System and method for automatic camera placement

1. A system comprising:

one or more computer processors configured to:

(a) receive data relating to a plurality of polygons, the polygons representing one or more of a surveillance area, a non-surveillance area, a blank area, and an obstacle;

(b) select one or more initial cameras, including one or more initial camera positions, initial camera orientations, and initial camera features, wherein the initial camera positions and the initial camera orientations cause one or more fields of view of the initial cameras to cover at least a part of the surveillance area;

(c) alter one or more of a number of cameras, an orientation of the cameras, a location of the cameras, a type of the cameras, and a crossover of two or more cameras;

(d) use a fitness function to evaluate all of the cameras, including the features of the cameras and the coverage areas of the cameras; and

(e) select one or more cameras and the locations and orientations of the one or more cameras as a function of the fitness function.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the initial camera features comprise one or more of focal length, spatial resolution, field of view, depth of field, and cost.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the initial camera positions and the initial camera orientations are randomly generated; and

the initial camera features are randomly determined from a list of cameras.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the initial camera position and the initial camera orientation are generated using a rule-based heuristic method; and

the initial camera features are determined using the rule-based heuristic method.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the rule-based heuristic method comprises one or more of placing a camera on a boundary of the surveillance area and orienting the camera towards the surveillance area, and selecting a high resolution camera with a wide field of view for a large surveillance area.

6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein a union of the obstacle area, the surveillance area, the non-surveillance area, and the blank area comprises an entire area, and the intersection of the obstacle area, the surveillance area, the non-surveillance area, and the blank area comprises an empty set.

7. The system of claim 1 , comprising iterating steps (c)-(e) a plurality of times.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more computer processors are configured to determine an amount of the surveillance area covered by the cameras in an iteration by:

dividing the area into a plurality of grids;

identifying grids in the surveillance area;

for each camera in the iteration, identifying a position of the camera;

for each camera in the iteration and for each grid in the surveillance area,

determining if an obstacle is between the camera and the grid;

for each camera in the iteration, determining that a distance from the camera to the grid is between a nearest depth of the camera and a farthest depth of the camera; and

for each camera in the iteration, determining that a number of grids in the surveillance area are within a field of view of the camera.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein a size of the grids can be modified.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the determining that the number of grids in the surveillance area are within the field of view of the camera is determined by:

determining an orientation of the camera;

determining an angle between the orientation of the camera and a horizontal axis within the field of view; and

determining that a grid is within the field of view when the angle is less than the field of view divided by 2.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the alteration of the number of cameras, the orientation of the cameras, the location of the cameras, the type of the cameras, and the crossover of two or more cameras is constrained by one or more of a limit on the number of camera that can be used, an area that must be covered, a minimum amount of total area that is covered, and a camera whose field of view cannot be modified.

12. The system of to claim 1 , wherein the decision to alter the number of cameras and to change the camera type is a function of one or more probability values.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the alteration of the orientation of the camera is bounded by a threshold.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the alteration of the location of the camera is bounded by a threshold on a number of grids that the camera location can be moved in an iteration of steps (c) and (e).

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises two or more cameras, and wherein a feature from a first camera is exchanged with a feature from a second camera.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fitness function comprises:

g ( S,C )□□□ K 2 (1 □□S )/ S□□K 3 □□S/C

wherein S is a coverage area of the cameras within an iteration of steps (c) and (e) expressed as a number of grids covered by the cameras within the iteration of steps (c) and (e) divided by a total count of the grids in the area;

C comprises a total cost of the cameras within the iteration of steps (c) and (e);

K 2 comprises a weight applied to an area covered by the cameras within the iteration of steps (c) and (e); and

K 3 comprises a weight applied to the cost of the cameras within the iteration of steps (c) and (e).

17. A process comprising:

(a) receiving into a computer processor data relating to a plurality of polygons, the polygons representing one or more of a surveillance area, a non-surveillance area, a blank area, and an obstacle;

(b) selecting using the computer processor one or more initial cameras, including one or more initial camera positions, initial camera orientations, and initial camera features, wherein the initial camera positions and the initial camera orientations cause one or more fields of view of the initial cameras to cover at least a part of the surveillance area;

(c) altering using the computer processor one or more of a number of cameras, an orientation of the cameras, a location of the cameras, a type of the cameras, and a crossover of two or more cameras;

(d) using a fitness function to evaluate all of the cameras, including the features of the cameras and the coverage areas of the cameras; and

(e) selecting using the computer processor one or more cameras and the locations and orientations of the one or more cameras as a function of the fitness function.

18. The process of claim 17 , comprising generating the initial camera position and the initial camera orientation using a rule-based heuristic method and determining the initial camera features using the rule-based heuristic method; wherein the rule-based heuristic method comprises one or more of placing a camera on a boundary of the surveillance area and orienting the camera towards the surveillance area, and selecting a high resolution camera with a wide field of view for a large surveillance area.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that when executed by a processor execute a process comprising:

(a) receiving into a computer processor data relating to a plurality of polygons, the polygons representing one or more of a surveillance area, a non-surveillance area, a blank area, and an obstacle;

(b) selecting using the computer processor one or more initial cameras, including one or more initial camera positions, initial camera orientations, and initial camera features, wherein the initial camera positions and the initial camera orientations cause one or more fields of view of the initial cameras to cover at least a part of the surveillance area;

(c) altering using the computer processor one or more of a number of cameras, an orientation of the cameras, a location of the cameras, a type of the cameras, and a crossover of two or more cameras;

(d) using a fitness function to evaluate all of the cameras, including the features of the cameras and the coverage areas of the cameras; and

(e) selecting using the computer processor one or more cameras and the locations and orientations of the one or more cameras as a function of the fitness function.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , comprising iterating steps (c)-(e) a plurality of times; and determining an amount of the surveillance area covered by the cameras in an iteration by:

dividing the area into a plurality of grids;

identifying grids in the surveillance area;

for each camera in the iteration, identifying a position of the camera;

for each camera in the iteration and for each grid in the surveillance area, determining if an obstacle is between the camera and the grid;

for each camera in the iteration, determining that a distance from the camera to the grid is between a nearest depth of the camera and a farthest depth of the camera; and

for each camera in the iteration, determining that a number of grids in the surveillance area are within a field of view of the camera.