Board # 143 : MAKER: Urban Search and Rescue Robot: Visual Localization and Navigation

Cristal Johnson, Sheng-Jen Hsieh
2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings   unpublished
Students will design, build, and control a robot using Tetrix Urban Search and Rescue Robot. They will familiarize themselves with the structure, control, and vision sub-systems. The vision subsystem will be the focus of the mobile robotic build. The Tetrix Urban Search and Rescue robot is a real-time image-processing engine. It has a vision sub-system with on-board processor and a protocol interface that is accessible through a standard wireless connection. Programming is not required in this
more » ... esson as the robot is 100% remote controlled. Motivation Stereo visual odometery is using one camera to navigate an unknown terrain, avoid obstacles, and image matching/mapping. Streaming video is seen by a human operator to map unknown environments such as the ocean floor, underground caverns, or planetary environments. Robot ground vehicles with cameras are being used on Mars rovers to map the terrain. The vision system has evolved from an "extra credit" capability to a critical vehicle safety system [1]. Robots with similar systems are utilized on underwater submersibles to study marine life and deep ocean environments. The computer vision systems on robots determine a fixed point from which to start. The camera "sees" the next focal point and transmits the collected data for human evaluation. The computer vision system (camera) has become a popular mainstay among many industries such as law enforcement, tourism, entertainment, military strategy, surveying, search and rescue teams and communication. "In GPS-denied environments, such as underwater and aerial, VO has utmost importance." [2] Students will discover during this lesson how to track an object using a single stereo input, determine local based on multi -angled images, and applications for the computer vision system.
doi:10.18260/1-2--27759 fatcat:xcdsn7sz55arlbyvruvcvlpoce