FUSION OF MULTISENSOR DATA

This paper treats two parts of the methodology of the fusion of multisensor data: conceptual and applied. In the conceptual part, we treat several basic questions including the fusionability of various kinds of signals derived from the different sets of raw data associated with separate sensor systems. In the applied part, the general methodology established above is employed in a problem in robotic acquisition involving the determination of the geometry (i.e., the elevation function) of an object resting upon a flat surface. In the model, two types of measurements are assumed: a single acoustical pulse-echo scattering measurement in which the incident wave propagates downward, and a set of optical measurements involving a downward-looking TV camera imaging the object under sequentially pulsed light sources. The two types of measured data were combined in accordance with the general concepts discussed in Part I of the paper. A computational example using synthetic data is presented and discussed.