A real-time occupancy map from multiple video streams

• Published in: Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation Vol. 3; pp. 2261 - 2266 vol.3
• Main Authors: Hoover, A., Olsen, B.D.
• Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 1999
• Subjects: Biomedical imaging; Cameras; Data security; Fuses; Image analysis; Image processing; Laboratories; Signal processing algorithms; Streaming media; Table lookup
• ISBN: 9780780351806; 0780351800
• ISSN: 1050-4729; 2577-087X
• DOI: 10.1109/ROBOT.1999.770442

We describe an algorithm to fuse intensity data from multiple video cameras to create a spatial-temporal occupancy map. The camera layout is assumed to resemble a security video network. The occupancy map is a two-dimensional raster image, uniformly distributed in the floor-plane. Each map pixel contains a binary value, signifying whether the designated floorspace is empty or occupied. Our algorithm requires only one difference and one look-up table operation to determine each pixel's effect upon the map. This brevity of operations allows the spatial occupancy map to be temporally computed at real-time video rates. We demonstrate our algorithm operating in several dynamic scenarios.