Robotic pool: an experiment in automatic potting

A robotic system is presented which automatically pots (i.e., sinks) pool balls. A homography is estimated that relates the gantry robot coordinate frame to the overhead (global) camera coordinate frame. This homography is computed by first calculating the mapping between the camera frame and a projection of the robot frame, and then solving the pool table plane equation in the robot frame. A measurement technique has been developed which is based upon a local camera attached to the robot end effector. This local camera allows the robot to be positioned accurately over circular targets placed on the table. The homography and table plane equation are then estimated by establishing correspondences between at least 4 measured target positions in the global camera and robot frames. The resulting homography allows the gantry to be positioned to within an average of 0.6 mm of a global camera frame position over the extent of a full sized pool table. The system has been used to pot a ball with 67% accuracy over the extent of the table, with a high repeatability.