Patent ID: 6148250
Filing Date: 2000-11-14
Classification: G01C,G06T,H04N

Abstract:
An altitude detecting apparatus for detecting an altitude of a flying object, comprising:a pair of stereoscopic cameras mounted on said flying object for taking a stereoscopic image of a ground surface under said flying object;a stereoscopic processing section for processing a pair of images by said cameras and for calculating a distance data of said ground surface; andan altitude calculating section for creating a configuration of said ground surface based on said distance data of a plurality of measuring points on said ground surface so as to calculate an altitude of said flying object to said ground surface;wherein said stereoscopic processing section obtains distance data over a succession of regions of the ground surface, each of said regions being characterized by lateral and longitudinal coordinates identifying points of the data associated with movement of the flying object; andsaid altitude calculating section is operative to characterize the data of distance between the flying object and the ground surface by a best-fit plane for each of said regions, the altitude being calculated along a line from the object to the plane for each of the succession of said regions of the around surface.