An Event-based Fast Movement Detection Algorithm for a Positioning Robot Using POWERLINK Communication

Event-based cameras are not common in industrial applications despite they can add multiple advantages for applications with moving objects. In comparison with frame-based cameras, the amount of generated data is very low while keeping the main information in the scene. For an industrial environment with interconnected systems, data reduction becomes very important to avoid network saturation and provide faster response time. However, the use of new sensors as event-based cameras is not common since they do not usually provide connectivity to industrial Ethernet buses. This work develops a tracking system based on an event-based camera. A bioinspired filtering algorithm to reduce noise and transmitted data while keeping the main features at the scene is implemented in FPGA which also serves as a network node. POWERLINK IEEE 61158 industrial network is used to communicate the FPGA with a controller connected to a self-developed two axis servo-controlled robot. The FPGA includes the network protocol to integrate the eventbased camera as any other existing network node. The inverse kinematics for the robot is included in the controller. In addition, another network node is used to control pneumatic valves blowing the ball at different speed and trajectories. To complete the system and provide a comparison, a traditional frame-based camera is also connected to the controller. The imaging data for the tracking system are obtained either from the eventbased or frame-based camera. The controller acts on the servos to be moved acting as a ball follower. Results show that the robot can accurately follow the ball using fast image recognition, with the intrinsic advantages of the event-based system (size, price, power). This works shows how the development of new equipment and algorithms can be efficiently integrated in an industrial system, merging commercial industrial equipment with the new devices so that new technologies can rapidly enter into the industrial field.