Most robotic grasping tasks assume a stationary or fixed object. In this paper, we explore the requirements for tracking and grasping a moving object. The focus of our work is to achieve a high level of interaction between a real-time vision system capable of tracking moving objects in 3-D and a robot arm equipped with a dexterous hand that can be used pick up a moving object. We are interested in exploring the interplay of hand-eye coordination for dynamic grasping tasks such as grasping of parts on a moving conveyor system, assembly of articulated parts or for grasping from a mobile robotic system. Coordination between an organism's sensing modalities and motor control system is a hallmark of intelligent behavior, and we are pursuing the goal of building an integrated sensing and actuation system that can operate in dynamic as opposed to static environments. The system we have built addresses three distinct problems in robotic hand-eye coordination for grasping moving objects: fast computation of 3-d motion parameters from vision, predictive control of moving robotic arm to track a moving oblect, and grasp planning. The system is able to operate at approximately human arm movement rates, and we present experimenatl result in which a moving model train is tracked, stably grasped, and picked up by the system. The algorithms we have developed that relate sensing to actuation are quite general and applicable to a variety of complex robotic tasks that require visual feedback for arm and hand control.

This paper examines the problem of a moving robot tracking a moving object with its cameras, without requiring the ability to recognize the target to distinguish it from distracting surroundings. A novel aspect of the approach taken is the use of controlled camera movements to simplify the visual processing necessary to keep the cameras locked on the target. A gaze holding system implemented on a robot's binocular head demonstrates this approach. Even while the robot is moving, the cameras are able to track an object that rotates and moves in three dimensions. The central idea is that localizing attention in 3-D space makes precategorical visual processing sufficient to hold gaze. Visual fixation can help separate the target object from distracting surroundings. Converged cameras produce a horopter (surface of zero stereo disparity) in the scene. Binocular features with no disparity can be located with a simple filter, showing the object's location in the image. Similarly, an object th...

this document. I thank my family for the support and encouragement they have always given me. I thank my parents Les and Molly for their love and guidance. I thank my siblings, Jean, Joe, and John, or teaching me to love in the midst o stfie. I thank Robert Dodd or his continual support and encouragement and his calm unbiased eye

We argue that intelligence is necessary in robots used for rehabilitation in order to reduce the amount of mental activity needed by the user of these robots. With this in mind, the areas of research relevant to imparting robotic systems with the capability of assuming a more intelligent role are identified. We describe our implementation of functionalities such as fuzzy command interpretation, object recognition, face tracking, and task planning and learning, which are part of the ISAC, an intelligent system designed to feed individuals with physical disabilities. I. Introduction Intelligence in a rehabilitation robotic system is not usually stressed because of the presence of an intelligent person (the user) who is expected to make all the decisions requiring intelligence. This expectation has resulted in the development of many rehabilitation robots that provide an interface for the user to issue robot motion commands by means of teleoperation [1]. Although teleoperation may reliev...