Assessment of a visually guided autonomous exploration robot

C. Harris; R. Evans; E. Tidey

doi:10.1117/12.800100

16 October 2008 Assessment of a visually guided autonomous exploration robot

C. Harris, R. Evans, E. Tidey

Proceedings Volume 7112, Unmanned/Unattended Sensors and Sensor Networks V; 71120Y (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.800100
Event: SPIE Security + Defence, 2008, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

Abstract

A system has been developed to enable a robot vehicle to autonomously explore and map an indoor environment using only visual sensors. The vehicle is equipped with a single camera, whose output is wirelessly transmitted to an off-board standard PC for processing. Visual features within the camera imagery are extracted and tracked, and their 3D positions are calculated using a Structure from Motion algorithm. As the vehicle travels, obstacles in its surroundings are identified and a map of the explored region is generated. This paper discusses suitable criteria for assessing the performance of the system by computer-based simulation and practical experiments with a real vehicle. Performance measures identified include the positional accuracy of the 3D map and the vehicle's location, the efficiency and completeness of the exploration and the system reliability. Selected results are presented and the effect of key system parameters and algorithms on performance is assessed. This work was funded by the Systems Engineering for Autonomous Systems (SEAS) Defence Technology Centre established by the UK Ministry of Defence.

Citation Download Citation

C. Harris, R. Evans, and E. Tidey "Assessment of a visually guided autonomous exploration robot", Proc. SPIE 7112, Unmanned/Unattended Sensors and Sensor Networks V, 71120Y (16 October 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.800100

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