Apparatus and method for estimating a position and an orientation of a mobile robot
First Claim
1. An apparatus for estimating a position and an orientation of a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:
- an image grabber obtaining an image of an area where the mobile device travels;
an image processor processing the obtained image;
a mark detector detecting a position of an artificial mark from the obtained and processed image, the artificial mark including a first mark and a second mark; and
a position &
orientation estimator estimating a position and an orientation of the mobile device using the detected position of the artificial mark,wherein the first and second marks are positioned apart from each other at a predetermined distance, an outer portion of the first mark and an inner portion of the second mark being non-reflective portions, and an inner portion of the first mark and an outer portion of the second mark being infrared reflective portions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for estimating a position and an orientation of a mobile robot. The apparatus includes: a ceiling image grabber for obtaining a ceiling image of an area where the mobile device travels; a mark detector for detecting a retro-reflective artificial mark from the ceiling image, the retro-reflective artificial mark including a first mark and a second mark, each including a non-reflective portion and an infrared reflective portion; and a position & orientation estimator for estimating a position and an orientation of the mobile device using a position of the artificial mark or encoder information according to whether detection of the artificial mark is successful.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for estimating a position and an orientation of a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:
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an image grabber obtaining an image of an area where the mobile device travels; an image processor processing the obtained image; a mark detector detecting a position of an artificial mark from the obtained and processed image, the artificial mark including a first mark and a second mark; and a position &
orientation estimator estimating a position and an orientation of the mobile device using the detected position of the artificial mark,wherein the first and second marks are positioned apart from each other at a predetermined distance, an outer portion of the first mark and an inner portion of the second mark being non-reflective portions, and an inner portion of the first mark and an outer portion of the second mark being infrared reflective portions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A mobile robot comprising:
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an image grabber obtaining an image of an area in which the mobile robot travels; an image intensity comparator determining whether a light of a current environment is dark or bright by calculating an average intensity of the obtained image and comparing the calculated average intensity to a predetermined reference value; an image processor selectively reversing the obtained image and not reversing the obtained image according to a determination result of the image intensity comparator; a light controller controlling a light device attached to the mobile robot according to the determination result of the image intensity comparator; a mark detector detecting a position of an artificial mark including a first mark and a second mark from the obtained image; a position &
orientation estimator estimating a position and an orientation of the robot using the detected position of the artificial mark; anda motion controller controlling traveling of the mobile robot according to the position and the orientation estimated by the position &
orientation estimator,wherein the first and second marks are positioned apart from each other at a predetermined distance, an outer portion of the first mark and an inner portion of the second mark being non-reflective portions, and an inner portion of the first mark and an outer portion of the second mark being infrared reflective portions. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for estimating a position and an orientation of a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:
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an image grabber to obtain an image of an area where the mobile device operates; an image intensity comparator to calculate an average intensity of the image and determine whether an illumination level in the area is dark according to a predetermined illumination level; an image processor to reverse light and dark portions of the image to dark and light portions, respectively, to obtain a reversed image, when the light in the area is determined to be dark, and perform at least one of distortion compensation processing and pre-processing procedures on a non-dark image or the reversed image, the reversing of the light and dark portions to dark and light portions is providing a negative of the obtained image; a mark detector to detect an artificial mark from the image, the artificial mark includes a first mark and a second mark; an encoder information capturer to obtain position information and orientation information of the mobile device from at least one encoder sensor attached to the mobile device; a position and orientation estimator to selectively estimate the position and the orientation of the mobile device using the position of the artificial mark that is detected by the mark detector when the mark detector is able to positionally detect the artificial mark or selectively estimate the position and the orientation of the mobile device using the information provided by the encoder information capturer when the mark detector is unable to positionally detect the artificial mark; and a travel controller to control the mobile device to travel along a path using the position and orientation information obtained by the position and orientation estimator, wherein the first and second marks are positioned apart from each other at a predetermined distance, an outer portion of the first mark and an inner portion of the second mark being non-reflective portions, and an inner portion of the first mark and an outer portion of the second mark being infrared reflective portions. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus for estimating a location of a mobile device in an environment having changes in illumination, the apparatus comprising:
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a device to obtain an image of the area where the mobile device is operating; an image processor to determine a level of illumination according to an amount of light measured in the environment and to reverse the image when the amount of light is not greater than a predetermined level; a detector to detect an artificial mark from the image obtained by the image processor; and a location determination device to selectively estimate the location of the mobile device according to the detected artificial mark or information from at least one encoder sensor provided on the mobile device, wherein the location of the mobile device is calculated using information provided from the at least one encoder sensor when the artificial mark is not detected by the detector, and the location of the mobile device is calculated using the artificial mark when the artificial mark is detected by the detector, and wherein the artificial mark includes a first mark having a non-reflective portion and an infrared reflective portion, and a second mark having a non-reflective portion and an infrared reflective portion and located a predetermined distance apart from the first mark. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification