Ground surface classification by stereo polarised image sensors

Abstract

or an autonomous vehicle. By introducing polarized imaging, advances in water hazard detection have been made in recent years. However, most approaches utilize retrofitted polarized cameras for use in an off-road environment. In this thesis, a dedicated polarized imaging sensor, the IMX250MZR, is used in order to investigate the feasibility of polarization based water hazard detection in an urban environment. Stereo imaging was used in order to measure the distance to the detected hazards, but failed due to the lack of features on the road surface. Results show that detection works well when the camera is facing away from the sun, with poor results when looking towards the sun, due to the different polarization in the sky.