Resumen de A vision-based experiment for mechanical engineering laboratory courses
A simple vision-based experiment has been designed which can be used to highlight various conceptsand fundamental principles throughout the mechanical engineering curriculum. The experimentconsists of a clear tank of water in which objects can be released from rest using an automatedrelease mechanism. A vision system, using one or two standard video cameras, is used to track thefalling object. The stereo imaging system, using two cameras, provides object tracking in threedimensions. Experiment control and image-processing software has been written using LabVIEWand IMAQ Vision. A series of images acquired at 60 Hz using one or two video cameras connectedto IMAQ 1408 image acquisition boards are analyzed to resolve the instantaneous position of thefalling object. Using a basic camera calibration procedure, the instantaneous position informationis converted from pixel units to physical units. The object velocity and acceleration data can then becalculated numerically. The experiment has been designed and constructed by a group of threeundergraduate students as part of a capstone senior design course. Utilizing the senior-levelcapstone design course provides a cost-effective means for laboratory improvement in addition tothe educational benefits derived by the students from such projects. The approach taken at theUniversity of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) for laboratory improvement is to develop simpleexperiments that can be used throughout the laboratory curriculum. The backbone of the strategyis the use of LabVIEW for experiment control and data analysis. LabVIEW provides a rapidprototyping tool for necessary software development. This paper describes the design anddevelopment of a vision-based experiment and the incorporation of the experiment in themechanical engineering laboratory curriculum.
