OREO: An Open-Hardware Robotic Head That Supports Practical Saccades and Accommodation

Artificial vision algorithms are approaching human performance in many respects. However, their computational demands are also growing, which constraints their use in mobile and time-sensitive robots. Biological vision presents a well known practical solution. Specifically, primates limit the computational demands of vision by processing only small parts of the scene in detail, and frequently reorienting the eyes to different locations. Artificial vision is much more power-intensive than biological vision, so this strategy is likely to be increasingly relevant to robots, as they become more visually sophisticated. To facilitate progress and reduce duplication of work in this area, we have developed a 7-degree-of-freedom robotic head that supports such rapid saccade-like camera movements, and we are releasing the design files under an open-hardware license. The system supports C-mount cameras, large foveated lenses, and liquid lenses that allow rapid changes in focus distance. It also has a stereo baseline that is roughly the same as that of humans, to support stereo processing of nearby objects in grasping and manipulation tasks. The main contributions of this work are the mechanical design, and the demonstration that its stereo baseline, range of motion, and saccade velocity are similar to those of primate systems. The main general advantages over existing robotic heads are speed and the open-hardware license. The system would also be an ideal platform for future research that aims to replicate the performance of primate vision systems.