Binocular vision -- creating an "optimal solution" for outdoor obstacle avoidance

Reproduced in ：https://www.gg-robot.com/art-70016.html

With AMR The continuous iteration of the product , The direction of its technological evolution has also attracted more and more attention . among , Who is the mainstream direction of laser and vision in the future has become the focus of debate . But there's no denying it , The laser sensor solution is more mature in the navigation direction at this stage , But in avoiding obstacles , The visual scheme is indeed a popular choice .

Whether it's driverless outdoors or indoors AMR, Obstacle avoidance is the most basic requirement . Especially when the mobile robot extends to the outdoor scene , The requirements for obstacle avoidance are becoming more and more important .

Binocular vision obstacle avoidance scheme may become the mainstream

In terms of obstacle avoidance , The mobile robot needs to obtain the information of obstacles around itself through sensors in real time , Include dimensions 、 Information such as shape and position . At present, there are many sensors used in obstacle avoidance , Each has different principles and characteristics .

Infrared and ultrasonic technology , Because they all need to actively emit light 、 acoustic wave , So there are requirements for reflecting objects , such as ： Infrared rays are absorbed by black objects , Will penetrate transparent objects , It will also be interfered by other infrared rays ; The ultrasonic wave will be absorbed by sponge and other objects , It is also easy to be disturbed by outdoor air flow .

and , Active ranging also causes interference between two machines . by comparison , Although binocular vision also requires light , But the requirements for reflectors are much lower , The two machines will not interfere with each other if they are used at the same time , More universal .

most important of all , At present, the common infrared and ultrasonic methods are single point ranging , Only distance data in a specific direction can be obtained , And binocular vision can be used in small size 、 Under the premise of low power consumption , Get a relatively high-resolution depth map of the scene in front of you , This gives the obstacle avoidance function more room for development , Such as path planning after obstacle avoidance .

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Dark light scene sample of underground garage

Although laser technology can also realize the function similar to binocular vision , But limited by technological development , The current laser components are generally expensive 、 Large size 、 High power consumption .

So by comparison , High cost performance 、 The principle of simple 、 Broad prospects 、 The universal binocular vision stands out in this way .

At present, binocular vision is mainly divided into two categories ： Passive binocular and active infrared binocular , The difference between the two is that the active infrared has an infrared light source , Can solve the white wall 、 In the scene without texture information such as glass , Binocular matching problem , However, the power of infrared light source is limited , Beyond a certain distance , Its effect is equivalent to passive binocular .

At present, more than ten active infrared binocular manufacturers in China have launched consumer grade products , The current detection range is mostly 15 Within meters , Serving robots indoors 、 Commercial sweeping robots 、 College education and other markets have been applied .

And passive binocular due to technical characteristics , At present, it is mainly used in outdoor scenes , Currently in autonomous vehicle 、 All kinds of outdoor robots have floor applications . Because it is used in cars , Higher requirements for comprehensive technical indicators of product software and hardware , Few domestic manufacturers have achieved mass production .

At present, major international manufacturers have similar products in the market , Like Bosch 、 Mainland, etc , But they only launch products for the car market . After continuous efforts in the field of vehicle mounted vehicles , Zhongke insight extends its vision from vehicle specification level to industrial level .

From vehicle specification level to industrial level , Where is the difficulty ？

As a high-tech enterprise specializing in binocular vision , Zhongke insight was founded in 2014 year , As Baidu Apollo Planning ecological members , It is in the leading position in the field of binocular vision in China . For the vast majority of automatic driving in China 、 The mobile robot project provides binocular stereo perception .

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Zhongke Huiyan COO Meng ran said ：“ Zhongke eye binocular stereo camera can recognize all obstacles and measure the distance accurately . Be able to identify various vehicles 、 Pedestrians 、 Static obstacles 、 Irregular obstacles and small obstacles, etc . Zhongke eye binocular camera supports the output of various data information , Optional lenses with different focal lengths and field angles , Used for tray hole detection 、 Box detection and visual navigation obstacle avoidance . At the same time, navigation has been launched 、 Obstacle avoidance algorithm 、 Small object detection algorithm 、 Object attribute recognition algorithm IP.”

Now? , Most of its products have reached the requirements of vehicle specifications , It can adapt to a variety of harsh working environments and has a wide range of application scenarios , For autonomous mobile robots 、 Autopilot 、 Automatic warehouse sorting 、 Agricultural insurance and Electric Power Patrol UAV 、 Mapping 、 Security monitoring （ Based on 3D data ） And other industry developers .

Although the current technology will be downgraded to , It is launched to meet various outdoor requirements AGV Products demanded by the industry . But from the vehicle specification level to the industrial level , Technically, there is a certain degree of “ Dimension reduction blow ”, But in landing applications , Is a completely different difficult direction .

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therefore , Based on the precipitation of Zhongke insight in automatic driving , In entering the industrial field , They first set their eyes on the obstacle avoidance of outdoor scenes .“ However, the vehicle specification level binocular vision can be standardized and universal , And in the industrial scene , Every industry 、 Every factory is a completely different challenge .” Meng ran said .

So how to find the way of standardization in the industrial non-standard scene has become a current problem , The practice of Zhongke insight is to create the lowest level IP Curing of , Impending person 、 vehicle 、 shelves 、 The wall 、 Special shaped parts and other algorithms IP Make it into a building block standard , In the future, it can be quickly identified only by carrying modules .

Meng ran said ：“ The industry is in the early stage of development , In fact, it is of little significance to talk about the technical route , Because in essence , Technology has no advantages or disadvantages , More importantly, it is used on the ground , Select the most suitable technology for customers according to their needs .AGV/AMR It's all robots , Autonomous vehicle is also a kind of robot , The boundary between the two will become more and more blurred , Multi-sensor fusion is inevitable in autonomous vehicle , Believe in AGV perhaps AMR It will be the same in the future .”

By that time , Creation “ Open eyes ” Under the age of , The era of visual sensor will really come .