On line tracking of moving objects from moving platforms

It is desired to position the end point of a conveyor belt, which carries material removed by a moving pavement trimmer, above the bed of a moving dump truck. The present report describes the analytical design and practical control of a tracking system for positioning the conveyor. Initial tests were conducted on a Unimation PUMA robot. The original pavement profiler has been modified to allow automatic computer control of both the soil removal and distribution systems. The distribution is performed by a two degrees of freedom moveable boom with a conveyor system. Two methods for non-contact target position detection were evaluated: machine vision and ultrasound. An ultrasound based target system was selected and implemented on a PUMA robot. Control software for on-line target acquisition and tracking was developed and tested. A set of ultrasound sensors and a boom rotation sensor were installed on the pavement profiler. All sensors are currently operational.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1994

Author dc:creator

• Abhishetty, Raveen R. K

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/435

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1434