Affordable high spectral-resolution 3d imaging leveraging robotic scanning spectroscopy combined with semantic slam

A method of adaptively scanning a selected area, the method comprising:

• selecting an imaging mode from a plurality of imaging modes, wherein the imaging mode determines at least one of a scanning pattern, a scanning speed, and a scanning rate;
• performing a scan of the selected area using the imaging mode, wherein performing the scan comprises gathering spectral data and image data;
• detecting an item of interest using at least one of the spectral data and the image data;
• automatically selecting a new imaging mode from the plurality of imaging modes in response to detecting the item of interest;
• and
• performing a scan of the item of interest using the new imaging mode to gather additional spectral data and additional image data of the item of interest.

A scanning spectrometer system for adaptively scanning a selected area, the scanning spectrometer system comprising:

• a gimbal system having a coordinate frame with a yaw axis and a pitch axis, wherein the gimbal system provides a degree of freedom about the yaw axis and a degree of freedom about the pitch axis;
• a spectrometer mounted on the gimbal system and configured to gather spectral data;
• a camera mounted on the gimbal system and configured to gather image data;
• and
• a processing unit communicatively coupled with the spectrometer and the camera, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive the spectral data and the image data from the spectrometer and the camera, respectively, detect an item of interest using at least one of the spectral data and the image data and estimate a physicochemical characteristic of the item of interest based on at least one of the spectral data and the image data;
• wherein the scanning spectrometer system is configured to:
• select an imaging mode from a plurality of imaging modes, wherein the imaging mode determines at least one of a scanning pattern, a scanning speed, and a scanning rate;
• perform a scan of the selected area using the imaging mode to gather the spectral data and the image data;
• automatically select a new imaging mode from the plurality of imaging modes in response to detecting the item of interest;
• and
• perform a scan of the item of interest using the new imaging mode to gather additional spectral data of the item of interest using the spectrometer and additional image data of the item of interest using the camera.