A compact range image sensor suitable for robots

Author

Umeda, Kazunori

Author_Institution

Dept. of Precision Mechanics, Chuo Univ., Tokyo, Japan

Volume

3

fYear

2004

fDate

26 April-1 May 2004

Firstpage

3167

Abstract

This paper discusses a range image sensor using a multi-spot laser projector. In many situations, it is inevitable for robots to behave in three-dimensional (3D) environment for various tasks and range images are important sensor information. The sensor in this paper is thought to be suitable to acquire range images for many robotic applications. Characteristics of the sensor are discussed as its principle, its measurement range and precision. Rotation of the CCD camera is presented to improve the sensor´s efficiency. A prototype of the sensor is constructed using a commercial laser projector, and its efficiency is evaluated by experiments. Furthermore, a novel method for detecting planar regions is proposed as an application of this sensor. Relative disparity map is introduced and proved to be effective for detecting planar regions.

Keywords

CCD image sensors; laser ranging; object detection; robot vision; CCD camera rotation; compact range image sensor; multi-spot laser projector; planar region detection; relative disparity map; robots; three-dimensional environment; Charge coupled devices; Charge-coupled image sensors; Image sensors; Mobile robots; Optical imaging; Orbital robotics; Robot sensing systems; Robot vision systems; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Stereo vision;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004 IEEE International Conference on

ISSN

1050-4729

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8232-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ROBOT.2004.1307550

Filename

1307550