Thermal imaging for autonomous vehicle in outdoor scenes

Describes methods that use thermal imaging techniques for identifying different types of materials in outdoor scenes. First, the author analyzes how computer vision techniques applied to thermal images allow discriminating materials such as rock and sand. Second, he presents the model developed to calculate the temperature of materials. By applying this model, he shows that it is possible to determine a physical characteristic of the material, the thermal inertia. Third, as an application, he examines how an autonomous robot can use these techniques to explore other planets. In particular, he shows how a legged robot can use thermal inertia and so select where to place its foot next or which material to sample