Position identification method for mobile robots using colour images

This paper proposes an efficient position identification method for mobile robots in the environment of a building corridor using colour images and map information. A robot can usually estimate its position from its motion history (so-called dead reckoning); however, there are occasions when the robot’s position needs to be estimated without the motion history, for example when self- tracking of the motion has failed, or just after the robot power is on. The proposed method is to identify the robot’s position without the motion history. The method consists of the following three steps: (1) map information for the mobile robot is prepared; (2) a colour image is processed to detect a vanishing point and to generate an abstracted image. The robot moves to an appropriate position for the identification, if it is unable to identify the current position; and (3) the current robot position is identified from the map information, the vanishing point, and the abstracted image. The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown by the experimental results.