Sensor fusion and object localization

In this paper, we discuss the issue of locating objects through multiple sensory information. Sensor measurements are subject to limitations of sensor precision and accuracy. Although errors in position estimates are affected only by the errors of sensor measurements, errors in orientation estimates are also dependent on the dimensions over which the measurement has been made. The concept of good measurement is used in selecting and weighting partial estimates of the position and orientaion. The problem of finding the best estimate of the position and orientation is formulated as a linear system of these multiple estimates. The best estimate is then obtained by solving this system in a weighted least square sense. This method has been implemented for a manipulator end-effector instrumented with centroid and matrix tactile sensors.