Active controlled exploration of 3D environmental models based on a binocular stereo system

This paper describes the exploration of indoor environments based on a binocular stereo system mounted on a mobile vehicle. It introduces the algorithms for the control of the vehicle and the camera mount depending on the explored and the a-priori known information about the environment. The controlled vehicle does not follow a precompiled path but finds its goals depending on the perceived information. The resulting environmental model is stored in a multilayer map storing the three-dimensional boundary lines of the objects at their geometrical positions in the world. The line description in the model is adapted to meet the requirements of a successive exploration with a video camera.