Vision based navigation for multi-agent mobile robot system in the transport domain

In this paper we present the concept of a landmark-based navigation sensor structure in a mobile robot environment. The distance measurement unit is a robust active 3D measuring head containing a CCD camera and a laser with mechanical deflection. The sensor measures the position of some characteristic points located on the object to be measured. Special landmarks are placed on these characteristic points which are easy to detect by the camera. The determination of the position of the robot is realised by locating the landmarks on the image of the camera and after by tracking of the laser spot in the image. The segmentation of the image is supported by the landmarks that are spectral selective reflecting surfaces. As optical filters are placed in front of the camera the picture segmentation task becomes a binary evaluation problem. We also present our investigations of the sensor system in a special application environment. Besides this special application, the landmark-based sensor system can also be exploited for navigation purposes in different industrial environments such as the automotive industry.