Model based fusion of laser and camera: range discontinuities and motion consistency

Consider a robot to measure or operate on man made objects randomly located in the workspace. The optronic sensing onboard the robot are a scanning range measuring time-of-flight laser and a CCD camera. The plane surfaces are modeled and parameters extracted using the Radon/Hough transform. This extraction is very robust and motion is also included in a natural way. This paper gives additional results for range discontinuities. A multiple model framework for fusion of sensor information from laser and camera using parametric models of planar and cylindrical surfaces is suggested. An important issue is the mutual consistency between the motion, the range discontinuing, occlusion and properties of the sensor combination. Typical applications are; Robust features for use during navigation in cluttered areas. Model for verification and updating of CAD-models when navigating inside buildings and industrial plants. Accumulating sensor readings into a map during operation of a telecommanded robot.