Mobile Robot Localization Using External Surveillance Cameras
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current localization systems for mobile robots indoors face challenges such as high costs, complex control structures, and low precision due to the need for external sensors or markers, and image-based systems suffer from lens distortion and shadow issues, making it difficult to accurately map and navigate around obstacles without additional equipment.
Innovation Solution
A method and system using external surveillance cameras to create a 2-D map with location information of objects and robots, employing shadow removal and homography schemes to recognize obstacles and generate control signals for navigation, allowing the robot to avoid collisions without mounted sensors, utilizing existing cameras to simplify the robot's configuration and reduce maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If external sensors or markers are mounted on the robot for localization, then localization precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of external surveillance cameras and a server that processes images to generate location information. Instead of mounting sensors on the robot, the system uses existing external cameras to capture images, processes them through a server to extract location data, and transmits this information back to the robot. This intermediary approach resolves the contradiction by achieving precise localization without adding complex sensors to the robot itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent leverages existing surveillance cameras already installed in the environment to serve the localization function. Rather than requiring the robot to carry its own sensing equipment, the system allows the robot to utilize the self-existing infrastructure of surveillance cameras for localization, thereby reducing device complexity and cost while maintaining localization precision.
2Measurement precision
If external sensors or markers are mounted on the robot for localization, then localization precision is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the existing surveillance cameras serve multiple functions - their primary security surveillance function continues while simultaneously being utilized for robot localization. This multi-functionality approach allows the system to achieve precise localization without additional dedicated sensors, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while maintaining localization precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system leverages the self-existing surveillance camera infrastructure to provide localization services. By utilizing already-installed cameras rather than mounting new sensors on each robot, the patent significantly reduces the cost of deployment while maintaining high localization precision through image processing.
3Measurement precision
If shadow removal and image correction are applied to surveillance camera images, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary server that performs shadow removal and image correction processing. Instead of implementing complex control structures within the robot to handle image processing, the system offloads these tasks to a separate server that acts as an intermediary between the surveillance cameras and the robot. This resolves the contradiction by achieving high image accuracy while keeping the robot's control structure relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile robot employing a method and a system for localizing the mobile robot using external surveillance cameras acquires images from the surveillance cameras installed indoors adjacent to each other, recognizes objects included in the images by removing shadows from the images and performing a homography scheme, and avoids the recognized objects. The mobile robot employing the method and the system for localizing the mobile robot using the external surveillance cameras enables rapider localization and lower price as compared with a conventional image-based autonomous robot, so that the commercialization of a service robot is accelerated.