I'm using optical flow as a real time obstacle detection and avoidance system for the visually impaired. I'm developing the application in c# and using Emgu Cv for image processing. I use the Lucas and Kanade method and I'm pretty satisfied with the speed of the algorithm. I am using monocular vision thus making it hard for me to compute the depth accurately to each of the features being tracked and to alert the user accordingly. I plan on using an ultrasonic sensor to help with the obstacle detection due to the fact that depth computation is hard with monocular camera. Any suggestions on how I could get an accurate estimation of depth using the camera alone?
4 Answers
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You might want to check out this paper: A Robust Visual Odometry and Precipice Detection System Using Consumer-grade Monocular Vision. They usea nice trick for detecting as well obstacles as holes in the field of view.
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Hate to give such a generic answer, but you'd be best off starting with a standard text on structure-from-motion to get an overview of techniques. A good one is Richard Szeliski's recent book available online (Chapter 7), and its references. After that, for your application you may want to look at recent work in SLAM - Oxford's Active Vision group have published some great work and Andrew Davison's group too.
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