People detection through quantified fuzzy temporal rules

The knowledge about the position and movement of people is of great importance in mobile robotics for implementing tasks such as navigation, mapping, localization, or human-robot interaction. This knowledge enhances the robustness, reliability and performance of the robot control architecture. In this paper, a pattern classifier system for the detection of people using laser range finders data is presented. The approach is based on the quantified fuzzy temporal rules (QFTRs) knowledge representation and reasoning paradigm, that is able to analyze the spatio-temporal patterns that are associated to people. The pattern classifier system is a knowledge base made up of QFCRs that were learned with an evolutionary algorithm based on the cooperative-competitive approach together with token competition. A deep experimental study with a Pioneer II robot involving a five-fold cross-validation and several runs of the genetic algorithm has been done, showing a classification rate over 80%. Moreover, the characteristics of the tests represent complex and realistic conditions (people moving in groups, the robot moving in part of the experiments, and the existence of static and moving people). (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.