<title>Development of a practical scanning laser radar for robotic bin picking</title>

Abstract

Researchers have long recognized that robust solutions to many difficult image analysis tasks might be achieved if image data could be acquired as range mapped (3-D) representations of the scene. Research published as early as 1976 reported the demonstration of a range mapping imager based on laser radar. Perceptron has recently developed a commercially practical scanning laser radar capable of rapid acquisition of range mapped images. This technology has been applied to the development of an autonomous robotic bin picking work cell. The work cell and the laser radar system are described. Additional current applications of the scanning laser radar are also mentioned.