A complete panoramic vision system, incorporating imaging, ranging, and three dimensional navigation

A complete panoramic imaging, processing and autonomous navigation stratagem is presented. New techniques for filtering panoramic images are developed to allow rangefinding and image filtering. The technique utilises the motion of the autonomous agent to compute range visually. Using the range data, a safe path through the environment is found. Each stage of processing requires novel approaches to processing and interpreting panoramic images. The entire system was tested in an artificial environment using a robotic gantry and a model terrain.