Robohub.org
 

Stable visual navigation


by
20 April 2011



share this:

If you’re trying to get from the couch to the fridge, you’ll probably be using vision to navigate and home-in on your fresh drink.

To make your camera-equipped robot do something similar, give it an image taken from the location it is trying to reach (target image). By comparing features in the image taken from its camera and the target image, the robot is able to determine in what direction it should move to make the two images match.

However, challenges often arise when the robot is nearing its goal. If there is little change between the current and target images, the robot motion might start oscillating. To avoid this oscillation, López-Nicolás et al. propose to replace the target image by a smartly chosen virtual image computed at the beginning of the task. Possible features in the current, target and virtual images are shown below.

Left: Initial image of an experiment with the point features detected. Right: Target image with the points matched (circles) and the computed virtual target points (squares).

Experiments were done using a Pioneer P3-DX from ActivMedia. The robot is equipped with a forward looking Point Grey Research Flea2 camera. Results show the robot is able to smoothly navigate towards a target.

In the future, authors hope to equip their robots with omnidirectional cameras to allow them to reach targets all around.




Sabine Hauert is President of Robohub and Associate Professor at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory
Sabine Hauert is President of Robohub and Associate Professor at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory





Related posts :



Livestream of RoboCup2025

  18 Jul 2025
Watch the competition live from Salvador!

Tackling the 3D Simulation League: an interview with Klaus Dorer and Stefan Glaser

and   15 Jul 2025
With RoboCup2025 starting today, we found out more about the 3D simulation league, and the new simulator they have in the works.

An interview with Nicolai Ommer: the RoboCupSoccer Small Size League

and   01 Jul 2025
We caught up with Nicolai to find out more about the Small Size League, how the auto referees work, and how teams use AI.

RoboCupRescue: an interview with Adam Jacoff

and   25 Jun 2025
Find out what's new in the RoboCupRescue League this year.

Robot Talk Episode 126 – Why are we building humanoid robots?

  20 Jun 2025
In this special live recording at Imperial College London, Claire chatted to Ben Russell, Maryam Banitalebi Dehkordi, and Petar Kormushev about humanoid robotics.

Gearing up for RoboCupJunior: Interview with Ana Patrícia Magalhães

and   18 Jun 2025
We hear from the organiser of RoboCupJunior 2025 and find out how the preparations are going for the event.

Robot Talk Episode 125 – Chatting with robots, with Gabriel Skantze

  13 Jun 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Gabriel Skantze from KTH Royal Institute of Technology about having natural face-to-face conversations with robots.

Preparing for kick-off at RoboCup2025: an interview with General Chair Marco Simões

and   12 Jun 2025
We caught up with Marco to find out what exciting events are in store at this year's RoboCup.



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence