5-DoF Monocular Visual Localization Over Grid Based Floor

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel monocular vision-based localization method for MAVs in indoor grid environments, achieving real-time 5-DoF localization without GPS, demonstrated on a custom platform.

Contribution

The paper presents a new grid-based localization technique using monocular vision that works in indoor environments with orthogonal grid lines, enabling real-time 5-DoF localization.

Findings

Accurate 5-DoF localization over grid lines.

Real-time performance demonstrated onboard a MAV.

Effective in indoor GPS-denied environments.

Abstract

Reliable localization is one of the most important parts of an MAV system. Localization in an indoor GPS-denied environment is a relatively difficult problem. Current vision based algorithms track optical features to calculate odometry. We present a novel localization method which can be applied in an environment having orthogonal sets of equally spaced lines to form a grid. With the help of a monocular camera and using the properties of the grid-lines below, the MAV is localized inside each sub-cell of the grid and consequently over the entire grid for a relative localization over the grid. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our system onboard a customized MAV platform. The experimental results show that our method provides accurate 5-DoF localization over grid lines and it can be performed in real-time.