Autonomous movement device, autonomous movement method and non-transitory recording medium

• US 10,012,989 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2016
• Issued: 07/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Narikawa, Tetsuro
• Primary Examiner(s): Yang, Qian
• Application Number:
  US15/278,627
• Publication Number:
  US 20170178331A1
• Time in Patent Office: 643 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/02 Control of position or course in two dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0246 using a video camera in combination with image processing means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30244 Camera pose
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30252 Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/246 using feature-based methods, e.g. the tracking of corners or segments
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/74 involving reference images or patches
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/462 Salient features, e.g. scale invariant feature transforms [SIFT]
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/48 by mapping characteristic values of the pattern into a parameter space, e.g. Hough transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/10 Terrestrial scenes scenes under surveillance with static cameras G06V20/52; scenes perceived from the exterior of a vehicle G06V20/56; scenes perceived from the interior of a vehicle G06V20/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture

Abstract

To increase the frequency of executing a loop closing process, and to reduce an accumulated error in a local device position, and the like. A rotational image picker of an autonomous movement device picks up an image while performing a rotational action. An image memory stores information on the picked-up image. A map memory stores a created map. A position estimator estimates the local device position. A similar image searcher searches, from the image memory, the image that has a similarity level of equal to or greater than a predetermined similarity level. A map corrector corrects the map stored in the map memory when the similar image searcher founds the image that has the similarity level of equal to or greater than the predetermined similarity level.

Claims

1. An autonomous movement device for performing movement while creating a map, the autonomous movement device comprising:

an image picker including a camera;

a driver including a motor;

a controller including a processor; and

a memory which stores the map, which is created using information on a plurality of stored images picked up by the image picker,

wherein the controller is configured to;

cause the image picker to pick up an image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device;

store, in the memory, information on the image picked up by the image picker in association with information on a position of the autonomous movement device when the image is picked up;

search, from among the plurality of stored images in the memory, for an image that has a similarity level to the picked-up image equal to or greater than a predetermined similarity level;

determine, when the image that has the similarity level equal to or greater than the predetermined similarity level is found, that the autonomous movement device has returned to a site recognized as a site where the autonomous movement device has traveled to in the past;

correct the map stored in the memory using information indicating a position expressed by coordinates on the map, corresponding to the found image stored in the memory; and

control the driver to move the autonomous movement device based on the corrected map.

2. The autonomous movement device according to claim 1, further comprising a communicator that communicates with an external server,

wherein at least one of the following actions of the controller is executed by the external server:

the storing of the information on the image in the memory;

the search for the image; and

the correction of the map.

3. The autonomous movement device according to claim 1, wherein the controller causes the image picker to pick up the image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device at fixed intervals.

4. The autonomous movement device according to claim 3, wherein the controller causes the image picker to pick up the image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device every time a predetermined time has elapsed.

5. The autonomous movement device according to claim 3, wherein the controller causes the image picker to pick up the image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device every time the autonomous movement device moves by a predetermined distance.

6. The autonomous movement device according to claim 1, wherein the controller stores, in the memory, the information on the picked-up image every time the autonomous movement device moves by a reference translation distance.

7. The autonomous movement device according to claim 6, wherein a value obtained by multiplying a diameter of a wheel of the driver by a predetermined value is set as the reference translation distance.

8. The autonomous movement device according to claim 1, wherein when the controller determines that the autonomous movement device has returned to a site recognized as a site where the autonomous movement device once traveled in the past, the controller corrects the map stored in the memory using a translation vector t and a rotation matrix R indicating a position of the autonomous movement device expressed by coordinates on the map, and using a translation vector t and a rotation matrix R indicating a current position of the autonomous movement device.

9. An autonomous movement device for performing movement while creating a map, the autonomous movement device comprising:

an image picker including a camera;

a driver including a motor;

a controller including a processor; and

a memory which stores the map, which is created using information on a plurality of stored images picked up by the image picker,

wherein the controller is configured to;

cause the image picker to pick up an image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device;

store, in the memory, information on the image picked up by the image picker in association with information on a position of the autonomous movement device when the image is picked up;

search, from among the plurality of stored images in the memory, for an image that has a similarity level to the picked-up image equal to or greater than a predetermined similarity level;

correct the map stored in the memory based on, when the image that has the similarity level of equal to or greater than the predetermined similarity level is found, information on a position corresponding to the found image; and

control the driver to move the autonomous movement device based on the corrected map;

wherein the controller is further configured to;

estimate the position of the autonomous movement device;

store, in the memory, an estimated position history; and

determine whether or not a past position that has a distance relative to a present position equal to or shorter than a predetermined distance is stored in the memory, and cause the image picker to pick up the image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device when determining that the past position is stored in the memory.

