Detektion und Posenerkennung von Personen mit 3D-Ansichtsmodellen

Service and assistant robots take over more and more complex duties within our everyday life. Therefore, the communication between humans and robots should be as natural as possible, in order to support an intuitive interaction. Detection and recognition of humans, as well as the estimation of their pose within camera images make a crucial contribution to this challenge. - For this purpose, an appearance based approach which uses a 3D model has been investigated within this diploma thesis. The model evaluates pose hypothesis by interpretation of color and edge features. The modeled upper body pose is determined by 13 parameters for the torso position and turning, the head twist plus the setting of the upper arms and the forearms. - An essential issue of this work is the optimization of the fit value function over the high dimensional pose space, in order to detect the most likely pose hypothesis. To achieve this, it is important that the appearance model causes a preferably smooth fit value function. Furthermore, different methods for optimization of the pose hypotheses within the pose space have been investigated. A tracking approach has been developed, which in contrast to the particle filter, allows the unrestricted motion of pose hypotheses during the optimization process. - Based on the diploma thesis of Dipl.-Ing. Daniel Dornbusch a framework is implemented, which allows the flexible combination of different subcomponents and easy testing of the corresponding parameters. The results of the analysis of the method have been validated by estimating the 3D head-torso pose of a person within a real image sequence.Assistenz- und Serviceroboter übernehmen zunehmend komplexe Aufgaben im menschlichen Alltag. Damit Personen intuitiv mit solchen Robotern interagieren können, sollte die Kommunikation zwischen Mensch und Roboter möglichst natürlich sein. Die Detektion und Wiedererkennung von Personen, sowie die Erkennung ihrer Pose auf Kamerabildern liefern dazu einen entscheidenden Beitrag. Zu diesem Zweck wird in dieser Diplomarbeit ein ansichtsbasiertes Verfahren vorgestellt, welches auf einem 3D-Modell beruht. Das Modell dient der Bewertung von Posenhypothesen auf der Basis von Farb- und Kantenmerkmalen. Die modellierten Oberkörperposen werden durch 13 Parameter für Torsoposition, und -orientierung, Kopfdrehung, sowie Ober- und Unterarmstellung beschrieben. Ein wesentlicher Kernpunkt der Arbeit ist die Optimierung dieser Posenhypothesen in dem Gütegebirge über dem hochdimensionalen Posenraum, zur Detektion der wahrscheinlichsten Hypothesen. In diesem Zusammenhang ist es von besonderer Bedeutung, dass das Gütegebirge des ansichtsbasierten 3D-Modells eine hohe Glattheit aufweist. Des Weiteren wurden verschiedene Methoden zur Optimierung der Posenhypothesen untersucht. Es wurde ein Tracking-Verfahren entwickelt, welches, im Gegensatz zum Partikel filter, die Bewegung der Hypothesen während der Optimierung uneingeschränkt zulässt. Aufbauend auf der Diplomarbeit von Dipl.-Ing. Daniel Dornbusch wurde ein Framework, zur flexiblen Kombination verschiedener Einzelkomponenten des Verfahrens und der Untersuchung unterschiedlicher Parameterkonfigurationen, implementiert. Die Analyseergebnisse, welche mittels dieses Frameworks erstellt wurden, konnten durch die Schätzung der dreidimensionalen Kopf-Torso-Pose einer Person innerhalb einer realen Bildsequenz validiert werden.Ilmenau, Techn. Univ., Diplomarbeit, 200

An annotated bird checklist for Gam island, Raja Ampat, including field notes on species monitoring and conservation

Species checklists are a fundamental component of biodiversity research. They foster understanding of species distributions and habitat preferences, thus reducing gaps of knowledge in geographical occurrences of species. Especially in light of the limited availability of data on species distributions for Tanah Papua, an increasing scientific focus on the region is crucial to foster and refine the knowledge of species occurrences and to inform potential conservation planning. Despite a strong focus on conservation of Raja Ampat´s marine areas, surprisingly few studies have focused on the terrestrial biodiversity of the archipelago. As a consequence, detailed species checklists are largely missing. Here, we provide a preliminary bird species checklist for the island of Gam and its surrounding islands, located in the central Raja Ampat archipelago. During nine sampling periods between 2013 and 2019, we recorded 132 bird species in six distinct habitat types. Of the detected species, six are considered threatened by IUCN Red List criteria. We further recorded three new species for Gam Island, thereby expanding their known extent of occurrence

