Avoiding self-occlusions and preserving visibility by path planning in the image

In this paper, we address the problem of generating trajectories of some image features in order to control efficiently a robotic system using an image-based control strategy. First, physically valid C2 image trajectories which correspond to quasi-optimal 3D camera trajectory are performed. Both self-occlusion avoidance and visibility constraints are taken into account at the task planning level. The good behavior of image-based control when desired and current camera positions are close is then exploited to design an efficient control scheme. Real-time experimental results using a camera mounted on the end effector of a six degree-of-freedom robot confirm the validity of our approach. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.