Visual navigation using omnidirectional view sequence

View-based or appearance-based approaches have been attracting the interests of computer vision research. We have already proposed a visual view-based navigation method using a model of the route called the "view sequence", which contains a sequence of front views along a route memorized in the teaching run. In this paper, we apply an omnidirectional vision sensor to our view-based navigation and propose an extended model of a route called "omni-view sequence". The omnidirectional vision sensor is a desirable sensor for real-time view-based recognition of a mobile robot because all the information around the robot can be acquired simultaneously. The use of omnidirectional images contribute to a better navigation method in three ways: (1) it enables the robot to come back along the route using the same view sequence, (2) it improves the accuracy of the navigation and (3) it improves the robustness of the matching. These improved points are shown through experiments, and indoor navigation, including getting on and off an elevator, is demonstrated.