Fast ground detection for range cameras on road surfaces using a three-step segmentation

Abstract

We present in this paper a fast and simple free floor detection method. Compared to existing methods the proposed method can handle non-planar camera motion by means of a Three-Step procedure. A fast initial segmentation is followed by an intermediate floor plane estimation to adapt to the camera motion. Then, a final segmentation is done using the estimated plane. This allows for correct segmentation even when the camera moves up and down, tilts or rolls. Outdoor measurements of a road surface were performed with a Time-of-Flight camera mounted in front of a car. The measurements contain three types of road surface: concrete, stone and asphalt. The proposed segmentation takes less than 1.25 ms per frame for range images with a resolution of 176 by 132, making it fit for real-time applications. The resulting accuracy is higher than the state of the art.