Accurate local positioning using visual landmarks from a panoramic sensor

Presents a method for representing places using a set of visual landmarks from a panoramic sensor that allows for accurate local positioning while still providing efficient global localisation. For each place landmarks are selected for their local uniqueness in the panoramic visual field and their dynamic reliability over a turn back and look movement. During this movement, the depth of landmarks is also estimated using a bearing only SLAM approach. Accurate local position tracking within places equal to that of laser range finder systems is obtained by the application of the condensation algorithm over individual places. A topological map of such places is built and both global localisation and position tracking experiments are carried out