Plenoptic Signal Processing for Robust Vision in Field Robotics

This thesis proposes the use of plenoptic cameras for improving the robustness and simplicity of machine vision in field robotics applications. Dust, rain, fog, snow, murky water and insufficient light can cause even the most sophisticated vision systems to fail. Plenoptic cameras offer an appealing alternative to conventional imagery by gathering significantly more light over a wider depth of field, and capturing a rich 4D light field structure that encodes textural and geometric information. The key contributions of this work lie in exploring the properties of plenoptic signals and developing algorithms for exploiting them. It lays the groundwork for the deployment of plenoptic cameras in field robotics by establishing a decoding, calibration and rectification scheme appropriate to compact, lenslet-based devices. Next, the frequency-domain shape of plenoptic signals is elaborated and exploited by constructing a filter which focuses over a wide depth of field rather than at a single depth. This filter is shown to reject noise, improving contrast in low light and through attenuating media, while mitigating occluders such as snow, rain and underwater particulate matter. Next, a closed-form generalization of optical flow is presented which directly estimates camera motion from first-order derivatives. An elegant adaptation of this "plenoptic flow" to lenslet-based imagery is demonstrated, as well as a simple, additive method for rendering novel views. Finally, the isolation of dynamic elements from a static background is considered, a task complicated by the non-uniform apparent motion caused by a mobile camera. Two elegant closed-form solutions are presented dealing with monocular time-series and light field image pairs. This work emphasizes non-iterative, noise-tolerant, closed-form, linear methods with predictable and constant runtimes, making them suitable for real-time embedded implementation in field robotics applications

Plenoptic Signal Processing for Robust Vision in Field Robotics

This thesis proposes the use of plenoptic cameras for improving the robustness and simplicity of machine vision in field robotics applications. Dust, rain, fog, snow, murky water and insufficient light can cause even the most sophisticated vision systems to fail. Plenoptic cameras offer an appealing alternative to conventional imagery by gathering significantly more light over a wider depth of field, and capturing a rich 4D light field structure that encodes textural and geometric information. The key contributions of this work lie in exploring the properties of plenoptic signals and developing algorithms for exploiting them. It lays the groundwork for the deployment of plenoptic cameras in field robotics by establishing a decoding, calibration and rectification scheme appropriate to compact, lenslet-based devices. Next, the frequency-domain shape of plenoptic signals is elaborated and exploited by constructing a filter which focuses over a wide depth of field rather than at a single depth. This filter is shown to reject noise, improving contrast in low light and through attenuating media, while mitigating occluders such as snow, rain and underwater particulate matter. Next, a closed-form generalization of optical flow is presented which directly estimates camera motion from first-order derivatives. An elegant adaptation of this "plenoptic flow" to lenslet-based imagery is demonstrated, as well as a simple, additive method for rendering novel views. Finally, the isolation of dynamic elements from a static background is considered, a task complicated by the non-uniform apparent motion caused by a mobile camera. Two elegant closed-form solutions are presented dealing with monocular time-series and light field image pairs. This work emphasizes non-iterative, noise-tolerant, closed-form, linear methods with predictable and constant runtimes, making them suitable for real-time embedded implementation in field robotics applications

Light field image denoising using a linear 4D frequency-hyperfan all-in-focus filter

Imaging in low light is problematic as sensor noise can dominate imagery, and increasing illumination or aperture size is not always effective or practical. Computational photography offers a promising solution in the form of the light field camera, which by capturing redundant information offers an opportunity for elegant noise rejection. We show that the light field of a Lambertian scene has a 4D hyperfan-shaped frequency-domain region of support at the intersection of a dual-fan and a hypercone. By designing and implementing a filter with appropriately shaped passband we accomplish denoising with a single all-in-focus linear filter. Drawing examples from the Stanford Light Field Archive and images captured using a commercially available lenselet-based plenoptic camera, we demonstrate that the hyperfan outperforms competing methods including synthetic focus, fan-shaped antialiasing filters, and a range of modern nonlinear image and video denoising techniques. We show the hyperfan preserves depth of field, making it a single-step all-in-focus denoising filter suitable for general-purpose light field rendering. We include results for different noise types and levels, over a variety of metrics, and in real-world scenarios. Finally, we show that the hyperfan’s performance scales with aperture count. 1

シュリーレン法による可聴音場可視化のための時空間フィルタリング

早大学位記番号:新7470早稲田大

The Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization: 8 Station Results

