Feature detection and SLAM on embedded processors for micro-robot navigation
Paul Robinette, Thomas Collins · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2013
We have developed software that allows a micro-robot to localize itself at a 1Hz rate using only onboard hardware. The Surveyor SRV-1 robot and its Blackfin processors were used to perform FAST feature detection on images. Good features selected from these images were then described using the SURF descriptor algorithm. An onboard Gumstix then correlated the features reported by the two processors and used GTSAM to develop an estimate of robot localization and landmark positions. Localization errors in this system were on the same order of magnitude as the size of the robot itself, giving the robot the potential to autonomously operate in a real-world environment.