A Mobile Robot For Modeling The World In 3D 115
Roland Piquepaille writes "A German team from Fraunhofer AIS has coupled a fast autonomous robot with a 3D laser scanner to digitize the environment. The team reports about their work in this article, one of fifteen on the subject of machine perception published by ERCIM News. "Kurt3D is an autonomous mobile robot equipped with a reliable and precise 3D laser scanner that digitalizes environments. High quality geometric 3D maps with semantic information are automatically generated after the exploration by the robot." This overview tells you more about the four-step method used to generate 3D models with this robot and contains several pictures of Kurt3D and its 3D laser."
Obligatory comment (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Obligatory comment (Score:1, Funny)
Or will vicious tuna be enough?
Re:Obligatory comment (Score:2)
I believe if you check the contract specs, ... (Score:2)
Re:I believe if you check the contract specs, ... (Score:1)
Re:Obligatory comment (Score:1)
Re:Obligatory comment (Score:1)
Jason
Evil Robots Inc.
Technology for a Darker Tomorrow
Out of curiousity... (Score:4, Interesting)
I also can't help wondering how it models the tops of things - it looks like it's fairly squat.
What's the advantage of a robot like this versus describing every object by hand, as 3d animators do (typically in some kind of interpreted language).
It seems like writing "there's a sphere of radius 3 centered here" would take less time than waiting for the robot to scan it.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:4, Informative)
--matt
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:1)
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:4, Informative)
Most laser scanners for close scanning (cm to several meters) use triangulation. Wide FOV versions can have ~1 mm precision and cover medium volumes. Narrow FOV versions can be precise to ~0.025-0.1 mm but often can only see at very close range (~10 cm to 1 m) over small volumes. One exception is the autosyncronous scanner from NRC of Canada [iit.nrc.ca] that can measure on the order of 25 microns (~0.025 mm) over large volumes and a wide FOV, by using a narrow FOV camera that automatically follows the laser spot across a wide FOV. This also makes it "random access" which means it doesn't have to do raster scans (but can) but can trace out any shape you want.
Neptec Design Group [neptec.com] has developed one of these for use in space [nrc-cnrc.gc.ca]. Right now, Neptec's laser scanner is being included as a required 3D scanner for analyzing the shuttle thermal protective system on orbit (tiles, RCC panels) for return-to-flight, as a result of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report [www.caib.us].
A good review of TOF and triangulation scanners (and structured light / fringe), including commercially available ones, is given in this paper [iit.nrc.ca], and here [geomagic.com] is a good list of some scanners and their type.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:5, Informative)
It seems like writing "there's a sphere of radius 3 centered here" would take less time than waiting for the robot to scan it.
well, it's like the difference between what the public perceives a dictionary as, and what a dictionary actually is.
For instance, when I was a senior in high school, Webster's started including the word ain't. Now some teachers were very upset by it while others were ecstatic.
Then my english teacher put it in perspective.
Many people belive that dictionaries define a language. They do not. They describe a language.
Same thing here. Sure you could model a building by hand, but what you get is a definition of an ideal building. Whereas 3-D laser scanning describes the building as it is, very precisely.
Real world examples where this is a good thing?
Well recently they did some 3-D scans of stonehenge. The scan data was precise enough to show markings on many stones that had never been seen before (too shallow / worn)
Or imagine a world of the future based on some form of 3d on-demand printing that's cheaper and stronger than traditional fabrication. We already have that in certain fields, BTW... it's quickly growing to be universal. You have a 3D laser system that precisely measures an existing building, and then a printer that prints new structures to be joined to the building instantly, automatically precisely sized and positioned.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:3, Funny)
Take a digitized model of your house and import it into Quake.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:1)
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:2)
Definitely - I'd say the vacuum cleaner is an autonomous bot's "killer app".
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:2)
Take a digitized model of your house and import it into Quake.
I think the office/workplace would be much better!
(I only have a 1br, so it would get old, fast)
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:2)
Except the players are the size of cockroaches...
