Real-Time SLAM with a High-Speed CMOS Camera

A typical task in mobile robotics or augmented reality applications is self-localization in an unknown environment. In the robotics community the localization and mapping of the unknown environment is called SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping). Important constraints in SLAM using visual input are real-time processing and robustness against motion blur or jitter. The contribution of this paper is in enhancing the performance of a well known SLAM method using a high-speed CMOS camera. Benefits of this camera are that it allows fast image processing, little motion blur and low localization uncertainty. SLAM performance with a high-speed camera is demonstrated on a robotic arm. The result of the experiments is that for SLAM applications in robotics, where the motion is not smooth, the high-speed CMOS camera is a more suitable sensor than a standard CCD camera.