Robuste und genaue Erkennung von Mid-Level-Primitiven für die 3D-Rekonstruktion in von Menschen geschaffenen Umgebungen

The detection of geometric primitives such as points, lines and arcs is a fundamental step in computer vision techniques like image analysis, pattern recognition and 3D scene reconstruction. In this thesis, we present a framework that enables a reliable detection of geometric primitives in images. The focus is on application in man-made environments, although the process is not limited to this. The method provides robust and subpixel accurate detection of points, lines and arcs, and builds up a graph describing the topological relationships between the detected features. The detection method works directly on distorted perspective and fisheye images. The additional recognition of repetitive structures in images ensures the unambiguity of the features in their local environment. We can show that our approach achieves a high localization accuracy comparable to the state-of-the-art methods and at the same time is more robust against disturbances caused by noise. In addition, our approach allows extracting more fine details in the images. The detection accuracy achieved on the real-world scenes is constantly above that achieved by the other methods. Furthermore, our process can reliably distinguish between line and arc segments. The additional topological information extracted by our method is largely consistent over several images of a scene and can therefore be a support for subsequent processing steps, such as matching and correspondence search. We show how the detection method can be integrated into a complete feature-based 3D reconstruction pipeline and present a novel reconstruction method that uses the topological relationships of the features to create a highly abstract but semantically rich 3D model of the reconstructed scenes, in which certain geometric structures can easily be detected.Die Detektion von geometrischen Primitiven wie Punkten, Linien und Bögen ist ein elementarer Verarbeitungsschritt für viele Techniken des maschinellen Sehens wie Bildanalyse, Mustererkennung und 3D-Szenenrekonstruktion. In dieser Arbeit wird eine Methode vorgestellt, die eine zuverlässige Detektion von geometrischen Primitiven in Bildern ermöglicht. Der Fokus liegt auf der Anwendung in urbanen Umgebungen, wobei der Prozess nicht darauf beschränkt ist. Die Methode ermöglicht eine robuste und subpixelgenaue Detektion von Punkten, Linien und Bögen und erstellt einen Graphen, der die topologischen Beziehungen zwischen den detektierten Merkmalen beschreibt. Die Detektionsmethode kann direkt auf verzeichnete perspektivische Bilder und Fischaugenbilder angewendet werden. Die zusätzliche Erkennung sich wiederholender Strukturen in Bildern gewährleistet die Eindeutigkeit der Merkmale in ihrer lokalen Umgebung. Das neu entwickelte Verfahren erreicht eine hohe Lokalisierungsgenauigkeit, die dem Stand der Technik entspricht und gleichzeitig robuster gegenüber Störungen durch Rauschen ist. Darüber hinaus ermöglicht das Verfahren, mehr Details in den Bildern zu extrahieren. Die Detektionsrate ist bei dem neuen Verfahren auf den realen Datensätzen stets höher als bei dem aktuellen Stand der Technik. Darüber hinaus kann das neue Verfahren zuverlässig zwischen Linien- und Bogensegmenten unterscheiden. Die durch das neue Verfahren gewonnenen zusätzlichen topologischen Informationen sind weitgehend konsistent über mehrere Bilder einer Szene und können somit eine Unterstützung für nachfolgende Verarbeitungsschritte wie Matching und Korrespondenzsuche sein. Die Detektionsmethode wird in eine vollständige merkmalsbasierte 3D-Rekonstruktionspipeline integriert und es wird eine neuartige Rekonstruktionsmethode vorgestellt, die die topologischen Beziehungen der Merkmale nutzt, um ein abstraktes, aber zugleich semantisch reichhaltiges 3D-Modell der rekonstruierten Szenen zu erstellen, in dem komplexere geometrische Strukturen leicht detektiert werden können

Third Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Space Applications, part 2

Topics relative to the application of artificial intelligence to space operations are discussed. New technologies for space station automation, design data capture, computer vision, neural nets, automatic programming, and real time applications are discussed

The path inference filter: model-based low-latency map matching of probe vehicle data

We consider the problem of reconstructing vehicle trajectories from sparse sequences of GPS points, for which the sampling interval is between 10 seconds and 2 minutes. We introduce a new class of algorithms, called altogether path inference filter (PIF), that maps GPS data in real time, for a variety of trade-offs and scenarios, and with a high throughput. Numerous prior approaches in map-matching can be shown to be special cases of the path inference filter presented in this article. We present an efficient procedure for automatically training the filter on new data, with or without ground truth observations. The framework is evaluated on a large San Francisco taxi dataset and is shown to improve upon the current state of the art. This filter also provides insights about driving patterns of drivers. The path inference filter has been deployed at an industrial scale inside the Mobile Millennium traffic information system, and is used to map fleets of data in San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockholm and Porto.Comment: Preprint, 23 pages and 23 figure

3D Reconstruction of Indoor Corridor Models Using Single Imagery and Video Sequences

