Patent ID: 8848978

Claim:
A system for detecting an obstacle comprising: one camera positioned on an apparatus to capture a video stream of images of an area of motion in which the apparatus is moving; and an obstacle detection function configured to receive the video stream of images, and to process the video stream of images by: selecting an Nth image frame from a sequence of N images received in the video stream; determining N−1 difference images by subtracting each of N−1 previous images from the Nth image; adding the N−1 difference images to generate a combined difference image; performing a perspective transformation on the combined difference image to generate a transformed image; further processing the transformed image by segmentation wherein the transformed image is segmented by a plurality of lines extending from a projection point; and generating a signal indicating detection of an obstacle in the area of motion based on identification of peaks and valleys in segments of the transformed image and a proximity of the peaks and valleys to one another, the peaks and valleys identified as local maximums and local minimums.