Robotic surface modification systems and methods

A robotic surface modification system comprising:

• a robotic arm;
• a force control unit coupled to the robotic arm;
• an end effector coupled to the force control unit;
• an imaging system mounted to the end effector, wherein the imaging system is configured to capture images of a surface.

A method of positioning an imaging system over a surface, the method comprising:

• capturing an image of the surface with an imaging device;
• generating a surface topography, using a topography generator for the surface based on the captured image;
• retrieving a known surface topography of the surface;
• comparing the generated surface topography to the known surface topography;
• and
• based on a detected difference between the generated surface topography and the known surface topography, generating a deviation indication.