The intent of this multimedia monograph is to disclose in a tutorial fashion essential aspects of the research conducted over the course of the last eight years with support from the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR). The monograph is divided into two parts. At the present stage of construction, five major sections of Part I are complete, with several substantive sections still under construction, while in Part II all but a few subsections are essentially complete.

As of 11/1/94, the monograph contains 13 videos of experiments conducted using ONR funding (N00014-91-J-1054, N00014-94-1-0934) as well as 6 3-D animations. There is also, as of 11/1, one video made at JPL which shows camera-space manipulation as it was applied in a rock-sample engagement task for the Mars lander. Copyright 1994, Steven B. Skaar, all rights reserved. Please direct any comments to Steven.B.Skaar.1@nd.edu.

Part I: Camera Space Manipulation

Part I relates to the positioning of a rigid body in three-dimensional space relative to a specific, second body accomplished with either a holonomic system, such as a typical industrial robot, or a nonholonomic system, such as a forklift.

(Quicktime Video 1.6 Mb or MPEG Video 1.1 Mb)

Pallet-stacking represents a typical task for camera-space manipulation. Initially, the pallet to be engaged has an arbitrary, unknown position and orientation. Each engaged pallet must be placed precisely above another pallet, likewise with arbitrary, unknown position and orientation.

Part II: Estimation Based Navigation

Part II relates to the navigation of a vehicle relative to a known environment such as a home, office, or warehouse.

(Quicktime Video 1.7 Mb or MPEG Video 1.6 Mb)

An automatically guided wheelchair (shown at twelve times actual speed in the video above) is an example of the need for precise, reliable, inexpensive, and autonomous navigation.

This monograph contains a number of video illustrations and animations. As the monograph is still under construction, these features are not all in their final form. Wherever possible, the videos and animations are offered in Quicktime and in MPEG format. The Quicktime format generally has better quality, and it supports sound for some of the videos. The MPEG format, however, is more commonly used. If you are using a Macintosh, the Quicktime format will probably offer the best results, whereas for UNIX machines, normally MPEG is the only usable format. Problems may arise with UNIX machines depending upon the color palette of the screen and the colors in the video. If the color scheme of the video appears strange, placing the cursor inside the viewing window may solve the problem.

Below, the videos and animations in this monograph are listed with a brief description of each. They can be located directly from the URL:

http://www.nd.edu/NDInfo/Research/sskaar/

Add movie name (".mov" for Quicktime and ".mpeg" for MPEG):

·                camspace.mov (.mpeg)

- the holonomic robot is shown placing the brake plate in position twice, with a significant change in position and orientation. (video 2 Mb)

·                Comparison.mov (.mpeg)

- the wheelchair is shown traveling a path. Then the wheels fade into a holonomic arm which moves with the same joint rotations. (animation 340 K)

·                Entrance.mov (.mpeg)

- the wheelchair is shown entering the office and traveling to the computer. (video 1.1 Mb)

·                eyeprotac.mov (.mpeg)

- an eye is shown zooming to the actual position of a work piece. (video 1 Mb)

·                graspunc.mov (.mpeg)

- the holonomic robot is shown placing the brake plate on the hub for arbitrary orientations of both. (video 2 Mb)

·                jdscircuit.mov (.mpeg)

- an entire path of the wheelchair is shown at twelve times the normal speed, including a temporary manual override. (video 1.6 Mb)

·                jdswhchair.mov (.mpeg)

- the rider is shown assuming manual control of the wheelchair in order to avoid a trash can in the hallway. (video 2.1 Mb)

·                AniPark.mov (.mpeg)

- the wheelchair is shown executing a parking maneuver. (animation 230 K)

·                mirror.mov (.mpeg)

- the holonomic robot positions the brake plate on the hub with the camera viewing the workspace from its reflection in a mirror. (video 2 Mb)

·                nonholcsm.mov (.mpeg)

- the nonholonomic forklift is shown stacking boxes. (video 1.8 Mb)

·                OldPallet.mov (.mpeg)

- the robotic restacking of small pallets from an incline to a flat surface is shown from a top view. (video 665 K)

·                Palette.mov (.mpeg)

- the stacking of small pallet onto an inclined toy truck is shown with the position and orientation of the truck changing midway through the demonstration. (video 1.1 Mb)

·                Park.mov (.mpeg)

- the wheelchair is shown conducting a parking maneuver, and then the same final position is achieved with the chair attached to a holonomic robotic arm. (animation 670 K)

·                PathPlanning.mov (.mpeg)

- two different wheelchair paths are shown which originate and terminate with the same position and orientation. (animation 140 K)

·                pest.mov (.mpeg)

- the wheelchair is shown in the position where it estimates itself to be, with indication of cue locations by the right and left cameras displayed. (animation 155 K)

·                pingpong.mov (.mpeg)

- a ping pong ball projectile is launched and caught by a mechanism using camera space manipulation. (video 1.4 Mb)

·                ShelfExit.mov (.mpeg)

- the wheelchair is shown traveling from the bookshelf to the desk and out the door. (video 1.6 Mb)

·                Slip.mov (.mpeg)

- the wheelchair is shown traveling up to a desk and undergoing wheel slip in the process. (animation 250 K)

·                Teach.mov (.mpeg)

- a man is shown pushing the wheelchair through the office to teach the path. (video 1 Mb)

·                JPLcompr.mov

- Mars-lander mockup using csm to engage a rock sample. (video 3.5 Mb)