Complement Method for Obstructed Area on Images of Multiple Cameras Mounted Behind Crawler Shoe

Abstract

The covered area detection method, using the brightness change in an image and parallax correction, does not depend on a common field of vision. Camera images become important information when a rescue robot is operated by remote control, but mounting cameras is difficult on a rescue robot crawler that must get into cracks in rubble. We propose attaching cameras behind the crawler shoe. The biggest problem then, however, is that the shoe obstructs large parts of the camera image. To avoid this, we developed real-time image processing that complements the obstructed area through the use of two cameras. We then performed evaluation experiments to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique.