Today I received the sensor that will replace the double webcam to allow to MyzharBot to “see” in 3D. The sensor is the Asus XTion Pro Live. XTion Pro Live is a RGB-D sensor, namely a normal RGB camera which every pixel has depth informations.
Asus XTion Pro Live
Its operation is based on the patent of the Israeli PrimeSense (now acquired and canceled by Apple) that gave birth to the first Microsoft Kinect. The sensor is equipped with an IR emitter which projects a matrix of dots arranged chaotically at first sight, but the arrangement of which is mapped into memory. Each point emitted is acquired from a second camera sensitive to IR frequency. The dot matrix allows to derive via triangulation, with the same principle used in the stereo vision, the distance of each pixel from the plane of the sensor and then create an array of points in the XYZ space each containing information of color.
Thanks to the new sensor MyzharBot will be able to detect obstacle, to identify targets to be reached, to create a map (2D and/or 3D) of the environment and to perform a lot of other tasks.
This is the video of the unboxing of the sensor
