OPTICAL SENSOR FOR ODOMETRY TRACKING TO DETERMINE TRAJECTORY OF A WHEEL

An optical sensor system for determining trajectory of a wheel includes: a wheel mounted in a wheel arch having an outer surface covered with evenly-spaced wheel treads; an optical sensor mounted in the wheel arch but not touching the wheel, for performing a plurality of counts corresponding to respectively capturing a plurality of images of the wheel according to the wheel treads, and comparing the captured images with a reference image to determine a 2D displacement. The optical sensor further performs a calculation to convert the measured 2D displacement of the wheel from its original position into a distance the wheel travels along a path in order to determine the wheel trajectory.