IP Library Granted Patent US 11,884,418
Granted Patent B2
US 11,884,418 · App. 17/986,928 · Granted Jan 30, 2024

Control device, control method, and flight vehicle device

Inventors: Kohtaro Sabe (Tokyo, JP); Kayoko Tanaka (Tokyo, JP); Kousuke Suzuki (Tokyo, JP); Masaaki Masuda (Tokyo, JP); Takekazu Kakinuma (Tokyo, JP); Kazunori Hayashi (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: SONY GROUP CORPORATION
B64D47/02B64C39/024B64D47/08G03B7/093G03B15/00G03B15/006G03B15/02G03B15/03G03B15/05G03B17/00G03B17/56G05D1/0094H04N23/56H04N23/60H04N23/64H04N23/74H05B45/12B64C27/08B64D2203/00B64U10/13B64U30/20B64U2101/30B64U2201/104B64U2201/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,884,418
App. No.
17/986,928
Granted
Jan 30, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

[Object] To provide a control device which enables a flight vehicle device to obtain a highly precise image. [Solution] Provided is the control device including an illuminating control unit configured to adjust a light amount of an illuminating device according to an inclination of a fuselage of a flight vehicle device that has an imaging device configured to photograph a photographing target and the illuminating device configured to illuminate the photographing target.

Claims (35)

1. A control device, comprising:

a processing circuit configured to:

control a flight of a flight vehicle device in accordance with flight information including at least flight path information of the flight vehicle device, the flight vehicle device including an imaging device to acquire an image of a target, wherein the flight information is generated based on a flight time of the flight vehicle device;

acquire, using a sensor, state information of the flight vehicle device;

control the flight vehicle device to maintain the imaging device at a predetermined distance from the target at a plurality of imaging points, including control a movement speed of the flight vehicle device according to a predetermined position with respect to the target;

control the imaging device to acquire the image of the target at the plurality of imaging points while at the predetermined distance from the target; and

control the imaging device to acquire the image of the target at the plurality of imaging points by changing shooting conditions for the target based on the state information.

2. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the flight vehicle device includes an illumination device, and the processing circuit is further configured to cause the illumination device to emit light when the flight vehicle device is within a predetermined distance of the target.

3. The control device according to claim 2 , wherein the light emitted by the illumination device is modulated based on a body position of the flight vehicle device.

4. The control device according to claim 3 , wherein the light emitted by the illumination device is modulated so that the target is uniformly illuminated.

5. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to determine whether an attitude of the flight vehicle device is stable based on a movement speed of the flight vehicle device and a movement acceleration of the flight vehicle device.

6. The control device according to claim 5 , wherein the processing circuit determines that the attitude of the flight vehicle device is stable when the movement speed of the flight vehicle device is equal to or below a first threshold and the acceleration of the flight vehicle device is below a second threshold.

7. The control device according to claim 6 , wherein the first and second thresholds are both zero.

8. The control device according to claim 5 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to activate a shutter of the imaging device when the attitude of the flight vehicle device is determined to be stable.

9. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein control of the movement speed of the flight vehicle device includes linearly decreasing the movement speed of the flight vehicle device when the flight vehicle device enters a predetermined range with respect to the target.

10. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein an acceleration of the flight vehicle device according to a parabola of negative values.

11. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein a shutter speed and photographing gain of the imaging device are set and stored in the imaging device in advance.

12. The control device according to claim 11 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to activate a shutter of the imaging device based on the shutter speed and photographing gain stored in the imaging device.

13. The control device according to claim 3 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to stop modulation of the light emitted by the illumination device when a shutter of the imaging device is activated.

14. The control device according to claim 13 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to turn off the illumination device when activation of the shutter is complete and image capture has ended.

15. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the flight information is determined relative to a horizontal plane.

16. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the flight information is determined relative to the target.

17. A control method, comprising:

controlling, using circuitry, a flight of a flight vehicle device in accordance with flight information including at least flight path information of the flight vehicle device, the flight vehicle device including an imaging device to acquire an image of a target;

acquiring, using the circuitry and a sensor, state information of the flight vehicle device;

controlling, using the circuitry, the flight vehicle device to maintain the imaging device at a predetermined distance from the target at a plurality of imaging points including controlling a movement speed of the flight vehicle device according to a predetermined position with respect to the target;

controlling, using the circuitry, the imaging device to acquire the image of the target at the plurality of imaging points while at the predetermined distance from the target; and

controlling, using the circuitry, the imaging device to acquire the image of the target at the plurality of imaging points by changing shooting conditions for the target based on the state information.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage device having computer readable instructions that when executed by circuitry cause the circuitry to:

control a flight of a flight vehicle device in accordance with flight information including at least flight path information of the flight vehicle device, the flight vehicle device including an imaging device to acquire an image of a target, wherein the flight information is generated based on a flight time of the flight vehicle device;

acquire, using a sensor, state information of the flight vehicle device;

control the flight vehicle device to maintain the imaging device at a predetermined distance from the target at a plurality of imaging points;

control the imaging device to acquire the image of the target at the plurality of imaging points while at the predetermined distance from the target;

determine whether an attitude of the flight vehicle device is stable when a movement speed of the flight vehicle device is zero and acceleration of the flight vehicle device is zero; and

control the imaging device to acquire the image of the target at the plurality of imaging points by changing shooting conditions for the target based on the state information.

Assignments (1)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Nov 15, 2022
From: SONY CORPORATION
To: SONY GROUP CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 061938/0001 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2014-212657 · Oct 17, 2014 · national
Continuity (3)
Continuation 15993052 · May 30, 2018
Continuation 15510407
Related Publication 20230070563A1 · Mar 9, 2023