Navigation system with camera assist
One embodiment is a navigation system for an aircraft including a positioning system to generate information related to a position of the aircraft, a group of cameras mounted to a body of the aircraft, each camera of the group of cameras to simultaneously capture images of a portion of an environment that surrounds the aircraft, and a processing component coupled to the positioning system and the group of cameras, the processing component to determine a current position of the aircraft based on the information related to the position of the aircraft and the images.
1. A navigation system for an aircraft, the navigation system comprising:
a first camera configured to capture a first image of a portion of an environment that surrounds the aircraft and a second camera configured to simultaneously capture a second image of the portion of the environment, the first camera at a first mounting location and the second camera at a second mounting location offset from the first mounting location;
a processing component coupled to the first camera and the second camera, the processing component configured to:
receive the first image and the second image;
identify an object of a known location that appears in both the first image and the second image;
determine, for each camera, a distance from the camera to the object and an angle of the camera relative to the object; and
determine a location of the aircraft based on the distances and angles; and
a remote control flight system configured to:
receive the location of the aircraft from the processing component;
determine a course on which the aircraft is to proceed based on the location; and
provide at least one command to cause the aircraft to proceed along the determined course.
2. The navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the first image and the second image are captured at a first time, the first camera is configured to capture a third image at a second time, and the second camera is configured to capture a fourth image at the second time.
3. The navigation system of claim 2 , wherein the processing component is further configured to:
identify the object in the third image and the fourth image;
determine, for each camera, an updated distance from the camera to the object and an updated angle of the camera relative to the object; and
determine a change in the location of the aircraft to the object based on the updated distances and the updated angles.
4. The navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the processing component is further configured to:
determine a global location of the aircraft based on the determined location of the aircraft relative to the object.
5. The navigation system of claim 1 , wherein the first camera and the second camera are directed in a first direction.
6. The navigation system of claim 5 , further comprising a third camera and a fourth camera directed in second direction different from the first direction.
7. A navigation system for an aircraft, the navigation system comprising:
a first camera configured to capture a first image of a portion of an environment that surrounds the aircraft and a second camera to simultaneously capture a second image of the portion of the environment, the first camera at a first mounting location and the second camera at a second mounting location offset from the first mounting location;
a processing component coupled to the first camera and the second camera, the processing component configured to:
receive the first image and the second image;
identify an object that appears in both the first image and the second image;
determine, for each camera, a distance from the camera to the object and an angle of the camera relative to the object; and
determine a course on which the aircraft is to proceed based on the distances and angles; and
a remote control flight system configured to:
receive the course of the aircraft from the processing component; and
provide at least one command to cause the aircraft to proceed along the determined course.
8. The navigation system of claim 7 , wherein the processing component is further configured to determine a location of the aircraft based on the distances and angles.
9. The navigation system of claim 8 , wherein the first image and the second image are captured at a first time, the first camera is configured to capture a third image at a second time, and the second camera is configured to capture a fourth image at the second time.
10. The navigation system of claim 9 , wherein the processing component is further configured to:
identify the object in the third image and the fourth image;
determine, for each camera, an updated distance from the camera to the object and an updated angle of the camera relative to the object; and
determine a change in the location of the aircraft to the object based on the updated distances and the updated angles.
11. The navigation system of claim 8 , wherein the processing component is further configured to:
determine a global location of the aircraft based on the determined location of the aircraft relative to the object.
12. The navigation system of claim 7 , wherein the first camera and the second camera are directed in a first direction.
13. The navigation system of claim 12 , further comprising a third camera and a fourth camera directed in second direction different from the first direction.
14. A navigation system for an aircraft, the navigation system comprising:
a first camera configured to capture a first image of a portion of an environment that surrounds the aircraft at a first time and a second camera configured to simultaneously capture a second image of the portion of the environment at the first time, the first camera at a first mounting location and the second camera at a second mounting location offset from the first mounting location; and
a processing component coupled to the first camera and the second camera, the processing component configured to:
receive the first image and the second image;
identify an object of a known location that appears in both the first image and the second image;
determine, for each camera, a distance from the camera to the object and an angle of the camera relative to the object; and
determine a location of the aircraft based on the distances and angles;
wherein the first camera is further configured to capture a third image of a portion of the environment that surrounds the aircraft at a second time and the second camera is configured to simultaneously capture a fourth image of the portion of the environment at the second time, and
wherein the processing component is further configured to:
identify the object in the third image and the fourth image;
determine, for each camera, an updated distance from the camera to the object and an updated angle of the camera relative to the object; and
determine a change in the location of the aircraft to the object based on the updated distances and the updated angles.
15. The navigation system of claim 14 , further comprising a remote control flight system configured to:
receive the change in the location of the aircraft from the processing component;
determine a course on which the aircraft is to proceed based on the change in the location; and
provide at least one command to cause the aircraft to proceed along the determined course.
16. The navigation system of claim 14 , wherein the processing component is further configured to:
determine a global location of the aircraft based on the determined change in the location of the aircraft relative to the object.
17. The navigation system of claim 14 , wherein the first camera and the second camera are directed in a first direction.
18. The navigation system of claim 17 , further comprising a third camera and a fourth camera directed in second direction different from the first direction.
19. The navigation system of claim 14 , wherein the first camera and the second camera are stereoscopic cameras.
20. The navigation system of claim 8 , wherein the processing component is further configured to determine the course on which the aircraft is to proceed based on the determined location of the aircraft.