Observability Analysis of Visual-Inertial Odometry with Online Calibration of Velocity-Control Based Kinematic Motion Models

Haolong Li, Joerg Stueckler

Abstract: In this paper, we analyze the observability of the visual-inertial odometry (VIO) using stereo cameras with a velocity-control based kinematic motion model. Previous work shows that in general case the global position and yaw are unobservable in VIO system, additionally the roll and pitch become also unobservable if there is no rotation. We prove that by integrating a planar motion constraint roll and pitch become observable. We also show that the parameters of the motion model are observable.