A Stereo-Vision Based Object Tracking Approach at Roundabouts

This article presents a stereo-vision based system for the recognition of dangerous situations at roundabouts. To this end, we investigate the necessary field of view and viewing direction using videos taken by a panoramic camera. Using the insights of these tests, we build up a stereo-vision system. This system is based on the well established disparity estimation scheme semi-global matching and the recently introduced medium-level representation called Dynamic Stixel-World. This data is the input to compute a time-to-contact measure that makes explicit use of the roundabouts structural characteristics. This measure enables us to create a system for driver warning or possible automated intervention. Our empirical studies reveal that the warning decision correctly mimics human driver decisions in most roundabout scenarios.