A comparison of IR stereo vision and LIDAR for use in fire environments

This paper presents the development of a far infrared stereo vision system for room mapping in low visibility firefighting scenarios. In this paper, the calibration and rectification of the cameras are presented, along with a discussion of the correspondence matching algorithm selected. Finally, the results from tests of the system in high visibility, clear conditions and low visibility smoke conditions are presented and compared to the ranging capability of LIDAR in the same environments.