Lotsa fun!
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:1)
If a grad student is modeling a bridge, he will realistically describe it in 3D (allowing him to incorporate things like material strength) rather than building a model and having a robot scan it. But of course the real world is different.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:4, Insightful)
Modeling the tops of things is probably going to be a disadvantage for this one, but typically shape and height are enough for most scenarios, what the top looks like is not usually as much of an issue (though we can likely determine if the top is round/triangular/flat if we can get far enough away).
The advantage of this over an animator's definition is accuracy. If you want an exact 3d model of a building for, say architectual purposes, you want to know exactly where that sphere is in the room, not some abstract rendition by an artist (not to mention that my office has no spheres in it, but much more complex objects instead.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:3, Insightful)
The advantages of having a robot do this type of work rather than a typical 3D animator are several. First, they can work anytime, at odd hours. Second, robots don't ask for a raise. Third, they don't take shortcuts unless they're programmed to. Can't say the same for any 3d modell
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:2)
You make it sound like a natural contradiction, I just wanted to point out that there are of course infrared lasers [crystalaser.com] too.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:1)
Thus we have MASERs and GRASERs for other wavelengths.
Out of this World (Score:1)
What if the site is the Moon? Or Mars?
Re:Out of this World (Score:2)
Re:Out of this World (Score:2)
Sometimes the most obvious answers are the funniest
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:3, Informative)
The distance to objects is determined using a technique called "time of flight measurement" so yes, it's basically the time it takes for the laser to reflect.
We considered using one of these when building a mobile robot a while ago but they are quite expensive and we ended up with... Well... A robot without laser range finders.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:2)
Is there any mention of that in the site? I couldn't find any reference to the technique used, but simply measuring the time it takes to reflect doesn't seem compatible with the resolution they mentioned, 10mm. This translates to a 3 picoseconds resolution in measuring time, or a 30 GHz clock frequency in the counter.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:1)
Here's some interesting reading:
Pulsed time-of-flight laser rangefinding [herkules.oulu.fi]
Fast acquiring and analysis of three dimensional laser range data [ais.fhg.de]
The second one is by the german guys in the article.
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:1)
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Out of curiousity... (Score:2)
Think about that again. Considering the resolution of a "laser camera," the only things that exist that are spheres are the sun & moon (the robot can't gat far enough away from Earth to recognize it as a sphere). Everything else is complex and would NOT be as simple as saying "there's a sphere of radius 3 centered here."
Think about how long it took computer games to look
One practical use... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:One practical use... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:One practical use... (Score:1)
Re:One practical use... (Score:2)
Give each player VR glasses - transparent ones, so we can alpha with the natural environment. Now, scan the building with the robot to do collision detection and occlusion detection for simulated objects such as projectiles and monsters.
Re:One practical use... (Score:3, Interesting)
In addition to automatically building Quake maps for the building of your choice, it would help make up for my terrible sense of direction indoors. I get turned around in houses the first time I visit. Larger structures like hospitals and schools are downright labyrynthine. Having a map that builds itself during my travels (a la the self-revealing map in an RPG) would be a boon.
My v
Re:One practical use... (Score:2)
Re:One practical use... (Score:2)
Robots (Score:4, Funny)
This made me chuckle, to think we'd be getting replacements for management, in the form of cute robots that can't talk.
I'm waiting for a robot I can fight martial arts with. Any chance of us getting one of those?
It's nice to hear things about stuff like Kurt3D. I remember when I used to think R2-D2 would be hela cool to have around as a buddy.
He could tweet and chirp away while I explained that moisture vaporators are not the same as carbon units.
Re:Robots (Score:3, Informative)
Here you go. [slashdot.org]
Re:Robots (Score:1, Interesting)
The pre-Qing Dynasty Shaolin Temple (ie prior to destruction) is rumoured to have had a hall of wooden men, basically articulated attack puppets actuated by a mechanism triggered by pressure plates on the floor. Monks had to go through this hallway to "graduate". IIRC there were 18 such dummies, each which had a specific method of attack.
