Tracking by segmentation with future motion estimation applied to person-following robots.
Front Neurorobot 2023;
17:1255085. [PMID:
37701068 PMCID:
PMC10494445 DOI:
10.3389/fnbot.2023.1255085]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Person-following is a crucial capability for service robots, and the employment of vision technology is a leading trend in building environmental understanding. While most existing methodologies rely on a tracking-by-detection strategy, which necessitates extensive datasets for training and yet remains susceptible to environmental noise, we propose a novel approach: real-time tracking-by-segmentation with a future motion estimation framework. This framework facilitates pixel-level tracking of a target individual and predicts their future motion. Our strategy leverages a single-shot segmentation tracking neural network for precise foreground segmentation to track the target, overcoming the limitations of using a rectangular region of interest (ROI). Here we clarify that, while the ROI provides a broad context, the segmentation within this bounding box offers a detailed and more accurate position of the human subject. To further improve our approach, a classification-lock pre-trained layer is utilized to form a constraint that curbs feature outliers originating from the person being tracked. A discriminative correlation filter estimates the potential target region in the scene to prevent foreground misrecognition, while a motion estimation neural network anticipates the target's future motion for use in the control module. We validated our proposed methodology using the VOT, LaSot, YouTube-VOS, and Davis tracking datasets, demonstrating its effectiveness. Notably, our framework supports long-term person-following tasks in indoor environments, showing promise for practical implementation in service robots.
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