Scene analysis of range image for mobile robot navigation

A novel method of analyzing a range image is proposed for the purpose of scene analysis for mobile robot navigation. A laser rangefinder is used as a range acquisition device to provide range images for this research. It is proposed to use the mean field annealing technique to analyze each laser stripe, which has the advantage of smoothing the line segment while preserving the edges very well. Triangulation is used to interpret those strips, and one can thereby obtain a grey image of the scene and reconstruct the surface of the scene. The result of the analysis of a laser stripe image can be used for object recognition in the scene image, path planning, or collision avoidance of a mobile robot