US 11,816,845 B1
Measuring the speed of rotation or reciprocation of a mechanical component using one or more cameras
Jeffrey R. Hay, Prospect, KY (US); Kenneth Ralph Piety, Knoxville, TN (US); Mark William Slemp, Tellico Plains, TN (US); and Joseph A. Vrba, Clinton, TN (US)
Assigned to RDI TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Knoxville, TN (US)
Filed by RDI TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Knoxville, TN (US)
Filed on Jan. 9, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/094,437.
Application 17/829,798 is a division of application No. 17/153,175, filed on Jan. 20, 2021, granted, now 11,373,317, issued on Jun. 28, 2022.
Application 18/094,437 is a continuation of application No. 17/829,798, filed on Jun. 1, 2022, granted, now 11,557,043.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/965,382, filed on Jan. 24, 2020.
Int. Cl. G06T 7/246 (2017.01); G06T 7/00 (2017.01); G06T 7/292 (2017.01); G01P 3/38 (2006.01)
CPC G06T 7/246 (2017.01) [G01P 3/38 (2013.01); G06T 7/0004 (2013.01); G06T 7/292 (2017.01); G06T 2207/10016 (2013.01); G06T 2207/20056 (2013.01); G06T 2207/20104 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30164 (2013.01)] 1 Claim
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for calculating a speed of rotation or reciprocation of a machine or machine component while rotating or reciprocating, using a video recording acquired with a camera of a scene within a field of view (FoV) that includes the machine or machine component, the method comprising:
configuring a processor to receive input from a user through a graphical user interface (GUI), wherein the input identifies a region of interest (ROI) or a line segment in the scene including pixels of the video recording depicting at least a portion of the machine or machine component as it is rotating or reciprocating;
configuring the processor to automatically select a retained set of pixels in the ROI or the line segment, wherein the retained set of pixels comprises pixels from the user identified set of pixels out of the FoV;
configuring the camera to automatically adjust a frame rate sufficient to capture frequencies in a predetermined speed range and to automatically adjust an exposure to improve a level of contrast of the retained set of pixels;
wherein the processor captures a video recording of sufficient length to capture N cycles at a lowest speed in a predetermined speed range, the video recording comprising video images which are divisible into video frames each of which is divisible into a plurality of pixels and storing the video recording in a memory operatively connected to the processor that executes computer-readable program instructions;
further configuring the processor to extract a waveform representing a variation in an intensity of the retained set of pixels as the machine or machine component is rotating or reciprocating, and to collect and store waveform and pixel intensity data from the user identified set of pixels identified by the user in the ROI or the line segment; and
calculating the speed of rotation or reciprocation of the machine or machine component as an average of a plurality of speed values for a plurality of pixels from the user identified set of pixels, wherein one or more of the plurality of pixels exhibits a periodicity of the rotational or reciprocal motion of the machine or machine component.