IP Library Granted Patent US 12693685
Granted Patent B2
US 12693685 · App. 18/663,650 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Method and apparatus for tracking moving target and unmanned aerial vehicle

Inventors: Xin Huang (Shenzhen, CN); Yuanyuan Du (Shenzhen, CN)
Assignee: AUTEL ROBOTICS CO., LTD.
G05D1/686B64C39/024B64D47/08B64U20/87G05D1/224G05D1/689G06T7/251G06T7/75G06V20/17H04N23/675H04N23/695B64U10/14B64U2101/30B64U2201/10B64U2201/20G06T2207/10032G06V2201/07
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12693685
App. No.
18/663,650
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure disclose a method and an apparatus for tracking a moving target and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The method includes: identifying and locking a moving target; and adjusting a moving state of the unmanned aerial vehicle and/or parameters of the photographing device according to a moving state of the moving target, so that the moving target is always located on a display screen of a control terminal. A method and an apparatus for tracking a moving target and an unmanned aerial vehicle provided in the disclosure can adjust the moving state of the unmanned aerial vehicle and/or the parameters of the photographing device in real time according to the moving state of the moving target and can ensure that the moving target in a preset size is always located on the display screen of the control terminal.

Claims (61)

1 . A method for tracking a moving target, performed by an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a photographing device and the photographing device comprises a gimbal and a camera mounted on the gimbal, wherein the method comprises:

identifying and locking a moving target; and

adjusting a moving state of the unmanned aerial vehicle and/or parameters of the photographing device according to a moving state of the moving target, so that the moving target is always located on a display screen of a control terminal in a preset size,

adjusting a speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to a speed change rate of the moving target in a moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the moving target in the preset size is always located at a preset position on the display screen;

wherein the identifying and locking the moving target comprises:

acquiring a plurality of images of the moving target through the photographing device;

extracting features of the moving target based on the plurality of images of the moving target, wherein the features of the moving target comprise at least one of a texture feature, a shape feature, or a spatial feature.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the identifying and locking the moving target further comprises:

establishing a feature classification model, wherein the feature classification model is configured to represent a category of the moving target; and

performing feature matching on the moving target based on the feature classification model, to identify and lock the moving target.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the moving state of the moving target comprises a moving direction of the moving target, the parameters of the photographing device comprise an angle of the gimbal and then:

the adjusting a moving state of the unmanned aerial vehicle and/or parameters of the photographing device according to a moving state of the moving target, so that the moving target is always located on a display screen of a control terminal comprises:

determining whether the moving direction of the moving target is consistent with a moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

adjusting the angle of the gimbal according to the moving direction of the moving target, when the moving direction of the moving target is inconsistent with the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle out of range in X direction, or Y direction, or Z direction, so that the moving target is always located at a preset position on the display screen of the control terminal.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein when the moving direction of the moving target is inconsistent with the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle out of range in X direction, or Y direction, or Z direction, the adjusting the angle of the gimbal according to the moving direction of the moving target, so that the moving target is always located at a preset position on the display screen of the control terminal comprises:

adjusting a pitch angle of the gimbal when the moving direction of the moving target is forward and backward relative to the camera, so that the moving target is always located at the preset position on the display screen of the control terminal.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein when a image size of the moving target on the display screen of the control terminal is smaller than the preset size, the adjusting the moving state of the unmanned aerial vehicle and/or the parameters of the photographing device, so that the moving target in the preset size is always located at the preset position on the display screen of the control terminal comprises:

determining whether a speed change rate of the moving target in the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than a first threshold; and

adjusting a speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle, when the speed change rate of the moving target in the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than the first threshold, so that the moving target in the preset size is always located at the preset position on the display screen.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein when the image size of the moving target on the display screen of the control terminal is smaller than the preset size, the adjusting the moving state of the unmanned aerial vehicle and/or the parameters of the photographing device, so that the moving target in the preset size is always located at the preset position on the display screen of the control terminal comprises:

determining whether a difference between a speed of the moving target and a speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than a second threshold; and

adjusting a focal length of the camera, when the speed change rate of the moving target in the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than the second threshold, so that the moving target in the preset size is always located at the preset position on the display screen.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the preset position is a central position of the display screen of the control terminal.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether the moving target is lost; and

searching for the moving target and re-identifying and locking the moving target when the moving target is lost.

9 . An unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising:

a body;

arms, connected to the body;

a power apparatus, disposed on the arm and configured to provide power for the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly;

a photographing device, disposed on the body, wherein the photographing device comprises a gimbal and a camera mounted on the gimbal;

a vision chip, wherein the vision chip is disposed in the body and is configured to identify and lock a moving target; and

a flight controller, wherein the flight controller is disposed on the body and is communicably connected to the vision chip and the flight controller is configured to:

adjust a moving state of the unmanned aerial vehicle and/or parameters of the photographing device according to a moving state of the moving target, so that the moving target is always located on a display screen of a control terminal with a preset size, wherein the control terminal is communicably connected to the unmanned aerial vehicle;

adjust a speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to a speed change rate of the moving target in a moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the moving target in the preset size is always located at a preset position on the display screen, wherein the vision chip is further configured to:

acquire a plurality of images of the moving target through the photographing device;

extract features of the moving target based on the plurality of images of the moving target, wherein the features of the moving target comprise at least one of a texture feature, a shape feature, or a spatial feature.

10 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the vision chip is further configured to:

establish a feature classification model, wherein the feature classification model is configured to represent a category of the moving target; and

perform feature matching on the moving target based on the feature classification model, to identify and lock the moving target.

11 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the flight controller is further configured to:

the adjust the moving state of the unmanned aerial vehicle and/or parameters of the photographing device according to the moving state of the moving target, so that the moving target is always located on the display screen of the control terminal comprises:

determine whether the moving direction of the moving target is consistent with the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

adjust the angle of the gimbal according to the moving direction of the moving target, when the moving direction of the moving target is inconsistent with the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle vehicle out of range in X direction, or Y direction, or Z direction, so that the moving target is always located at a preset position on the display screen of the control terminal.

12 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the flight controller is further configured to:

adjust a pitch angle of the gimbal when the moving direction of the moving target is forward and backward relative to the camera, so that the moving target is always located at the preset position on the display screen of the control terminal.

13 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the flight controller is further configured to:

determine whether the speed change rate of the moving target in the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than a first threshold; and

adjust the speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle, when the speed change rate of the moving target in the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than the first threshold, so that the moving target in the preset size is always located at the preset position on the display screen.

14 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 13 , wherein the flight controller is further configured to:

determine whether a difference between a speed of the moving target and a speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than a second threshold; and

adjust a focal length of the camera, when the speed change rate of the moving target in the moving direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greater than the second threshold, so that the moving target in the preset size is always located at the preset position on the display screen.

15 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the preset position is a central position of the display screen of the control terminal.

16 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the vision chip is further configured to:

determine whether the moving target is lost; and

search for the moving target and re-identifying and lock the moving target when the moving target is lost.

17 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the vision chip is further configured to:

perform preprocessing on the plurality of images of the moving target.

18 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 17 , wherein the vision chip is further configured to:

performing preprocessing on performance features of each of the plurality of images of the moving target, so that the performance features of each of the images are consistent, wherein the performance features comprise at least one of the following:

a color of the image, brightness of the image, or a size of the image.