Active Illumination for Robot Vision

A vision sensor is the robot\´s eye to perceive its environment, but the perception performance can be significantly affected by illumination conditions. This paper presents strategies of adaptive illumination control for robot vision to achieve the best scene interpretation. It investigates how to obtain the most comfortable illumination conditions for a vision sensor. In a "comfort" condition the image reflects the natural properties of the concerned object. "Discomfort" may occur if some scene information is lost. Strategies are proposed to optimize the pose and optical parameters of the luminaire and the sensor, with emphasis on controlling the intensity and avoiding glare.