System and method for detecting traveling state

• US 8,014,900 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2005
• Issued: 09/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Hong, Sun-gi, Song, Jeong-gon
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; John Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kiswanto; Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US11/126,259
• Publication Number:
  US 20050278068A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,309 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 700/259
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0253 extracting relative motion information from a plurality of images taken successively, e.g. visual odometry, optical flow determining position or orientation from images G06T7/70
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0272 comprising means for registering the travel distance, e.g. revolutions of wheels measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles, e.g. using odometers G01C22/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80

Abstract

A system and method for detecting a traveling state. The system includes an image receiving unit acquiring two consecutive images and detecting first traveling information from image information regarding each of the two consecutive images, a traveling information processing unit connected to a driver moving in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the images are acquired, the traveling information processing unit detecting second traveling information from information regarding the driver, and a control unit determining the traveling state based on the first traveling information and the second traveling information.

Claims

1. A system for detecting a traveling state, comprising:

an image receiving unit to acquire two consecutive images and to detect first traveling information from image information regarding each of the two consecutive images;

a traveling information processing unit connected to a driver moving in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the images are acquired, the traveling information processing unit to detect second traveling information from the driver; and

a control unit to determine the traveling state based on the first traveling information and the second traveling information,

wherein the first traveling information includes information indicating a rectilinear movement state using a difference in the image information between the two consecutive images,

the second traveling information includes integrated distance information indicating a distance that the driver moves, and

the control unit determines that the traveling state is abnormal when the first traveling information indicates that a rectilinear movement is not performed and the second traveling information exceeds a predetermined threshold value,

wherein, when the traveling state is determined to be abnormal, the control unit is capable of moving the driver backward to achieve a normal traveling state.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein, when the traveling state is determined to be abnormal, the control unit rotates the driver to achieve a normal traveling state.

3. A system for detecting a traveling state, comprising:

an image receiving unit to acquire two consecutive images and to detect first traveling information from image information regarding each of the two consecutive images;

a traveling information processing unit connected to a driver moving in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the images are acquired, the traveling information processing unit to detect second traveling information from the driver; and

a control unit to determine the traveling state based on the first traveling information and the second traveling information,

wherein the first traveling information includes information on an angle corresponding to a least value among values obtained by respectively converting the two consecutive images into two polar coordinate images having an angle and a distance corresponding to the angle as coordinate axes and by calculating differences in image information between the two polar coordinate images while moving one of the two polar coordinate images in a direction of a coordinate axis indicating the angle,

the second traveling information includes information indicating a rotational displacement of the driver, and

the control unit determines that the traveling state is abnormal when a difference between a value of the first traveling information and a value of the second traveling information exceeds a threshold value,

wherein, when the traveling state is determined to be abnormal, the control unit is capable of moving the driver backward to achieve a normal traveling state.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein, when the traveling state is determined to be abnormal, the control unit set the first traveling information as a current rotation angle.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for causing a processor to perform a method of detecting a traveling state, the method comprising:

acquiring two consecutive images and detecting first traveling information from image information regarding each of the two consecutive images;

detecting second traveling information from a driver moving in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the images are acquired; and

determining the traveling state based on the first traveling information and the second traveling information using a control unit,

wherein the first traveling information includes information indicating a rectilinear movement state using a difference in the image information between the two consecutive images,

the second traveling information includes integrated distance information indicating a distance that the driver moves, and

the control unit determines that the traveling state is abnormal when the first traveling information indicates that a rectilinear movement is not performed and the second traveling information exceeds a predetermined threshold value,

wherein, when the traveling state is determined to be abnormal, the control unit is capable of moving the driver backward to achieve a normal traveling state.

6. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for causing a processor to perform a method of determining a rotary movement state, the method comprising:

receiving a first image and a second image;

converting the first image and the second image into respective first and second polar coordinates;

acquiring a first polar image and a second polar image from the first polar coordinates and the second polar coordinates, respectively; and

detecting a rotation angle by setting a parameter shift_count to adjust the number of sum of squared distance (SSD) calculations which are calculated with respect to 360 angles each at an interval of 1 degree from 0 degrees to 359 degrees.

7. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for causing a processor to perform a method of determining a rectilinear movement state, the method comprising:

receiving two consecutive images from an image grabber;

calculating a normalized difference between the two consecutive images by calculating a value indicating a normalized image using a difference between the two consecutive images; and

determining whether the normalized difference exceeds a threshold value and, when the normalized difference exceeds a the threshold value, setting a parameter variable to “

TRUE”

indicating rectilinear movement, and when the normalized difference does not exceed the threshold value, setting the parameter variable to “

FALSE”

indicating no rectilinear movement.

8. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for causing a processor to perform a method of processing traveling information, the method comprising:

setting a coordinate value (x,y) and an azimuth angle (θ

) of a current position of a robot on an X-Y plane;

calculating an amount of a rectilinear movement of a traveling unit of the system and the amount of a rotary movement of the traveling unit; and

updating the position and the azimuth of the system based on the set position and the set azimuth angle and the amount of calculated rectilinear movement and the amount of calculated rotary movement.