Robust Obstacle Mapping for Visually Impaired Jogger on Less Structured Paths*

This paper presents robust mapping of obstacles for an assistive system for blind and visually impaired jogger. The missing visual perception is substituted with a 3D stereo camera, capturing color and depth information from the environment. It is integrated into a lightweight backpack together with a single board computer. This paper focusses on the obstacle detection and mapping using the v-disparity method. To enhance the robustness of the mapping algorithm a roll angle detection and compensation is implemented. The algorithms are evaluated in different environments and proved their feasibility. The framerate is sufficient to detect obstacles in time.

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