Feature-based 6-DoF camera localization using prior point cloud and images

Abstract

In this paper, we present a new localization algorithm to estimate the localization of a robot based on prior data. Over the past decade, the emergence of numerous ways to utilize various prior data has opened up possibilities for their applications in robotics technologies. However, challenges still remain in estimating a robot’s 6-DoF position by simply analyzing the limited information provided by images from a robot. This paper describes a method of overcoming this technical hurdle by calculating the robot’s 6-DoF location. It only utilizes a current 2D image and prior data, which consists of its corresponding 3D point cloud and images, to calculate the 6-DoF position. Furthermore, we employed the SURF algorithm to find the robot’s position by using the image’s features and the 3D projection method. Experiments were conducted by the loop of 510m trajectory, which is included the prior data. It is expected that our method can be applied to broad areas by using enormous data such as point clouds and street views in the near future.