Stereo Visual Odometry for Indoor Localization of Ship Model

Abstract

Typically, ships are designed for open sea navigation and thus research of autonomous ships is mostly done for that particular area. This paper explores the possibility of using low-cost sensors for localization inside the small navigation area. The localization system is based on the technology used for developing autonomous cars. The main part of the system is visual odometry using stereo cameras fused with Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data coupled with Kalman and particle filters to get decimetre level accuracy inside a basin for different surface conditions. The visual odometry uses cropped frames for stereo cameras and Good features to track algorithm for extracting features to get depths for each feature that is used for estimation of ship model movement. Experimental results showed that the proposed system could localize itself within a decimetre accuracy implying that there is a real possibility for ships in using visual odometry for autonomous navigation on narrow waterways, which can have a significant impact on future transportation.