US Patent 10187572 UAV panoramic imaging

A method for generating panoramic aerial images includes controlling a carrier to rotate an image capturing device by a predetermined angle of rotation around a first axis of the carrier. The image capturing device is coupled to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) via the carrier and the carrier is configured to permit the image capturing device to rotate around at least the first axis and a second axis. The method further includes controlling the carrier to stabilize the image capturing device with respect to at least the second axis while the image capturing device is rotating around the first axis, by controlling one or more actuator members of the carrier. The method also includes controlling the image capturing device to capture a plurality of successive images while the image capturing device is rotating around the first axis and generating a panoramic image based on the captured plurality of images.