Robot vision and optical location systems
First Claim
1. An object location system for generating a three-dimensional map of the visible surfaces of objects disposed within a predefined field of view comprising:
- projection means situated at a first known location for projecting a beam of radiation into the field of view and periodically scanning said beam over the entire field of view;
encoding means for continuously encoding said beam of radiation with information indicative of its instantaneous direction of projection;
detection means situated at a second known location spaced apart from said first known location for monitoring the field of view to detect radiation from said beam scattered or reflected from surfaces of the objects in said field and producing detection signals indicative of the directions from which said scattered or reflected radiation is received by said detection means;
decoding means connected to said detection means and responsive to the encoding carried on the projected beam direction;
map storage means comprising an array of memory elements representing a map of the field of view having one more dimension than that of said detection means; and
map generating means responsive to successive detected signals and decoded signals to store information in respective memory array elements to model the location in said field of view of detected points on the surfaces of the objects located therein.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Robot vision and optical location systems capable of recovery of "depth" information normally lost from the two-dimensional image collected by a conventional image system comprises a radiation source for projecting a beam of light or other suitable radiation from a known location onto a field of vision in a manner that provides information indicating the direction of projection of the beam, a detection device situated at a second known location for receiving light or other radiation of the projected beam, scattered or reflected by objects within the field of vision and providing information indicating the direction of the source of scattered or reflected radiation and an analyzer for comparing the projection location, direction of projection, detection location and direction of the source of detected, scattered or reflected radiation to determine the location of objects in the field of vision.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An object location system for generating a three-dimensional map of the visible surfaces of objects disposed within a predefined field of view comprising:
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projection means situated at a first known location for projecting a beam of radiation into the field of view and periodically scanning said beam over the entire field of view; encoding means for continuously encoding said beam of radiation with information indicative of its instantaneous direction of projection; detection means situated at a second known location spaced apart from said first known location for monitoring the field of view to detect radiation from said beam scattered or reflected from surfaces of the objects in said field and producing detection signals indicative of the directions from which said scattered or reflected radiation is received by said detection means; decoding means connected to said detection means and responsive to the encoding carried on the projected beam direction; map storage means comprising an array of memory elements representing a map of the field of view having one more dimension than that of said detection means; and map generating means responsive to successive detected signals and decoded signals to store information in respective memory array elements to model the location in said field of view of detected points on the surfaces of the objects located therein. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An object location and surface mapping system comprising:
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projection means situated at a first known location for projecting a beam of radiation into a target area, for scanning the target area with said beam and for producing signals indicative of the instantaneous direction of the projected beam; detection means situated at a second known location spaced apart from said first location for detecting radiation scattered or reflected from said beam by objects in said target area, and for producing signals indicative of the directions from which said scattered or reflected radiation is received by said detection means; and map generating means for receiving said signals from said detection means indicative of the directions from which scattered or reflected light is received and said signals from said projection means indicative of the instantaneous direction of said projected beam and in response to said signals building a map having one more dimension than said detection means of surfaces of all visible objects within the target area from which scattered or reflected radiation is detected and determining the location of said objects using said map. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 14)
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13. A system as claimed in 8 wherein said map generating means comprises:
means for comparing and analyzing the contents of said map generating means on a real time basis and for generating spatial co-ordinates and vector velocities for objects moving within said field.
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15. A method of locating objects and mapping the shape of surfaces in a target area comprising the steps of:
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(a) projecting a beam of radiation into the target area in a known direction from a first known location for producing scattered or reflected radiation from objects or surfaces in the target area; (b) detecting said scattered or reflected radiation at a second known location and determining the direction from which said scattered or reflected radiation is received; (c) determining the co-ordinates of said objects or surfaces within the target area from which said projected radiation was scattered or reflect by performing calculations on said known direction of projection and said determined direction from which said scattered or reflected radiation is received; and (d) systematically altering the angle of projection of said beam until the whole target area has been scanned by said beam and at the same time building a map of the surfaces detected in the target area from the respective calculated co-ordinates.
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16. A method of locating objects and mapping the three dimensional shape of all object surfaces visible in a target area comprising the steps of:
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(a) simultaneously illuminating the entire target area by projecting a plurality of discrete beams of radiation into the target area from a known location so that each beam illuminates a fraction of the target area with each fraction of the target area being illuminated by only one of the beams, whereby scattered or reflected radiation is produced from objects or surfaces in the target area; (b) encoding each beam by modulation with information indicative of is respective direction of projection; (c) detecting elements of said scattered or reflected radiation at a second known location and determining the direction from which each element of said scattered or reflected radiation is received; (d) decoding the encoded beam direction information carried by each received element of the scattered or reflected radiation to determine the original direction of projection of the beam from which that element originated; (e) correlating said information carried by said detected radiation relating to projected beam directions with the directions from which respective scattered or reflected radiation is received; and f) deriving a series of surface co-ordinates from which a map can be constructed of the surfaces in the target area from which the scattered or reflected radiation from the beam has been detected.
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17. An object location system for mapping surfaces of objects disposed within a predefined field of view comprising:
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projection means situated at a first known location for projecting a plurality of beams of radiation into the field of view, each beam illuminating a fraction of the field so that every point in the field is directly illuminated by only one beam; encoding means for encoding each beam of radiation with information indicative of its direction of projection; detection means situated at a second known location spaced apart from said first known location for monitoring the field of view to detect radiation from said beams scattered or reflected from surfaces of the objects in said field and producing detection signals indicative of the directions from which said scattered or reflected radiation is received by said detection means; decoding means connected to said detection means and responsive to the encoding carried on each projected beam for producing decoded signals indicative of each projected beam direction; map storage means comprising an array of memory elements representing a map of the field of view; and map generating means responsive to successive detected signals and decoded signals to store information in respective memory elements to model the location in said field of view of detected points on the surfaces of the objects located therein. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification