GelSlim: A High-Resolution, Compact, Robust, and Calibrated Tactile-sensing Finger

This work describes the development of a high-resolution tactile-sensing finger for robot grasping. This finger, inspired by previous GelSight sensing techniques, features an integration that is slimmer, more robust, and with more homogeneous output than previous vision-based tactile sensors. To achieve a compact integration, we redesign the optical path from illumination source to camera by combining light guides and an arrangement of mirror reflections. We parameterize the optical path with geometric design variables and describe the tradeoffs between the finger thickness, the depth of field of the camera, and the size of the tactile sensing area. The sensor sustains the wear from continuous use -- and abuse -- in grasping tasks by combining tougher materials for the compliant soft gel, a textured fabric skin, a structurally rigid body, and a calibration process that maintains homogeneous illumination and contrast of the tactile images during use. Finally, we evaluate the sensor's durability along four metrics that track the signal quality during more than 3000 grasping experiments.Comment: RA-L Pre-print. 8 page

Depth Estimation for Glossy Surfaces with Light-Field Cameras

Abstract. Light-field cameras have now become available in both consumer and industrial applications, and recent papers have demonstrated practical algorithms for depth recovery from a passive single-shot capture. However, current light-field depth estimation methods are designed for Lambertian objects and fail or degrade for glossy or specular surfaces. Because light-field cameras have an array of micro-lenses, the captured data allows modification of both focus and perspec-tive viewpoints. In this paper, we develop an iterative approach to use the benefits of light-field data to estimate and remove the specular component, improving the depth estimation. The approach enables light-field data depth estimation to sup-port both specular and diffuse scenes. We present a physically-based method that estimates one or multiple light source colors. We show our method outperforms current state-of-the-art diffuse and specular separation and depth estimation al-gorithms in multiple real world scenarios.

Embedded polarizing filters to separate diffuse and specular reflection

Polarizing filters provide a powerful way to separate diffuse and specular reflection; however, traditional methods rely on several captures and require proper alignment of the filters. Recently, camera manufacturers have proposed to embed polarizing micro-filters in front of the sensor, creating a mosaic of pixels with different polarizations. In this paper, we investigate the advantages of such camera designs. In particular, we consider different design patterns for the filter arrays and propose an algorithm to demosaic an image generated by such cameras. This essentially allows us to separate the diffuse and specular components using a single image. The performance of our algorithm is compared with a color-based method using synthetic and real data. Finally, we demonstrate how we can recover the normals of a scene using the diffuse images estimated by our method.Comment: ACCV 201

A computational approach for obstruction-free photography

We present a unified computational approach for taking photos through reflecting or occluding elements such as windows and fences. Rather than capturing a single image, we instruct the user to take a short image sequence while slightly moving the camera. Differences that often exist in the relative position of the background and the obstructing elements from the camera allow us to separate them based on their motions, and to recover the desired background scene as if the visual obstructions were not there. We show results on controlled experiments and many real and practical scenarios, including shooting through reflections, fences, and raindrop-covered windows.Shell ResearchUnited States. Office of Naval Research (Navy Fund 6923196

Reflection Decomposition In Single Images Using An Optimum Thresholding-based Method

Traditional methods of separating reflection components have been developed based on multiple images. There are only few methods which are able to use a single image. However, their applicability is limited due to offline setting of its arbitrary parameter. In this study, we propose an effective method to separate specular components using a single image which based on an optimum thresholding-based technique. This method employs modified specular-free image and selects an optimum value for the offset parameter. In contrast to prior method, the proposed method processes all the steps automatically and produces better performance. Experimental results for inhomogeneous objects demonstrate the promising applicability for real-time implementation. However, this method is unsuitable for objects with strong specular reflection. An extension is suggested to include the specular lobe reflectance into Shafer dichromatic model

What Is Around The Camera?

How much does a single image reveal about the environment it was taken in? In this paper, we investigate how much of that information can be retrieved from a foreground object, combined with the background (i.e. the visible part of the environment). Assuming it is not perfectly diffuse, the foreground object acts as a complexly shaped and far-from-perfect mirror. An additional challenge is that its appearance confounds the light coming from the environment with the unknown materials it is made of. We propose a learning-based approach to predict the environment from multiple reflectance maps that are computed from approximate surface normals. The proposed method allows us to jointly model the statistics of environments and material properties. We train our system from synthesized training data, but demonstrate its applicability to real-world data. Interestingly, our analysis shows that the information obtained from objects made out of multiple materials often is complementary and leads to better performance.Comment: Accepted to ICCV. Project: http://homes.esat.kuleuven.be/~sgeorgou/multinatillum