Sidewalk edge finder device, system and method

Abstract

A method includes acquiring at least one image with at least one camera associated with at least one mobile robot; and extracting a plurality of straight lines from the at least one image; creating at least one dataset comprising data related to the plurality of straight lines extracted from the at least one image; forming a plurality of hypotheses for a walkway boundary based on the at least one dataset and determining at least one hypothesis with the highest likelihood of representing a walkway boundary; and using the at least one hypothesis to adjust a direction and/or speed of motion of the at least one mobile robot.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 (a) acquiring at least one image with at least one camera associated with at least one mobile robot; and   (b) extracting a plurality of lines from the at least one image acquired in (a);   (c) creating at least one dataset comprising data related to the plurality of lines extracted from the at least one image in (b);   (d) forming a plurality of hypotheses for a walkway boundary based on the at least one dataset and determining at least one hypothesis with the highest likelihood of representing a walkway boundary; and   (e) using the at least one hypothesis determined in (d) to navigate the at least one mobile robot.