Real-Time Appearance Based Mapping using Visual Sensor for Unknown Environment

Abstract

Underwater environment is one of the most challenging areas when considering scene reconstruction and mapping, feature extraction of environment etc. GPS usage is denied in underwater environment and a waterproof lidar is also not a cost-effective solution to map and localize. Lidar-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) are also not preferred in budget-constrained applications. So, a visual-slam (V-SLAM) approach called Real-Time Appearance Based Mapping (RTAB-Map) is used to reconstruct the view in underwater scenario, i.e., map and localize the camera in the environment. In this work, Intel Real Sense D455 depth camera with inbuilt inertial measurement unit (IMU) is used for scene reconstruction. In order to get better visualization, it needs high performance embedded computer. Here, Jetson Nano embedded computer with robot operating system is used. Experiment is conducted for 3-D reconstruction map with the help of RTAB mapping technique and inbuilt IMU localized the camera in unknown environment. Then various depth, point clouds, odometry of a camera, visual object information is extracted in the indoor environment.