3D motion segmentation and 3D localization of mobile robots using an array of static cameras and objective function minimization

This paper presents a method for obtaining the 3D motion segmentation and 3D localization of mobile robots using an array of calibrated cameras that are placed in fixed positions within the environment. This proposal does not rely on previous knowledge or invasive landmarks on board the robots. The proposal is based on the minimization of an objective function. This function includes information of all the cameras and depends on three groups of variables: the segmentation boundaries, the 3D rigid motion parameters (linear and angular velocity components) and depth (distance to the cameras). For the objective function minimization, we use a greedy algorithm that, after initialization, consists of three iterative steps. The use of multiple cameras increases notably the system robustness against occlusions and lighting changes. The accuracy of the results is also improved with regard to the methods where a single camera is used.