About VBASR
The Project
____Computer vision is
defined as making useful decisions about real physical objects and
scenes based on sensed images. Humans generally take the details of
eyesight and the amount of information naturally derived from sight for
granted. Machine vision
incorporates artificial (not necessarily intelligent) systems with image
processing systems. The
design of this project is to develop an autonomous vehicle with computer
vision its primary sensor for gaining information about its environment.
____For most
intelligent machines (vehicles) the capability of understanding the
visual world is a prerequisite. Typically autonomous vehicles have many different types of
sensors all operating simultaneously. This project will use a camera (such as a webcam) for navigation
and obstacle avoidance as well as other tasks the robot must perform.
____Applications for this type of technology are
numerous. This particular
design will be used as a security robot. At the most complex level this autonomous vehicle will receive a
signal indicating that a disturbance in a particular room has been
discovered. The Vision-Based
Autonomous Security Robot (VBASR) will then travel to that room and
investigate, taking pictures of any culprits that it locates there. After the task has been completed it will return to its charging
station.
The Designer - Kevin Farney
____I am a student at Bradley University and will graduate
with a BS in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Math in May 2010.