TRICLOPS - A TOOL FOR STUDYING ACTIVE VISION

The design, performance, and application of The Real-time, Intelligent ly ControLled, Optical Positioning (TRICLOPS) are described in this ar ticle. TRICLOPS is a multiresolution trinocular camera-pointing system which provides a center wide-angle view camera and two higher-resolut ion vergence cameras. It is a direct-drive system that exhibits dynami c performance comparable to the human visual system. The mechanical de sign and performance of various active vision systems are discussed an d compared to those of TRICLOPS. The multiprocessor control system for TRICLOPS is described. The kinematics of the device are also discusse d and calibration methods are given. Finally, as an example of real-ti me visual control, a problem in visual tracking with TRICLOPS is exami ned. In this example, TRICLOPS is shown to be capable of tracking a ba ll moving at 3 m/s, which results in rotational velocities of the verg ence cameras in excess of 6 rad/s (344 deg/s).