Jan 6, 2026

US12518419 - Method, software product, device and system for determining a direction at a position

A method for determining a direction at a position is provided. The method involves obtaining an orthorectified photo of a region of Earth's surface comprising the position, and a coordinate system for the orthorectified photo; identifying the position in the orthorectified photo; identifying a reference object in the orthorectified photo; determining a reference direction between the position and the identified reference object; capturing at least one digital photo at the position with a calibrated digital camera, wherein at least one of the at least one captured digital photo depicts the reference object; and determining the direction based on the at least one captured digital photo and the determined reference direction, wherein the determined direction is based on at least one pixel coordinate corresponding to the depicted reference object in the at least one captured digital photo depicting the reference object.

Assignee: SAAB AB
Inventors: Linnea Nilsson, Jimmy Jonsson, Per-Olof Persson
Filing date: 2022-03-29

The patent describes a method for determining direction at a specific location using orthorectified photos and digital images captured with a calibrated camera. It involves identifying a reference object in the photo, calculating a reference direction, and using pixel coordinates from the captured images to ascertain the desired direction.

Claim 1

1 . A method ( 100 ) for determining a direction at a position ( 211 ), the method ( 100 ) comprises obtaining ( 110 ) an orthorectified photo ( 210 ) of a region of Earth’s surface comprising the position ( 211 ), and a corresponding coordinate system for the region in said orthorectified photo ( 210 ), identifying ( 120 ) the position ( 211 ) in the orthorectified photo ( 210 ), and determining a set of coordinates corresponding to the position ( 211 ), identifying ( 130 ) a reference object ( 212 ) in the orthorectified photo ( 210 ), thereby determining a set of coordinates corresponding to the reference object ( 212 ), determining ( 140 ) a reference direction ( 215 ) between the position ( 211 ) and the identified reference object ( 212 ) based on the corresponding sets of coordinates, capturing ( 150 ) at least one digital photo ( 220 ; 230 ) at the position ( 211 ) with a calibrated digital camera ( 331 ), wherein at least one of the at least one captured digital photo ( 220 ) depicts the reference object ( 222 ), selecting ( 180 ) a pixel in the at least one digital photo ( 220 ; 230 ) corresponding to the direction to be determined, and determining ( 190 ) the direction based on the at least one captured digital photo ( 220 ; 230 ) and the determined reference direction ( 215 ), wherein the determined direction is based on at least one pixel coordinate corresponding to the depicted reference object ( 222 ) in the at least one captured digital photo ( 220 ) depicting the reference object ( 222 ), and wherein determining ( 190 ) the direction comprises utilizing the pixel coordinate of the selected pixel to determine ( 190 ) the direction corresponding to said selected pixel. obtaining ( 110 ) an orthorectified photo ( 210 ) of a region of Earth’s surface comprising the position ( 211 ), and a corresponding coordinate system for the region in said orthorectified photo ( 210 ), identifying ( 120 ) the position ( 211 ) in the orthorectified photo ( 210 ), and determining a set of coordinates corresponding to the position ( 211 ), identifying ( 130 ) a reference object ( 212 ) in the orthorectified photo ( 210 ), thereby determining a set of coordinates corresponding to the reference object ( 212 ), determining ( 140 ) a reference direction ( 215 ) between the position ( 211 ) and the identified reference object ( 212 ) based on the corresponding sets of coordinates, capturing ( 150 ) at least one digital photo ( 220 ; 230 ) at the position ( 211 ) with a calibrated digital camera ( 331 ), wherein at least one of the at least one captured digital photo ( 220 ) depicts the reference object ( 222 ), selecting ( 180 ) a pixel in the at least one digital photo ( 220 ; 230 ) corresponding to the direction to be determined, and determining ( 190 ) the direction based on the at least one captured digital photo ( 220 ; 230 ) and the determined reference direction ( 215 ), wherein the determined direction is based on at least one pixel coordinate corresponding to the depicted reference object ( 222 ) in the at least one captured digital photo ( 220 ) depicting the reference object ( 222 ), and wherein determining ( 190 ) the direction comprises utilizing the pixel coordinate of the selected pixel to determine ( 190 ) the direction corresponding to said selected pixel.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12518419

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12518419