Real-time object segmentation for soccer robots based on depth images

Abstract

Object detection and localization is a paramount important and challenging task in RoboCup MSL (Middle Size League). It has a strong constraint on real-time, as both the robot and obstacles (also robots) are moving quickly. In this paper, a real-time object segmentation approach is proposed, based on a RGB-D camera in which only the range information has been used. The method has four main steps, e.g., point cloud filtering, background points removing, clustering and object localization. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can effectively detect and segment objects in 3D space in real-time.