Fast And Versatile Range Data Acquisition In A Robot Work Cell

Abstract

The paper presents a new concept for the flexible integration of a range sensor into a robot work cell. The sensor itself is based on the Coded Light Approach, which is well- known as a fast and robust active triangulation technique. We propose a depth-eye-in-hand configuration, in which the camera is mounted on the robot's hand while one or more projectors are installed rigidly with respect to the robot's base. The initial calibration of the involved system components is discussed in detail. In addition to this, since the configuration of the optical components changes with the movement of the robot, a fast re- calibration of the optical setup as well as an efficient realization of the triangulation is presented. Detailed experimental results reveal the speed of the range data acquisition as well as the accuracy of the calculated range values.