Mobile Robot Position Identification with Specially Designed Landmarks

In this paper, we proposed a visual position calibration method using colored rectangle signboards for a mobile robot which is designed to work in a room environment. The rectangle signboards are placed in several known positions. Using Canny algorithm to detect the edge of color area to calculate the vanishing points in the image of the signboard, it is possible to obtain the relative direction and distance between the signboard and the robot by a single image. Experiments of position calibration were conducted. The results showed this method is effective and the errors between the set up positions and the experimental results were about 1.5 degrees and 3 cm in an array position.