Loughborough team develops real-time 3D vision technology for robotics and surgery

The Robot Eyes project within the Loughborough University’s Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering has seen the creation of a bespoke micro-structured optical element that, when coupled with a high-speed projector and camera, allows robots to capture the 3D shape of moving objects one hundred times faster than current commercial systems.

The advance is said to allow structured light patterns to be projected onto objects at very high frame rates enabling billions of 3D coordinates to be captured per second. This 3D data is displayed in real-time using GPU accelerated software.

The development could see changes in the way robot-assisted surgeries are carried out, whilst also providing more efficient methods for automation of manufacturing and recycling processes.

In a statement, senior research associate in Optical Metrology, Dr Russ Coggrave, said: “Our systems are based on the principle of projecting structured light onto the object surface, with the surface profile distorting those patterns. The images we then capture from those distorted patterns allow us to decode and extract the 3D shape of the surface.