Improvement of KinectTM sensor capabilities by fusion with laser sensing data using octree

To enhance sensor capabilities, sensor data readings from different modalities must be fused. The main contribution of this paper is to present a sensor data fusion approach that can reduce Kinect(TM) sensor limitations. This approach involves combining laser with Kinect(TM) sensors. Sensor data is modelled in a 3D environment based on octrees using a probabilistic occupancy estimation. The Bayesian method, which takes into account the uncertainty inherent in the sensor measurements, is used to fuse the sensor information and update the 3D octree map. The sensor fusion yields a significant increase of the field of view of the Kinect(TM) sensor that can be used for robot tasks.