SMARTY: A Vision Based Autonomous Ball Sorting Robotic System

This project deals with an autonomous mobile robot guided by a vision system for sorting objects based on their color. The system has autonomous mode, assistive mode and manual mode. In the autonomous mode the robot and the vision system (an overhead mounted webcam) will work in unison to identify various objects (balls) and escort them to their respective home positions based on their color(by capturing the balls with a gripper). In the assistive mode, the vision system assists the user with a feedback and helps in capturing the ball and placing it at its home location. In the manual mode the vision system provides a video of the robot workspace and the user can navigate the robot to its home location. In all the above mentioned modes, the robot (Basic Stamp II) communicates with the computer via bluetooth using asynchronous serial communication. Image processing and navigation algorithms are coded in MATLAB. The system is user-friendly and is implemented in the form of a MATLAB GUI. Robot positioning is achieved using real-time Adaptive Proportional Control for accurate location of gripper.
Details: http://sites.google.com/site/priyanshuagarwalsite/academic-research/hardware-knowledge/smarty