Infrastructure independent position determining system
First Claim
1. A method of determining a present position of an object relative to a surface, the surface having a plurality of randomly occurring features distributed thereon, comprising the steps of:
- capturing an image of the surface containing a distribution of the features related to the present position of the object relative to the surface;
comparing the distribution of the features from said captured image to at least one distribution of the features from at least one image stored in a map, the at least one distribution in said at least one stored image being representative of a known position relative to the surface; and
determining the present position of the object relative to the surface based on said comparing step.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for determining position is comprised of the steps of capturing an image related to the present position and comparing the captured image with one or more images from an iconic map. The iconic map is a map which stores images of a substantially flat surface over which a robot or vehicle is to operate. The stored images contain randomly occurring characteristics such as the fibers in a carpet, brush marks appearing in brushed concrete, and the like. Although such naturally occurring features are essentially random, when analyzed in small enough images, each image becomes unique. The position is determined based upon the image from the map which provides the highest correlation. Speed, wheel slippage, and other parameters can be calculated using the disclosed method.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of determining a present position of an object relative to a surface, the surface having a plurality of randomly occurring features distributed thereon, comprising the steps of:
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capturing an image of the surface containing a distribution of the features related to the present position of the object relative to the surface; comparing the distribution of the features from said captured image to at least one distribution of the features from at least one image stored in a map, the at least one distribution in said at least one stored image being representative of a known position relative to the surface; and determining the present position of the object relative to the surface based on said comparing step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. Apparatus for determining a present position of an object relative to a surface, the surface having a plurality of randomly occurring features distributed thereon, comprising:
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means for capturing an image of the surface containing a distribution of the features related to the present position of the object relative to the surface; means for storing a map; means for comparing the distribution of the features from said captured image to at least one distribution of the features from at least one image stored in said means for storing a map, the at least one distribution in said at least one stored image being representative of a known position relative to the surface; and means for determining the present position of the object in response to said means for comparing. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification