Robots in the news: camera robot navigation in television studio

Looks at the use of robotic cameras in television news studios and the problems of navigating them accurately around their environment. Explains how the robots recognize coded targets around the studio which they compare with a preprogrammed map. Discusses the choice between laser scanners and line scan tv cameras to scan the targets and why the line scan camera was chosen; because it exhibited a number of advantages including a lower cost than the laser. Concludes that camera robot development is still at an early stage and is very mush responsive to user requirements. It remains to be seen whether they can move from the news and presentation studio environment into areas such as drama and light entertainment.