3 ms·
If I were to write a program on the spot to do this, I would integrate the video function with my program to isolate objects in the field of view, calculate rel
by TGJ 16y ago
If I were to write a program on the spot to do this, I would integrate the video function with my program to isolate objects in the field of view, calculate relative size based on known data of airplanes which would give me distance to the object. I could then use that with my known elevation from GPS to calculate altitude. If I had to I would make the picture need a horizon and use some simple trigonometry to get altitude. I could then use some beautiful math to plot the general course of the airplane with a few samples of the objects motion in my camera's field of view. With all this data, I could cross it with scheduled flights from all airlines to get the rest of the data needed to get me the flight number and actual course. And that's off the top of my head. Don't really know how it works.
- DougWebb 16y agoOr... If you've seen the Google Skymap app, you know that it's possible to determine what part of the sky the phone is pointing at in addition to where the phone is located. That gives you a rectangular cone which contains everything the phone can 'see'. A little geometry and the flightpath data and you can figure out which flights are passing through the cone and how far away they are; the close ones are probably the ones the user is interested in.
- TGJ 16y agoThat sounds neat. I didn't now about the Skymap app. I've stopped browsing apps since my Iphone went through the washer. It goes to show that there are many ways to achieve the desired goal, so the real issue is not ADS-B systems but freedom vs. safety and how much are we will to give of one to get the other.