# Locating Transparent Objects to Millimetre Accuracy

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a method for precisely locating transparent objects like glass using a laser range finder and a physical understanding of laser-glass interactions, achieving millimetre accuracy.

## Contribution

The paper presents a novel approach combining physical insights and ICP registration to accurately locate transparent objects with a simple LRF.

## Key findings

- Achieves millimetre accuracy in locating glass objects
- Effective for non-planar, transparent surfaces
- Validated experimentally on car glass

## Abstract

Transparent surfaces, such as glass, transmit most of the visible light that falls on them, making accurate pose estimation challenging. We propose a method to locate glass objects to millimetre accuracy using a simple Laser Range Finder (LRF) attached to the robot end-effector. The method, derived from a physical understanding of laser-glass interactions, consists of (i) sampling points on the glass border by looking at the glass surface from an angle of approximately 45 degrees, and (ii) performing Iterative Closest Point registration on the sampled points. We verify experimentally that the proposed method can locate a transparent, non-planar, side car glass to millimetre accuracy.