US 11,807,062 B2
Collaborative relationship between a vehicle and a UAV
Peter Lazarevski, Dearborn, MI (US); Austin Thind, Whistler (CA); James Carthew, Oakland, CA (US); Timothy Panagis, Ypsilanti, MI (US); and Nelson Brock, Palo Alto, CA (US)
Assigned to Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed by Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed on Nov. 25, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/694,374.
Prior Publication US 2021/0155069 A1, May 27, 2021
Int. Cl. B60G 17/0165 (2006.01); G08G 5/00 (2006.01); B64C 39/02 (2023.01); G06T 19/00 (2011.01); B64U 101/30 (2023.01)
CPC B60G 17/0165 (2013.01) [B64C 39/024 (2013.01); G06T 19/006 (2013.01); G08G 5/0086 (2013.01); B64U 2101/30 (2023.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a computer of a vehicle and from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in communication with the vehicle, at least a first image of a first section of a ground surface;
capturing, by an imaging system of the vehicle, at least a second image of a second section of the ground surface located below the vehicle, the second image including at least a part of the first section of the ground surface;
generating, by the computer and based on the first image and the second image, terrain information of the ground surface;
modifying, by the computer and based the terrain information, at least one driving characteristic of the vehicle;
spatially matching the first image to the second image by identifying at least a first topographic feature that is present in each of the first image and the second image;
generating a first topographic representation of the first image and a second topographic representation of the second image, wherein the first topographic representation includes the first topographical feature and the second topographic representation includes the first topographical feature;
spatially aligning the first topographic representation of the first image with the second topographic representation of the second image based on a location of the first topographic feature in the first topographic representation and a location of the first topographic feature in the second topographic representation;
determining, by the computer located in the vehicle, at least one of an angular orientation of a chassis of the vehicle with respect to the ground surface and an angle of a wheel of the vehicle with respect to the chassis of the vehicle;
generating, based on spatially aligning the first topographic representation to the second topographic representation and by the computer located in the vehicle, an augmented reality image that combines a contour of a part of the vehicle and a rendering of a terrain area below the vehicle including a combined topographic representation based on the first topographic representation and the second topographic representation; and
displaying the augmented reality image on a display of an infotainment system in the vehicle, wherein the contour of the part of the vehicle is a semi-transparent top-down representation of the vehicle that includes an outline of a chassis of the vehicle and wheels of the vehicle, and wherein a portion of the rendering of the terrain located behind the contour in the augmented reality image is visible through the contour.