Estimating ALV position in mountainous area

Abstract

A method of position estimation for an ALV (autonomous land vehicle) using features of the skyline is presented. The skyline from the vision system is assumed given and is compared with a computer map, called the CAD-MAP. The algorithm consists of identifying the peak points in the camera skyline, computing the ALV position for the identified peak points, and searching for the corresponding peak point in the CAD-MAP. Heuristics for computational efficiency and solution accuracy are also included in the algorithm. To test the validity and effectiveness of the algorithm, numerous simulations were performed and analyzed.