Wang, Dong2019-07-022019-07-022019-07-01vt_gsexam:20035http://hdl.handle.net/10919/90795Localization is a crucial topic in navigation, especially in autonomous vehicles navigation. It is usually done by using a global positioning system (GPS) sensor. Even though there have been many studies of vehicle localization in recent years, most of them combine GPS sensor with other sensors to get a more accurate result [1]. In this thesis, we propose a novel image-based vehicle localization by utilizing vision sensor and computer vision techniques to extract vehicle surrounding text landmarks and to locate the vehicle position. Firstly, we explore the feasibility of image-based vehicle localization by using text landmark of a position to locate vehicle position. A text landmark model, a location matching algorithm and a basic localization model are proposed, which allow a vehicle to find the best matching location in the database by cross-checking the text landmarks from query image and reference location images. Secondly, we propose two more robust localization models by applying vehicle moving distance and heading direction data as part of inputs, which significantly improve the localization accuracy. Finally, we simulate an experiment to evaluate our three different localization models and further prove the robustness of our model through experimental results.ETDIn Copyrightimage-basedvehicle localizationtext landmarkThesis