237 research outputs found
Improving Generalization of Synthetically Trained Sonar Image Descriptors for Underwater Place Recognition
Autonomous navigation in underwater environments presents challenges due to
factors such as light absorption and water turbidity, limiting the
effectiveness of optical sensors. Sonar systems are commonly used for
perception in underwater operations as they are unaffected by these
limitations. Traditional computer vision algorithms are less effective when
applied to sonar-generated acoustic images, while convolutional neural networks
(CNNs) typically require large amounts of labeled training data that are often
unavailable or difficult to acquire. To this end, we propose a novel compact
deep sonar descriptor pipeline that can generalize to real scenarios while
being trained exclusively on synthetic data. Our architecture is based on a
ResNet18 back-end and a properly parameterized random Gaussian projection
layer, whereas input sonar data is enhanced with standard ad-hoc
normalization/prefiltering techniques. A customized synthetic data generation
procedure is also presented. The proposed method has been evaluated extensively
using both synthetic and publicly available real data, demonstrating its
effectiveness compared to state-of-the-art methods.Comment: This paper has been accepted for publication at the 14th
International Conference on Computer Vision Systems (ICVS 2023
LifeCLEF 2016: Multimedia Life Species Identification Challenges
International audienceUsing multimedia identification tools is considered as one of the most promising solutions to help bridge the taxonomic gap and build accurate knowledge of the identity, the geographic distribution and the evolution of living species. Large and structured communities of nature observers (e.g., iSpot, Xeno-canto, Tela Botanica, etc.) as well as big monitoring equipment have actually started to produce outstanding collections of multimedia records. Unfortunately, the performance of the state-of-the-art analysis techniques on such data is still not well understood and is far from reaching real world requirements. The LifeCLEF lab proposes to evaluate these challenges around 3 tasks related to multimedia information retrieval and fine-grained classification problems in 3 domains. Each task is based on large volumes of real-world data and the measured challenges are defined in collaboration with biologists and environmental stakeholders to reflect realistic usage scenarios. For each task, we report the methodology, the data sets as well as the results and the main outcom
SONIC: Sonar Image Correspondence using Pose Supervised Learning for Imaging Sonars
In this paper, we address the challenging problem of data association for
underwater SLAM through a novel method for sonar image correspondence using
learned features. We introduce SONIC (SONar Image Correspondence), a
pose-supervised network designed to yield robust feature correspondence capable
of withstanding viewpoint variations. The inherent complexity of the underwater
environment stems from the dynamic and frequently limited visibility
conditions, restricting vision to a few meters of often featureless expanses.
This makes camera-based systems suboptimal in most open water application
scenarios. Consequently, multibeam imaging sonars emerge as the preferred
choice for perception sensors. However, they too are not without their
limitations. While imaging sonars offer superior long-range visibility compared
to cameras, their measurements can appear different from varying viewpoints.
This inherent variability presents formidable challenges in data association,
particularly for feature-based methods. Our method demonstrates significantly
better performance in generating correspondences for sonar images which will
pave the way for more accurate loop closure constraints and sonar-based place
recognition. Code as well as simulated and real-world datasets will be made
public to facilitate further development in the field
Deep learning for internet of underwater things and ocean data analytics
The Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) is an emerging technological ecosystem developed for connecting objects in maritime and underwater environments. IoUT technologies are empowered by an extreme number of deployed sensors and actuators. In this thesis, multiple IoUT sensory data are augmented with machine intelligence for forecasting purposes
Internet of Underwater Things and Big Marine Data Analytics -- A Comprehensive Survey
The Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) is an emerging communication
ecosystem developed for connecting underwater objects in maritime and
underwater environments. The IoUT technology is intricately linked with
intelligent boats and ships, smart shores and oceans, automatic marine
transportations, positioning and navigation, underwater exploration, disaster
prediction and prevention, as well as with intelligent monitoring and security.
