Patent ID: 8615107
Filing Date: 2013-12-24
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
1. Method for tracking objects comprising the steps of: estimating by a trajectory estimator, trajectories of objects by determining optimal solutions of a tracking model on the basis of an occupancy probability distribution, wherein the occupancy probability distribution is the probability of presence of objects over a set of discrete points in the spatio-temporal space at a number of time steps; wherein the tracking model comprises said set of discrete points, a virtual source location and a virtual sink location, wherein objects in the tracking model are creatable in the virtual source location and are removable in the virtual sink location; wherein the tracking model fulfils the following constraints; a created object is only allowed to move from the virtual source location to a source subset of the set of discrete points; an object is only allowed to move from each discrete point to a predetermined neighbourhood set of said discrete point, wherein the neighbourhood set comprises a subset of the union of the set of discrete points and the virtual sink location; an object is only allowed to move from a sink subset of the set of discrete points to the virtual sink location; the number of objects moving to each discrete point is equal to the number of objects moving away from this discrete point; the number of objects moving away from or moving to one discrete point is smaller than or equal to one; the number of objects moving from each discrete point to another discrete point is zero or positive; and any object created in the virtual source location eventually has to end up in the virtual sink location.