Forklift Camera Position Estimation With Mast-Region Exclusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing position estimation methods for forklifts face challenges in reducing power consumption and maintaining accuracy due to the inclusion of the mast in captured images, which increases computational load and decreases positioning accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A position estimation system for forklifts that calculates the inclusion range of the mast in the image based on its height and angle of view, and adjusts processing to exclude this range to reduce computational load and maintain accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If image processing is performed to estimate position, then positioning accuracy is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the mast region from the captured image before position estimation processing. By calculating the mast's projected range on the image plane and excluding this region, the system reduces unnecessary computational load while maintaining positioning accuracy through processing only the relevant ceiling environment areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the image into useful regions (ceiling environment for positioning) and useless regions (mast). By dividing the image processing task and focusing only on the ceiling region, the system reduces overall computational requirements and power consumption while preserving positioning functionality.
2Measurement precision
If the mast is included in the captured image, then the image captures more environmental information, but positioning accuracy decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent calculates the mast's projected range on the image plane based on its height and camera parameters, then extracts and removes this region from the image. This eliminates the harmful interference of the mast while preserving the useful ceiling environment information needed for accurate positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary processing to prevent the mast from interfering with position estimation. By pre-calculating and removing the mast region before the positioning algorithm executes, the system prevents harmful effects rather than correcting them during processing.
3Productivity
If image processing is performed on the entire captured image, then complete environmental data is processed, but computational load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image processing task by identifying and excluding the mast region, thereby processing only the necessary ceiling environment areas. This reduces the effective computational load while maintaining complete processing of relevant environmental data for positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes the mast region from the image before processing, reducing the amount of data that requires computational analysis. This improves processing efficiency by focusing computational resources only on the useful image regions.
Data Source
AI summary
A position estimation system is a position estimation system for estimating a position of a forklift equipped with a camera and includes: a position estimation unit configured to estimate a position of the forklift on the basis of a feature included in an image captured by the camera; and an inclusion determination unit configured to calculate, on the basis of a position in a height direction of a mast with which the forklift is equipped, an inclusion range indicating a range in which the mast is in the image and determine to stop estimation of the position by using the position estimation unit when the inclusion range calculated exceeds an allowable range.