A Vision-Based Pragmatic Strategy For Autonomous Navigation

This paper presents a novel approach based on active-vision paradigm, for generating local collision-free paths for mobile robot navigation, in indoor as well as outdoor environments. Two measurable visual motion cues that provide some measure for a relative change in range as well clearance between a 3D surface and a visually fixating observer in motion are described. The visual fields associated with the cues can be used to demarcate regions around a moving observer into safe and danger zones of varying degree, which is suitable for making local decisions about the steering as well as speed commands to the vehicle.