Making Optic Flow Robust to Dynamic Lighting Conditions for Real-Time Operation

Abstract

Existing optical-based state estimation algorithms fail to adequately handle dynamic lighting changes ubiquitous in outdoor environments. To overcome this shortfall, we propose a novel approach that is applicable to all optic flow algorithms, allowing them to operate in dynamic lighting conditions at operational tempos. We posit that the use of a preprocessing filter based on the double derivative of the image will substantially reduce the instability caused by dynamic lighting conditions and improve the overall accuracy of position estimates without a substantial loss of information. Our preprocessing step does not significantly add to the computational cost and requires no a priori knowledge of the environment. In this report, we compare the results of optic flow with and without use of the filter, showing that the former yields a significant improvement in position estimation accuracy as compared to optic flow calculations carried out with a standard input. Preliminary experiments demonstrate the potential of the proposed methodology.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 17, 2016
Accession Number
AD1005369

Entities

People

  • Allison Mathis
  • Daniel Donavanik
  • Jared Shamwell
  • Joseph Conroy
  • Ryan Robinson
  • William Nothwang

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Aircrafts
  • Algorithms
  • Army
  • Autonomous Systems
  • Computations
  • Computer Vision
  • Data Sets
  • Detectors
  • Environment
  • Errors
  • Illumination
  • Military Research
  • Preprocessing
  • Standards
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.
  • Strategic Security Studies