The Microsoft Kinect was a boon to robotics researchers. The Cheap, off-the-shelf depth sensor allowed them to quickly and cost effectively prototype innovative systems that enable robots to map, interpret, and negative thier environments.
But sensors like the Kinect, which use infrared light to gauge depth, are easily confused by ambient infrared light. Even indoors, they tend to require low-light conditions and outdoors,they're hopeless.
The researchers envision that cellphones with cheap, built-in infrared laser could be snapped into could be snapped into personal vehicles, such as golf carts or wheelchairs to help render them autonomous. A version of the system could also be built into small autonomous robots, like the package-delivery drones proposed by Amazon, whose wide deployment in unpredictable environments would prohibit the use of expensive laser rangefinders.
Source: MIT
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