Abstract
This paper presents a method for measuring 3D environment by a tracked vehicle using a laser range finder (LRF) with an arm-type liftable unit. The LRF is installed at the end of the arm. The unit enables the sensor to change position and to face at a right angle to a variety of configuration. Therefore, the sensing system can measure a 3D configuration such as an upward or downward slope more accurately than conventional 3D sensing system with the LRF, which have generally used a rotating mechanism. In addition, this system can uniform scanning density and avoid the problem on accumulation point in conventional system. In this study, we have designed and fabricated a prototype system of the liftable LRF unit and mounted it on a tracked vehicle with two crawlers that we have developed. The basic 3D sensing in this system was confirmed from two primal experiments for measuring simple environment and stair configuration.
