1:55 pm Laser Rangefinder
The plan is to use the webcam and a laser to determine how far an object is from the robot. We wanted to use a horizontal laser line so multiple distance measurements could be made from each frame. The laser line proved to be too faint for the camera to detect it, even when various sets of filters are applied. A budget of 30 dollars was given to find a new laser that is bright enough for our purposes. A quick search proved that there were two options available, 5mW lasers, which is the one being used, or a 200mW laser diode off a DVD burner with no options in between. After further research, a 200mW laser proved to be a little too dangerous for our needs. If you’re curious on the capabilities of a 200mW laser, check out http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Flashlight-Hack!!/
For now, the line generating lens is removed from the laser so initial development of the image processing algorithm could begin.
We currently trying to implement the “webcam based DIY laser rangefinder” available at http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~twd25/webcam_laser_ranger.html The algorithm for finding the red dot is to detect the brightest-colored red pixel in the picture. Since there are no filters in Roborealm that fit our needs, a separate filter must to be created. Writing a program for roborealm allows us to focus on image processing and not worry about the webcam interface.
-Howard