Mobile robot that can read symbols

To give an autonomous robot the ability to read symbols, we need to integrate character recognition techniques with methods to position the robot in front of the symbol, to capture the image that will be used in the identification process, and to validate the overall approach on a robot. Our goal is to address the different aspects required in making a mobile robotic platform recognize symbols placed in real world environment, using current hardware and software capabilities. Validated on a Pioneer 2 robot, the approach described in this paper uses colors to detect symbols, a PID controller to position the camera, simple heuristics to select image regions that could contain symbols, and finally a neural system for symbol identification. Results in different lighting conditions are presented.