Integrating 3D features and virtual visual servoing for hand-eye and humanoid robot pose estimation

In this paper, we propose an approach for vision-based pose estimation of a robot hand or full-body pose. The method is based on virtual visual servoing using a CAD model of the robot and it combines 2-D image features with depth features. The method can be applied to estimate either the pose of a robot hand or pose of the whole body given that its joint configuration is known. We present experimental results that show the performance of the approach as demonstrated on both a mobile humanoid robot and a stationary manipulator.