A Computer Vision-Based Navigation and Localization Method for Station-Moving Aircraft Transport Platform with Dual Cameras

In order to develop equipment adapted to the aircraft pulse final assembly line, a vision-based aircraft transport platform system is developed. This article explores a guiding method between assembly stations which is low-cost and easy to change routes by using two-dimensional code and two complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) cameras. The two cameras installed on the front and back of the platform read the two-dimensional code containing station information to guide the platform. In the process of guiding, the theoretical position and posture of the platform at each assembly station are known, but there is a difference between the actual and theoretical values due to motion errors. To reduce the influence of the deviation on the navigation route, a localization method is proposed based on the two-dimensional images captured by the cameras. Canny edge detection is applied to the processed image to obtain the position of the two-dimensional code in the image, which can measure the angle/distance deviation of the platform. Then, the computer can locate the platform precisely by the information in the two-dimensional code and the deviation measured by the image. To verify the feasibility of the proposed method, experiments have been performed on the developed platform system. The results show that the distance and angle errors of the platform are within ±10 mm and ±0.15° respectively.