Virtual Environment Interfaces to Physical Environments: A Tool for Cooperative Research in Experimental Robotics

目标是开发一个计算机系统，以支持地理上分开的研究人员在机器人技术方面进行合作实验研究。该系统在智能规划者的控制下使用视觉技术获取实验发生的物理环境的视觉模型（结合3d数据和纹理图）。它提供了实时图形渲染的实验在研究人员的图形工作站沿个别选择的观点。因此，每个研究人员都可以使用他/她自己的可控虚拟摄像机观察实验。最初的探索将集中在设想系统的一个主要组成部分，即实验机器人站点的3d模型的自动构建。这将用于分析在设想的系统的其他组件中也会遇到的基本问题，特别是不确定性对用户和远程实验站点之间交互的影响。这是宾夕法尼亚大学GRASP实验室的R. Bajcsy和斯坦福大学的J. C. Latombe的合作成果。

The goal is to develop a computer system to support geographically separated researchers performing cooperative experimental research in robotics. This system uses vision techniques under the control of smart planners to acquire a visual model (combining 3-D data and texture maps) of the physical environment where the experiment takes place. It provides real-time graphic renderings of the experiments on the researchers' graphic workstations along individually selected viewpoints. Hence, each researcher is able to OBSERVE the experiments using his/her own controllable virtual camera. The initial exploration will focus on one major component of the envisioned system, the automatic construction of a 3-D model of an experimental robotic site. This will be used to analyze basic issues that will also be encountered in the other components of the envisioned system, in particular the effect of uncertainty on the interaction between a user and a remote experimental site. This is a collaborative effort between R. Bajcsy of the GRASP laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania and J. C. Latombe at Stanford University.