A system for semi-automatic modeling of complex environments

We present a perception system, called Artisan, that semi-automatically builds 3-D models of a robot's workspace. Range images are acquired with a scanning laser rangefinder and then processed, based an a systematic sensor characterization, to remove noise and artifacts. Complex 3-D objects represented as surface meshes are subsequently recognized in the range images and inserted into a virtual workspace. This graphical virtual workspace is then used to by human operators to plan and execute remote robotic operations.