Title :
Fast optical hazard detection for planetary rovers using multiple spot laser triangulation
Author :
Matthies, Larry ; Balch, Tucker ; Wilcox, Brian
Author_Institution :
Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract :
A new laser-based optical sensor system that provides hazard detection for planetary rovers is presented. The sensor can support safe travel at speeds up to 12 cm/second for large (1 m) rovers in full sunlight on Earth or Mars. This is at least a 5 times improvement over the sensor aboard NASA´s Mars Pathfinder rover. The system overcomes limitations in the older design that require image differencing to detect a laser stripe in full sun. The new system ensures the projected laser light is detectable in a single image, eliminating the requirement for additional difference images. The improvement is significant since any reduction in image gathering or processing time provides for faster rover motion. The savings are even more important in the case of a Mars rover since power and radiation-hardening requirements lead to severely constrained computational resources. The paper includes a thorough discussion of design details and tradeoffs for optical hazard sensing that will benefit future efforts in this area
Keywords :
CCD image sensors; aerospace control; laser ranging; mobile robots; optical sensors; position measurement; Earth; Mars; fast optical hazard detection; full sunlight; laser-based optical sensor system; multiple spot laser triangulation; planetary rovers; projected laser light; safe travel; Cameras; Hazards; Laboratories; Mars; Optical design; Optical detectors; Optical sensors; Power system reliability; Propulsion; Stereo vision;
Conference_Titel :
Robotics and Automation, 1997. Proceedings., 1997 IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Albuquerque, NM
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3612-7
DOI :
10.1109/ROBOT.1997.620142