The Turing Machine Model of Sensing, Manipulation, and Control

This paper presents the analysis of a robotic mail singulation system in terms of a Turing machine. The system utilizes a three dimensional vision system to identify mail parcels which are presented in a random heap for subsequent pickup by a manipulator. To complicate the problem, the mail heap moves on a rotary conveyor belt past the imaging system which is located "upstream" from the robot\´s work area. The Turing machine model is used to define the relationship among the actions of sensing, manipulation and control. A formalism of sense-compute-act is used in order to make the problem manageable in that the system deals only with the present state and input and produces an output which is solely a function of the present state and input. This model has been implemented in an actual functioning prototype system for the United States Postal Service. The system has been successfully tested in a real, noisy and dynamic environment.