Monocular graph SLAM with complexity reduction

Abstract

We present a graph-based SLAM approach, using monocular vision and odometry, designed to operate on computationally constrained platforms. When computation and memory are limited, visual tracking becomes difficult or impossible, and map representation and update costs must remain low. Our system constructs a map of structured views using only weak temporal assumptions, and performs recognition and relative pose estimation over the set of views. Visual observations are fused with differential sensors in an incrementally optimized graph representation. Using variable elimination and constraint pruning, the graph complexity and storage is kept linear in explored space rather than in time. We evaluate performance on sequences with ground truth, and also compare to a standard graph SLAM approach.