Visual Navigation Heading-Hold via Principal Marker Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current image-based long-range land navigation techniques face challenges such as position error growth with distance, reliance on large landmark databases, and errors due to varying perspectives, especially in GPS-denied areas where satellite navigation is unavailable.
Innovation Solution
A visual navigation system that uses a compass and image sensor to capture successive images with reference markers, identifying principal and ancillary markers to maintain a heading direction, integrating compass measurements and inertial navigation information to reduce drift and eliminate the need for extensive databases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If landmark matching is used to achieve precise positioning, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to large landmark databases and data storage requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential directional information from landmarks by identifying principal markers and their angular relationships, rather than storing and processing complete landmark images or comprehensive database entries. This extraction approach maintains positioning precision while dramatically reducing data storage requirements and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the landmark recognition task into identifying only principal markers and their angular positions relative to the heading direction, rather than processing entire landmark images or comprehensive spatial relationships. This segmentation reduces computational complexity and data storage needs while preserving essential navigation information.
2Reliability
If vision-based odometry is used to reduce drift, then reliability is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to position error growth with distance traveled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by continuously monitoring the angular positions of principal markers relative to the heading direction and using this information to correct drift accumulation. The system periodically re-estimates the heading direction based on current marker positions, providing corrective feedback that maintains both reliability and precision over long distances.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary identification and tracking of principal markers at each measurement point, establishing reference angular positions before drift can significantly accumulate. This preliminary action allows the system to detect and correct heading errors before they propagate into large position errors, maintaining both reliability and precision.
3Measurement precision
If landmark matching is used to achieve precise positioning, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases due to database searching and matching processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the critical angular position information of principal markers from the visual scene, eliminating the need for time-consuming database searches and image matching processes. This extraction approach achieves precise positioning by focusing on essential geometric relationships rather than comprehensive landmark identification, significantly reducing processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by identifying and tracking only the necessary principal markers required for heading determination, rather than processing all visible landmarks or performing exhaustive database searches. This selective approach maintains positioning precision while minimizing processing time by doing just enough work to achieve the navigation objective.
4Measurement precision
If comprehensive landmark databases are used to improve navigation accuracy, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to large data storage requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential angular relationships between principal markers and the heading direction, eliminating the need for storing comprehensive landmark databases. This extraction approach maintains navigation accuracy by preserving the critical geometric information needed for heading determination while dramatically reducing memory storage requirements and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the navigation information into discrete angular measurements of principal markers relative to the heading direction, rather than storing complete landmark databases. This segmentation allows the system to achieve accurate navigation using minimal data storage by focusing on the essential angular relationships needed for heading calculation.
Data Source
AI summary
A visual navigation system includes a compass configured to orient a user in a heading direction, an image sensor configured to capture a series of successive navigation images in the heading direction, one or more of the navigation images having at least two reference markers, data storage memory configured to store the series of successive navigation images, a navigation processor configured to identify at least one principal marker and at least one ancillary marker from the at least two reference markers, the principal marker positioned within a principal angle and the ancillary marker positioned within an ancillary angle, which is greater than the principal angle, and to determine heading direction information based on a position of the at least one principal marker and/or the at least one ancillary marker in the successive navigation images, and a user interface configured to provide the heading direction information to the user.