Vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system and methods for capturing radiometric thermography data of a target object from a moving vehicle
A vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system are disclosed. The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system utilizes a multi-directional radiometric thermal camera with multiple thermal cameras which is triggered automatically, thereby making image capture during motion of the vehicle possible by a single operator driving the vehicle.
1 . A method for capturing radiometric thermography data of an object from a moving vehicle comprising:
automatically capturing, by a plurality of thermal cameras attached to the moving vehicle, radiometric thermography data of an area within respective fields of view of the plurality of thermal cameras while the moving vehicle is in motion;
processing the captured radiometric thermography data by an artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision system;
identifying a location of a target object by triangulating a geospatial position of the target object based on (i) multiple GPS locations of the moving vehicle and (ii) a relative distance between the moving vehicle and the target object; and
processing the radiometric thermography data of the target object to detect anomalies.
2 . The method for capturing radiometric thermography data of an object from a moving vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the radiometric thermography data comprises temperature data.
3 . The method for capturing radiometric thermography data of an object from a moving vehicle of claim 1 , wherein processing the captured radiometric thermography data by the AI and computer vision system comprises detecting the target object in a plurality of images of the captured radiometric thermography data.
4 . The method for capturing radiometric thermography data of an object from a moving vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the relative distance between the moving vehicle and the target object is determined based on a known distance from a roadway to the target object and a position of the moving vehicle.
5 . The method for capturing radiometric thermography data of an object from a moving vehicle of claim 1 , wherein processing the radiometric thermography data of the target object to detect anomalies is performed by the AI and computer vision system.
6 . A vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system comprising:
an in-vehicle electronic recording device that is used in a vehicle to detect anomalies in electrical infrastructure objects;
a plurality of thermal cameras configured to capture radiometric thermography data of areas outside the vehicle while the vehicle is moving and transmit the captured radiometric thermography data to the in-vehicle electronic recording device in realtime, wherein the plurality of thermal cameras are oriented to capture radiometric thermography data in a plurality of different directions; and
a global positioning system (GPS) configured to calculate GPS coordinates of multiple locations of the vehicle as the vehicle is moving and transmit the calculated GPS coordinates to the in-vehicle electronic recording device in realtime, wherein the in-vehicle electronic recording device is configured to determine a relative distance between the vehicle and a target object based on the radiometric thermography data and to identify GPS coordinates of the target object by triangulating the GPS coordinates of the multiple locations of the vehicle and the relative distance to the target object.
7 . The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system of claim 6 further comprising a plurality of multi-directional pan & tilt units to which the plurality of thermal cameras are mounted.
8 . The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of multi-directional pan & tilt units are mounted to a roof rack attached to a roof of the vehicle.
9 . The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system of claim 8 further comprising a network switch that communicably connects the in-vehicle electronic recording device to the GPS system, the plurality of thermal cameras, and the plurality of multi-directional pan & tilt units.
10 . The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system of claim 9 , wherein the in-vehicle electronic recording device is configured to control the plurality of thermal cameras and the plurality of multi-directional pan & tilt units, and to receive the captured radiometric thermography data from the plurality of thermal cameras to identify a target object.
11 . The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system of claim 10 , wherein the in-vehicle electronic recording device comprises a computer vision system and an artificial intelligence (AI) engine.
12 . The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system of claim 11 , wherein the AI engine utilizes the computer vision system to process radiometric thermography data captured by the thermal cameras and received by the in-vehicle electronic recording device.
13 . The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system of claim 12 , wherein the AI engine is configured to calculate the relative distance to the target object based on the radiometric thermography data and a position of the vehicle.
14 . The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system of claim 13 , wherein the AI engine is configured to identify the GPS coordinates of the target object by triangulating the GPS coordinates of the multiple locations of the vehicle and the relative distance to the target object obtained at a plurality of positions of the vehicle.
15 . The vehicular multi-directional thermal camera system of claim 14 , wherein the AI engine is further configured to detect temperature data anomalies in the radiometric thermography data of the target object.