Method and apparatus for detecting obstacles
First Claim
1. A method of detecting obstacles comprising:
- producing a depth map of a scene containing terrain; and
processing the depth map to identify regions that do not exceed a mobility constraint for a vehicle, and regions that do exceed the mobility constraint of the vehicle.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for detecting obstacles in off-road applications. A stereo camera and specific image-processing techniques enable a vehicle'"'"'s vision system to identify drivable terrain in front of the vehicle. The method uses non-drivable residuals (NDR), where the NDR is zero for all terrain that can be easily traversed by the vehicle and greater than zero for terrain that may not be traversable by the vehicle. The method utilizes a depth map having a point cloud that represents the depth to objects within the field of view of the stereo cameras. The depth map is tiled such that the point cloud data is represented by an average (smoothed) value. The method scans pixels in the smoothed depth map to find sequences of “good” points that are connected by line segments having an acceptable slope. Points that lie outside of the acceptable slope range will have an NDR that is greater than zero. The vehicle control system can use the NDRs to accurately make decisions as to the trajectory of the vehicle.
55 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of detecting obstacles comprising:
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producing a depth map of a scene containing terrain; and
processing the depth map to identify regions that do not exceed a mobility constraint for a vehicle, and regions that do exceed the mobility constraint of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Apparatus for detecting obstacles comprising:
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a stereo image processor for producing stereo imagery of a scene containing terrain;
a depth map generator for processing the stereo imagery and producing a depth map, and a depth map processor for processing the depth map to identify regions that do not exceed a mobility constraint for a vehicle, and regions that do exceed the mobility constraint of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An obstacle detecting system comprising:
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a vehicle having a movement system for moving the vehicle across a terrain;
a stereo image processor mounted to the vehicle, the stereo image processor for producing stereo imagery of a scene containing the terrain;
a depth map generator for processing the stereo Imagery and producing a depth map; and
a depth map processor for processing the depth map to identify regions that do not exceed a mobility constraint for the vehicle, and regions that do exceed the mobility constraint of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification