Mobile Robot with Movement Detection Controlled by a Real-Time Optical Flow Hermite Transform

This chapter presents a new algorithm inspired in the human visual system to compute optical flow in real-time based on the Hermite Transform. This algorithm is applied in a vision-based control system for a mobile robot. Its performance is compared for different texture scenarios with the classical Horn and Schunck algorithm. The design of the nature-inspired controller is based on the agent-environment model and agent’s architecture. Moreover, a case study of a robotic system with the proposed real-time Hermite optical flow method was implemented for braking and steering when mobile obstacles are close to the robot. Experimental results showed the controller to be fast enough for real-time applications, be robust to different background textures and colors, and its performance does not depend on inner parameters of the robotic system. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.