An autonomous computer peripheral for active 3D vision

A peripheral device to a computer is described which is being developed to perform the task of 3D vision autonomously without 'perception' of the scene. The fully integrated, stand-alone hardware front-end employs the active vision technique known as 'strip-lighting' to provide 3D position data for analysis. This front-end provides data within a unique set of 3D co-ordinates. The best of a range of procedures for direct segmentation is combined with a region-growing procedure within the unique co-ordinates to demonstrate the instrument. Results from prepared scenes are presented here which demonstrate the performance of the first prototype. These results show the success of the instrumentation approach to 3D vision acquisition and preliminary analysis. The results also provide a guide for the next stage in the development of this complex instrument.