Feature Extraction Using a Portable Vision System

We demonstrate high-speed low-power feature extraction implemented on a portable vision system based on the SCAMP-5 vision chip. This embedded system executes a parallelized FAST16 corner detection algorithm on the vision chip’s programmable on-focal-plane processor array to detect the corner points in the current image frame. The coordinates of these corner points are then extracted using the vision chip’s event address readout infrastructure. These coordinates, as sparse data, can then be output through any of the IO buses within the micro-controller in the vision system at low latency. The USB-powered (400mA) system is capable of outputting 250 features at 2300 frames per second (FPS) in ideal lighting conditions, while 1000 FPS can be achieved in an indoor environment. The system can be applied to the real-time control of agile robots and miniature aerial vehicles.