Helping robots see with lasers
In order to “see” and respond to its environment as it navigates around a city, says Spletzer, a robot must possess two things: sensors that detect and recognize familiar landmarks and a database with maps that show where those landmarks will be.
Spletzer and his students have taken a cue from Google Street View, which allows Internet users to take virtual tours of distant cities, block by block and building by building, by looking at thousands of stored images. These images are of little use to robots equipped with lasers, says Spletzer, because robots do not see what humans see. But the concept is applicable to the robotic wheelchair.
“To create Google Street View, people drive vehicles around cities, take thousands of images and make maps. We’re making similar maps that are useful for robots, not people. Our robots respond to different cues than humans respond to. Whereas people see the real world and all its details, robots using lasers recognize things like poles and building corners that reduce to a very exact point and are thus easy to track.”
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