On-Ship Trinocular Stereo Vision: An Experimental Study for Long-Range High-Accuracy Localization of Other Vessels

Recently, several initiatives regarding maritime autonomous surface ships (MASSs) have been implemented worldwide. One of the fundamental technologies for attaining MASSs is the recognition and localization of surrounding ships. Traditional navigational instruments are inadequate for recognizing obj...

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Main Authors: Kotaro Yoshihara, Shigehiro Yamamoto, Takeshi Hashimoto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/115
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author Kotaro Yoshihara
Shigehiro Yamamoto
Takeshi Hashimoto
author_facet Kotaro Yoshihara
Shigehiro Yamamoto
Takeshi Hashimoto
author_sort Kotaro Yoshihara
collection DOAJ
description Recently, several initiatives regarding maritime autonomous surface ships (MASSs) have been implemented worldwide. One of the fundamental technologies for attaining MASSs is the recognition and localization of surrounding ships. Traditional navigational instruments are inadequate for recognizing objects, and the authors investigated the potential of stereo vision. Conventional stereo camera systems are not suitable for localizing very distant objects. One proposed solution is to use an additional camera, thus using three-camera measurements of objects at long distances to reduce positional measurement errors, incorporating time-series averaging and keypoint-based techniques. This study evaluated experimentally the accuracy of measurements using three ship-mounted cameras. The accuracy and precision of stereo measurements depend on the distance between the camera positions, referred to as the baseline length. Conventional stereo cameras are typically used to measure objects at distances of up to 200 times the baseline length. This study indicates that, using trinocular stereo vision, a target ship at distances up to 2500 m, which is 500 times the baseline length, can be measured with an accuracy of approximately 5% of the RMSE.
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institution Kabale University
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publishDate 2025-01-01
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series Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
spelling doaj-art-c8f4c7d265414c3cbc3cb789458ffae72025-01-24T13:36:54ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122025-01-0113111510.3390/jmse13010115On-Ship Trinocular Stereo Vision: An Experimental Study for Long-Range High-Accuracy Localization of Other VesselsKotaro Yoshihara0Shigehiro Yamamoto1Takeshi Hashimoto2Japan Agency of Maritime Education and Training for Seafarers, Yokohama 231-0003, JapanGraduate School of Maritime Sciences, Kobe University, Kobe 658-0022, JapanFaculty of Engineering, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu 432-8561, JapanRecently, several initiatives regarding maritime autonomous surface ships (MASSs) have been implemented worldwide. One of the fundamental technologies for attaining MASSs is the recognition and localization of surrounding ships. Traditional navigational instruments are inadequate for recognizing objects, and the authors investigated the potential of stereo vision. Conventional stereo camera systems are not suitable for localizing very distant objects. One proposed solution is to use an additional camera, thus using three-camera measurements of objects at long distances to reduce positional measurement errors, incorporating time-series averaging and keypoint-based techniques. This study evaluated experimentally the accuracy of measurements using three ship-mounted cameras. The accuracy and precision of stereo measurements depend on the distance between the camera positions, referred to as the baseline length. Conventional stereo cameras are typically used to measure objects at distances of up to 200 times the baseline length. This study indicates that, using trinocular stereo vision, a target ship at distances up to 2500 m, which is 500 times the baseline length, can be measured with an accuracy of approximately 5% of the RMSE.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/115trinocularstereo visionbaseline lengthlong-rangeaccuracylocalization
spellingShingle Kotaro Yoshihara
Shigehiro Yamamoto
Takeshi Hashimoto
On-Ship Trinocular Stereo Vision: An Experimental Study for Long-Range High-Accuracy Localization of Other Vessels
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
trinocular
stereo vision
baseline length
long-range
accuracy
localization
title On-Ship Trinocular Stereo Vision: An Experimental Study for Long-Range High-Accuracy Localization of Other Vessels
title_full On-Ship Trinocular Stereo Vision: An Experimental Study for Long-Range High-Accuracy Localization of Other Vessels
title_fullStr On-Ship Trinocular Stereo Vision: An Experimental Study for Long-Range High-Accuracy Localization of Other Vessels
title_full_unstemmed On-Ship Trinocular Stereo Vision: An Experimental Study for Long-Range High-Accuracy Localization of Other Vessels
title_short On-Ship Trinocular Stereo Vision: An Experimental Study for Long-Range High-Accuracy Localization of Other Vessels
title_sort on ship trinocular stereo vision an experimental study for long range high accuracy localization of other vessels
topic trinocular
stereo vision
baseline length
long-range
accuracy
localization
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/115
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AT shigehiroyamamoto onshiptrinocularstereovisionanexperimentalstudyforlongrangehighaccuracylocalizationofothervessels
AT takeshihashimoto onshiptrinocularstereovisionanexperimentalstudyforlongrangehighaccuracylocalizationofothervessels