Patent ID: 9019376
Filing Date: 2015-04-28
Classification: G05D,H04N

Abstract:
1. A method for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a camera to capture images of a target being executed by a processor of a computing device, the method comprising: setting coordinates of the target, initial coordinates of the camera, and an initial viewing direction of the camera, and storing the coordinates of the target, the initial coordinates of the camera, and the initial viewing direction of the camera into a storage system of the computing device; obtaining real-time coordinates of the camera and a real-time viewing direction of the camera when the UAV flies around the target; calculating adjustment parameters of the camera according to the initial coordinates, the initial viewing direction, the real-time coordinates, and the real-time viewing direction of the camera, wherein the adjustment parameters comprise a horizontal rotation angle and a vertical rotation angle, wherein the horizontal rotation angle is calculated by projecting a first point with the initial coordinates of the camera, a second point with the coordinates of the target, and a third point with the real-time coordinates of the camera to an XY plane of a Cartesian coordinate system, and calculating a first angle between a first projection of a line from the third point to the second point and a second projection of a line from the first point to the second point in the XY plane as the horizontal rotation angle, and the vertical rotation angle is calculated by projecting the first point, the second point, and the third point to an YZ plane of the Cartesian coordinate system, and calculating a second angle between a third projection of a line from the third point to the second point and a fourth projection of a line from the first point to the second point in the XY plane as the vertical rotation angle; and adjusting the camera to face the target according to the adjusting parameters by transferring the adjusting parameters of the camera to a driver system connected to the camera.