Robotics

Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute and ChemImage Partner To Develop Conformal Imaging Technology

CMU will help advance the DPCI technology, which has the potential to be a transformative technology in the field of robotics.

• By Sri Ravipati
• 05/09/16

The School of Computer Science and the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) will soon start developing sensor technology for ground vehicular application.

ChemImage Corporation has launched a partnership with CMU to integrate ChemImage’s Dual Polarization Conformal Imaging (DPCI) technology into a robotic platform. The new platform will “evaluate the performance of DPCI when enabled with algorithms for real-time on the move (OTM) autonomous detection,” according to a news release.

DPCI real-time hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology has the potential to detect and identify high value targets in the presence of complex backgrounds. Through the partnership, CMU and ChemImage researchers will “explore the capabilities and limitations of DPCI technologies at a fundamental level, and assess potential deployment across strategic robotic applications.” If the team finds that DPCI can provide acceptable detection performance, and can be produced at a moderate cost, the technology can be a “transformative technology in the field of robotics.”

"CMU's research leadership in robotics will enable us to accelerate the advancement DPCI as a new important class of autonomous sensor technology," said Matthew Nelson, chief scientist at ChemImage.

Srinivasa Narasimhan, an associate professor of robotics, said the institute is excited about designing new computer vision algorithms for the HSI sensors, according to a prepared statement. Narasimhan will lead the study at CMU alongside Martial Hebert, the director at the Robotics Institute Director. "ChemImage's hyperspectral imaging sensor is unique and has intriguing possibilities for vehicular applications."