US 12,267,593 B2
Auto-focus tracking for remote flying targets
Brian Marcin Camacho, Irvine, CA (US); Calvin Michael Hareng, Newport Beach, CA (US); Corey Martin Hass, Costa Mesa, CA (US); Forrest Nelson Iandola, San Jose, CA (US); Gokul Ganesh Subramanian, Watertown, MA (US); Nadav Ben-Haim, Newport Beach, CA (US); Adnan Esmail, Los Angeles, CA (US); and Kevin Michael Christensen, Irvine, CA (US)
Assigned to Anduril Industries, Inc., Costa Mesa, CA (US)
Filed by Anduril Industries, Inc., Costa Mesa, CA (US)
Filed on Feb. 10, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/108,421.
Application 18/108,421 is a continuation of application No. 17/328,582, filed on May 24, 2021, granted, now 11,611,707.
Prior Publication US 2023/0269477 A1, Aug. 24, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G03B 3/10 (2021.01); G01S 13/66 (2006.01); G01S 13/86 (2006.01); G03B 13/36 (2021.01); G06T 7/207 (2017.01); H04N 23/67 (2023.01); H04N 23/69 (2023.01); H04N 23/695 (2023.01)
CPC H04N 23/695 (2023.01) [G01S 13/66 (2013.01); G01S 13/867 (2013.01); G03B 13/36 (2013.01); G06T 7/207 (2017.01); H04N 23/675 (2023.01); H04N 23/69 (2023.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system, comprising:
an interface configured to:
receive two or more images; and
a processor configured to:
determine a bounding box for an object in the two or more images;
determine an estimated position for the object in a future image;
determine an estimated focus setting and an estimated pointing direction for a lens system, comprising to:
generate a set of focus curves based on a set of images of a test target under various operating conditions, wherein the various operating conditions include one or more of the following: a plurality of distances over a monitoring range, a plurality of temperatures appropriate to an operating environment of the system, and/or a plurality of radar cross sections and camera zoom settings appropriate to a selected camera and radar units of the system;
create a lookup table based on the set of focus curves;
determine a temperature of the lens system; and
determine the estimated focus setting based on the temperature of the lens system and the look up table, comprising to:
identify a correct focus motor offset based on a linear relationship between an ideal focus motor offset and a current temperature of the operating environment of the system; and
add the correct focus motor offset to the estimated focus setting to obtain a corrected estimated focus setting;
providing the estimated focus setting and the estimated pointing direction to the lens system;
generate a bounded image of the object;
determine that the bounded image is in focus; and
in the event that the bounded image is in focus, classify, and track the object.