ARM MOUNTED 3-D ROBOT VISION FOR TRACKING OBJECTS IN A WORK CELL

3-D SENSING TECHNOLOGY HAS PROGRESSED TO THE POINT THAT HIGH SPEED, 3-D ROBOT VISION FOR TRACKING OBJECTS IN A WORK CELL MAY BE ACHIEVABLE. PERCEPTRON IS AGGRESSIVELY PURSUING 3-D SENSING AND RELATED TECHNOLOGIES AND CAN MAKE SIGNIFICANT TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS TOWARD THE SOLICITED PROGRAM GOALS. PERCEPTRON IS CURRENTLY DEVELOPING A SERIES OF 3-D SCANNERS TO SUIT THE NEEDS OF ROBOT RELATED OPERATIONS SUCH AS ROBOTIC BIN-PICKING AND ROBOTIC ASSEMBLY. THE SENSORS WILL PROVIDE THREE DIMENSIONS OF INFORMATION FOR EACH SCANNED POINT WITHOUT REQUIRING IMAGE PROCESSING AND ITS ASSOCIATED TIME DELAYS. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH SPEED, ARM MOUNTED SENSOR IS QUITE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE TIME LIMITS OF THE PROGRAM. PERCEPTRON IS ALSO DEVELOPING THE 3-D SOFTWARE TO SUPPORT THE WORK CELL. THE SOFTWARE OPERATES UPON A STANDARD LIBRARY LANGUGE CURRENTLY UNDER USE BY THE DOD KNOWN AS C4PL. THIS ADVANCED LANGUAGE WILL OPERATE UPON A SPECIALIZED HIGH SPEED IMAGE PROCESSING COMPUTER KNOWN AS THE CYTOCOMPUTER.