Real-time omnidirectional image sensor for mobile robot navigation

A real-time omnidirectional camera, which can acquire an omnidirectional (360 degrees) field of view at video rate, can be applied in a variety of fields such as autonomous navigation, telepresence, virtual reality and remote monitoring. We have developed several omnidirectional image sensors. In this paper, we introduce the outlines and fundamental optics of our developed sensors and show examples of applications for robot navigation.