Vision for autonomous mobility: image processing on the VFE-200

The task of autonomous navigation comprises several subtasks, each of which has very specific requirements for the perception system. We analyze several of these subtasks from the perspective of computer vision, including: (i) obstacle detection, (ii) terrain reconstruction, (iii) convoying, (iv) collision detection, and (v) road recognition. We delineate the issues associated with each subtask and outline algorithms to address each issue. Finally, we address the issue of implementation. We present the VFE-200 as a very powerful image processing platform specifically designed for the implementation of autonomous mobility vision algorithms. We describe the architecture of the system, and how several key features make it ideally suited for hosting several government-sponsored autonomous mobility platforms such as MDARS-E, AUTONAV and Demo III.