The IoUT has an influence at various scales ranging from a small scientific
observatory, to a midsized harbor, and to covering global oceanic trade. The
network architecture of IoUT is intrinsically heterogeneous and should be
sufficiently resilient to operate in harsh environments. This creates major
challenges in terms of underwater communications, whilst relying on limited
energy resources. Additionally, the volume, velocity, and variety of data
produced by sensors, hydrophones, and cameras in IoUT is enormous, giving rise
to the concept of Big Marine Data (BMD), which has its own processing
challenges. Hence, conventional data processing techniques will falter, and
bespoke Machine Learning (ML) solutions have to be employed for automatically
learning the specific BMD behavior and features facilitating knowledge
extraction and decision support. The motivation of this paper is to
comprehensively survey the IoUT, BMD, and their synthesis. It also aims for
exploring the nexus of BMD with ML. We set out from underwater data collection
and then discuss the family of IoUT data communication techniques with an
emphasis on the state-of-the-art research challenges. We then review the suite
of ML solutions suitable for BMD handling and analytics. We treat the subject
deductively from an educational perspective, critically appraising the material
surveyed.Comment: 54 pages, 11 figures, 19 tables, IEEE Communications Surveys &
Tutorials, peer-reviewed academic journa
Underwater Vehicles
For the latest twenty to thirty years, a significant number of AUVs has been created for the solving of wide spectrum of scientific and applied tasks of ocean development and research. For the short time period the AUVs have shown the efficiency at performance of complex search and inspection works and opened a number of new important applications. Initially the information about AUVs had mainly review-advertising character but now more attention is paid to practical achievements, problems and systems technologies. AUVs are losing their prototype status and have become a fully operational, reliable and effective tool and modern multi-purpose AUVs represent the new class of underwater robotic objects with inherent tasks and practical applications, particular features of technology, systems structure and functional properties
Decision-Making for Search and Classification using Multiple Autonomous Vehicles over Large-Scale Domains
This dissertation focuses on real-time decision-making for large-scale domain search and object classification using Multiple Autonomous Vehicles (MAV). In recent years, MAV systems have attracted considerable attention and have been widely utilized. Of particular interest is their application to search and classification under limited sensory capabilities. Since search requires sensor mobility and classification requires a sensor to stay within the vicinity of an object, search and classification are two competing tasks. Therefore, there is a need to develop real-time sensor allocation decision-making strategies to guarantee task accomplishment. These decisions are especially crucial when the domain is much larger than the field-of-view of a sensor, or when the number of objects to be found and classified is much larger than that of available sensors. In this work, the search problem is formulated as a coverage control problem, which aims at collecting enough data at every point within the domain to construct an awareness map. The object classification problem seeks to satisfactorily categorize the property of each found object of interest. The decision-making strategies include both sensor allocation decisions and vehicle motion control. The awareness-, Bayesian-, and risk-based decision-making strategies are developed in sequence. The awareness-based approach is developed under a deterministic framework, while the latter two are developed under a probabilistic framework where uncertainty in sensor measurement is taken into account. The risk-based decision-making strategy also analyzes the effect of measurement cost. It is further extended to an integrated detection and estimation problem with applications in optimal sensor management. Simulation-based studies are performed to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms
The University Defence Research Collaboration In Signal Processing
This chapter describes the development of algorithms for automatic detection of anomalies from multi-dimensional, undersampled and incomplete datasets. The challenge in this work is to identify and classify behaviours as normal or abnormal, safe or threatening, from an irregular and often heterogeneous sensor network. Many defence and civilian applications can be modelled as complex networks of interconnected nodes with unknown or uncertain spatio-temporal relations. The behavior of such heterogeneous networks can exhibit dynamic properties, reflecting evolution in both network structure (new nodes appearing and existing nodes disappearing), as well as inter-node relations.
The UDRC work has addressed not only the detection of anomalies, but also the identification of their nature and their statistical characteristics. Normal patterns and changes in behavior have been incorporated to provide an acceptable balance between true positive rate, false positive rate, performance and computational cost. Data quality measures have been used to ensure the models of normality are not corrupted by unreliable and ambiguous data. The context for the activity of each node in complex networks offers an even more efficient anomaly detection mechanism. This has allowed the development of efficient approaches which not only detect anomalies but which also go on to classify their behaviour
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