Visual Odometry Using 3-Dimensional Video Input

Using Visual Odometry a robot can track its trajectory using video input. This allows more accurate ego-motion estimation when compared to classical odometry which relies on measurement of wheel motion. The Microsoft Kinect sensor provides 3D imagery, similar to a LASER or LIDAR scanner, which can be used for visual odometry with a single sensor. This diers from usual implementations that require stereo vision with two or more standard image sensors. The system has advantages over a laser scanner in that it provides a video image as well as depth information such that matching using feature detectors such as SIFT or SURF is possible. Visual odometry is performed by matching 3D points that have 2D descriptors. This paper presents and implements a visual odometry system for a mobile robot that utilizes feature detection and tracking combined with a low cost 3D video sensor, Microsoft's Kinect.