of objects and includes a safe landing or delivery location, such as a substantially planar surface, the UAV may capture and process images at different altitudes during the descent. Feature points of a first image captured at a first altitude may be paired with feature points of a second image captured at a second, different altitude. A homography may be computed to confirm that the paired feature points lie in the same plane and then the two images may be registered based on the paired feature points. The registered images may then be processed to determine depth information and determine if descent of the UAV is to continue or be aborted.