Virtual Reality Mapping System for Chernobyl Accident Site Assessment - Robotics Institute Carnegie Mellon University

Virtual Reality Mapping System for Chernobyl Accident Site Assessment

Theodore T. Blackmon, Scott Thayer, James Teza, James Osborn, and Martial Hebert
Conference Paper, Proceedings of SPIE Human Vision and Electronic Imaging IV, Vol. 3644, pp. 338 - 345, February, 1999

Abstract

Initiated by the Department of Energy's International Nuclear Safety Program, an effort is underway to deliver and deploy a telerobotic diagnostic system for structural evaluation and monitoring within the Chernobyl Unit-4 shelter. A mobile robot, named Pioneer, will enter the damaged Chernobyl structure and deploy devices to measure radiation, temperature, and humidity; acquire core samples of concrete structures for subsequent engineering analysis; and make photo-realistic three-dimensional (3D) maps of the building interior. This paper details the later element, dubbed "C-Map", the Chernobyl Mapping System. C-Map consists of an automated 3D modeling system using stereo computer vision along with an interactive, virtual reality (VR) software program to acquire and analyze the photo-realistic 3D maps of the damaged building interior.

BibTeX

@conference{Blackmon-1999-14858,
author = {Theodore T. Blackmon and Scott Thayer and James Teza and James Osborn and Martial Hebert},
title = {Virtual Reality Mapping System for Chernobyl Accident Site Assessment},
booktitle = {Proceedings of SPIE Human Vision and Electronic Imaging IV},
year = {1999},
month = {February},
volume = {3644},
pages = {338 - 345},
keywords = {Chernobyl, telerobotics, stereo vision, 3D surface reconstruction, virtual reality},
}