StraBer Wahl Graphics and Robotics

StraBer Wahl Graphics and Robotics

Wolfgang StrafSer Friedrich Wahl Editors Graphics and Robotics With 128 Figures, some in Colour, Springer

Prof. Dr.-lng. Wolfgang StraBer Wilhelm-Schickard-lnstitut fur lnformatik Graphisch-lnteraktive Systeme Universitat Tiibingen Auf der Morgenstelle 10, C9 D-72076 Tiibingen, Germany Prof. Dr.-lng. Friedrich Wahl lnstitut fur Robotik und ProzeBinformatik Technische Universitat Braunschweig Hamburger StraBe 267 D-3S114 Braunschweig, Germany Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Graphics and robotics/wolfgang Strasser, Friedrich Wahl. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-3-540-58358-5 DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-79210-6 e-isbn-13: 978-3-642-79210-6 1. Robotics. 2. Computer graphics. I. Strasser, Wolfgang, 1941-. II. Wahl, Friedrich. TJ211.G72 1995 629.8' 9266-dc20-95-36099 CIP This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on micro-film or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1995 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1995 The use of general descriptive names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover Design: Konzept & Design, nvesheim Typesetting: Camera-ready by authors Printed on acid-free paper SPIN 10057326 33/3140-5 4 3 2 10

Preface This book is a result of the lectures and discussions held during the international workshop on "Graphics & Robotics", which took place at SchloB Dagstuhl, FRG, April 19-22, 1993. The event brought together leading experts from both disciplines to identify common scientific problems, to present new solutions and to discuss future research directions in graphics and robotics. The papers included in this book were written after the workshop and reflect the exchange of ideas and experiences during the workshop. The final selection was made after a careful reviewing process. The organisation of the papers: Since the availability of reasonably priced graphical workstations, robot designers and researchers have used these devices to anticipate the kinematic/dynamic behavior of robots before actual construction and application. Nowadays, simulation and offline programming constitute indispensable tools in modern production engineering. Nevertheless, there are still many efforts needed to further the knowledge of efficient graphical representations and computer graphics algorithms to build artificial robot worlds. A state-of-the-art introduction to the principles of robot simulation is given in the first paper by Laloni et al. The contribution by Brunner et al. outlines new simulation concepts in the framework of teleoperation such as space applications. The papers of Miiller and Purgathofer et al. deal respectively with path planning strategies and collision detection techniques for environments with obstacles. To extend the possibilities of virtual experimentation and artificial imagination, worldwide investigations towards virtual reality are in progress. The paper by Wachsmuth et al. outlines research in this direction and presents first results. There are many international efforts to achieve task-level programming and/or automated programming of robots/ assembly stations on the basis of product descriptions like CAD data for assemblies. These tasks need powerful modeling techniques and geometric representation schemes and thus again are a common research area for graphics and robotics people. The papers by Gutsche et al., Caracciolo et al., and van Holland et al. stress this interesting field of active research. Advanced modeling techniques for objects with curved surfaces are treated in the papers by Seidel and Greiner. The paper by Klein shows how to integrate various surface representations into one object-oriented programming environment and demonstrates the elegance and power of object-oriented implementations.

VI Certainly one further area of close interrelations between graphics and robotics is the field of robot vision. It would have been beyond the scope of this workshop to host this subject extensively - there are many events especially devoted to this topic. In these proceedings there are four papers touching the area. The paper by Kroll et al. outlines an interesting new approach for depth or range data acquisition, which may be used for automated model-generation as described in the paper by Winzen et al. The paper by Ehricke deals with the visualization of 3-dimensional data and presents new and intuitive mechanisms for their quick interpretation. The last paper of the book, by Gagalowicz, can be considered as the quintessence of the workshop: his vision system for a domestic robot makes use of advanced theories and techniques from both disciplines and defines the most challenging research t.ask, which will be solved by joined efrorts of both scientific communities to free us from housework and to leave - finally - housecleaning to the robot. Wolfgang Strailer, Tiibingen Fritz Wahl, Braunschweig June 1994

Table of Contents Principles of Robot Simulation and their Application in a PC-based Robot Simulation System... 1 C. Laloni and F.M. Wahl Graphical Robot Simulatjon within the Framework of an intelligent TeleSensorProgramming System... 31 BcmhU1 d BrU1t1!Cl, [(laus Arbtcr and Gc1"1tard Ilirzingcr Using Graphics Algorithms as Subroutines in Collision Detection... 45 Heinrich Mullcr CSG Based Collison Detection... 59 W. Purgathofer and M. Zeitler Interactive Graphics Design with Situated Agents... 73 /pke Wachsmuth and Yong Tao Assembly Planning Using Symbolic Spatial Relationships... 87 R. Gutsche, F. Riihrdanz and F.M. Wahl From CAD Models to Assembly Planning... 115 R. Caracciolo, E. Ceresole, T. De Martino and F. Giannini Feature Modelling for Assembly... 131 Winfried van Holland, Willem F. Bronsvoort and Fredcrik W. Jansen Triangular B-SplinesVor Modeling in Graphics and Robotics Hans-Peter Seidel 149 Blending Surfaces with Minimal Curvature... 163 Gunther Greiner Surfaces in an object-oriented geometric framework... 175 Reinhard [([ein

VIII An Active Stereometric Triangulation Technique Using a Continuous Pattern... 191 A. Knoll and R. Sasse Automatic Model-Generation for Image Analysis... 207 A. Winzen and H. Niemann Navigation Through Volume Data by Active Vision Methods... 221 Hans-Heino Ehricke Towards a Vision System for a Domestic Robot... 229 A. Gagalowicz