A synchronized visual-inertial sensor system with FPGA pre-processing for accurate real-time SLAM
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Date
2014
Publication Type
Conference Paper
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yes
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Abstract
Robust, accurate pose estimation and mapping at real-time in six dimensions is a primary need of mobile robots, in particular flying Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs), which still perform their impressive maneuvers mostly in controlled environments. This work presents a visual-inertial sensor unit aimed at effortless deployment on robots in order to equip them with robust real-time Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) capabilities, and to facilitate research on this important topic at a low entry barrier. Up to four cameras are interfaced through a modern ARM-FPGA system, along with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) providing high-quality rate gyro and accelerometer measurements, calibrated and hardware-synchronized with the images. This facilitates a tight fusion of visual and inertial cues that leads to a level of robustness and accuracy which is difficult to achieve with purely visual SLAM systems. In addition to raw data, the sensor head provides FPGA-pre-processed data such as visual keypoints, reducing the computational complexity of SLAM algorithms significantly and enabling employment on resource-constrained platforms. Sensor selection, hardware and firmware design, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic calibration are addressed in this work. Results from a tightly coupled reference visual-inertial motion estimation framework demonstrate the capabilities of the presented system.
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published
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Book title
2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
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Pages / Article No.
431 - 437
Publisher
IEEE
Event
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2014)
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Subject
Camera; Sensor Fusion; Calibration; Visual-Inertial SLAM System; ASL; IMU
Organisational unit
03737 - Siegwart, Roland Y. / Siegwart, Roland Y.