TRICLOPS - A TOOL FOR STUDYING ACTIVE VISION

The design, performance, and application of The Real-time, Intelligently ControLled, Optical Positioning (TRICLOPS) are described in this article. TRICLOPS is a multiresolution trinocular camera-pointing system which provides a center wide-angle view camera and two higher-resolution vergence cameras. It is a direct-drive system that exhibits dynamic performance comparable to the human visual system. The mechanical design and performance of various active vision systems are discussed and compared to those of TRICLOPS. The multiprocessor control system for TRICLOPS is described. The kinematics of the device are also discussed and calibration methods are given. Finally, as an example of real-time visual control, a problem in visual tracking with TRICLOPS is examined. In this example, TRICLOPS is shown to be capable of tracking a ball moving at 3 m/s, which results in rotational velocities of the vergence cameras in excess of 6 rad/s (344 deg/s).