A Mobile Robot for Visual Measurements in Architectural Applications

This paper describes a method to perform distance measurements inside buildings using a single video camera mounted on a mobile robot. This algorithm is designed specifically to create architectural floor plans with accurate measurements. Several issues associated with architectural surveying are discussed in detail, such as the visibility of features and the accuracy in calibration. Results of the edge reconstruction in an indoor scene are presented and compared to an architect's drawing of the building. Applications of this method include the verification of constructed buildings, the update or creation of civil engineering CAD models, and the acquisition of data for architectural graphics simulations.