Visual Navigation System with Real-Time Image Processing for Patrol Service Robot

The visual navigation system for a mobile patrol robot using image processing by FPGA and real-time Linux is presented. The CMOS image sensor and the stepper motors driver ICs are connected to external I/O ports of the FPGA. The image processing and motor drive circuits are implemented into the reconfigurable device as original logic. The image capture circuit applies state machine and FIFO memory buffer to adjust timing for pixel data transmission. The motor drive circuit generates clock signals for steps according to the value from processor in the FPGA. The real- time device driver has been developed for the linkage between flexible hardware circuits and real-time software applications for robot vision purpose.