An RGB-D video-based wire detection tool to aid robotic arms during machine alignment measurement

Abstract

Industrial equipment may require precise alignment of components in order to function properly. In this work, we consider the machine alignment of a beamline in a research facility where an autonomous measurement system is used to execute these machine alignment procedures. The system consists of two robotic arms equipped with laser sensors placed at their ends which with the help of fiducial markers, are used by a camera system to calculate the position of the machine with respect to a stretched wire installed on top of the machines. In this work we propose a wire detection tool that assists the measurement process by detecting the line automatically through RGB-D images. Although the system was implemented for the specific application of beam line component alignment in the LHC tunnel, the same principle can be used in various other applications requiring detection of fine lines at a close distance.