Visual navigation system based on evolutionary computation on FPGA for patrol service robot

The visual navigation system for a patrol service robot using image processing and evolutionary computation on FPGA is presented. The image processing and evolutionary computation are implemented into a reconfigurable device as original logic. The image processing circuit captures digital images from CMOS camera, extracts the edge and feature points in the images for self-localization to adjust the current course on the traveling map data. The genetic algorithm optimizes threshold values for the filtering operations according to various lighting environments. The visual navigation system has been developed for the linkage between flexible hardware circuits and real-time software applications for robot vision purpose.