Feature Point Registration Model of Farmland Surface and Its Application Based on a Monocular Camera

• Main Authors: Yang Li, Dongyan Huang, Jiangtao Qi, Sikai Chen, Huibin Sun, Huili Liu, Honglei Jia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: monocular camera; farmland surface; feature point registration; attitude perception; robot vision
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/13/3799

In this study, an image registration algorithm was applied to calculate the rotation angle of objects when matching images. Some commonly used image feature detection algorithms such as features from accelerated segment test (FAST), speeded up robust features (SURF) and maximally stable extremal regions (MSER) algorithms were chosen as feature extraction components. Comparing the running time and accuracy, the image registration algorithm based on SURF has better performance than the other algorithms. Accurately obtaining the roll angle is one of the key technologies to improve the positioning accuracy and operation quality of agricultural equipment. To acquire the roll angle of agriculture machinery, a roll angle acquisition model based on the image registration algorithm was built. Then, the performance of the model with a monocular camera was tested in the field. The field test showed that the average error of the rolling angle was 0.61°, while the minimum error was 0.08°. The field test indicated that the model could accurately obtain the attitude change trend of agricultural machinery when it was working in irregular farmlands. The model described in this paper could provide a foundation for agricultural equipment navigation and autonomous driving.