Tracking system of motion object for scout robot

A camera can assist a robot to detect and track objects when it is used in a scout robot system, and hence, help the robot to navigate. This paper discusses problems of tracking a human face where an active camera is installed on a 2 DOF pan and tilt. Kinematics model between object in motion and image of camera is built. The face detection and tracking algorithm is introduced which uses complexion color as a feature. Opening operation in morphology is carried, and the person in motion is successfully found. The centroid of the human face is computed, and transformed to the move of pan and tilt in degree, respectively. Then, commands are sent to the motion controller so as to drive the motors to track the face. Principle and algorithm of the motion controller are presented. Experiments show that the face can be effectively detected and tracked based on these methods.