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

A checklist for assessing the methodological quality of concurrent tES-fMRI studies (ContES checklist): a consensus study and statement

Background: Low intensity transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), including alternating or direct current stimulation (tACS or tDCS), applies weak electrical stimulation to modulate the activity of brain circuits. Integration of tES with concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows for the mapping of neural activity during neuromodulation, supporting causal studies of both brain function and tES effects. Methodological aspects of tES-fMRI studies underpin the results, and reporting them in appropriate detail is required for reproducibility and interpretability. Despite the growing number of published reports, there are no consensus-based checklists for disclosing methodological details of concurrent tES-fMRI studies. Objective: To develop a consensus-based checklist of reporting standards for concurrent tES-fMRI studies to support methodological rigor, transparency, and reproducibility (ContES Checklist). Methods: A two-phase Delphi consensus process was conducted by a steering committee (SC) of 13 members and 49 expert panelists (EP) through the International Network of the tES-fMRI (INTF) Consortium. The process began with a circulation of a preliminary checklist of essential items and additional recommendations, developed by the SC based on a systematic review of 57 concurrent tES-fMRI studies. Contributors were then invited to suggest revisions or additions to the initial checklist. After the revision phase, contributors rated the importance of the 17 essential items and 42 additional recommendations in the final checklist. The state of methodological transparency within the 57 reviewed concurrent tES-fMRI studies was then assessed using the checklist. Results: Experts refined the checklist through the revision and rating phases, leading to a checklist with three categories of essential items and additional recommendations: (1) technological factors, (2) safety and noise tests, and (3) methodological factors. The level of reporting of checklist items varied among the 57 concurrent tES-fMRI papers, ranging from 24% to 76%. On average, 53% of checklist items were reported in a given article. Conclusions: Use of the ContES checklist is expected to enhance the methodological reporting quality of future concurrent tES-fMRI studies, and increase methodological transparency and reproducibility

The transmission Compton polarimeter of the A4 experiment

A transmission Compton polarimeter as a simultaneous, relative monitor for the longitudinal polarisation of a stabilised, polarised electron beam (polarisation degree ~ 80 %) has been constructed in a new design. It is located in the vacuum between the target and the beam dump of the A4 parity violation experiment at MAMI. The analysing power is ~ 80 ppm at 854 MeV and ~ 115 ppm at 570 MeV. The measurement precision for the polarimeter asymmetry (which is proportional to the longitudinal beam polarisation degree) is ~ 3 ppm within 5 min. at 854 MeV and ~ 7 ppm within 5 min. at 570 MeV and the systematical error is about 0.5 ppm + 1 - 2 %. This simple polarimeter consists mainly of two graphite scatterers, a water-cooled Samarium-Cobalt permanent magnet, an aluminum secondary electron emission monitor, an understructure and electronics.PACS: 29.27.Hj Polarized beams – 29.27.Fh Beam characteristics The Author, for the A4 Collaboration. This work comprises part of the author’s PhD thesis

Perception of people for socially acceptable and user centered robot navigation in public environments

