TROMMELFÖRMIGER BEHÄLTER ZUR VERWENDUNG IN EINER FERNGESTEUERTEN UMGEBUNG

摘要

A drum for use in a remotely controlled environment, the drum has a closed top providing an outer surface adapted to be recognised by an optical detection system, the said surface having a first region and a second region having different optical reflectivities so that there is an optical contrast between them, the contrast facilitating detection by an optical detection system. The first region may be optically reflecting and the second region absorbing. The drum may be cylindrical and the first and second regions concentric, their centres coinciding with the axis of the drum, the drum body having a shape which is or approximates to a right circular cylinder. Also described is a method for detecting the centre of the drum outer surface, the method comprising detecting by a photodetector optical radiation reflected from the top of the drum, analysing an output signal provided by the photodetector to detect features in the signal corresponding to the boundary between the first and second regions on the drum top outer surface, and calculating from the position of the said features in the analysed signal the position of the centre of the drum.