USING AN LOW-COST STEREO CAMERA FOR AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION OF MOBILE ROBOT

Abstract. The paper considers the possibility of using low-cost stereo cameras for autonomous robot navigation. An low-cost stereo camera with a focal length of 5 mm and a photo base of 6 cm was chosen for the research. Experimental studies have shown that the accuracy of determining the coordinates of object points from a pair of images obtained by such a stereo camera is sufficient for organizing autonomous navigation of the robot. In order to improve the reliability and accuracy of determining the trajectory of the robot, this paper proposes to use two stereo cameras. One is directed forward by the robot's movement, and the other is directed at the nadir. Thus, the trajectory is determined twice, independently of each other. Moreover, each case has its own algorithm for finding the homologue points. In the first case, a sparse point cloud is constructed for each stereo pair based on the selection of interesting points and their identification based on the comparison of descriptors. In addition, blunder detection of points identification are realized based on the analysis of the values of the relative orientation equations using the fundamental matrix. In the second case, when the stereo camera is pointed at the nadir, the usual method of correlation is used in the nodes of the grid specified at one image. Experimental studies have shown sufficient efficiency of autonomous navigation of mobile robot based on the use of two stereo cameras.