Construction of 3D Environment Model by an Omni-Directional Camera

Abstract Map information is important for path planning and self-localization when mobile robots accomplish autonomous tasks. In unknown environments, however, mobile robots should generate an environment map by themselves. We propose a method for 3D environment modeling by a mobile robot. A 3D environment model can be generaterd from the result of 3D measurement using image data. To realize a 3D measurement of objects more efficiently, the robot uses an image sequence acquired by an omni-directional camera which has a wide field of view. The measurement method is based on structure from motion (SFM). A triangular mesh is constructed from measurement data. Experimental results showed the effectiveness of the proposed method.