Vision-based navigation system incorporating model-based correspondence determination with high-confidence ambiguity identification

Abstract

A vision-based navigation system (e.g., for aircraft on approach to a runway) captures via camera 2D images of the runway environment in an image plane. The vision-based navigation system stores a constellation database of runway features and their nominal 3D position information in a constellation plane. Image processors detect within the captured images 2D features potentially corresponding to the constellation features. The vision-based navigation system estimates optical pose of the camera in the constellation plane by aligning the image plane and constellation plane into a common domain, e.g., via orthocorrection of detected image features into the constellation plane or reprojection of constellation features into the image plane. Based on the common-domain plane, the vision-based navigational system generates candidate correspondence maps (CMAP) of constellation features mapped to the image features with high-confidence error bounding, from which optical pose of the camera or aircraft can be estimated.