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Daytime Water Detection Based on Sky ReflectionsRobust water detection is a critical perception requirement for unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) autonomous navigation. This is particularly true in wide-open areas where water can collect in naturally occurring terrain depressions during periods of heavy precipitation and form large water bodies. One of the properties of water useful for detecting it is that its surface acts as a horizontal mirror at large incidence angles. Water bodies can be indirectly detected by detecting reflections of the sky below the horizon in color imagery. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has implemented a water detector based on sky reflections that geometrically locates the pixel in the sky that is reflecting on a candidate water pixel on the ground and predicts if the ground pixel is water based on color similarity and local terrain features. This software detects water bodies in wide-open areas on cross-country terrain at mid- to far-range using imagery acquired from a forward-looking stereo pair of color cameras mounted on a terrestrial UGV. In three test sequences approaching a pond under a clear, overcast, and cloudy sky, the true positive detection rate was 100% when the UGV was beyond 7 meters of the water's leading edge and the largest false positive detection rate was 0.58%. The sky reflection based water detector has been integrated on an experimental unmanned vehicle and field tested at Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA, USA.
Document ID
20120003290
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
External Source(s)
Authors
Rankin, Arturo L.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Matthies, Larry H.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Bellutta, Paolo
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
May 9, 2011
Subject Category
Technology Utilization And Surface Transportation
Meeting Information
Meeting: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Location: Shanghai
Country: China
Start Date: May 9, 2011
End Date: May 13, 2011
Sponsors: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
sky reflections
water detection
passive perception

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