US 12,372,967 B2
Visual robot pose estimation
Changchun Li, Concord, MA (US); and Stephen V. Williams, Portland, OR (US)
Assigned to Locus Robotics Corp., Wilmington, MA (US)
Filed by Locus Robotics Corp., Wilmington, MA (US)
Filed on Aug. 23, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/454,126.
Prior Publication US 2025/0068165 A1, Feb. 27, 2025
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2024.01)
CPC G05D 1/0225 (2013.01) [G05D 1/0246 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for estimating a pose of a robot traveling in an environment using two co-planar points (P1, P2) on an object plane on an object in the environment and two co-planar lines (P1-A, P2-B) on the object plane on the object, the method comprising
capturing with a camera mounted on the robot images of the environment, including images of the object in the environment;
receiving camera images from the camera by a video decoder, including a camera image of the object;
decoding by the video decoder the received camera images into decoded digital images, including a decoded digital image of the object;
identifying, using a processor and memory, on the decoded digital image of the object two observed points (op1, op2) corresponding to the two co-planar points (P1, P2) on the object;
identifying, using the processor and memory, on the decoded digital image of the object two observed image lines (op1-a, op2-b) corresponding to the two co-planar lines (P1-A, P2-B) on the object;
projecting, using the processor and memory, onto the image plane of the camera the two co-planar points (P1, P2) on the object plane to obtain two projected co-planar image points (pp1, pp2) and projecting, using the processor and memory, the two co-planar lines (P1-A, P2-B) on the object plane to obtain two projected co-planar image lines (pp1-a, pp2-b);
determining, using the processor and memory, a point projection error by comparing the two projected co-planar image points (pp1, pp2) to corresponding observed points (op1, op2);
determining, using the processor and memory, a line projection error by comparing the two projected co-planar image lines (pp1-a, pp2-b) to corresponding observed image lines (op1-a, op2-b); and
estimating, using the processor and memory, a current robot pose if the point projection error and the line projection error are below a predetermined error threshold.