System and method for detecting and tracking a curvilinear object in a three-dimensional space

A robotic system, comprising:

• a manipulator assembly;
• a manipulator control system configured to communicate with said manipulator assembly;
• and
• a system for detecting and tracking a curvilinear object in a three-dimensional space configured to communicate with said manipulator control system,
• wherein said system for detecting and tracking a curvilinear object in a three-dimensional space comprises:
• an image acquisition system comprising a video camera arranged to acquire a video image of said curvilinear object and output a corresponding video signal, said video image comprising a plurality n of image frames each at a respective time ti, where i=1, 2, . . . , n;
• and
• a data processing system adapted to communicate with said image acquisition system to receive said video signal,
• wherein said data processing system is configured to determine a position, orientation and shape of said curvilinear object in said three-dimensional space at each time ti by forming a computational model of said curvilinear object at each time ti such that a projection of said computation model of said curvilinear object at each time ti onto a corresponding frame of said plurality of image frames of said video image matches a curvilinear image in said frame to a predetermined accuracy to thereby detect and track said curvilinear object from time t1 to time tn.