US 12,266,054 B2
System and methods for improved aerial mapping with aerial vehicles
Jonathan James Millin, Santa Clara, CA (US); Nicholas Pilkington, Santa Clara, CA (US); Devin Lane, Santa Clara, CA (US); Christopher Sullivan, Santa Clara, CA (US); and Michael Winn, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Assigned to Drone Deploy, Inc., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by DroneDeploy, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 8, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/860,761.
Application 17/860,761 is a continuation of application No. 17/382,747, filed on Jul. 22, 2021.
Application 17/382,747 is a continuation of application No. 16/805,415, filed on Feb. 28, 2020, granted, now 11,107,275, issued on Aug. 31, 2021.
Application 16/805,415 is a continuation of application No. 15/887,832, filed on Feb. 2, 2018, granted, now 10,621,780, issued on Apr. 14, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/453,926, filed on Feb. 2, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2022/0343599 A1, Oct. 27, 2022
Int. Cl. G06T 17/05 (2011.01); B64U 101/32 (2023.01); G01C 11/34 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2024.01); G05D 1/689 (2024.01); G06V 20/13 (2022.01); G08G 5/00 (2006.01)
CPC G06T 17/05 (2013.01) [G01C 11/34 (2013.01); G05D 1/0094 (2013.01); G05D 1/689 (2024.01); G06V 20/13 (2022.01); G08G 5/0013 (2013.01); G08G 5/0021 (2013.01); G08G 5/0034 (2013.01); G08G 5/006 (2013.01); G08G 5/0069 (2013.01); G08G 5/0086 (2013.01); B64U 2101/32 (2023.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving a first frame of a region of interest captured by a camera of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in association with a first camera pose;
receiving a second frame of the region of interest captured by the camera of the UAV in association with a second camera pose;
matching a feature of the region of interest included in the first frame with the feature of the region of interest included in the second frame, based on the first camera pose and the second camera pose;
generating an orthomosaic using the first frame and the second frame, based on matching the feature of the region of interest included in the first frame with the feature of the region of interest included in the second frame; and
performing a bundle adjustment operation to reduce a reprojection error associated with a physical feature position using only frames that are within a temporal window corresponding to a limited number of frames that are most recently captured or processed.