thereisaroboticslaboratoryintianjinuniversityof.docVIP

Omni-vision based autonomous mobile robotic platform Zuoliang Cao*a, Jun Hu *a, Jin Cao**b, Ernest L. Hall***c aTianjin University of Technology, Tianjin / China; bFatwire Corporation, New York /USA; cUniversity of Cincinnati, Cincinnati/ USA ABSTRACT As a laboratory demonstration platform, TUT-I mobile robot provides various experimentation modules to demonstrate the robotics technologies that are involved in remote control, computer programming, teach-and-playback operations. Typically, the teach-and-playback operation has been proved to be an effective solution especially in structured environments. The path generated in the teach mode and path correction in real-time using path error detecting in the playback mode are demonstrated. The vision-based image database is generated as the given path representation in the teaching procedure. The algorithm of an online image positioning is performed for path following. Advanced sensory capability is employed to provide environment perception. A unique omni directional vision (omni-vision) system is used for localization and navigation. The omni directional vision involves an extremely wide-angle lens, which has the feature that a dynamic omni-vision image is processed in real time to respond the widest view during the movement. The beacon guidance is realized by observing locations of points derived from over-head features such as predefined light arrays in a building. The navigation approach is based upon the omni-vision characteristics. A group of ultrasonic sensors is employed for obstacle avoidance. Keywords: Mobile robot, omni directional vision, navigation, teach-and-playback, image database. 1. INTRODUCTION The robotics laboratory is a major research division of Tianjin University of Technology (TUT). It is equipped with an industrial robot work cell and a mobile robotic platform with a series of lab-demo system modules. The TUT mobile robotic platform, as a wheel-based demo system, was developed t