68,849 research outputs found
Data-Driven Grasp Synthesis - A Survey
We review the work on data-driven grasp synthesis and the methodologies for
sampling and ranking candidate grasps. We divide the approaches into three
groups based on whether they synthesize grasps for known, familiar or unknown
objects. This structure allows us to identify common object representations and
perceptual processes that facilitate the employed data-driven grasp synthesis
technique. In the case of known objects, we concentrate on the approaches that
are based on object recognition and pose estimation. In the case of familiar
objects, the techniques use some form of a similarity matching to a set of
previously encountered objects. Finally for the approaches dealing with unknown
objects, the core part is the extraction of specific features that are
indicative of good grasps. Our survey provides an overview of the different
methodologies and discusses open problems in the area of robot grasping. We
also draw a parallel to the classical approaches that rely on analytic
formulations.Comment: 20 pages, 30 Figures, submitted to IEEE Transactions on Robotic
Multi-dimensional modelling for the national mapping agency: a discussion of initial ideas, considerations, and challenges
The Ordnance Survey, the National Mapping Agency (NMA) for Great Britain, has recently
begun to research the possible extension of its 2-dimensional geographic information into a
multi-dimensional environment. Such a move creates a number of data creation and storage
issues which the NMA must consider. Many of these issues are highly relevant to all NMAâs
and their customers alike, and are presented and explored here.
This paper offers a discussion of initial considerations which NMAâs face in the creation of
multi-dimensional datasets. Such issues include assessing which objects should be mapped in
3 dimensions by a National Mapping Agency, what should be sensibly represented
dynamically, and whether resolution of multi-dimensional models should change over space.
This paper also offers some preliminary suggestions for the optimal creation method for any
future enhanced national height model for the Ordnance Survey. This discussion includes
examples of problem areas and issues in both the extraction of 3-D data and in the
topological reconstruction of such. 3-D feature extraction is not a new problem. However, the
degree of automation which may be achieved and the suitability of current techniques for
NMAâs remains a largely unchartered research area, which this research aims to tackle.
The issues presented in this paper require immediate research, and if solved adequately
would mark a cartographic paradigm shift in the communication of geographic information â
and could signify the beginning of the way in which NMAâs both present and interact with
their customers in the future
Synthesizing Training Data for Object Detection in Indoor Scenes
Detection of objects in cluttered indoor environments is one of the key
enabling functionalities for service robots. The best performing object
detection approaches in computer vision exploit deep Convolutional Neural
Networks (CNN) to simultaneously detect and categorize the objects of interest
in cluttered scenes. Training of such models typically requires large amounts
of annotated training data which is time consuming and costly to obtain. In
this work we explore the ability of using synthetically generated composite
images for training state-of-the-art object detectors, especially for object
instance detection. We superimpose 2D images of textured object models into
images of real environments at variety of locations and scales. Our experiments
evaluate different superimposition strategies ranging from purely image-based
blending all the way to depth and semantics informed positioning of the object
models into real scenes. We demonstrate the effectiveness of these object
detector training strategies on two publicly available datasets, the
GMU-Kitchens and the Washington RGB-D Scenes v2. As one observation, augmenting
some hand-labeled training data with synthetic examples carefully composed onto
scenes yields object detectors with comparable performance to using much more
hand-labeled data. Broadly, this work charts new opportunities for training
detectors for new objects by exploiting existing object model repositories in
either a purely automatic fashion or with only a very small number of
human-annotated examples.Comment: Added more experiments and link to project webpag
Re-colonizing spaces of memorializing: the case of the Chattri Indian Memorial, UK
This article inspects the ways that spaces of war memorialization are organized and reorganized through official and unofficial meaning-making activities. It aims to contribute to the discussion of the âvalueâ of memorializing by examining a multifaceted space of remembrance and commemoration: the Chattri Indian Memorial built near Brighton, UK. The article brings postcolonial perspectives to explore how memorializing has been organized here, focusing on the activities of once-colonized people and the affective, embodied aspects of organizing practices. Built in 1921 to honour Indian soldiers who fought in WWI, the Chattri evolved from a colonial instrument to symbol and space for ethnic-Indian group activities. The study employed historical, visual and ethnographic methods to study the tangible monument and the changing nature of the memorializing activities carried out around the monument. Memorializing is conceptualized within three inter-related processes: colonizing, de-colonizing and re-colonizing to examine how forms and practices of memorialization constitute a values-laden organizing system
Practice-Led Research and the Engagement With Truth
This paper offers the thesis that practice-led research in art and design should propose changes to those relations of knowledge that currently ensure the integrity of practice and the neutrality and objectivity of theory. I assert that the 'common ground' of theory and practice can be located within a structure of identification that binds the practitioner to the analyst or theorist of practice. I offer an example of one theorist (Slavoj Zizek) who has instituted a game with this structure of identification of theorist and art object, a game that is necessarily limited by conditions for the 'practice of theory' in the humanities. A way beyond these limitations is suggested in a discussion of Lars von Trier's film 'The Five Obstructions' (2004). This film makes a series of displacements of the integrity of practice within the forms of identification that structure the engagements of Lars von Trier and Jorgen Leth
Design of a miniaturized work-cell for micro-manipulation
The paper describes the design and development of a miniaturised workcell devoted to the robotized micro manipulation and assembly of extremely small components, jointly carried out by the University of Brescia, University of Bergamo, University of Ancona and the Institute of Industrial Technologies and Automation of the Italian National Research Council in the framework of the project PRIN2009 MM&A, funded by MIUR. Besides analyzing theoretical and practical aspects related to the design of the work cell components (positioning and orienting devices, grippers, vision and control systems), an automated test bed for the assembly of micro pieces whose typical dimension belongs to the submillimeter scale range has been implemented. The perspective is to contribute to the realization of general automatic production systems at the moment absent for objects of these dimensions
Landscape History and Theory: from Subject Matter to Analytic Tool
This essay explores how landscape history can engage methodologically with the
adjacent disciplines of art history and visual/cultural studies. Central to the
methodological problem is the mapping of the beholder ïżœ spatially, temporally and
phenomenologically. In this mapping process, landscape history is transformed from
subject matter to analytical tool. As a result, landscape history no longer simply imports
and applies ideas from other disciplines but develops its own methodologies to engage
and influence them. Landscape history, like art history, thereby takes on a creative
cultural presence. Through that process, landscape architecture and garden design
regain the cultural power now carried by the arts and museum studies, and has an effect
on the innovative capabilities of contemporary landscape design
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