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Pipeline Landmark Detection for Autonomous Robot Navigation using Time-of-Flight Imagery

Abstract

3D imaging systems provide valuable information for autonomous robot navigation based on landmark detection in pipelines. This paper presents a method for using a time-of-flight (TOF) camera for detection and tracking of pipeline features such as junctions, bends and obstacles. Feature extraction is done by fitting a cylinder to images of the pipeline. Data in captured images appear to take a conic rather than cylindrical shape, and we adjust the geometric primitive accordingly. Pixels deviating from the estimated cylinder/cone fit are grouped into blobs. Blobs fulfilling constraints on shape and stability over time are then tracked. The usefulness of TOF imagery as a source for landmark detection and tracking in pipelines is evaluated by comparison to auxiliary measurements. Experiments using a model pipeline and a prototype robot show encouraging results.
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Category

Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

Language

English

Author(s)

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Digital / Smart Sensors and Microsystems

Year

2008

Publisher

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

Book

IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops 2008, CVPR Workshops 2008, Anchorage, AK, 23-28 June, 2008

ISBN

9781424423392

Page(s)

1572 - 1578

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