Verification & Validation of Focus of Expansion estimation algorithm employing event-based optic flow

Master thesis (2022)

Authors

S.J.F. Knoops Aerospace Engineering

Contributors

Faculty
Aerospace Engineering, Aerospace Engineering
Copyright: © 2022 Stefan Knoops
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Published Date

15-11-2022

Language

English

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Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Abstract

Event based vision has recently attracted a lot of attention. High data rates and robustness to lighting variations make it a valid option for indoor navigation. The previously developed FAITH algorithm calculates a possible Focus of Expansion
area based on negative half-planes generated by optic flow and by employing a RANSAC search, a fast and reliable Focus of Expansion estimation can be performed. This paper builds upon this algorithm by verifying and validating the
algorithm, improving the derotation capabilities and optimising for computational efficiency. Compared to earlier work, a higher accuracy and an increased robustness are realised by improving the data handling. Simulator results show accuracies in the range of 2 to 5 degrees. Online testing on a drone shows accuracies of up to 5 degrees while obtaining calculation times of only
2 · 10−3s and rates of 140Hz. Comparing the method to an alternative shows higher accuracy and better suitability to normal flow. Further research may contribute to more stable results and explore different hardware solutions.