Abstract
This paper presents a flexible prototyping platform that can be efficiently used for vision systems of small mobile robots. The vision module has been integrated into the mini-robot “Khepera”. The module is utilized to realize optical flow algorithm for obstacle avoidance. The obstacles are detected from abrupt change of the normal flow vectors during operation. This technique is also inspired by visual perception of insects, which alert when an object suddenly appears nearby them. The optical flow algorithm implemented for this approach is Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD) algorithm. The SAD is programmed using the hardware description language (VHDL) efficiently utilizing the FPGA device that is the central processing device of the module. The 30x16 pixels used in SAD for block matching are computed in parallel by 16 pairs of pixels in each operation, which allows in real-time operation. Therefore, the mini-robot being equipped with our 2D vision module for the real-time image processing is able to drive autonomously without collision with obstacles, called ego-motion. The result also shows that the implementation can reduce the execution time compared to serial implementation and helps to reduce energy consumption.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Chinapirom, T., Kaulmann, T., Witkowski, U., Rückert, U.: Visual object recognition by 2D-color camera and on-board information processing for minirobots. In: Proceeding of the FIRA Robot World Congress, Busan, Korea (2004)
Franceschini, N., Pichon, J.M., Blanes, C.: From insect vision to robot vision. In: Philosophical Transactions Royal Society of London, vol. 337, pp. 283–294
Beauchemin, S.S., Barron, J.L.: The computation of optical flow. ACM Computing Surveys 27(3), 433–466 (1995)
Kleist, T.: Bee navigation: the eyes have it - photoreceptors in bee’s eyes used to navigate. In: Science News (October 4, 1986)
Ballard, D.H., Brown, C.M.: Optical flow. In: Computer Vision, pp. 102–105. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1982)
Trucco, E., Verri, A.: The correspondence problem. In: Introductory Techniques for 3-D Computer Vision, pp. 145–150. Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs (1998)
Chinapirom, T., Witkowski, U., Rückert, U.: Universal FPGA Microcontroller Module for Autonomous Minirobots. In: Proceeding of the Autonomous Minirobots for Research and Edutainment (AMiRA 2005), Fukui, Japan (September 2005)
Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR): BlueCore2-External. In: BlueCore2-External Product Data Book (2004)
Vassiliadis, S., Hakkennes, E.A., Wong, J.S.S.M., Pechanek, G.G.: The Sum Absolute Difference Motion Estimation Accelerator. In: 24th EUROMICRO Conference (EUROMICRO 1998), vol. 2, p. 20559 (1998)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Chinapirom, T., Witkowski, U., Rueckert, U. (2009). Vision Module for Mini-robots Providing Optical Flow Processing for Obstacle Avoidance. In: Kim, JH., et al. Advances in Robotics. FIRA 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5744. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03983-6_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03983-6_25
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-03982-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-03983-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)