Navigation, obstacle avoidance, object recognition... The application of 3D vision technology is constantly deepening.
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In recent years, the application of 3D visual perception technology in the field of mobile robots is deepening. From pallet identification to navigation obstacle avoidance, the depth of application depends on the progress of technology, and the development of technology depends on the continuous breakthrough of related industrial chain enterprises.
Founded in August 2020, Silver Bull Microelectronics is a high-tech enterprise focusing on 3D and AI chips, modules and product design. On December 17, at the "China Mobile Robot (AGV/AMR) Industry Development Annual Conference", Silver Bull Microelectronics released a new 3D visual navigation module - R132, which is used for obstacle avoidance and object recognition of mobile robots. In addition to R132, Silver Bull Microelectronics' first domestic 3D vision module C158 was also launched in November this year, mainly for mobile robot navigation and positioning.
Silver Bull 3D Machine Vision Module R132
3D Vision Module: The "Brain" and "Eyes" of Mobile Robots
With the continuous enrichment of mobile robot application scenarios, the application side of the robot flexible, intelligent demand continues to rise. From laser to vision, the intelligence of the mobile robot perception system has become the focus of exploration in the current industry.
In the field of mobile robots, visual perception technology has two main uses, one is navigation obstacle avoidance, and the other is object recognition when the end is docked.
In terms of navigation, visual navigation is considered to be one of the main directions of the future. From a technical point of view, the current application of more 2D laser navigation, can only detect the obstacle of the fixed plane, for objects above or below this plane are its blind spots, 3D vision technology can overcome this shortcoming, can obtain the complete geometric information of the real three-dimensional scene, the use of images with depth information to achieve accurate digitization of the scene, so as to achieve high-precision identification, positioning, reconstruction, scene understanding and other key functions of machine vision. From a cost point of view, the current price of laser sensors is much higher than that of 3D depth cameras, and the application of vision technology is just in line with the needs of mobile robot manufacturers to reduce costs.
He Huogao, co-founder and vice president of Silver Bull Microelectronics, believes that integrated navigation will be the main direction for the future development of mobile robots, of which 3D vision technology is indispensable.
The C158 module launched by Silver Bull Microelectronics in November is based on its core NU4000 chip, which is a highly integrated product, in its 125mm x 40mm x 27mm volume, integrated 3D depth, SLAM real-time positioning mapping engine, and artificial intelligence and other functions, which makes it support 120fps 2-way camera and 6 degrees of freedom coordinate repositioning, can achieve real-time high-precision attitude tracking.
Silver Bull 3D Machine Vision Module C158
He Huogao introduced that the depth resolution of the C158 module can reach 1280 x 800 @60fps, and the accuracy error within 6m of the perception distance is only 1%, which greatly meets the application scenarios with high requirements for 3D depth performance. In addition, its built-in SLAM (Real-time Positioning and Mapping) engine helps the sensor to detect and build an environmental model during motion, enabling high-precision real-time mapping and repositioning at up to 100fps frame rate.
In view of the problems faced by visual navigation such as susceptibility to light, Silver Bull's 3D visual module has also been improved to the greatest extent.
In the choice of technical route, Silver Bull Microelectronics chose the binocular vision scheme, He Huogao said: "The reason is that the binocular stereoscopic technology is the closest to the perception of the human eye to the outside world, and the advantages of other routes in terms of accuracy, FPS, resolution, recognition distance, etc. Are obvious, and we have also added infrared lenses and infrared excitators to the module, which effectively solves the problem of relying on ambient light sources and poor performance in low light scenes, whether in outdoor light or indoor dark scenes, mobile robots can operate." ”
In addition to navigation and obstacle avoidance, another major application of vision technology is the secondary identification and positioning of pallet and bin positions. In the end of the material picking and placing link, the position of the bin placement will not be very accurate, which requires the mobile robot to have the ability of secondary calibration, relying on the 3D camera, combined with the 3D visual recognition algorithm to identify and locate the spatial position of the tray and the bin, the mobile robot can achieve accurate pickup.
Silver Bull's newly released 3D machine vision module R132, with a depth resolution of up to 1280 ×800@60fps, a perception distance of 3m, and a depth perception accuracy error, a field of view of 88° ×58°, can effectively solve the industry pain points of robot obstacle avoidance and object recognition.
In addition to the targeted design of The Silver Bull 3D Machine Vision Module R132 for different applications, the two 3D vision modules of the Silver Bull also have a very powerful AI computing core, with up to 2 TOPs of AI computing capabilities and flexible configuration. The universal ARM core supports different applications and can run the system independently, reducing the burden on the master chip and system, and improving real-time performance.
3D vision is the key technology of high-end manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing robots, which gives robots the three-dimensional perception ability of "eyes and brains", and is an important part of building an AI intelligent machine ecology. He Huogao said that the C158 and R132 are specially optimized for the needs of China's mobile robot market, as a general-purpose module product, whether it is an industrial application mobile robot or a commercial service robot, it can be easily applied. Due to its highly integrated characteristics, the two modules will greatly shorten the production cycle of mobile robots, reduce production costs, bring new changes to the entire mobile robot industry, and empower the upgrading of the mobile robot industry.
