Visual registration for robotic operations on space shuttle tiles

Jeff L. DeCurtins; Cregg K. Cowan

doi:10.1117/12.131708

1 November 1992 Visual registration for robotic operations on space shuttle tiles

Jeff L. DeCurtins, Cregg K. Cowan

Proceedings Volume 1829, Cooperative Intelligent Robotics in Space III; (1992) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.131708
Event: Applications in Optical Science and Engineering, 1992, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

Refurbishing the thermal-protection tiles on a space shuttle before each mission is a lengthy and labor-intensive process. A mobile robot is being developed (described elsewhere) to perform two of the required maintenance operations on the bottom side of the shuttle: (1) injection of a hydrophobic fluid, to prevent tiles from absorbing water, and (2) visual inspection, to detect anomalous tile conditions. Both operations depend on precise positioning of the robot end effector with respect to each tile. We describe our method for precise visual registration. The technique first detects the edges of the tile (whose approximate shape and dimensions are given from CAD data) and then uses correspondence between visual features in the post- and pre-flight images to improve the registration accuracy. Results on actual tile images are presented.

Citation Download Citation

Jeff L. DeCurtins and Cregg K. Cowan "Visual registration for robotic operations on space shuttle tiles", Proc. SPIE 1829, Cooperative Intelligent Robotics in Space III, (1 November 1992); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.131708

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