In recent years, 3D indoor modeling has gained more attention due to its role in decision-making process of maintaining the status and managing the security of building indoor spaces. In this thesis, the problem of continuous indoor corridor space modeling has been tackled through two approaches. The first approach develops a modeling method based on middle-level perceptual organization. The second approach develops a visual Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) system with model-based loop closure. In the first approach, the image space was searched for a corridor layout that can be converted into a geometrically accurate 3D model. Manhattan rule assumption was adopted, and indoor corridor layout hypotheses were generated through a random rule-based intersection of image physical line segments and virtual rays of orthogonal vanishing points. Volumetric reasoning, correspondences to physical edges, orientation map and geometric context of an image are all considered for scoring layout hypotheses. This approach provides physically plausible solutions while facing objects or occlusions in a corridor scene. In the second approach, Layout SLAM is introduced. Layout SLAM performs camera localization while maps layout corners and normal point features in 3D space. Here, a new feature matching cost function was proposed considering both local and global context information. In addition, a rotation compensation variable makes Layout SLAM robust against cameras orientation errors accumulations. Moreover, layout model matching of keyframes insures accurate loop closures that prevent miss-association of newly visited landmarks to previously visited scene parts. The comparison of generated single image-based 3D models to ground truth models showed that average ratio differences in widths, heights and lengths were 1.8%, 3.7% and 19.2% respectively. Moreover, Layout SLAM performed with the maximum absolute trajectory error of 2.4m in position and 8.2 degree in orientation for approximately 318m path on RAWSEEDS data set. Loop closing was strongly performed for Layout SLAM and provided 3D indoor corridor layouts with less than 1.05m displacement errors in length and less than 20cm in width and height for approximately 315m path on York University data set. The proposed methods can successfully generate 3D indoor corridor models compared to their major counterpart

Active modelling of virtual humans

This thesis provides a complete framework that enables the creation of photorealistic 3D human models in real-world environments. The approach allows a non-expert user to use any digital capture device to obtain four images of an individual and create a personalised 3D model, for multimedia applications. To achieve this, it is necessary that the system is automatic and that the reconstruction process is flexible to account for information that is not available or incorrectly captured. In this approach the individual is automatically extracted from the environment using constrained active B-spline templates that are scaled and automatically initialised using only image information. These templates incorporate the energy minimising framework for Active Contour Models, providing a suitable and flexible method to deal with the adjustments in pose an individual can adopt. The final states of the templates describe the individual’s shape. The contours in each view are combined to form a 3D B-spline surface that characterises an individual’s maximal silhouette equivalent. The surface provides a mould that contains sufficient information to allow for the active deformation of an underlying generic human model. This modelling approach is performed using a novel technique that evolves active-meshes to 3D for deforming the underlying human model, while adaptively constraining it to preserve its existing structure. The active-mesh approach incorporates internal constraints that maintain the structural relationship of the vertices of the human model, while external forces deform the model congruous to the 3D surface mould. The strength of the internal constraints can be reduced to allow the model to adopt the exact shape of the bounding volume or strengthened to preserve the internal structure, particularly in areas of high detail. This novel implementation provides a uniform framework that can be simply and automatically applied to the entire human model

Multispectral Image Road Extraction Based Upon Automated Map Conflation

Road network extraction from remotely sensed imagery enables many important and diverse applications such as vehicle tracking, drone navigation, and intelligent transportation studies. There are, however, a number of challenges to road detection from an image. Road pavement material, width, direction, and topology vary across a scene. Complete or partial occlusions caused by nearby buildings, trees, and the shadows cast by them, make maintaining road connectivity difficult. The problems posed by occlusions are exacerbated with the increasing use of oblique imagery from aerial and satellite platforms. Further, common objects such as rooftops and parking lots are made of materials similar or identical to road pavements. This problem of common materials is a classic case of a single land cover material existing for different land use scenarios. This work addresses these problems in road extraction from geo-referenced imagery by leveraging the OpenStreetMap digital road map to guide image-based road extraction. The crowd-sourced cartography has the advantages of worldwide coverage that is constantly updated. The derived road vectors follow only roads and so can serve to guide image-based road extraction with minimal confusion from occlusions and changes in road material. On the other hand, the vector road map has no information on road widths and misalignments between the vector map and the geo-referenced image are small but nonsystematic. Properly correcting misalignment between two geospatial datasets, also known as map conflation, is an essential step. A generic framework requiring minimal human intervention is described for multispectral image road extraction and automatic road map conflation. The approach relies on the road feature generation of a binary mask and a corresponding curvilinear image. A method for generating the binary road mask from the image by applying a spectral measure is presented. The spectral measure, called anisotropy-tunable distance (ATD), differs from conventional measures and is created to account for both changes of spectral direction and spectral magnitude in a unified fashion. The ATD measure is particularly suitable for differentiating urban targets such as roads and building rooftops. The curvilinear image provides estimates of the width and orientation of potential road segments. Road vectors derived from OpenStreetMap are then conflated to image road features by applying junction matching and intermediate point matching, followed by refinement with mean-shift clustering and morphological processing to produce a road mask with piecewise width estimates. The proposed approach is tested on a set of challenging, large, and diverse image data sets and the performance accuracy is assessed. The method is effective for road detection and width estimation of roads, even in challenging scenarios when extensive occlusion occurs

Computational intelligence approaches to robotics, automation, and control [Volume guest editors]

No abstract available