At present, Silver Bull Microelectronics has cooperated with a number of domestic mobile robot companies to apply the C158 module, while the R132 module plans to start customer sample delivery in January 2022.
He Huogao said that the mobile robot industry is in a stage of rapid development, the application scenarios will become more and more diverse, and its field will inevitably become more and more subdivided, and in the various segments of mobile robots, there will be a "hidden champion" that dominates. These enterprises can be deeply rooted in their specific fields, focus on technological innovation, meet the needs of users, and maximize the role of mobile robots in practical applications, so that the mobile robot market will enter a benign and healthy stage of development. "Domestic enterprises for the new technology learning and mastery is very fast, in the development of 3D depth machine vision has a natural advantage, with the advent of the Industry 4.0 era, mobile robot intelligent demand continues to increase, I believe that 3D machine vision technology will play an important role in it, to help the mobile robot industry transformation and upgrading."
China and Israel are strong and powerful, and technology and market go hand in hand
C158 and R132 are the first two targeted products launched by Silver Bull Microelectronics in the Chinese market, the excellent performance of the two modules allows the industry to see the strong technical strength of Silver Bull Microelectronics, which is behind the comprehensive strength of its team in research and development, production, supply chain and other aspects, as well as Silver Bull's accurate grasp of market demand.
He Huogao introduced that as a start-up company, Silver Bull Microelectronics started from a high point, and completed the acquisition of Israel Inuitive, the world's leading 3D vision chip design company, at the beginning of its establishment. Israel is known as the "chip kingdom", Inuitive is deeply rooted in 3D vision for nearly 10 years, with the world's leading 3D deep vision chip, in the computer vision, artificial intelligence, optics, system architecture, embedded system software, edge computing and chip design and other fields have accumulated rich experience.
Silver Bull Microelectronics' own founding team is also very strong, Chairman and CEO Qu Guancheng graduated from Peking University with a master's degree in software engineering, a Chinese certified public accountant, with more than 14 years of capital operation experience, has worked for China Aerospace Science and Technology Group, CITIC Securities, China State-owned Capital Venture Capital Fund and Kaiqiao Fund; Vice President He Huogao graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology, and obtained a master's degree in management from the National University of Singapore, and has worked for Intel China, AMD Singapore, Bai Yi, Chief Strategy Officer of Shanghai Cable Power Plant and Shanghai Institute of Electronic Communications Equipment, graduated from Tsinghua University and received a master's degree in electrical engineering from Penn State University, and has worked for PMC-Sierra, Synopsys, NVIDIA, Kaiden and Kaiqiao Foundation.
One year after its establishment, Silver Bull has now established a complete customer support system from research and development, production, sales, marketing to business development, etc., forming a unique China-Israel two-way collaboration model of Silver Bull, "Israeli technology + Chinese localized products and services". At present, combined with the cutting-edge technology of Israel's Inuitive company and the coordinated linkage of the needs of the Chinese market, Silver Bull Microelectronics has successfully taken the first step in the productization of technology.
Based on chips, the launch of a series of modules, He Huogao said that this is the direction chosen after fully considering market demand, "from the company's strategy, modular products are a major direction for us in the domestic market in the future, because under normal circumstances, from chips to modules to the final product, it is actually a very long cycle, during which we are also facing many technical problems, we will make the chip into a general-purpose module product, which can greatly shorten the development time of mobile robot companies and bring products to the market faster." ”
The mobile robot industry is currently in rapid development, the product update iteration cycle is accelerating, highly integrated core components will undoubtedly make the enterprise in the product development process more smooth, the future, in order to better meet the needs of the enterprise, He Huogao said: "On the basis of listening to customer needs, we will continue to optimize the iteration of existing products, but also will continue to launch new products, hoping that through our 3D vision module, can help mobile robot manufacturers to further improve the stability of products, Security and adaptability to scenarios. ”
As for the company's future planning, according to He Huogao, including the envelope robot industry, automatic driving, meta-universe interaction and medical fields will be the four major markets that Silver Bull Microelectronics will focus on next, so in addition to the C158 module and R132 module, for different segments of the industry, Silver Bull Microelectronics will also launch targeted products in the future. At the same time, Israel's technology will not only land in China, after the establishment of the domestic R & D team, Silver Bull Microelectronics will also be included in foreign R & D talents, the formation of an international R & D team, the technology to the global market.
In addition, He Huogao also mentioned that in the future, Silver Bull will also carry out strategic cooperation with several important industry leading enterprises in China, or explore the establishment of joint ventures and other forms of cooperation to connect the industrial chain, promote cooperation and win-win results, and accelerate the development and upgrading of the entire 3D visual industry.
Conclusion: The continuous development of mobile robots can not be separated from the joint efforts of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain, the breakthrough of core component technology can often accelerate the transformation of related products, the current application of visual technology in the field of mobile robots is increasing, the future, with the further maturity of related technologies, I believe its application will continue to deepen.