3-D VIEWING SYSTEM ENHANCEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF ROBOTIC VEHICLES

THREE-DIMENSIONAL (3-D) VIEWING SUBSYSTEMS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO FACILITATE TELEOPERATIONS IN A VARIETY OF SETTINGS BY PRESENTING BINOCULAR DISPARITY CUES TO DEPTH IN THE REMOTE SCENE. IN ORDER TO ENHANCE THE ADAPTABILITY OF 3-D VIEWING SUBSYSTEMS TO DIFFERENT SITUATIONS AND OPERATORS, IT IS PROPOSED TO DEVELOP AN ENGINEERING MODEL OF AN ELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICE FOR VARYING THE ORIENTATION, SEPARATION, CONVERGENCE, AND FOCUS OF THE CAMERAS. FOLLOWING A MISSION ANALYSIS AND DESIGN SPECIFICATION, THIS ELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICE,AND ASSOCIATED CONTROLS FOR THE TELEOPERATOR, WILL BE DESIGNED AND FABRICATED. EMPIRICAL TESTS OF TELEOPERATION PERFORMANCE WILL BE CONDUCTED WITH THE DEVICE MOUNTED ON A MOBILE VEHICLE, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS ADAPTABLE 3-D SUBSYSTEM IN COMPARISON TO PERFORMANCE WITH FIXED CAMERA 3-D AND 2-D VIEWING SUBSYSTEMS.