Granted Patent B2

US 12,593,130 · App. 18/036,652 · Granted Mar 31, 2026

Inventors: Dario Brescianini (Stuttgart, DE); Peter Dürr (Stuttgart, DE); Markus Kamm (Stuttgart, DE)

Assignee: SONY GROUP CORPORATION

H04N23/695H04N23/61

Abstract

Claims (58)

1 . A tracking camera comprising:

a mirror assembly communicatively coupled to a control unit; and

an event camera communicatively coupled to the control unit, wherein

the mirror assembly is configured to direct light from a tracked object to the event camera, and

the control unit is configured to:

receive event data from the event camera, and

adjust the mirror assembly based on the event data such that the tracked object is kept within a line of sight of the event camera.

2 . The tracking camera of claim 1 , further comprising:

a lens assembly which includes at least one lens between the mirror assembly and the event camera.

3 . The tracking camera of claim 2 , wherein a pupil position of the lens assembly is within 2 cm of the mirror assembly.

4 . The tracking camera of any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the mirror assembly includes an actuatable mirror configured for adjustment based on an adjustment signal from the control unit.

5 . The tracking camera of claim 4 , wherein the actuatable mirror of the mirror assembly is a galvanometer mirror, a microelectromechanical mirror, or a piezoelectric mirror.

6 . The tracking camera of claim 1 , further comprising: an orientation feedback system communicatively coupled to the control unit for communicating a mirror assembly status.

7 . The tracking camera of claim 4 , wherein the control unit is configured to: determine the adjustment signal based on the event data, and transmit the adjustment signal to the mirror assembly for adjusting the mirror assembly.

8 . The tracking camera of claim 7 , wherein

the control unit is configured to:

receive the event data for a time interval, and

estimate a bearing array corresponding to the tracked object based on the event data, and

the adjustment signal is based on the bearing array.

9 . The tracking camera of claim 8 , wherein the control unit is configured to:

transmit the adjustment signal such that an optical axis of the tracking camera which extends out of the tracking camera is moved to a target direction based on the bearing array.

10 . A method of operating a tracking camera, comprising:

directing, by a mirror assembly of the tracking camera, light from a tracked object to an event camera of the tracking camera;

receiving event data from the event camera;

determining an adjustment signal based on the event data;

transmitting the adjustment signal to the mirror assembly;

adjusting the mirror assembly according to the adjustment signal such that the tracked object is kept within a line of sight of the event camera.

11 . The method of operating the tracking camera of claim 10 ,

wherein the tracking camera includes a lens assembly which includes at least one lens between the mirror assembly and the event camera, and

wherein the method further comprises:

collecting light from a pupil position of the lens assembly, which is within 2 cm of the mirror assembly, and

forming an image of the tracked object on the event camera.

12 . The method of operating the tracking camera of claim 10 or claim 11 , further comprising:

estimating a bearing array based on the event data, the bearing array corresponding to the tracked object,

wherein determining the adjustment signal is based on the bearing array.

13 . The method of operating the tracking camera of claim 12 , further comprising:

accumulating the event data for a time interval; and

determining a common time for events accumulated within the time interval,

wherein the bearing array includes an element at the common time based on the accumulated event data.

14 . The tracking camera of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to:

estimate a bearing array based on the event data, and

adjust the mirror assembly based on the bearing array.

15 . The tracking camera of claim 1 , wherein

the event data includes asynchronous event data, and

the control unit is configured to adjust the mirror assembly based upon the event data including the asynchronous event data such that the tracked object is kept within the line of sight of the event camera.

16 . The tracking camera of claim 1 , wherein

the event data includes a pixel position and a polarity, and

the control unit is configured to adjust the mirror assembly based upon the event data including the pixel position and the polarity such that the tracked object is kept within the line of sight of the event camera.

17 . The tracking camera of claim 1 , wherein

the event data includes a time stamp, and

the control unit is configured to adjust the mirror assembly based upon the event data including the time stamp such that the tracked object is kept within the line of sight of the event camera.

18 . The tracking camera of claim 1 , wherein

the event data includes a pixel x-position, a pixel y-position, a polarity, and a time stamp, and

the control unit is configured to adjust the mirror assembly based upon the event data including the pixel x-position, the pixel y-position, the polarity, and the time stamp such that the tracked object is kept within the line of sight of the event camera.

19 . The tracking camera of claim 1 , wherein

the event data includes a polarity, and

the control unit is configured to adjust the mirror assembly based upon the event data including the polarity such that the tracked object is kept within the line of sight of the event camera.

20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program having a program code for, when executed on a processor, causing the execution of the method according to claim 10 .

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (27)