Household robots look and learn: environment modeling and localization from an omnidirectional vision system

The work illustrates that a catadioptric omnidirectional vision system can be successfully applied for basic mobile robot navigation tasks, such as localization and environment learning. In combination with other capabilities of such a sensor, such as the recognition and tracking of humans, and because the price of such systems can be made low, this system is particularly suited for systems that are expected to operate in offices and homes in the near future, such as robotic servant systems, entertainment robots, and help for the elderly and disabled.