Omnidirectional Vision: Unified Model Using Conformal Geometry

Eduardo Bayro-Corrochano, Carlos López-Franco

Abstract: It has been proven that a catadioptric projection can be modeled by an equivalent spherical projection. In this paper we present an extension and improvement of those ideas using the conformal geometric algebra, a modern framework for the projective space of hyper-spheres. Using this mathematical system, the analysis of diverse catadioptric mirrors becomes transparent and computationally simpler. As a result, the algebraic burden is reduced, allowing the user to work in a much more effective framework for the development of algorithms for omnidirectional vision. This paper includes complementary experimental analysis related to omnidirectional vision guided robot navigation.