The Infona portal uses cookies, i.e. strings of text saved by a browser on the user's device. The portal can access those files and use them to remember the user's data, such as their chosen settings (screen view, interface language, etc.), or their login data. By using the Infona portal the user accepts automatic saving and using this information for portal operation purposes. More information on the subject can be found in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. By closing this window the user confirms that they have read the information on cookie usage, and they accept the privacy policy and the way cookies are used by the portal. You can change the cookie settings in your browser.
We present a robust multi-robot convoying approach that relies on visual detection of the leading agent, thus enabling target following in unstructured 3-D environments. Our method is based on the idea of tracking-by-detection, which interleaves efficient model-based object detection with temporal filtering of image-based bounding box estimation. This approach has the important advantage of mitigating...
We address the integrated planning and control problem that enables a single follower robot (the “photographer”) to maintain a moving target (the “subject”) in its field of view for as long as possible. We propose a real-time pursuit algorithm that seamlessly handles the often neglected, yet unavoidable, scenario in which the target escapes the follower's field of view; a scenario that simple, reactive...
We present a gaze control method that augments an existing stereo and inertial Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) system by directing the stereo camera towards feature-rich regions of the scene. Our integrated active SLAM system is based on careful triangulation of visual features, existing successful nonlinear optimization, and visual loop closing frameworks. It relies on the tight coupling...
In this paper we propose a hierarchy of techniques for performing loop closure in indoor environments together with an exploration strategy designed to reduce uncertainty in the resulting map. We use the generalized Voronoi graph to represent the indoor environment and an extended Kalman filter to track the pose of the robot and the position of the junctions (vertices) of the topological graph. Every...
Inspection and exploration of complex underwater structures requires the development of agile and easy to program platforms. In this paper, we describe a system that enables the deployment of an autonomous underwater vehicle in 3D environments proximal to the ocean bottom. Unlike many previous approaches, our solution: uses oscillating hydrofoil propulsion; allows for stable control of the robot's...
In this paper we address the rendezvous problem between an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and a passively floating drifter on the sea surface. The AUV's mission is to keep an estimate of the floating drifter's position while exploring the underwater environment and periodically attempting to rendezvous with it. We are interested in the case where the AUV loses track of the drifter, predicts its...
In this paper we address the issue of coordinating the trajectories of two collaborating robots in environments with obstacles so that visibility between them is maximized in the presence of competing constraints. Specifically, we examine the problem of allowing one robot (the “photographer”) to follow another robot (“the subject”) through a planar environment while maintaining visual contact to the...
In this paper we examine pursuit-evasion games in which the pursuer has higher speed than the evader. This scenario is motivated by visibility-based pursuit-evasion problems, particularly by the question of what happens when the pursuer loses visual track of the moving evader. In these cases the pursuer has two options for recovering visual contact with the evader: to perform search over the possible...
In this paper we describe a heterogeneous multi-robot system for assisting scientists in environmental monitoring tasks, such as the inspection of marine ecosystems. This team of robots is comprised of a fixed-wing aerial vehicle, an autonomous airboat, and an agile legged underwater robot. These robots interact with off-site scientists and operate in a hierarchical structure to autonomously collect...
We address the problem of path planning for robot missions based on waypoints suggested by multiple human users. These users may be operating under distinct mission objectives and hence suggest different locations for the robot to visit. We formulate this problem using a constrained optimization approach by imposing various operational considerations, such as the robot's maximum traversable distance...
This paper presents an adaptation of a vision and inertial-based state estimation algorithm for use in an underwater robot. The proposed approach combines information from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) in the form of linear accelerations and angular velocities, depth data from a pressure sensor, and feature tracking from a monocular downward facing camera to estimate the 6DOF pose of the vehicle...
We present MARE, an autonomous airboat robot that is suitable for exploration-oriented tasks, such as inspection of coral reefs and shallow seabeds. The combination of this platform's particular mechanical properties and its powerful software framework enables it to function in a multitude of potential capacities, including autonomous surveillance, mapping, and search operations. In this paper we...
We present MARE, an autonomous airboat robot that is suitable for exploration-oriented tasks, such as inspection of coral reefs and shallow seabeds. The combination of this platform's particular mechanical properties and its powerful software framework enables it to function in a multitude of potential capacities, including autonomous surveillance, mapping, and search operations. In this paper we...
This paper presents an adaptation of a vision and inertial-based state estimation algorithm for use in an underwater robot. The proposed approach combines information from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) in the form of linear accelerations and angular velocities, depth data from a pressure sensor, and feature tracking from a monocular downward facing camera to estimate the 6DOF pose of the vehicle...
In this paper we present the computer vision component of a 6DOF pose estimation algorithm to be used by an underwater robot. Our goal is to evaluate which feature trackers enable us to accurately estimate the 3D positions of features, as quickly as possible. To this end, we perform an evaluation of available detectors, descriptors, and matching schemes, over different underwater datasets. We are...
Set the date range to filter the displayed results. You can set a starting date, ending date or both. You can enter the dates manually or choose them from the calendar.