Automatic Distance Measurement and Material Characterization with Infrared Sensors

This paper describes a new technique for determining the distance to a planar surface and, at the same time, obtaining a characterization of the surface's material through the use of conventional, low-cost infrared sensors. The proposed technique is advantageous over previous schemes in that it does not require additional range sensors, such as ultrasound devices, nor a priori knowledge about the materials that can be encountered. Experiments with an all-terrain mobile robot equipped with a ring of infrared sensors are presented.