Yoshiharu Amano

GPS Multipath Mitigation for Urban Area Using Omnidirectional Infrared Camera

This paper describes a precision positioning technique that can be applied to vehicles in urban areas. The proposed technique mitigates Global Positioning System (GPS) multipath by means of an omnidirectional infrared (IR) camera that can eliminate the need for invisible satellites [a satellite detected by the receiver but without line of sight (LOS)] by using IR images. Some simple GPS multipath mitigation techniques, such as the installation of antennas away from buildings and using choke ring antennas, are well known. Further, various correlator techniques can also be employed. However, when a direct signal cannot be received by the antenna, these techniques do not provide satisfactory results because they presume that the antenna chiefly receives direct signals. On the other hand, the proposed technique can mitigate GPS multipath, even if a direct signal cannot be received because it can recognize the surrounding environment by means of an omnidirectional IR camera. With the IR camera, the sky appears distinctively dark; this facilitates the detection of the borderline between the sky and the surrounding buildings, which are captured in white, due to the difference in the atmospheric transmittance rate between visible light and IR rays. Positioning is performed only with visible satellites having fewer multipath errors and without using invisible satellites. With the proposed system, static and kinematic evaluations in which invisible satellites are discriminated through observation using an omnidirectional IR camera are conducted. Hence, signals are received even if satellites are hidden behind buildings; furthermore, the exclusion of satellites having large errors from the positioning computation becomes possible. The evaluation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of highly accurate positioning.

6-DOF localization for a mobile robot using outdoor 3D voxel maps

This paper describes outdoor localization for a mobile robot using a laser scanner and a three-dimensional (3D) voxel map that is based on outdoor point clouds. A mobile mapping system (MMS) measures outdoor 3D point clouds easily and precisely. The complete 6D state of a mobile robot is estimated by combining dead reckoning and the 3D voxel map. The 2D position and orientation are extended to 3D by using the 3D voxel map and by assuming that the mobile robot remains in continuous contact with the road surface. Our approach applies a particle filter to correct position errors in the laser measurement model for a 3D point cloud space. Field experiments were performed to evaluate the accuracy of our proposed method. Our results confirmed that it is possible to achieve a localization precision of 0.2 m (RMS) using our proposed method.

Real-time hazard map generation using small unmanned aerial vehicle

This paper presents a disaster mitigation system that uses a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The immediate assessment of damage and the continuous collection of information when natural disasters such as large earthquakes strike are important for developing a disaster recovery plan for damage mitigation. In this study, we develop a small prototype UAV and onboard software using a GPS navigation system and propose a unique disaster mitigation system that generates digital real-time hazard maps with the aid of the UAV. The effectiveness of the proposed system is confirmed by a flight experiment.

A Mobile Mapping System for road data capture based on 3D road model

The development of road telematics requires the management of continuously growing road database. A MMS(Mobile Mapping System) can acquire this road database, while offering an unbeatable productivity with the combination of navigation, and videogrammetry tools. The proposed MMS, featuring a GPS/DR(Dead Reckoning) combined navigation system, a GPS-Gyro/IMU(Inertial Measurement Unit), laser scanners, nearly horizontal cameras and high sampling rate road data measurement logger, can measure centerline and side-line location precisely considering 3D road surface model based on a laser scanner. The carrier phased D-GPS/DR combined navigation system and GPS-Gyro/IMU performs highly accurate position and posture estimation at a few centimeter and 0.1 degree order. It can be said that the proposed MMS and its unique road signs positioning method is valid and effective as the road sign location error is within 100[mm] even in the slanted road by considering the 3D road surface model.

3D Reconstruction Using Multibaseline Omnidirectional Motion Stereo Based on GPS/Dead-reckoning Compound Navigation System

This paper presents a motion-stereo device using the GPS/DR (dead reckoning) combination along with omnidirectional cameras to reconstruct 3-D environments by means of sensors small enough to be installed on a mobile robot. The proposed technique is based on the fact that it is possible to determine epipolar lines by using the precise positions and heading angles measured by a combination of GPS and various sensors; high-precision stereo matching may then be performed by means of geometrical restrictions. Furthermore, in comparison to the other stereo techniques, it is also possible to establish longer baselines for peripheral objects and simultaneously provide a higher precision in calculating the distances to far objects by applying voting processing to a series of distant motion-stereo images, which can be attained by using more than one baseline length, in 3-D spaces based on the precise positions and heading angles. In short, the proposed technique provides a substantial increase in measurement precision as compared to that with the well-known SFM (structure from motion) technique for reconstructing 3-D environments with monocular cameras; this is because the proposed technique utilizes a greater number of mobile parameters, which are determined using precise cameras. In this experiment, the measurement precision of the proposed technique has been evaluated in reconstructing the shapes of vehicles parked alongside a road; the measurements were found to have a standard deviation of 140 mm within a range of 10 m. It can be stated that the proposed omnidirectional motion-stereo technique is robust to environmental perturbations and can accurately estimate distances in the case of highly textured objects.

