REAL-TIME OBJECT AND ROBOT END-EFFECTOR TRACKING SYSTEM

REAL-TIME, THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECT TRACKING IS THE KEY TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING ROBOTIC END-EFFECTOR DOCKING TASKS IN UNCERTAIN AND CHANGEABLE ENVIRONMENTS. SINCE RELIABLE SYSTEMS FOR TRACKING THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS UNDER REALISTIC CONDITIONS DO NOT YET EXIST, THIS PROJECT PROPOSES TO DESIGN A REAL-TIME OBJECT AND ROBOTIC END-EFFECTOR TRACKING SYSTEM (RORETS). RORETS IS CENTERED ON A RECENTLY DISCOVERED APPROACH TO ESTIMATE THE POSITION AND ORIENTATION (POSE) OF ARBITRARILY SHAPED, PARTIALLY VISIBLE THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS IN A SINGLE, CLUTTERED, NOISY IMAGE. TO ATTAIN REAL-TIME PERFORMANCE, THE FIRM HAS REFORMULATED THE THEORY BEHIND THE POSE ESTIMATOR AND ADAPTED A NEW REPRESENTATION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS THAT ALLOWS READY PREDICTION OF THE APPEARANCE OF EDGE CONTOURS FROM ANY VIEWPOINT, WITH APPROPRIATE HARDWARE THESE INNOVATIONS, COUPLED WITH A REAL-TIME IMPLEMENTATION OF A KALMAN FILTER FOR ESTIMATING AN OBJECTS' MOTION PARAMETERS, WILL ALLOW RORETS TO ACHIEVE REAL-TIME TRACKING PERFORMANCE. REAL-TIME, THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECT TRACKING IS THE KEY TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING ROBOTIC END-EFFECTOR DOCKING TASKS IN UNCERTAIN AND CHANGEABLE ENVIRONMENTS. SINCE RELIABLE SYSTEMS FOR TRACKING THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS UNDER REALISTIC CONDITIONS DO NOT YET EXIST, THIS PROJECT PROPOSES TO DESIGN A REAL-TIME OBJECT AND ROBOTIC END-EFFECTOR TRACKING SYSTEM (RORETS). RORETS IS CENTERED ON A RECENTLY DISCOVERED APPROACH TO ESTIMATE THE POSITION AND ORIENTATION (POSE) OF ARBITRARILY SHAPED, PARTIALLY VISIBLE THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS IN A SINGLE, CLUTTERED, NOISY IMAGE. TO ATTAIN REAL-TIME PERFORMANCE, THE FIRM HAS REFORMULATED THE THEORY BEHIND THE POSE ESTIMATOR AND ADAPTED A NEW REPRESENTATION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS THAT ALLOWS READY PREDICTION OF THE APPEARANCE OF EDGE CONTOURS FROM ANY VIEWPOINT, WITH APPROPRIATE HARDWARE THESE INNOVATIONS, COUPLED WITH A REAL-TIME IMPLEMENTATION OF A KALMAN FILTER FOR ESTIMATING AN OBJECTS' MOTION PARAMETERS, WILL ALLOW RORETS TO ACHIEVE REAL-TIME TRACKING PERFORMANCE.