3D vision based on PMD-technology for mobile robots

Hubert J. Roth; Rudolf Schwarte; Niramon Ruangpayoongsak; Joerg Kuhle; Martin Albrecht; Markus Grothof; Holger Hess

doi:10.1117/12.497642

30 September 2003 3D vision based on PMD-technology for mobile robots

Hubert J. Roth, Rudolf Schwarte, Niramon Ruangpayoongsak, Joerg Kuhle, Martin Albrecht, Markus Grothof, Holger Hess

Proceedings Volume 5083, Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology V; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.497642
Event: AeroSense 2003, 2003, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

A series of micro-robots (MERLIN: Mobile Experimental Robots for Locomotion and Intelligent Navigation) has been designed and implemented for a broad spectrum of indoor and outdoor tasks on basis of standardized functional modules like sensors, actuators, communication by radio link. The sensors onboard on the MERLIN robot can be divided into two categories: internal sensors for low-level control and for measuring the state of the robot and external sensors for obstacle detection, modeling of the environment and position estimation and navigation of the robot in a global co-ordinate system. The special emphasis of this paper is to describe the capabilities of MERLIN for obstacle detection, targets detection and for distance measurement. Besides ultrasonic sensors a new camera based on PMD-technology is used. This Photonic Mixer Device (PMD) represents a new electro-optic device that provides a smart interface between the world of incoherent optical signals and the world of their electronic signal processing. This PMD-technology directly enables 3D-imaging by means of the time-of-flight (TOF) principle. It offers an extremely high potential for new solutions in the robotics application field. The PMD-Technology opens up amazing new perspectives for obstacle detection systems, target acquisition as well as mapping of unknown environments.

Citation Download Citation

Hubert J. Roth, Rudolf Schwarte, Niramon Ruangpayoongsak, Joerg Kuhle, Martin Albrecht, Markus Grothof, and Holger Hess "3D vision based on PMD-technology for mobile robots", Proc. SPIE 5083, Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology V, (30 September 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.497642

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