Development of an intelligent LiDAR system for an autonomous greenhouse robotic application

高级智能系统公司(AIS)是温哥华一家专门从事机器人和机器视觉技术的初创工程公司。公司积极投身于工业自动化交钥匙项目、机器人及机器视觉硬件供应和研发项目。该公司目前正在进行一个研发项目，以创建一个自主温室机器人系统。该系统将允许在整个温室内处理和移动陶器。这使得整个温室内植物盆栽的收集、间距或重新排列的密集体力工作可以由智能机器人完成，这些机器人以小组或个人的形式执行其任务。这项技术可以极大地提高产量和产量，同时在安全性、准确性、可靠性和可用性方面降低运营成本和劳动力风险。高级智能系统公司正在通过Engage计划寻求帮助，为这个自主温室机器人系统开发一种智能LiDAR(从“雷达”和“光”中提取的术语)系统。激光雷达是一种遥感技术，通过用激光照射目标并分析反射光来测量距离。AIS计划与过去20年来一直致力于各种类似传感器技术项目的SFU机电系统工程学院的Golnaraghi博士合作，研究将激光扫描系统用作LiDAR系统的可行性，设计适当的算法来识别目标位置。该项目的下一阶段将是在机器人设备中利用该系统进行拾取和放置操作。AIS目前正在为下一阶段开发机器人系统(不在当前项目的范围内)。在这方面，这项研究的目标是规范一个适当的激光雷达系统，对该系统进行编程，以检测障碍物和识别物体以进行拾取和放置操作。拟议的活动将使加拿大的农业和制造业受益。拟议的系统是该公司开发自动化产品的基础，不仅用于温室和农业应用，而且用于工业应用(例如，机械加工应用中的装卸工作件)。

Advanced Intelligent Systems Inc. (AIS) is a Vancouver start-up engineering firm specialized in Robotics and machine vision technologies. The company is active in industrial automation turn key projects, robotics and machine vision hardware supply and R&D projects. The company is currently engaged in an R&D project to create an autonomous greenhouse robotic system. This system will allow handling and moving of potteries throughout the greenhouses. This allows intensive physical work for collection, spacing or rearrangement of plant pots throughout the greenhouse, to be performed by intelligent robots that perform their tasks in group or on individual basis. This technology can highly increase the production and yield, while lowering the operating costs, and labor risks in terms of safety, accuracy, reliability and availability. Advanced Intelligent Systems Inc. is seeking assistance in development of an intelligent LiDAR (term extracted from "radar" and "light") system for this autonomous greenhouse robotic system through ENGAGE program. LiDAR is a remote sensing technology that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and analyzing the reflected light. AIS plans to collaborate with the Dr. Golnaraghi, at the School Mechatronic Systems Engineering at SFU who has been working on various similar sensor technologies projects over the past twenty years, to look into the feasibility of a laser scanning system for use as a LiDAR system, design appropriate algorithms to identify target positions. Utilization of the system in a robotic device for pick and place operations will be next phase of the project. AIS is currently developing the robotic system for the next phase (outside the scope of the current project). In this respect, the goal of this study is to spec a proper LiDAR system, programming the system for detecting obstacles and for identifying objects for pick and place operations. The proposed activity will benefit Canada's agricultural and manufacturing industries. The proposed system is the building block for the company to develop automation products not only for greenhouses and agricultural applications, but for industrial applications (e.g. loading and unloading work pieces in machining applications).