A HIGHLY FUNCTIONAL AND VERSATILE CAMERA PLATFORM FOR A MULTI-PURPOSE ROBOTIC VEHICLE

POC PROPOSES TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP A HIGHLY FUNCTIONAL AND VERSATILE CAMERA PLATFORM FOR A MULTI-PURPOSE ROBOTIC VEHICLE UTILIZING A NOVEL MODULAR APPROACH. THE PLATFORM REQUIRES ONLY ONE CCD CAMERA, FOUR COMPUTER-CONTROLLED ROTATION STAGES AND 3 MODULAR OPTICAL IMAGING SYSTEMS TO PROVIDE BOTH A STEREO VISION MODE AT ANY DESIRED VIEWING ANGLE AND A PERIPHERAL VISION MODE WITH A 180 DEG NONOVERLAPPING FIELD-OF-VIEW. THE PERIPHERAL VIEW FROM THE LENS SYSTEM OF EACH MODULE IS COLLECTED BY 1 OF 3 FLEXIBLE COHERENT FIBEROPTIC BUNDLES AND TRANSMITTED COLLECTIVELY TOWARDS A SINGLE CCD CAMERA. STEREO VISION MODE IS ACCESSED BY ALIGNING ANY TWO OF THE THREE MODULES IN PARALLEL USING THEIR RESPECTIVE ROTATION STAGES. WHEN THE ENTIRE ASSEMBLY IS ROTATED BY ANOTHER ROTATION STAGE, ANY VIEWING ANGLE DESIRED IS OBTAINED. THE VERSATILITY OF THE PROPOSED PLATFORM OFFERS SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES OVER A 3-CAMERA SYSTEM IN TERMS OF ADAPTABILITY (DEPENDING ON NEED, 3 CAMERAS CAN ALSO BE USED), SMALLER FOOTPRINT, EASY AND HIGHLY ACCURATE ALIGNMENT, FAST RESPONSE TIME IN CONVERTING FROM ONE MODE TO THE OTHER THROUGH ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS, HIGH SURVIVABILITY OF THE PLATFORM AND HIGH IMMUNITY TO VIOLENT MOVEMENT OF THE VEHICLE.