Optical positioning reference

Description

This object was designed such that a single image of it contains the information necessary to calculate the relative location of the camera used to capture the image. It is intended to be printed using a standard colour printer, and then folded into shape and affixed to e.g. a wall etc. This design was inspired by the potential of remote-controlled, camera-equipped vehicles such as the Parrot AR drone (http://www.parrot.com/). While these systems can theoretically be fully computer controlled using dead-reckoning to navigate (IIRC the Parrot has available Linux drivers), inevitable errors in positioning will accumulate, preventing the drone from making long distance runs, returning to a charging station, etc. The idea here is to permit the drone to navigate autonomously and periodically correct its position by capturing images of strategically located reference markers. The black and white border (A) provides a high contrast identifier and sets the reference frame, while the red, green and blue corners break rotational and reflective (in case your drone sees one in a mirror) symmetry. The angled blue / yellow panels in B permit distinguishing between the angled view from one side vs the other (or a bit above vs a bit below), and the raised central area C contains whatever data you wish to put on it. This version contains a QR code linking back to this site, however you could substitute simple identifier codes to distinguish reference markers at different locations, or any other data you want. Possible applications include anything from autonomous orienteering challenges (each marker displays the instructions to find the next marker) to home security systems (for example a drone patrolling your hackerspace at night, updating its location by capturing images of unique positioning references in each room, and returning to a 3D printed dock/charging station as needed to top up its batteries).

Statistics

Category

Tags