• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.164-170
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• 2011

This paper proposes a novel monocular vision-based SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) method using both position and orientation information of ceiling lamps. Conventional approaches used corner or line features as landmarks in their SLAM algorithms, but these methods were often unable to achieve stable navigation due to a lack of reliable visual features on the ceiling. Since lamp features are usually placed some distances from each other in indoor environments, they can be robustly detected and used as reliable landmarks. We used both the position and orientation of a lamp feature to accurately estimate the robot pose. Its orientation is obtained by calculating the principal axis from the pixel distribution of the lamp area. Both corner and lamp features are used as landmarks in the EKF (Extended Kalman Filter) to increase the stability of the SLAM process. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme works successfully in various indoor environments.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.197-209
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• 2011

This paper presents a localization system using ceiling images in a large indoor environment. For a system with low cost and complexity, we propose a single camera based system that utilizes ceiling images acquired from a camera installed to point upwards. For reliable operation, we propose a method using hybrid features which include natural landmarks in a natural scene and artificial landmarks observable in an infrared ray domain. Compared with previous works utilizing only infrared based features, our method reduces the required number of artificial features as we exploit both natural and artificial features. In addition, compared with previous works using only natural scene, our method has an advantage in the convergence speed and robustness as an observation of an artificial feature provides a crucial clue for robot pose estimation. In an experiment with challenging situations in a real environment, our method was performed impressively in terms of the robustness and accuracy. To our knowledge, our method is the first ceiling vision based localization method using features from both visible and infrared rays domains. Our system can be easily utilized with a variety of service robot applications in a large indoor environment.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2012

In this paper, the pose estimation method for the satellite GTB (Ground Test Bed) using vision/MEMS IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) integrated system is presented. The GTB for verifying a satellite system on the ground is similar to the mobile robot having thrusters and a reaction wheel as actuators and floating on the floor by compressed air. The EKF (Extended Kalman Filter) is also used for fusion of MEMS IMU and vision system that consists of a single camera and infrared LEDs that is ceiling landmarks. The fusion filter generally utilizes the position of feature points from the image as measurement. However, this method can cause position error due to the bias of MEMS IMU when the camera image is not obtained if the bias is not properly estimated through the filter. Therefore, it is proposed that the fusion method which uses the position of feature points and the velocity of the camera determined from optical flow of feature points. It is verified by experiments that the performance of the proposed method is robust to the bias of IMU compared to the method that uses only the position of feature points.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.2 s.21
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• pp.14-21
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• 2005

This paper describes the system for detecting the tank crew's(loader's) hand, arm, head and the upper half of the body in a danger area between the turret ceiling and the upper breech mechanism by computer vision-based method. This system informs danger of pressed to death to gunner and commander for the safety of operating mission. The camera mounted ort the top portion of the turret ceiling. The system sets search moving object from this image and detects by using change of image, laplacian operator and clustering algorithm in this area. It alarms the tank crews when it's judged that dangerous situation for operating mission. The result In this experiment shows that the detection rate maintains in $81{\sim}98$ percents.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2011.07a
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• pp.1934-1935
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• 2011

In order for a service robot to perform several tasks, basically autonomous navigation technique such as localization, mapping, and path planning is required. The localization (estimation robot's pose) is fundamental ability for service robot to navigate autonomously. In this paper, we propose a new system for point pattern matching based visual global localization using spot lightings in ceiling. The proposed algorithm us suitable for system that demands high accuracy and fast update rate such a guide robot in the exhibition. A single camera looking upward direction (called ceiling vision system) is mounted on the head of the mobile robot and image features such as lightings are detected and tracked through the image sequence. For detecting more spot lightings, we choose wide FOV lens, and inevitably there is serious image distortion. But by applying correction calculation only for the position of spot lightings not whole image pixels, we can decrease the processing time. And then using point pattern matching and least square estimation, finally we can get the precise position and orientation of the mobile robot. Experimental results demonstrate the accuracy and update rate of the proposed algorithm in real environments.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.442-448
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• 2011

There are many research results about a self-localization technique of mobile robot. In this paper we present a self-localization technique based on the features of ceiling vision using a fisheye lens. The features obtained by SIFT(Scale Invariant Feature Transform) can be used to be matched between the previous image and the current image and then its optimal function is derived. The fisheye lens causes some distortion on its images naturally. So it must be calibrated by some algorithm. We here propose some methods for calibration of distorted images and design of a geometric fitness model. The proposed method is applied to laboratory and aile environment. We show its feasibility at some indoor environment.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.780-789
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• 2019

In this paper, we propose a new indoor localization method for indoor mobile robots using LiDAR. The indoor mobile robots operating in limited areas usually require high-precision localization to provide high level services. The performance of the widely used localization methods based on radio waves or computer vision are highly dependent on their usage environment. Therefore, the reproducibility of the localization is insufficient to provide high level services. To overcome this problem, we propose a new localization method based on the comparison between ceiling shape information obtained from LiDAR measurement and the blueprint. Specifically, the method includes a reliable segmentation method to classify point clouds into connected planes, an effective comparison method to estimate position by matching 3D point clouds and 2D blueprint information. Since the ceiling shape information is rarely changed, the proposed localization method is robust to its usage environment. Simulation results prove that the position error of the proposed localization method is less than 10 cm.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.08a
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• pp.1259-1263
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• 2004

This paper describes position estimation algorithm using neural network for the navigation of the vision-based wheeled mobile robot (WMR) in a corridor with taking ceiling lamps as landmark. From images of a corridor the lamp's line on the ceiling in corridor has a specific slope to the lateral position of the WMR. The vanishing point produced by the lamp's line also has a specific position to the orientation of WMR. The ceiling lamps have a limited size and shape like a circle in image. Simple image processing algorithms are used to extract lamps from the corridor image. Then the lamp's line and vanishing point's position are defined and calculated at known position of WMR in a corridor. To estimate the lateral position and orientation of WMR from an image, the relationship between the position of WMR and the features of ceiling lamps have to be defined. But it is hard because of nonlinearity. Therefore, data set between position of WMR and features of lamps are configured. Neural network are composed and learned with data set. Back propagation algorithm(BPN) is used for learning. And it is applied in navigation of WMR in a corridor.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.25.2-25
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• 2001

This paper describes a mobile robot intended for being employed in a multi-agent system. We have already proposed a multi-agent system which realizes patient-aid by helping a lying patient take a distant object on the table. In this paper, a mobile robot agent is developed and is included in the system. An effective man-machine communication strategy is proposed by use of a vision agent settled on the ceiling. If a human (assumed to be a patient) wishes to take an object distant on the floor, he points to the object. The vision agent detects the direction of his arm by image processing and guesses which object he intends to take. The vision agent asks him if it is what he wants and, if yes, the mobile robot runs to take and bring it to him. The system is overviewed with the explanation of a mobile robot. Some experimental results are shown with discussion.

• International Journal of Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2013

This paper proposes a vision-based indoor localization method for autonomous vehicles. A single upward-facing digital camera was mounted on an autonomous vehicle and used as a vision sensor to identify artificial landmarks and any natural corner features. An interest point detector was used to find the natural features. Using an optical flow detection algorithm, information related to the direction and vehicle translation was defined. This information was used to track the vehicle movements. Random noise related to uneven light disrupted the calculation of the vehicle translation. Thus, to estimate the vehicle translation, a Kalman filter was used to calculate the vehicle position. These algorithms were tested on a vehicle in a real environment. The image processing method could recognize the landmarks precisely, while the Kalman filter algorithm could estimate the vehicle's position accurately. The experimental results confirmed that the proposed approaches can be implemented in practical situations.