Mousebuster: a robot system for catching fast moving objects by vision

A control methodology for catching a fast moving object with a robot manipulator, where visual information is employed to track the trajectory of the target, is described. Sensing, planning, and control are performed in real-time to cope with possible unpredictable trajectory changes of the moving target. Prediction techniques are adopted to compensate for the time delays introduced by visual processing and by the robot controller. A simple, reliable model of the robot controller is used in the control architecture for improving the performance of the system. Experimental results show that the robot system is capable of tracking and catching an object moving on a plane at velocities of up to 700 mm/s and accelerations of up to 1500 mm/s²