10. The autonomous movement device according to claim 9, wherein when determining that the past position is stored in the memory, and when the image that has the similarity level equal to or greater than the predetermined similarity level is not found through the search, the controller causes the image picker to pick up the image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device.

11. The autonomous movement device according to claim 9, wherein the controller:

further executes a relative position calculation possibility determination to determine whether or not a relative positional relationship between the two image-pickup positions is directly calculatable;

calculates a co-visibility graph distance by calculating, through the relative position calculation possibility determination, at least how many images stored in the memory are necessary to enable the calculation of the relative positional relationship between a given position and the present position; and

when determining that the past position is stored in the memory, and when the calculated co-visibility graph distance between the past position and the present position is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, causes the image picker to pick up the image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device.

12. An autonomous movement device for performing movement while creating a map, the autonomous movement device comprising:

an image picker including a camera;

a driver including a motor;

a controller including a processor; and

a memory which stores the map, which is created using information on a plurality of stored images picked up by the image picker,

wherein the controller is configured to;

cause the image picker to pick up an image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device;

store, in the memory, information on the image picked up by the image picker in association with information on a position of the autonomous movement device when the image is picked up;

search, from among the plurality of stored images in the memory, for an image that has a similarity level to the picked-up image equal to or greater than a predetermined similarity level;

correct the map stored in the memory based on, when the image that has the similarity level of equal to or greater than the predetermined similarity level is found, information on a position corresponding to the found image; and

control the driver to move the autonomous movement device based on the corrected map; and

wherein the controller is further configured to;

estimate the position of the autonomous movement device;

store, in the memory, an estimated position history; and

determine whether or not a past position that has a distance relative to a present position equal to or shorter than a predetermined distance is stored in the memory, and decrease the predetermined similarity level by a predetermined value when determining that the past position is stored in the memory.

13. An autonomous movement device for performing movement while creating a map, the autonomous movement device comprising:

an image picker including a camera;

a driver including a motor;

a controller including a processor; and

a memory which stores the map, which is created using information on a plurality of stored images picked up by the image picker,

wherein the controller is configured to;

cause the image picker to pick up an image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device;

store, in the memory, information on the image picked up by the image picker in association with information on a position of the autonomous movement device when the image is picked up;

search, from among the plurality of stored images in the memory, for an image that has a similarity level to the picked-up image equal to or greater than a predetermined similarity level;

correct the map stored in the memory based on, when the image that has the similarity level of equal to or greater than the predetermined similarity level is found, information on a position corresponding to the found image; and

control the driver to move the autonomous movement device based on the corrected map;

wherein the controller stores, in the memory, the information on the picked-up image every time the autonomous movement device moves by a reference translation distance; and

wherein the controller is further configured to extract a feature position with an estimatable position from the plurality of images, and set, as the reference translation distance, a value obtained by dividing an average value of a distance between the position of the autonomous movement device and each position of all of the extracted feature points by a predetermined value.

14. A method for controlling an autonomous movement device that performs movement while creating a map, the autonomous movement device comprising:

an image picker including a camera, a driver including a motor, and a memory which stores the map which is created using information on a plurality of stored images picked up by the image picker, the method comprising;

causing the image picker to pick up an image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device;

storing, in the memory, information on the image picked up by the image picker in association with information on a position of the autonomous movement device when the image is picked up;

searching, from among the plurality of stored images in the memory, for an image that has a similarity level to the picked-up image equal to or greater than a predetermined similarity level;

determining, when the image that has the similarity level equal to or greater than the predetermined similarity level is found, that the autonomous movement device has returned to a site recognized as a site where the autonomous movement device has traveled to in the past;

correcting the map stored in the memory using information indicating a position expressed by coordinates on the map, corresponding to the found image stored in the memory; and

controlling the driver to move the autonomous movement device based on the corrected map.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a program that is executable by a computer that controls an autonomous movement device which movement while creating a map, the autonomous movement device comprising:

an image picker including a camera, a driver including a motor, and a memory which stores the map which is created using information on a plurality of stored images picked up by the image picker, the program being executable by the computer to cause the computer to perform functions comprising;

causing the image picker to pick up an image while causing the driver to rotate the autonomous movement device;

storing, in the memory, information on the image picked up by the image picker in association with information on a position of the autonomous movement device when the image is picked up;

searching, from among the plurality of stored images in the memory, for an image that has a similarity level to the picked-up image equal to or greater than a predetermined similarity level;

determining, when the image that has the similarity level equal to or greater than the predetermined similarity level is found, that the autonomous movement device has returned to a site recognized as a site where the autonomous movement device has traveled to in the past;

correcting the map stored in the memory using information indicating a position expressed by coordinates on the map, corresponding to the found image stored in the memory; and

controlling the driver to move the autonomous movement device based on the corrected map.