A distance-error detection and correction system for camera-arm control

Remote camera control plays a crucial role in acquiring detailed information. In our previous work, intuitive camera control with spherical coordinates was proposed for a known environment, which required distance between a camera and gaze point. In this paper, to handle an unknown environment, a small distance sensor is employed alongside an attached 6-DOF camera-arm with low load capability. Unfortunately the sensor sometimes detects the wrong distance, because it is an infrared-distance sensor. In response, an operator support system which displays the measuring error is proposed as well as an adjustable function to correct the error. The system, named “A Distance-Error Detection and Correction System” is based on a shared-control concept. Past images captured from a different perspective are employed to leverage the superior human capacity to recognize images. Its effectiveness has also been verified by experiments with a real telerobotic system.