Missouri S&T, MU collaborate on LIDAR

The new technology will create a virtual area map for first responders.

By Jared Grafman

Published March 16, 2010

A team of students and faculty from MU and Missouri University of Science and Technology has created a remote-controlled robot capable of navigating and mapping hazardous structures before first responders enter.

Norbert Maerz, associate professor of geological engineering at Missouri S&T, said the robot is specifically designed to remotely transport a Light Detection And Ranging unit (LIDAR) so police, military and search and rescue teams can gain knowledge of the dangers in structures before entering the area. Then it can assess whether it is safe for first responders to enter.

Like radar, LIDAR sends out signals that provide feedback about its surroundings. The scanning laser can make up to 500,000 point measurements per second. The measurements can then be compiled with software and formed into sophisticated 3-D map, Maerz said.

"The system was developed to enable precise mapping and measurements in the interior of dangerous structures," Maerz said. "The entire system is remotely controlled, so the robot and LIDAR can enter structures (and) scan them from the inside, or move close to exterior windows and scan through windows or openings."

Maerz said the robot is capable of crawling into a structure through a doorway, scanning rooms from different angles, or scanning through windows — even when people can't see through them. Scans from multiple rooms can be registered together so the user can do a virtual "walk through" in 3-D.

Ye Duan, an associate professor of computer sciences at MU, said he and his students are responsible for developing the advanced data analysis and 3-D software. He said MU student researchers Yongjian Xi and Kevin Karsh "contributed greatly" to the project through their work in algorithm design and software development.

"They are participating in algorithm design and software development in this project," Duan said.

Karsch graduated in May 2009 but is still working on the robot's development.

"I became involved with this project due to my work with Professor Duan, as part of the College of Engineering's undergraduate research program," Karsch said. "Our goal was to develop several new technologies and combine them to create a state-of-the-art tool for disaster prevention."

The robot uses range-scanning equipment to get depth information from its surroundings, Karsch said.

"Professor Duan and I were responsible for researching methods to automatically turn this depth information into a useful format," Karsch said. "In the end, we developed a novel method for reconstructing entire landscapes from the original sparse data, as well as automatically creating a floor-plan for the landscape."

Combining those technologies could allow the military to perform unmanned terrain acquisition to reduce wartime casualties, Karsch said.