Patent Document ID: 4695959
Application ID: 06902262
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for passively mapping a desired scene of interest from a first and a second image obtained from a first sensor viewing said scene from a first position and a second position, respectively, said first sensor having a predetermined axis system, said method comprising the method steps of: A. digitizing said first and second images of said desired scene, thereby creating first and second digitized images, respectively, of said desired scene, each of said digitized images having intensity information which are located at different addresses in a memory; B. determining the relative position of said first sensor between said first and second positions, respectively, said relative position described by information relating to the rotation of said first sensor about said axis system, the displacement of said first sensor relative to said axis system, and the direction of a normal to a first plane which is substantially coplanar with said scene, said direction measured relative to said axis system; C. selecting a first range distance along said normal for use in determining the portions of said first image which are positioned on a second plane which is parallel to said first plane substantially at said first range distance from said first sensor; D. modifying said memory addresses of said intensity information of said second image, thereby producing a first warped image to be used to compare said addresses of said first and second images which have substantially equal intensity information; E. comparing said first digitized image and said first warped image; F. extracting the portions of said first image which have a substantially equal intensity with respect to corresponding portions of said first warped image; G. assigning said first range distance to each of said extracted portions of said first image; and H. repeating said steps of selecting, modifying, comparing, extracting and assigning for ranges in addition to said first range until the maximum number of addresses having substantially equal intensity values are identified, said extracted image portions and range distances assigned thereto being used to provide a map of the scene of interest.