SeqSLAM algorithm to make navigation simpler

Publish Date: 17 February 2012

Australia: The world-first approach to visual navigation algorithms, which has been dubbed SeqSLAM (Sequence Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping), can make 'navigating' a far cheaper and simpler task than GPS, claimed Dr Michael Milford from Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) Science and Engineering Faculty.

"At the moment you need three satellites in order to get a decent GPS signal and even then it can take a minute or more to get a lock on your location," he said. "There are some places geographically, where you just can't get satellite signals and even in big cities we have issues with signals being scrambled because of tall buildings or losing them altogether in tunnels."

Dr. Milford explained, "SeqSLAM uses the assumption that you are already in a specific location and tests that assumption over and over again. For example if I am in a kitchen in an office block, the algorithm makes the assumption I'm in the office block, looks around and identifies signs that match a kitchen. Then if I stepped out into the corridor it would test to see if the corridor matches the corridor in the existing data of the office block lay out. If you keep moving around and repeat the sequence for long enough you are able to uniquely identify where in the world you are using those images and simple mathematical algorithms."

Dr Milford stated the "revolution" of visual-based navigation came about when Google took photos of almost every street in the world for their street view project. However, the challenge was making those streets recognisable in a variety of different conditions and to differentiate between streets that were visually similar.

The research, which utilises low resolution cameras, was inspired by Dr Milford's background in the navigational patterns of small mammals such as rats. "My core background is based on how small mammals manage incredible feats of navigation despite their eyesight being quite poor," he added. "As we develop more and more sophisticated navigation systems they depend on more and more maths and more powerful computers. But no one's actually stepped back and thought 'do we actually need all this stuff or can we use a very simple set of algorithms which don't require expensive cameras or satellites or big computers to achieve the same outcome?'"

Dr Milford will present his paper SeqSLAM: Visual Route-Based Navigation for Sunny Summer Days and Stormy Winter Nights at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in America later this year. The research has been funded for three years by an Australian Research Council USD 375,000 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) fellowship.

Source: www.qut.edu.au

Visual-Based Navigation Could Replace Satellite GPS

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2012/02/visual-based-navigation-gps.html#ixzz1pNJEaMWt

Dr. Michael Milford from Queensland University of Technology is researching visual-based navigation, which could replace capital-intensive satellite GPS systems, using camera technology and simple mathematical algorithms to uniquely identify locations. This decentralized approach could widen the technology’s scope and improve its accuracy, while also making navigating a much cheaper and simpler task.

This new approach to visual navigation algorithms has been dubbed “SeqSLAM” (Sequence Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping) and it uses local best match and sequence recognition components to lock in locations. Dr. Milford explains how it works:

SeqSLAM uses the assumption that you are already in a specific location and tests that assumption over and over again. For example if I am in a kitchen in an office block, the algorithm makes the assumption I’m in the office block, looks around and identifies signs that match a kitchen. Then if I stepped out into the corridor it would test to see if the corridor matches the corridor in the existing data of the office block layout. If you keep moving around and repeat the sequence for long enough you are able to uniquely identify where in the world you are using those images and simple mathematical algorithms.

Dr. Milford is going to present his paper SeqSLAM: Visual Route-Based Navigation for Sunny Summer Days and Stormy Winter Nights at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in America later this year.