US 12,276,730 B2
Virtual fences in air, water, and space
Gerard Dirk Smits, Los Gatos, CA (US); and Steven Dean Gottke, Concord, CA (US)
Assigned to Summer Robotics, Inc., Campbell, CA (US)
Filed by Summer Robotics, Inc., Campbell, CA (US)
Filed on Nov. 7, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/504,052.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/382,872, filed on Nov. 8, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2024/0329248 A1, Oct. 3, 2024
Int. Cl. G01F 3/36 (2006.01); G01S 7/48 (2006.01); G01S 7/484 (2006.01); G01S 17/58 (2006.01); G01S 17/89 (2020.01); G06V 20/40 (2022.01)
CPC G01S 17/58 (2013.01) [G01S 7/4808 (2013.01); G01S 7/484 (2013.01); G01S 17/89 (2013.01); G06V 20/44 (2022.01)] 30 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for sensing objects using one or more processors to execute instructions that are configured to cause actions, comprising:
employing one or more enclosures mounted on one or more structures that are physically arranged to establish a boundary, wherein each enclosure includes one or more of an event camera, a beam generator, or a frame camera;
employing the one or more beam generators to scan a plurality of paths across one or more objects in a scene that is observable outside the boundary;
oscillating an angle of the one or more beam generators in a vertical plane based on a height of the mounting of the one or more enclosures, wherein a power level of the one or more beam generators is increased as the angle increases a distance of travel for the one or more beams to reach the one or more objects;
determining a plurality of events based on detection of one or more beam reflections corresponding to the one or more objects;
determining a plurality of trajectories associated with the one or more objects based on the plurality of paths and the plurality of events, wherein each trajectory is a parametric representation of a one-dimensional curve segment in a three-dimensional space;
determining the one or more objects that are authorized based on a portion of the plurality of trajectories associated with the one or more authorized objects;
determining the one or more objects in the scene that are unauthorized based on another portion of the plurality of trajectories associated with the one or more unauthorized objects; and
generating a three-dimensional scene that includes a representation of the one or more unauthorized objects, wherein a position and an orientation of the one or more represented unauthorized objects in the scene are based on the plurality of trajectories.