We are developing the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) to detect 21cm emission from the early Universe, when the first stars and galaxies were forming. We describe the overall experiment strategy and architecture and summarize two PAPER deployments: a 4-antenna array in the low-RFI environment of Western Australia and an 8-antenna array at our prototyping site in Green Bank, WV. From these activities we report on system performance, including primary beam model verification, dependence of system gain on ambient temperature, measurements of receiver and overall system temperatures, and characterization of the RFI environment at each deployment site. We present an all-sky map synthesized between 139 MHz and 174 MHz using data from both arrays that reaches down to 80 mJy (4.9 K, for a beam size of 2.15e-5 steradians at 154 MHz), with a 10 mJy (620 mK) thermal noise level that indicates what would be achievable with better foreground subtraction. We calculate angular power spectra ($C_\ell$) in a cold patch and determine them to be dominated by point sources, but with contributions from galactic synchrotron emission at lower radio frequencies and angular wavemodes. Although the cosmic variance of foregrounds dominates errors in these power spectra, we measure a thermal noise level of 310 mK at $\ell=100$ for a 1.46-MHz band centered at 164.5 MHz. This sensitivity level is approximately three orders of magnitude in temperature above the level of the fluctuations in 21cm emission associated with reionization.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, submitted to AJ. Revision 2 corrects a scaling error in the x axis of Fig. 12 that lowers the calculated power spectrum temperatur

THz Metamaterial Characterization Using THz-TDS

The purpose of this chapter is to familiarize the reader with metamaterials and describe terahertz (THz) spectroscopy within metamaterials research. The introduction provides key background information on metamaterials, describes their history and their unique properties. These properties include negative refraction, backwards phase propagation, and the reversed Doppler Effect. The history and theory of metamaterials are discussed, starting with Veselago’s negative index materials work and Pendry’s publications on physical realization of metamaterials. The next sections cover measurement and analyses of THz metamaterials. THz Time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) will be the key measurement tool used to describe the THz metamaterial measurement process. Sample transmission data from a metamaterial THz-TDS measurement is analyzed to give a better understanding of the different frequency characteristics of metamaterials. The measurement and analysis sections are followed by a section on the fabrication process of metamaterials. After familiarizing the reader with THz metamaterial measurement and fabrication techniques, the final section will provide a review of various methods by which metamaterials are made active and/or tunable. Several novel concepts were demonstrated in recent years to achieve such metamaterials, including photoconductivity, high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and phase change material (PCM)-based metamaterial structures

THz Metamaterial Characterization Using THz-TDS

The purpose of this chapter is to familiarize the reader with metamaterials and describe terahertz (THz) spectroscopy within metamaterials research. The introduction provides key background information on metamaterials, describes their history and their unique properties. These properties include negative refraction, backwards phase propagation, and the reversed Doppler Effect. The history and theory of metamaterials are discussed, starting with Veselago’s negative index materials work and Pendry’s publications on physical realization of metamaterials. The next sections cover measurement and analyses of THz metamaterials. THz Time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) will be the key measurement tool used to describe the THz metamaterial measurement process. Sample transmission data from a metamaterial THz-TDS measurement is analyzed to give a better understanding of the different frequency characteristics of metamaterials. The measurement and analysis sections are followed by a section on the fabrication process of metamaterials. After familiarizing the reader with THz metamaterial measurement and fabrication techniques, the final section will provide a review of various methods by which metamaterials are made active and/or tunable. Several novel concepts were demonstrated in recent years to achieve such metamaterials, including photoconductivity, high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and phase change material (PCM)-based metamaterial structures

Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA)

The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) is a staged experiment to measure 21 cm emission from the primordial intergalactic medium (IGM) throughout cosmic reionization ($z=6-12$), and to explore earlier epochs of our Cosmic Dawn ($z\sim30$). During these epochs, early stars and black holes heated and ionized the IGM, introducing fluctuations in 21 cm emission. HERA is designed to characterize the evolution of the 21 cm power spectrum to constrain the timing and morphology of reionization, the properties of the first galaxies, the evolution of large-scale structure, and the early sources of heating. The full HERA instrument will be a 350-element interferometer in South Africa consisting of 14-m parabolic dishes observing from 50 to 250 MHz. Currently, 19 dishes have been deployed on site and the next 18 are under construction. HERA has been designated as an SKA Precursor instrument. In this paper, we summarize HERA's scientific context and provide forecasts for its key science results. After reviewing the current state of the art in foreground mitigation, we use the delay-spectrum technique to motivate high-level performance requirements for the HERA instrument. Next, we present the HERA instrument design, along with the subsystem specifications that ensure that HERA meets its performance requirements. Finally, we summarize the schedule and status of the project. We conclude by suggesting that, given the realities of foreground contamination, current-generation 21 cm instruments are approaching their sensitivity limits. HERA is designed to bring both the sensitivity and the precision to deliver its primary science on the basis of proven foreground filtering techniques, while developing new subtraction techniques to unlock new capabilities. The result will be a major step toward realizing the widely recognized scientific potential of 21 cm cosmology.Comment: 26 pages, 24 figures, 2 table