An industrial robot navigating an environment requires an internal representation of the environment that it is navigating. This project will provide an internal environment representation in the form of a 3D graphical model. The robot will use this model to visualize what the environment should look like in order to compare with the real images taken from its camera. An evaluation of the robots location within the environment is drawn from the comparisons between visualization and real imagery.

This project aims to discover what exactly about a building site a robot needs to know in order to visually navigate. This student during this project will need to offer decision making ability in the 3D graphic model design process. Providing solutions to enable efficient but effective model creation. In addition to model creation, will be the integration of the model into a robotic system. Using the knowledge gained about the modeling process during the project it is expected that student will be able to offer opinion on how to use the model effectively within a robotic visual navigation system.

What is the vacation scholar going to learn through this project?

3D graphics is a large and active research domain. The student will need to be familiar with the following concepts either prior to the start or within the first few weeks of the project:

• graphics programming language/development framework

• geometric primitives

• photometric theory

• lighting

• colour

• diffuse & specular reflectance

 Besides these 3D modeling skills, this vacation project will provide a useful exposure into a leading robotic laboratory. Following are a list of advanced robotics concepts that are core aspects of the project which the student will learn:

•  localization

•  uncertainty

•  visual recognition