Visual Position Estimation:

The Basic Idea

This page talks about an application of computer vision to space robotics: A "smart" teleoperation interface which analyzes images sent by a mobile robot in space missions and helps the human teleoperator on Earth. Teleoperation of mobile robots is a difficult and stressing task; it is well-known that remote drivers get lost easily, despite having maps and visible landmarks. Our goal is to reduce the cognitive load on teleoperators by providing cues that help prevent them getting lost and disoriented. The figure below contains the basic idea: the system receives the images from the rover and uses visual cues and a map of the rover's environment to produce position estimates that help the operator. We call the system VIPER, for VIsual Position EstimatoR.

We have run VIPER with data obtained in Pittsburgh, using sequences of images as illustrated above. VIPER estimates position with errors of less than 100 meters; such behavior has been observed also with data from Dromedary Peak, Utah.

More information about VIPER

• "Position Estimation from Outdoor Visual Landmarks for Teleoperation of Lunar Rovers", a concise description of VIPER and our developments so far (paper in the Third IEEE Workshop on Applications of Computer Vision).
• Maps and images that we have used in Pittsburgh, PA

Related Information

I have not been able to find much information online about outdoor position estimation, but if you find something, please let me know. There are many excellent printed papers about outdoor localization, about positioning and navigation for space rovers, etc. A (very) brief sample is given in the references in our system description.

• Professor Thompson and his group at University of Utah have done a great job at analyzing the process by which humans attain localization "from views of outdoor environments and maps representing topographic information". Their data, and related papers, are available.
• To test any outdoor localization system, chances are that you will need Earth topographic maps. USGS (United States Geological Survey) is the source for this information in the United States. You can find a variety of links in my bookmarks file or in this brief collection of random links.