Set space visual servoing of a 6-DOF manipulator

Abstract

This article develops a set space visual servoing method that is quiet different from state-of-the-art approaches. Our approach does not require complex image processing techniques for the extraction, matching and tracking of image features. Instead, it only requires a simple matching algorithm and builds visual errors in set space. Each error is mainly related to one degree of freedom of the camera; therefore, we can design a decoupled control law. This control law is robust and does not require calibrated inner parameters of the camera. Our approach has been validated in 4-degree-of-freedom (DOF) visual servoing simulations with common image patterns and 6-DOF visual servoing experiments with specific image patterns. These visual servoing tasks are properly achieved even when partial occlusions occur.