Mobile Robot with Wide Capture Active Laser Sensor and Environment Definition

The sensorial system developed is based on the emission of an infrared beam, recovering the reflected beam and measuring distances to significant points in the environment. This system is able to detect and model obstacles in unknown environments. Features of the capture system allow large fields of view to be caught at short distances, aiding the robot's mobility. Several algorithms are used to find the formation centre of the image and so model the distortion introduced by the wide-angle lens. Parameters of the optical model are inserted into the calibration matrix to obtain the camera model. We present also an algorithm which extracts the points on the image that belong to the laser beam. All of the above work is in unknown environments with variable conditions of illumination. The robot's trajectory is obtained and modified in real time, with a splinefunction, using four different reference systems. Finally, empirical tests have been carried out on a mobile platform, using a CCD camera with a wide-angle lens of 65° and 110°, a 15 mW laser emitter and a frame grabber for image processing.