Obstacle Detection with Stereo Vision for Off-Road Vehicle Navigation

In this paper we present an artificial vision algorithm for real-time obstacle detection in unstructured environments. The images have been taken using a stereoscopical vision system. The system uses a new approach, of low computational load, to calculate a V-disparity image between left and right corresponding images, in order to estimate the cameras pitch oscillation caused by the vehicle movement. Then, the obstacles are localized by stereo matching and mapped in real world coordinates. Experimental results on sequences taken from a moving vehicle (which partecipated to the DARPA Grand Challenge 2004) in different unstructured scenarios are then presented, to demonstrate the validity of the approach.