Obstacle detection using optical flow

Abstract

Motion has been examined in biology to be a critical component for obstacle avoidance and navigation. In particular, optical flow is a pow erful motion cue that has been exploited in many biological systems for survival. In this paper, we investigate an obstacle detection sys tem that uses optical flow to obtain range in formation to objects. Our experimental results demonstrate that optical flow is capable of pro viding good obstacle information but has obvi ous failure modes. We acknowledge that our optical flow system has certain disadvantages and cannot be solely used for navigation. In stead, we believe that optical flow is a critical visual subsystem used when moving at reason able speeds. When combined with other visual subsystems, considerable synergy can result.