9729844 Allen, Peter Columbia University CISE Research Instrumentation: Acquisition of a Mobile Robot Scanning System This research instrumentation grant contributes to the purchase of a mobile robot scanning system, comprised of a an outdoor, autonomous robot vehicle with a large payload and an on-board centimeter resolution Global Positioning System for accurate location of the vehicle. The instrumentation will enable the following projects:- Automatic 3-D Site Modeling,- Automated Visual Navigation,- Integration of Physical and Virtual Views, and- Optimal Representation and Verbal Description of Large Scale Objects and Path. The mobile scanning equipment acquired will contribute to develop highly accurate 3-D site models that encompass geometric and photometric properties of the scene. There are 4 aspects to this research which require a mobile base robot, an accurate GPS location system, and 2-D and 3-D imaging sensors. First, the models will be built by using the mobile base to acquire images and a new range scan mesh extrusion algorithm will create volumetric models. Sensor planning algorithms will also be developed to determine regions where the robot can navigate to complete a partially built model by further sensing. Second, the robot will be equipped with omnidirectional cameras which can be used for structure-from-motion scene recovery, and model registration research. Third, the system will be used for research on change detection and model evolution on existing models of the environment. The GPS system can provide ground truth for the accuracy of these algorithms, and allow interaction with an existing low-precision human-mounted system for tracking. Fourth, the system will be used as a "guide" through an environment. It can take navigational and environmental queries in verbal/gestural form, and present its findings about the objects of interest in the scene in natural language.
