US Patent 10084960 Panoramic view imaging system with drone integration

Example apparatus and methods acquire individual frames of a portion of a scene under a variety of different operating parameters. Example apparatus and methods then piece together strips of frames from the individual frames. Example apparatus and methods then produce a panoramic image from the strips of frames. Frames are acquired using different imaging parameters (e.g., focal length, pan position, tilt position) under different imaging conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, pan rate, tilt rate). The frames may be acquired by cameras located in a panoramic view image system and in a drone. The drone may provide imagery or data. The imagery or data may be used to update or enhance the panoramic image by, for example, displaying imagery of a blind spot in the panoramic image. In different embodiments, drones may be detected or controlled.