Guilherme N. DeSouza

Gbenga Omotara, Seyed Mohamad Ali Tousi, Jared Decker et al.

We introduce a high throughput 3D scanning solution specifically designed to precisely measure cattle phenotypes. This scanner leverages an array of depth sensors, i.e. time-of-flight (Tof) sensors, each governed by dedicated embedded devices. The system excels at generating high-fidelity 3D point clouds, thus facilitating an accurate mesh that faithfully reconstructs the cattle geometry on the fly. In order to evaluate the performance of our system, we have implemented a two-fold validation process. Initially, we test the scanner's competency in determining volume and surface area measurements within a controlled environment featuring known objects. Secondly, we explore the impact and necessity of multi-device synchronization when operating a series of time-of-flight sensors. Based on the experimental results, the proposed system is capable of producing high-quality meshes of untamed cattle for livestock studies.

Siavash Farzan, Guilherme N. DeSouza

This paper proposes a solution to the problem of smooth path planning for mobile robots in dynamic and unknown environments. A novel concept of Time-Warped Grid is introduced to predict the pose of obstacles in the environment and avoid collisions. The algorithm is implemented using C/C++ and the CUDA programming environment, and combines stochastic estimation (Kalman filter), harmonic potential fields and a rubber band model, and it translates naturally into the parallel paradigm of GPU programming. In simple terms, time-warped grids are progressively wider orbits around the mobile robot. Those orbits represent the variable time intervals estimated by the robot to reach detected obstacles. The proposed method was tested using several simulation scenarios for the Pioneer P3-DX robot, which demonstrated the robustness of the algorithm by finding the optimum path in terms of smoothness, distance, and collision-free, in both static or dynamic environments, and with large number of obstacles.