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A novel tracking system for human following robots with fusion of MMW radar and monocular vision

Yipeng Zhu (Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, China)
Tao Wang (Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, China)
Shiqiang Zhu (Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, China and Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, China)

Industrial Robot

ISSN: 0143-991x

Article publication date: 16 September 2021

Issue publication date: 3 January 2022

275

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a robust person tracking method for human following robots. The tracking system adopts the multimodal fusion results of millimeter wave (MMW) radars and monocular cameras for perception. A prototype of human following robot is developed and evaluated by using the proposed tracking system.

Design/methodology/approach

Limited by angular resolution, point clouds from MMW radars are too sparse to form features for human detection. Monocular cameras can provide semantic information for objects in view, but cannot provide spatial locations. Considering the complementarity of the two sensors, a sensor fusion algorithm based on multimodal data combination is proposed to identify and localize the target person under challenging conditions. In addition, a closed-loop controller is designed for the robot to follow the target person with expected distance.

Findings

A series of experiments under different circumstances are carried out to validate the fusion-based tracking method. Experimental results show that the average tracking errors are around 0.1 m. It is also found that the robot can handle different situations and overcome short-term interference, continually track and follow the target person.

Originality/value

This paper proposed a robust tracking system with the fusion of MMW radars and cameras. Interference such as occlusion and overlapping are well handled with the help of the velocity information from the radars. Compared to other state-of-the-art plans, the sensor fusion method is cost-effective and requires no additional tags with people. Its stable performance shows good application prospects in human following robots.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Funding: This work was supported by the research project of Robotics Institute, Zhejiang University under Grant K11804.

Citation

Zhu, Y., Wang, T. and Zhu, S. (2022), "A novel tracking system for human following robots with fusion of MMW radar and monocular vision", Industrial Robot, Vol. 49 No. 1, pp. 120-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-02-2021-0030

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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