Publications / 2024 Proceedings of the 41st ISARC, Lille, France

Robotic IoT-Enabled 1D Line Scanner Integration for 3D Point Cloud Data Processing

Emre Ergin, Sven Stumm, Sigrid Brell-Cokcan
Pages 1168-1175 (2024 Proceedings of the 41st ISARC, Lille, France, ISBN 978-0-6458322-1-1, ISSN 2413-5844)
Abstract:

The integration of measurement systems and sensors is critical to advancing construction automation processes and aligning digital models with physical production realities. However, incorporating field measurement and inspection tools into digital fabrication is challenging due to the dynamic nature of construction sites. While point cloud sensors have been widely used in field robotics, there is still potential for more accurate, flexible measurement systems for component assembly. This paper presents progress in integrating an automated, precise measurement system into a robotic fabrication process to facilitate adaptive process planning and control, focusing on the prefabrication stage of structural steel assembly and node prefabrication.

The implemented scanning system, a typically static 1D laser line profiler, is attached to an industrial robotic arm. Unlike traditional full system integration approaches, we adopt an extensible distributed network approach, that considers the sensor and robot as separate modular systems. By leveraging automated calibration and synchronization between robot and sensor, we achieve a 3D-capable approach. Our work describes an overarching, streamlined system that covers the entire process from calibration over registration up to mesh reconstruction, that proposes a modular integration through a network communications middleware. This will allow faster component replacement and system retooling without the need for typical hard wiring or embedded computation, allowing better integration or extension for potential multi-sensor data fusion. In addition, we propose an edge detection system for potential automatic adaptive weld path generation.

Keywords: Line scanning, Robotics, Internet of Things, IoT, 3D Point Cloud, Sensor Calibration