초록 ▼

A laser-directed ranging system for use in telerobotics applications and other applications involving physically handicapped individuals. The ranging system includes a left and right video camera mounted on a camera platform, and a remotely positioned operator. The position of the camera platform is

A laser-directed ranging system for use in telerobotics applications and other applications involving physically handicapped individuals. The ranging system includes a left and right video camera mounted on a camera platform, and a remotely positioned operator. The position of the camera platform is controlled by three servo motors to orient the roll axis, pitch axis and yaw axis of the video cameras, based upon an operator input such as head motion. A laser is provided between the left and right video camera and is directed by the user to point to a target device. The images produced by the left and right video cameras are processed to eliminate all background images except for the spot created by the laser. This processing is performed by creating a digital image of the target prior to illumination by the laser, and then eliminating common pixels from the subsequent digital image which includes the laser spot. The horizontal disparity between the two processed images is calculated for use in a stereometric ranging analysis from which range is determined.

대표청구항 ▼

An apparatus for determining range to a target, comprising: a directional light source operable to selectively illuminate a portion of a target to selectively create an illuminated spot on said target; a first video camera for capturing a first digital image of said spot; a second video camera for c

An apparatus for determining range to a target, comprising: a directional light source operable to selectively illuminate a portion of a target to selectively create an illuminated spot on said target; a first video camera for capturing a first digital image of said spot; a second video camera for capturing a second digital image of said spot; and a computer operably associated with said first video camera and said second video camera for determining the range to said target by comparing said first and said digital images to determine disparity, wherein the range is determined from a look-up table for the determined disparity value.