A spherical model for navigation and spatial reasoning

In relation to mobile robot navigation, a spherical model of the perceptual space and its relation to the path space and configuration space are investigated. In particular, some results of spherical octree, optical flow, motion analysis, surface and depth information, navigation, and collision avoidance in the spherical model are discussed. These results can be applied in the development of a dynamical spatial information system. The optical flow information is used to extract local characteristics like depth and surface geometry in the environment. The spherical (octree) data structure provides an efficient and unified representation scheme for multisensor fusion, navigation, motor control, and spatial reasoning.<<ETX>>