*** 9660183 Kortenkamp This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to develop a stereo vision system that can perform pursuit and obstacle avoidance functions for a mobile robot. Visual sensing has long been a significant obstacle to deploying truly autonomous mobile robots. Existing vision systems are either too slow or too expensive. The focus of this effort is to concentrate system resources in cubic volumes of space called proximity spaces. Within the bounds of this space an array of stereo and motion measurements are made in order to determine which regions of the space are occupied by surface material, and what the spatial and temporal disparities are within those regions. This project will look at extending an approach to pursuit and obstacle avoidance for mobile robots. This will improve the flexibility and safety of current robotic systems and increase the range of tasks to which robots can be applied. This product will have wide applications in the emerging service robotics industry, hazardous waste inspection and clean-up, service robotics (i.e., delivery, security, warehousing), research robots, and the entertainment industry. ***
