Date: Jan 15, 2008 Author: Joe Singleton Source: MDA (
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by Joe Singleton/jsingleton@nttc.edu
Using algorithms formulated for MDA, a Massachusetts-based company is developing a cost-saving, highly configurable software backbone for robotic aircraft passenger gateways, robotic repositioning systems, and surgical training simulators.
This software backbone, created by Energid Technologies Corp. (Cambridge, MA), identifies and tracks the position and orientation of any 3-D object. The system requires nothing more than computer-aided design (CAD) data to identify and track a new object, be it a tool, robot, vehicle, or satellite. During live tracking, the system produces synthetic 3-D views and, using fast calculation in PC graphics cards, maps observations of the real object to the synthetic views.
MDA funded Energid's software development through an SBIR Phase II award to track and model missile body and plume trajectories. These algorithms developed for the original MDA project are now being leveraged through the reusable software backbone into a large and growing number of applications. The software can track virtually any object type given its CAD data. It also can track any number of objects simultaneously, and it can use almost any sensor type—such as black-and-white cameras, color cameras, ladar, and hyperspectral imagers.
Energid's strength is the ability to identify, in a fraction of a second, the position and orientation of an object in three dimensions, even with only a single camera. The software separates the referenced object digitally from its natural environment. It then provides multiple possibilities for the object's type and orientation—defining what it is and which way it is facing. Possible object types and orientations are refined using a graphics processing unit (GPU) on a PC graphics card to make a photorealistic rendering of the object. After the computer-generated model of the object is complete, a sequence of images—similar to a video—is created by the GPU to correlate the accuracy of the model on a frame-by-frame basis. With video input, this process tracks the movements and the geometric changes of objects over time in any environment.
Surgical simulation
A new application that arose during Energid's MDA project was surgical simulation. During a simulation, Energid's technology guides a surgeon through an operation and tracks the path of the surgical instruments as they are used to operate on a computer-synthesized body. With this technology, surgeons in training use real instruments, connected to a simulator, and they operate on patients "in the air," like using a video game controller. The surgical motions performed are relayed back to the simulator's digital processor to show the activity in real-time video. Surgical residents learn new procedures using anatomically correct virtual-reality models—cutting open air instead of flesh, and errors are made on the virtual patient instead of on a real human. Surgeons who train in a high-fidelity virtual environment subsequently perform operations far more safely on real patients, said David Askey, Energid's director of business development.
In another new application, the company is developing a robotic high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) system. This system will bring the concept of minimally invasive surgery to a new level, as surgery using robotic HIFU will not require even a single incision, but instead will manipulate tissue within the body by focusing ultrasound. The focused beam heats small spots of tissue to stop internal bleeding or remove cancer tumors. It does not harm tissue located away from the target treatment site. The ultrasound system will use the same vision algorithms used to track missile plumes for MDA.
Airports and satellites
Beyond the human body, a terrestrial application for Energid's technology has been fielded at a major U.S. airport. The company has developed vision software that guides fully robotic aircraft bridges at the airport. The aircraft bridges use sensors and machine vision to perfectly align passenger gateways between the aircraft and airport terminal. The bridges allow passengers to enter and exit at both the front and back of the aircraft. This approach significantly reduces the amount of time needed to load and unload aircraft cabins—possibly by 10 minutes or more—thereby increasing airline efficiency, especially in the area of on-time departures.
But space is Energid's final frontier. Using its proprietary methods, the company is working on the Navy's Spacecraft for the Universal Modification of Orbits (SUMO) program. Some multimillion-dollar satellites simply run out of fuel and drift out of their designated orbits. SUMO will give these failed satellites new life. The SUMO system, for which Energid is designing machine-vision control software, will have three kinematically redundant arms that can capture a troubled satellite and move it into a better orbit by docking with it and powering it with its own thrusters. This project is expected to save the government and commercial companies millions, perhaps billions, of dollars in lost satellite time.
Besides aircraft bridges, medical simulators, and satellite repositioning technologies, Energid continues to find new applications for its machine-vision product. The company has created an improved interface for ground robot control for the Navy, and it is developing a helicopter identification and tracking system to support safe landing. Energid plans to expand its commercial product line in 2008, with new offerings tailored to industrial inspection, home-health monitoring, and citrus harvesting. The company is now looking for limited outside investment on certain programs, especially robotic HIFU.
