A ROBOT VISION SYSTEM BASED ON PIPE AUGMENTED BY A MINIMAL STRUCTURED LIGHT SYSTEM

THIS PROPOSAL PROPOSES AN APPROACH TO 3-D VISION WHICH WILL BE PRACTICAL FOR USE IN INDUSTRIAL AND MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF ROBOTS SUCH AS THE PUMA 560. THE KEY COMPONENTS OF THE PROPOSAL ARE PIPE, WHICH STANDS FOR PIPELINED IMAGE PROCESSING ENGINE, AUGMENTED WITH A COMPACT STRUCTURED LIGHT PROJECTOR. PIPE CAN PERFORM REAL-TIME IMAGE ENHANCEMENT ON IMAGES, INCLUDING SUCH FUNCTIONS AS SMOOTHING, EDGE PRESERVING SMOOTHING, SPATIAL, HIGH AND LOW PASS FILTERING, TEMPORAL HIGH AND LOW PASS FILTERING, THRESHOLDING, REGION SHRINKING AND GROWING, AVERAGING AND NOISE REDUCTION, ARBITRARY NEAREST NEIGHBOR OPERATIONS, OR COMBINATIONS OF THESE TYPES OF OPERATIONS, ALL IN REAL-TIME. PIPE CAN PERFORM DIFFERENT OPERATIONS ON DIFFERENT PORTIONS OF AN IMAGE, AND THE DECISION AS TO WHICH OPERATIONS TO PERFORM ON WHAT PORTION OF THE IMAGE CAN BE CONTROLLED IN REAL-TIME BY THE IMAGE DATA. PIPE IS A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT. THIS PROPOSAL OUTLINES HOW PIPE, AUGMENTED BY A COMPACT STRUCTURED LIGHT SOURCE TO AID THE DISPARITY PROBLEM, CAN PROVIDE THE REQUIRED 3-D ROBOT VISION MODULE.