Title: Design and implementation of a 3D scanning platform for mobile robotic applications

Authors: Gökhan Aslan; E. İlhan Konukseven; A. Buğra Koku

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 06531, Turkey ' Mechanical Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 06531, Turkey ' Mechanical Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 06531, Turkey

Abstract: In an efficient autonomous navigation and exploration, the robots should sense the environment as exactly as possible in real-time and act correctly on the basis of the acquired 3D data. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a scanning platform, which can be used for both outdoor and indoor mobile robot navigation and mapping. A 3D scanning platform based on a 2D laser rangefinder was designed in a compact way with a maximum field of view for fast and accurate mapping. The designed mechanism provides 360° degree horizontal by 240° degree vertical field of view. The maximum resolution is 0.36° degrees in elevation and variable in azimuth. The proposed low cost compact design is tested by scanning a physical environment with known dimensions to show that it can be used as a precise and reliable high quality 3D sensor for autonomous mobile robots.

Keywords: laser rangefinders; 3D rangefinding; 3D scanning; autonomous robots; 3D mapping; scanning platform design; mobile robots; robot navigation; 3D sensors; robot sensors.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDE.2014.067078

International Journal of Design Engineering, 2014 Vol.5 No.4, pp.358 - 373

Received: 21 May 2014
Accepted: 19 Oct 2014
Published online: 31 Jan 2015 *

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