Autonomous Computer Vision-Assisted Robotic Vehicle

Autonomous robotic vehicle are robots which can perform certain desired tasks in a dynamic environment without human guidance to a certain degree. Most autonomous robots rely heavily on readily available off-the-shelf sensors to perform navigation. The research published here shows a glimpse of an innovative application of image processing in future robotic vehicles, which are capable of making their own decisions to avoid obstacles and plan its path in order to be truly autonomous in navigating dynamic environments. Our low cost Autonomous Robotic Vehicle (AutoRoVe) is competent of avoiding obstacles and mapping its path and move ahead using laser-beam assisted vision control system that is well capable of navigating uncharted territories. The system comprises of a an onboard 1GHz Via C3 processor with a mini-ITX motherboard and 512MB of RAM, a USB colour camera and laser tracking system that demonstrates the flavour of self navigating capability that future mobile robots may have.