Methods and apparatus for tracking motion and/or orientation of a marking device

摘要

Marking material is dispensed onto a target surface using a marking device, and one or more images are captured by one or more camera systems attached to the marking device. The image(s) is/are analyzed to determine tracking information indicative of the a motion or an orientation of the marking device. The tracking information is analyzed to determine marking information relating to the dispensed marking material. In one example, the image(s) is/are analyzed to obtain an optical flow plot indicative of a path on the target surface traversed by the marking device. One or more reference plots respectively representing a plurality of reference marking patterns are compared to one or more portions of the optical flow plot to identify at least one reference marking pattern that substantially matches the portion(s) of the optical flow plot.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
A) dispensing marking material onto a target surface using a marking device to form at least one locate mark on the target surface; B) capturing camera system data relating to at least one image using at least one camera system attached to the marking device; C) analyzing the at least one image to determine tracking information indicative of a motion or an orientation of the marking device, wherein C) comprises:
C1) obtaining an optical flow plot indicative of a path on the target surface traversed by the marking device; and D) analyzing the tracking information to determine marking information relating to the dispensed marking material, wherein the marking information relating to the dispensed marking material comprises attribute information indicative of an attribute of the at least one locate mark, and wherein the attribute comprises at least one of:
a presence of the at least one locate mark,a pattern of the at least one locate mark,a location of the at least one locate mark,a quality of the at least one locate mark, anda color of the at least one locate mark.