A Biologically Inspired Approach to Visually Servoed Tracking

Motion tracking and object recognition often use cameras that are mounted in motion platforms like pan-tilt units, linear tables and even robots. Tracking can be automated by visually servoing the platform's degrees-of-freedom (DOF) thus keeping the camera's point-of-view directed at the target. Tracking quick moving targets often demands faster bandwidth platforms. However biology suggests a redundant approach where DOF, like the eye and head, cooperate to direct vision systems and overcome joint limits. This paper illustrates the effectiveness of this concept using a robot-mounted camera.