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:
Jun. 08, 2004
Filed:
Oct. 05, 2001
Russell A. Bennett, McHenry, IL (US);
Recon/Optical, Inc., Barrington, IL (US);
Abstract
An aerial reconnaissance camera and method provides for generating a first image of the terrain of interest with the camera pointing angle oriented or rotated about an azimuthal axis some angular amount (&thgr;1) to a first, typically forward orientation, i.e., forward of a cross-line of flight direction. An image is obtained of the ground at this orientation. Then the camera is rotated about the azimuthal axis to new angular value (&thgr;2), which will typically be aft of the cross line of flight direction. An image is generated at this value. The camera is then rotated back to the value of &thgr;1, and a second image in the forward orientation is generated. The camera is then rotated again to the value of &thgr;2 and another image in the aft orientation is generated. This process of rotating the camera about the azimuthal axis and generating images in forward and aft orientations continues over and over. Eventually, as the aircraft flies past the terrain of interest, any given location in the terrain of interest will have been imaged from two different perspectives—forward and aft. The motion of the aircraft during the interim in combination with the values of &thgr;1 and &thgr;2 provide the high baseline for the stereo image pairs. By selection of suitable values for the angular separation of &thgr;1 and &thgr;2 (such as &thgr;1=+10 degrees and &thgr;2=−10 degrees) the result will be pairs of images of the terrain of interest having a large baseline, producing truly high aspect stereo images from a single camera. The method also works in a similar fashion by rotation back and forth about the pitch axis and imaging the terrain in forward oblique and aft oblique orientations.