A novel calibration technique for electro-optical proximity sensors

A novel calibration-per-group-of-surfaces methodology is proposed, by which to address the problem of surface-robustness for amplitude-modulation-based electro-optical proximity sensors. The pose-estimation polynomials produced by this calibration method provide accurate pose estimations for all the surfaces considered apriori by the calibration. Moreover, the same polynomials can be used to provide acceptable pose estimations for object surfaces not considered in the calibration. A robotic proximity sensor that comprises an electro-optical transducer and a practical electronic interface circuit is utilized for verifying the proposed methodology. Experimental results for this sensor, using a variety of surfaces and materials, are presented and discussed