Patent attributes
The present invention provides methods, systems, and apparatus for generating panoramic aerial images. An image capturing device is coupled to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) via a carrier configured to allow the image capturing device to rotate around one, two, or three axes relative to the UAV. To generate a panoramic image, the UAV is brought to hover or remain substantially stationary near a predetermined location. While the UAV is hovering over the predetermined position, the carrier causes the image capturing device to rotate around a first axis while stabilizing the image capturing device with respect to at least a second axis. As the image capturing device rotates, it captures a plurality of overlapping images. The plurality of images can be processed entirely onboard the UAV to generate a panoramic image without transmitting the plurality of images to a remote device.
