METHOD OF DETECTING LANDMARKS FOR NAVIGATION OF AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTS USING FEATURES OF AVERAGE COLOR INTENSITY DISTRIBUTION

The use of video cameras in the navigation of autonomous mobile robots is one of the possible ways of implementing passive remote methods of detecting ground landmarks. A method for detecting ground landmarks during the navigation of autonomous mobile robots was proposed, which is based on the features of the distribution of average color intensity in the columns of the video camera matrix of the autonomous mobile robot. The main feature of the distribution is manifested in the fact that when a pillar-like object appears in the field of view of the video camera as a possible landmark, a jump or dip appears in it, the amplitude of which can serve as a criterion for landmark detection. The work shows that this operation can be effectively performed on the basis of the image matrix analysis, if the color of the landmark is significantly different from the color of the background image. In other cases, it is proposed to use the averaging of the intensity of red, green, and blue colors along the columns of the video camera matrix. The specified method to increase the probability of landmark detection in the broad conditions of application of a video camera of an autonomous mobile robot is proposed to use as a detection criterion the product of the modulus of the derivative of the distribution of average colors in the columns of the matrix by the modulus of the difference of the specified distribution and its average value across all columns. It was established that the product of the module of the specified derivative by the module of the difference between the distribution of average colors and the average value of this distribution, which is called the determining product, can serve as a criterion for identifying a landmark. It is shown that exceeding the maximum value of the determining product above the threshold value, which is determined based on the analysis of statistical data, in any of the channels of red, green, and blue colors indicates the detection of a ground landmark. Research data show that the determining product in its influence on the probabilistic characteristics of detection is similar to the signal-to-noise ratio in radar.