Preliminary Results on the use of Stereo, Color Cameras and Laser Sensors in Antarctica

• Main Authors: Nicolas Vandapel, Stewart J. Moorehead, William Red Whittaker, William "red Whittaker, Raja Chatila, Rafael Murrieta-Cid
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Verlag 1999
• Subjects: Antarctic; Patriot Hills; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.40.7918; http://ktm.ius.cs.cmu.edu/pub_files/pub1/vandapel_nicolas_1999_1/vandapel_nicolas_1999_1.ps.gz

: In November of 1998, an expedition from Carnegie Mellon University travelled to the Patriot Hills, Antarctica. The purpose of the expedition was to demonstrate autonomous navigation and robotic classification of meteorites and the characterization of various robotics technologies in a harsh, polar setting. This paper presents early results of experiments performed on this expedition with CCD cameras and laser range finders. It evaluates the ability of these sensors to characterize polar terrain. The effect of weather on this characterization is also analyzed. The paper concludes with a discussion on the suitability of these sensors for Antarctic mobile robots. 1. Introduction Antarctica is a unique area on Earth for meteorite search. The flow of blue ice causes meteorites to concentrate on stranding surfaces, often near mountains. The cold and relatively dry environment in Antarctica helps to protect meteorites against significant weathering. Also, as meteorites commonly o.