Development of a Data Clustering System for 2DOF Robotic Ball Balancer Using Laser Scanning RangeFinder

In this study, a new perspective for developing laser scanner rangefinder based data clustering system for a 2DOF robotic ball balancer was proposed. The study focused on detecting an object (i.e., ball) on the tilt-table robotic platform using the sensor fusion and data clustering systems proposed. Clustering system was modeled by following the principles of hierarchical clustering method. The developed system involving the clustering and sensor fusion algorithms was embedded in Matlab-Simulink environment to be able to run in real-time applications. The system was tested using an experimental platform including a 2DOF robotic ball balancer equipped with high resolution encoders and a laser scanner rangefinder. In the experiments, the goal was to detect the ball and its position not only on the flat but also on the tilted platform. A camera was also attached to the top of the experimental setup and used to monitor the location of the ball on the platform. By this way the results obtained using the proposed system could be verified for accuracy, performance and repeatability issues.

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