The Application of Visual Sensing to Robotic Workcells

This paper surveys uses made of visual feedback in a variety of robotic assembly tasks undertaken at Hull over the past six years. Vision has been used on these projects to provide inspection, the location of components with uncertain positions, and for process monitoring. The practical experiences gained from this work are used to illustrate factors such as camera choice and location, the effects of pixel topology and problems with calibration. The availability of a multitude of sensors to cope with impecisely defined environments has implications for the workcell organisation and control.