High-accuracy GPS and GLONASS positioning by multipath mitigation using omnidirectional infrared camera

This paper describes a precision positioning technique that can be applied to vehicles or mobile robots in urban or leafy environments. Currently, the availability of satellite positioning is anticipated to improve because of the presence of various positioning satellites such as GPS of the U.S., GLONASS of Russia and GALILEO of Europe. However, because of the serious impact of multipath on their positioning accuracy in urban or leafy areas, such improvements in the availability of satellite positioning do not necessarily also facilitate high precision positioning. Our proposed technique mitigates GPS and GLONASS multipath by means of an omnidirectional infrared (IR) camera that can eliminate the need for invisible satellites by using IR images. With an IR camera, the sky appears distinctively dark. This facilitates the detection of the borderline between the sky and the surrounding buildings, which are captured in white, because of the difference in the atmospheric transmittance rates between visible light and IR rays. The proposed technique can automatically and robustly mitigate GPS and GLONASS multipath by excluding the invisible satellites. Positioning evaluation was carried out only with visible satellites that have less multipath errors and without using invisible satellites. The evaluation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of its highly accurate positioning.

GPS accuracy improvement by satellite selection using omnidirectional infrared camera

This paper describes a precision positioning technique that can be applied to vehicles in urban areas. The proposed technique mitigates GPS multipath by means of an omnidirectional infrared (IR) camera that can eliminate the need for invisible satellites (a satellite detected by the receiver but without LOS (Line Of Sight)) by using IR images. Some simple GPS multipath mitigation techniques such as installation of antennas away from buildings and using choke ring antennas are well known. Further, various correlator techniques can also be employed. However, when a direct signal cannot be received by the antenna, these techniques do not provide satisfactory results because they presume that the antenna chiefly receives direct signals. On the other hand, the proposed technique can mitigate GPS multipath even if a direct signal cannot be received because it can recognize the surrounding environment by means of an omnidirectional IR camera. With the IR camera, the sky appears distinctively dark; this facilitates the detection of the borderline between the sky and the surrounding buildings, which are captured in white, due to the difference in the atmospheric transmittance rate between visible light and the IR rays. Positioning is performed only with visible satellites having less multipath errors, and without using invisible satellites. With the proposed system, static and kinematic evaluations in which invisible satellites are discriminated through observation using an omnidirectional IR camera are conducted. Hence, signals are received even if satellites are hidden behind buildings; furthermore, exclusion of satellites having large errors from the positioning computation becomes possible. The evaluation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of highly accurate positioning.

A study of precise road feature localization using mobile mapping system

In the near future, precise digital map data is said to be applied to the next generation car navigation system as well as ITS to increase the driving safety. It is important to maintain digital map datas freshness and accuracy. A MMS (Mobile Mapping System) can acquire this highway database, while offering unbeatable productivity with the combination of navigation and videogrammetry tools. The proposed MMS, featuring a GPS/DR combined navigation system, a GPS-Gyro/IMU, nearly horizontal cameras, laser scanners, high sampling rate road data measurement logger, and the network-based RTK-GPS PAStrade can acquire road feature location like snow-poles, guard-rails, road signs and road line precisely at normal cruising speed considering 3D road surface model. The carrier phased D-GPS/DR combined navigation system and GPS-Gyro/IMU performs highly accurate positioning performance at a few centimeter and posture estimation at 0.073 [deg rms] for heading and 0.064 [deg rms] for pitching, and 0.116 [deg rms] for rolling. Furthermore, the proposed road feature digitizing method, featuring 2D camera image projection to the 3D road surface model, allows users to understand complicated 3D point-cloud data intuitively and to designate desired road feature with few mistakes. The accuracy comparison between the static RTK-GPS/Total-Station measurement with the dynamic MMS mobile measurement reveal that the system allows 0.3 [m] road feature measurement accuracy with unbeatable productivity when sufficient GPS visibility is obtained.

Development of a vehicle-mounted road surface 3D measurement system

In recent years, automation system based on IT technology becomes very popular not only for manufacturing industries but also for the construction and civil engineering industries. The conventional location survey method in the civil engineering construction site is pinpoint location survey for a broad objective area. The conventional method has severe constraints when it comes to measure the broad objective area as macro or to estimate general distinctive geometrical features. In this study, a unique vehicle-mounted mobile measurement system which can measure dense 3D point-cloud data for wide construction site is presented. The proposed MMS (Mobile Mapping System) is equipped with the carrier phased D-GPS/DR combined navigation system, the GPS gyro, and a laser scanner. The MMS, which measures unleveled round surface at 40 (km/h) using laser scanners range data and vehicle attitude stabilization algorithm, can construct continuous dense road surface 3D model. The functional and performance test as a mobile measurement instrument is revealed. Keywords GPS-Gyro/IMU, Mobile Mapping System, as-built management, 3D mesurement

Distributed Energy Management for Comprehensive Utilization of Residential Photovoltaic Outputs

The introduction of photovoltaic power systems is being significantly promoted. This paper proposes the implementation of a distributed energy management framework linking demand-side management systems and supply-side management system under the given time-of-use pricing program for efficient utilization of photovoltaic power outputs; each system implements a consistent management flow composed of forecasting, operation planning, and control steps. In our framework, demand-side systems distributed in the electric distribution network manage individual energy consumption to reduce the residential operating cost by utilizing the residential photovoltaic power system and controllable energy appliances so as not to inconvenience residents. On the other hand, the supply-side system utilizes photovoltaic power maximally while maintaining the quality of electric power. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is evaluated on the basis of an actual Japanese distribution network simulation model from both the supply-side and demand-side viewpoints.