This award provides funds to purchase a compact, lightweight rangefinder for use on a robot arm. The research supported by the arm with the rangefinder includes the development of algorithms to recover superquadrics from depth data, evaluation of the quality of various "shape-from-" algorithms, investigation of the use of real- time sensor feedback to control assembly and parts mating activities using a hand mounted scanner, and the development of algorithms using the sensor data for intelligent grasping tasks. The use of multiple information sources is characteristic of much of the current research in robotics. A rangefinder, capable of real time data acquisition, mounted on a robot arm provides the capability, through moving the arm, of obtaining accurate three dimensional surface data. Two distinct types of research are supported under this award. The first is the development of algorithms that will use the rangefinder and the robot arm motion to obtain three dimensional information, in real time, about the objects being examined. The second type of research is to incorporate the additional information into algorithms for grasping and assembling objects.
