Gyroscope assisted scalable visual simultaneous localization and mapping

This paper describes the development and evaluation of an indoor localization algorithm using Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM) aided by gyroscope sensor information. Indoor environments pose several challenges which could cause a vision only system to fail due to tracking errors. Investigation revealed significant feature loss in a vision only system when traversing plain walls, windows and staircases. However, the addition of a gyroscope helps in handling such difficult conditions by providing additional rotational information. A portable system consisting of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and a stereo camera has been developed for indoor mapping. The images and gyroscope rates acquired by the system are stored and post-processed using a new Gyroscope Assisted Scalable Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Algorithm (GA-ScaViSLAM). The algorithm has been evaluated for data-sets collected in the Atwater Kent building, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This algorithm was found to be more robust in comparison to the vision only system. The Ga-ScaViSLAM was found to have an error (rms) of 0.6 m in the indoor environment over a total path length of 77m.