If this legend is true, the engineering boggles the mind.
In the mean time,
Not good for the construction industry (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Not good for the construction industry (Score:1)
I'm looking forward to my house being built like the plans though not an inch off here or there.
Re:Not good for the construction industry (Score:1)
Re:Not good for the construction industry (Score:1)
Digitize the environment? (Score:5, Funny)
I, for one, do NOT welcome our human form replicated robot overlords. Who's with me? John and Sarah Conner? That makes three. Who else?
Find the power plug (Score:5, Interesting)
I remember years and years ago, a robot had been developed that could optically recognize a power outlet and plug itself in... but I don't think it did much else. This would have been early 80s, probably, so we're talking Z-80 vs. Pentium.
Future recognition goals:
* Refrigerator door (fetch beer, please)
* Small child (danger! sticky fingers! run away!)
* Other robots for romantic interludes:
(IF Query(Other_Bot, EXCHANGE_CODE) == TRUE Extend_Programming_Probe(Other_Bot))
Re:Find the power plug (Score:2, Flamebait)
(IF Query(Other_Bot, EXCHANGE_CODE) == TRUE Extend_Programming_Probe(Other_Bot))
A truly intelligent robot that queries another machine and receives the Exchange code as a response would cut off it's own programming probe as opposed to interacting with such a dangerous piece of code...
I mean who wants Welchia on their robot?
Kurt3D *sucks* in practice. (Score:5, Funny)
Also, I am now blind.
Re:SCO warning (Score:2, Funny)
Re:SCO warning (Score:2)
Wait. How do we make lasers again? My memory is a little fuzzy.
Re:SCO warning (Score:2)
Re:SCO warning (Score:1)
Re:SCO warning (Score:2)
But of course, you are in mensa, so I a
Mobile? (Score:1, Insightful)
As is, it is limited to ex
Re:Mobile? (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, the stated purpose of this thing says nothing about it being used outdoors or to model large-scale terrain features. I mean, that's implicit in its design. This thing is designed to reproduce controlled environments.
And I don't know why you would think that is limiting! Maybe if you're thinking from the standpoint of a modeller/animator. Or maybe you just read the headline, and said 'omg it si small it cannot model WORLD omgomgomg'.
I see a couple of truly kickass uses for this thing. The first is adding texturing ability (you'd probably have to get dozens and dozens of scans, and have some good algorithms, to come up with good and relatively complete texturing, but I gotta' think that would be trivial compared to the sorts of problems they've already solved in making this thing -- and you wouldn't have to recreate the mesh each time, just sync up the coordinates with the one already created.
Ok, the use I see:
Crime scenes.
Bring in, hell, let's say 20 of these. Maybe some of them would be able to raise themselves up (heh, little accordioning platform for the recording mechanism, right out of the cartoons). They would roll around, sense out the room, figure out optimal placements, and then they would all scan the room, creating a near-perfect model of the room, perhaps mere hours of minutes after a crime has taken place. The cops would seal off the room, and the recorders would laboriusly record and texture everything about the room, down to the finest details.
Sure, it wouldn't catch a fingerprint or a peice of hair, and the plane/shape detection that is done actually removes some of the captured information (also removes some 'noise', but the forensic work they'd probably prefer a little noise to averaging out potentially important information) -- but the bottom line is, there wouldn't be a need for crime scene 'reconstruction', from photographs and little sketches and things that come after the fact. This would be absolutely accurate, more accurate than subjective information relayed secondhand from paid expert testimony. "How close would you say they were probably standing, from this photograph of bloodstains?"
So just in forensics alone, I see massive potential.
Maping 3D from video would be better (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Maping 3D from video would be better (Score:1)
Do you happen to have any links to good information on extracting 3d from 2d video?
Re:Maping 3D from video would be better (Score:1)
I didn't catch all of the segment but apparently it is done by comparing the distances that objects move on screen, i.e. closer objects move faster then those that are farther away.
