Mapping local image deformations into depth

Abstract

The paper presents a 2 frame structure-from-motion algorithm that operates by mapping local changes (image deformations) into estimates of time-to-collision (TTC). For constant velocity motion of the camera in a stationary scene, time-to-collision amounts to coarse depth data - useful for navigation and qualitative scene understanding. The theory is supported by a set of experiments demonstrating accurate TTC recovery from video sequence data acquired by a mobile robot. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.