Intelligent Vision: A First Step - Real Time Stereovision

We describe a real time stereo vision system capable of processing high resolution (1Mpixel or more) images at 30 fps with disparity ranges of 100 pixels or more. This system has a fast rectification module associated with each camera which uses a look up table approach to remove lens distortion and correct camera misalignment in a single step. The corrected, aligned images are passed through a module which generates disparity and occlusion maps with a latency of two camera scan line intervals. This module implements a version of the Symmetric Dynamic Programming Stereo (SDPS) algorithm which has a small, compact hardware realization, permitting many copies to be instantiated to accommodate large disparity ranges. Snapshots from videos taken in our laboratory demonstrate that the system can produce effective depth maps in real time. The occlusion maps that the SDPS algorithm produces clearly outline distinct objects in scenes and present a powerful tool for segmenting scenes rapidly into objects of interest.