Raspberry PI based stereo vision for small size ASVs

This paper presents an approach to stereovision applied to small water vehicles. By using a small low-cost computer and inexpensive off-the-shelf components, we were able to develop an autonomous driving system capable of following other vehicle and moving along paths delimited by coloured buoys. A pair of webcams was used and, with an ultrasound sensor, we were also able to implement a basic frontal obstacle avoidance system. With the help of the stereoscopic system, we inferred the position of specific objects that serve as references to the ASV guidance. The final system is capable of identifying and following targets in a distance of over 5 meters. This system was integrated with the framework already existent and shared by all the vehicles used in the OceanSys research group at INESC - DEEC/FEUP.