Multiple visual sensing system for mobile robot

In this paper, we propose a new multiple visual sensing sensor (MISS), which combines with an omnidirectional image sensor COPIS (COnic Projection Image Sensor) and binocular vision, for navigating the robot and understanding interesting objects in an environment by integrating both sensory data. Since COPIS observes a 360 degree view around the robot, the robot can always estimate its own location and motion precisely. The location of unknown objects can also be estimated. COPIS can observe a global and precise information of features (vertical edges) in real-time, however, it is difficult to understand their details of shapes. On the other hand, the mobile robot has binocular vision and obtains a sequence of stereo images from the environment. We extend the principle of trinocular vision to establish correspondences between a sequence of binocular images. Although a view field of the binocular vision is limited by a visual angle of lens, the binocular vision is useful for understand spatial configuration of the environment. Therefore we integrate both merits and propose an efficient sensing system. The system has been evaluated on the prototype sensor in actual environment