Patent ID: 10012504

Abstract:
Vision-aided inertial navigation techniques are described. In one example, a vision-aided inertial navigation system (VINS) comprises an image source to produce image data at a first set of time instances along a trajectory within a three-dimensional (3D) environment, wherein the image data captures features within the 3D environment at each of the first time instances. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) to produce IMU data for the VINS along the trajectory at a second set of time instances that is misaligned with the first set of time instances, wherein the IMU data indicates a motion of the VINS along the trajectory. A processing unit comprising an estimator that processes the IMU data and the image data to compute state estimates for 3D poses of the IMU at each of the first set of time instances and 3D poses of the image source at each of the second set of time instances along the trajectory. The estimator computes each of the poses for the image source as a linear interpolation from a subset of the poses for the IMU along the trajectory.