Securing Three Dimensional Regions with Stereo Vision

Although there exist many different solutions for securing volumes of space with various kinds of security cameras such as conventional monocular or thermal cameras, using stereo vision has not been attempted as an alternative method. By combining motion detection via image subtraction and range-finding via stereoscopic vision, a single stereo camera can secure a large three-dimensional volume within its field of view. With this, many individual areas can be secured by a single stereo camera placed further away that would otherwise have to be secured by many conventional or thermal cameras placed near areas of interest. Our solution works well for depth-ranges of up to 20 feet. At ranges beyond 20 feet, the disparity map becomes too noisy. Within the 20 feet range, the depth detection is highly accurate with only 0.18% error.