GCV-SLAM: Ground Constrained Visual SLAM Through Local Ground Planes

The classical visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping(SLAM) algorithms assume that the camera moves in a free 3D space, while it is not valid for ground vehicles whose poses are influenced by ground surfaces. In recent years, researchers have focused on improving pose estimation accuracy by ass...

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Main Authors: Yu Fan, Peng Zhang, Zhi Wang, Chengbao Liu, Guang Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10384379/
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author Yu Fan
Peng Zhang
Zhi Wang
Chengbao Liu
Guang Zhang
author_facet Yu Fan
Peng Zhang
Zhi Wang
Chengbao Liu
Guang Zhang
author_sort Yu Fan
collection DOAJ
description The classical visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping(SLAM) algorithms assume that the camera moves in a free 3D space, while it is not valid for ground vehicles whose poses are influenced by ground surfaces. In recent years, researchers have focused on improving pose estimation accuracy by assuming planar motion which is more suitable to indoor environments. In this paper, we propose a lightweight stereo-visual SLAM framework for ground vehicles in road environments that tightly integrates constraints imposed by ground surfaces. We assume that the ground vehicle exhibits planar motion locally, and extract the observed local ground plane in each keyframe. To avoid the over-parameterization problem in the graph-factor-based optimization process, the Closest Point(CP) representation is adopted to describe the local ground plane. The roll, pitch, and position information provided by the local ground plane can be utilized to constrain the pose of the ground vehicle. Moreover, local ground planes can also be regarded as geometric features, enabling the construction of coplanarity constraints between ground map points and local ground planes, as well as between local ground planes in different keyframes. The KITTI odometry dataset was selected to validate the performance of our system, and the results demonstrated that our system could improve the accuracy and efficiency of ground vehicle localization in road environments.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2169-3536
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher IEEE
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spelling doaj-art-fa47c5b5d55d475081dc5422d2b324062025-08-20T03:51:08ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-011312201012202110.1109/ACCESS.2024.335157110384379GCV-SLAM: Ground Constrained Visual SLAM Through Local Ground PlanesYu Fan0https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3475-3625Peng Zhang1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0615-9461Zhi Wang2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7501-4528Chengbao Liu3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1939-6087Guang Zhang4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1914-4904Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaTechnology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaTechnology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaTechnology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaTechnology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaThe classical visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping(SLAM) algorithms assume that the camera moves in a free 3D space, while it is not valid for ground vehicles whose poses are influenced by ground surfaces. In recent years, researchers have focused on improving pose estimation accuracy by assuming planar motion which is more suitable to indoor environments. In this paper, we propose a lightweight stereo-visual SLAM framework for ground vehicles in road environments that tightly integrates constraints imposed by ground surfaces. We assume that the ground vehicle exhibits planar motion locally, and extract the observed local ground plane in each keyframe. To avoid the over-parameterization problem in the graph-factor-based optimization process, the Closest Point(CP) representation is adopted to describe the local ground plane. The roll, pitch, and position information provided by the local ground plane can be utilized to constrain the pose of the ground vehicle. Moreover, local ground planes can also be regarded as geometric features, enabling the construction of coplanarity constraints between ground map points and local ground planes, as well as between local ground planes in different keyframes. The KITTI odometry dataset was selected to validate the performance of our system, and the results demonstrated that our system could improve the accuracy and efficiency of ground vehicle localization in road environments.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10384379/Visual SLAMground vehiclemotion constraintsplanar feature
spellingShingle Yu Fan
Peng Zhang
Zhi Wang
Chengbao Liu
Guang Zhang
GCV-SLAM: Ground Constrained Visual SLAM Through Local Ground Planes
IEEE Access
Visual SLAM
ground vehicle
motion constraints
planar feature
title GCV-SLAM: Ground Constrained Visual SLAM Through Local Ground Planes
title_full GCV-SLAM: Ground Constrained Visual SLAM Through Local Ground Planes
title_fullStr GCV-SLAM: Ground Constrained Visual SLAM Through Local Ground Planes
title_full_unstemmed GCV-SLAM: Ground Constrained Visual SLAM Through Local Ground Planes
title_short GCV-SLAM: Ground Constrained Visual SLAM Through Local Ground Planes
title_sort gcv slam ground constrained visual slam through local ground planes
topic Visual SLAM
ground vehicle
motion constraints
planar feature
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10384379/
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