It makes a
Re:Maping 3D from video would be better (Score:1)
Laser range finders are not that exciting. Kind of stuff you buy pre built. Unless you do some interesting processing with the data, it's nothing new, but always fun to play with.
Re:Maping 3D from video would be better (Score:1)
good for gaming? (Score:2)
Of course, most buildings are pretty boring relative to the game-specific layouts, but hey. It would be a good quick start.
Re:good for gaming? (Score:2)
The issues with gaming data are things like, you know, complexity of the meshes, the insane size of the texture data (since every poly's texture data would be unique if it was captured) -- or, conversely, if you just created the mesh and had people texture it after the fact, your modellers might just rise up and kill you, because that makes their job a lot harder (in games,
Re:good for gaming? (Score:2)
As long as we're dreaming, you might as well make sure that the robot very carefully records the exact lighting levels, directions, and tints, and then "subtract" those
Speaking of the Matrix (Score:1)
Re:good for gaming? (Score:1)
Now give it wings (Score:2, Interesting)
Just power this thing up, let i
They're just using a SICK LMS on a tilt head (Score:5, Insightful)
The Franhofer Institute has been doing some nice work with MEMS mirrors, and I was expecting something new from them.
There's a very nice true 3D solid state rangefinder out of Switzerland, but it's a continuous beam device and thus very limited in range. Works fine indoors, though.
Imaging laser rangefinder technology is lousy, because product volume is so low. Five companies have exited the field in the last decade. There are several mechanical scanners available, all using scanning technologies abandoned by television in the 1940s. All-electronic solutions have been developed as prototypes, but they're not shipping yet.
Once this problem is cracked, mobile robotics is going to get much better.
Re:They're just using a SICK LMS on a tilt head (Score:2)
Re:They're just using a SICK LMS on a tilt head (Score:2)
Re:They're just using a SICK LMS on a tilt head (Score:1)
Check those [cyra.com] out. They are kind of slow (~10min per scan), but very accurate (+/- 3mm error; range is up to 100m).
Re:They're just using a SICK LMS on a tilt head (Score:1)
Any military uses so far? (Score:1)
Why don't they do that? (Score:1)
Re:Why don't they do that? (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/ [nasa.gov]
Re:Why don't they do that? (Score:1)
Excellent (Score:2)
Re:Excellent (Score:1)
If you had an array of RFID transcievers in different rooms, perhaps you're not that far from being able to let your home find something you lost. Or send your little robot pal with the RFID transciever to find it for you...
similar idea (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:similar idea (Score:2)
Similar projects (Score:2, Informative)
The AVENUE Project [columbia.edu] at Columbia University had an earlier implementation for modeling urban sites.
Also check out The MIT City Scanning Project [mit.edu].
Similarly (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.ai.sri.com/centibots/
which also uses LADAR-bots.
In defense, there's a lot of interest in LADAR as well, because with an actual 3D image of the target area you can do autonomous target recognition and acquisition off something like a UAV. I think most LADARs right now are raster scan (i.e., one beam that sweeps left to right and then down, like a TV), but I've seen that people are working on flash LADAR (one big "pop" like a flashbulb and then all the info co
Great! (Score:2)
Dangerous Environments (Score:2)
For example, after 9/11, engineers had a hell of a time figuring out the situation below ground level at the World Trade Center site -- people got hurt exploring down there. Far better to send in a robot.
Granted, this version of the robot isn't sufficiently capable, but future versions might well be.
Is this new?? (Score:2, Informative)
I was told the 3D Mapper was from SGI, but I have a feeling they provided the computers, not the mapping technology. Also, the resulting 3D environment could be explored via a VR helmet and gloves. Pretty slick stuff, I have video of it somewhere.
Other groups doing similar (Score:2, Informative)
Purpose of This Robot (Score:2, Informative)
Fraunhaufer eh? (Score:1)