Abstract: A reflective rotund lens is positioned for projecting a panoramic picture of its horizontal surroundings at a given elevation onto a CCD array, for converting the picture into “pixel form” or an image signal. The image signal is digitized via an A/D converter circuit. A digital signal processor system is programmed for extracting a strip of pixel locations representative of an image ring mapped to pixel locations via superimposition upon the image, whereby all pixel locations outside of the image ring are eliminated by passing the pixels thereof through said A/D converter circuit at a rate higher than the conversion rate of said A/D converter circuit.

Abstract: A system for automatically tracking the location of a vehicle includes a visual image detector mounted on the vehicle for producing as the vehicle moves along a route digitized strips of image data representing successive panoramic views of scenery about the vehicle at respective locations along the route. A sparse tracking subsystem processes and stores only selected ones of the image data strips representing substantially spaced apart successive locations along the route, for use as a sparse database. A dense tracking subsystem processes and stores as a dense database every successive one of the image data strips representing location along the route, whereby the dense tracking subsystem provides more accurate location of the vehicle when it retraces some portion of the route than the sparse tracking subsystem.

Abstract: A reflective rotund lens is positioned for projecting a panoramic picture of its horizontal surroundings at a given elevation onto a CCD array, for converting the picture into "pixel form" or an image signal. The image signal is digitized via an A/D converter circuit. A digital signal processor system is programmed for extracting a strip of pixel locations representative of an image ring mapped to pixel locations via superimposition upon the image, whereby all pixel locations outside of the image ring are eliminated by passing the pixels thereof through said A/D converter circuit at a rate higher than the conversion rate of the A/D converter circuit.