Especially for mobile service robots, which operate in public environments with uninstructed people, navigation has a socio-emotional importance. Thereby, the robot’s motion constitutes an interaction with the present people, that resembles a non-verbal communication. To optimize the human-robot interaction, these robots should show socially compliant navigation behavior towards its users and bystanders. To improve the social acceptance of mobile service robots this work focuses on the development of four navigation behaviors. These behaviors are particularly relevant for the application scenarios of this work, which are a guidance robot and a rehabilitation robot: 1. selective contact initiation with (potential) users, 2. person-focused guiding considering the users speed of movement, 3. the user-centered accompanying of people, and 4. the respectful navigation considering the proxemics of users and bystanders. The realization of these navigation behaviors requires the implementation of the actual navigation algorithms. Furthermore, the adaptation and improvement of features for information retrieval about the present people is of fundamental importance. Accordingly, this work presents features for laser-based person detection, which enable to detect people regardless of their use of walking aids like walkers or wheelchairs. For estimation of the people’s upper-body orientation a camera-based detector is introduced. It utilizes a binary decision tree with Support Vector Machines for binary decision making, to differentiate eight upper-body classes. Moreover, an appearance-based approach for estimation of the joint angles of the human upper-body and for people re-identification is investigated. Additionally, an on-line learning approach is developed to predict the peoples motion in proximity to robots. This allows a proactive realization of the behaviors. Besides the separate evaluation of the aforementioned features for information retrieval, the complete robot system is evaluated with respect to the previously mentioned behaviors. By the use of an external tracking system it is demonstrated, that the robot actually implements the desired behavior. The analysis of the human trajectories shows, that the realized behaviors have a measurable, positive impact on the motion of human interaction partners.Insbesondere bei mobilen Servicerobotern, welche in öffentlichen Einrichtungen mit nicht eingewiesenen Personen interagieren, hat die Navigation auch eine sozio-emotionale Bedeutung und stellt eine Form der nonverbalen Kommunikation mit den anwesenden Menschen dar. Zur Optimierung der Mensch-Roboter-Interaktion ist es deshalb erforderlich, dass diese Roboter ein sozialverträgliches (d. h. verständliches, angenehmes und nicht störendes) Navigationsverhalten gegenüber ihren Nutzern und unbeteiligten Personen aufweisen. Zur Steigerung der sozialen Verträglichkeit mobiler Serviceroboter werden in dieser Arbeit vier Navigationsverhalten entwickelt, welche im Kontext der Anwendungsszenarien Gebäudelotse und Rehabilitationsroboter besonders relevant sind: 1. die gezielte Kontaktaufnahme des Roboters mit potenziellen Nutzern, 2. das personenfokussierte Lotsen von Nutzern unter Berücksichtigung ihrer Bewegungsgeschwindigkeit, 3. das nutzerzentrierte Begleiten von Personen und 4. die respektvolle Navigation unter Berücksichtigung der Proxemik, insbesondere von unbeteiligten Personen. Die Umsetzung dieser Verhaltensweisen erfordert neben der Implementierung der eigentlichen Navigationsalgorithmen auch die Anpassung und Weiterentwicklung verschiedener technischer Funktionalitäten zur Informationsgewinnung über die anwesenden Personen. So werden im Kontext der laserbasierten Personendetektion generische Merkmale vorgestellt, mittels welcher Personen auch dann detektiert werden können, wenn sie Gehhilfen wie Rollstühle oder Rollatoren verwenden. Zur kamerabasierten Schätzung der Oberkörperorientierung wird ein Personendetektor präsentiert, welcher mittels eines Entscheidungsbaumes mit Support Vector Machines als binäre Entscheider acht Orientierungsklassen effizient unterscheidet. Außerdem wird ein erscheinungsbasiertes Verfahren zur Schätzung der Gelenkstellungen des menschlichen Oberköpers und zur Wiedererkennung von Personen beschrieben. Darüber hinaus wird gezeigt, wie mittels eines on-line lernenden Verfahrens zur Prädiktion der Personenbewegung eine vorausschauende Umsetzung der bearbeiteten Verhaltensweisen realisiert wird. Neben der separaten Evaluation der technischen Funktionalitäten zur Informationsgewinnung werden die Ergebnisse einer experimentellen Untersuchung der Gesamtlösung bzgl. der Verhaltensweisen präsentiert. Unter Nutzung eines externen Trackingsystems wird gezeigt, dass der Roboter tatsächlich das gewünschte Navigationsverhalten aufweist und dass sich dieses positiv auf die Bewegung der menschlichen Interaktionspartner auswirkt

Estimation of human upper body orientation for mobile robotics using an SVM decision tree on monocular images

Abstract — In this paper, we present a monocular, texture-based method for person detection and upper-body orientation classification. We build on a commonly used approach for person recognition that uses a Support Vector Machine (SVM) on Histograms of Oriented Gradients (HOG) [1] but replace the SVM by a decision tree with SVMs as binary decision makers. Thereby, in addition to the pure detection of persons, the distinction of eight upper-body orientation classes is enabled. The detection of humans and the estimation of their upper-body orientation from larger distances is essential for socially acceptable navigation of mobile robots. It permits to estimate the human’s notice of the robot or even the human’s interest in an interaction. Thus, it is the basis for the decision whether to approach or to avoid a human. By using an SVM decision tree for upper-body orientation estimation in discrete steps of 45◦, we were able to classify about 64 % of the test samples with an absolute error of less than 22.5◦. This performance is much better than the results we obtained with comparable methods. Furthermore, our approach proved to be faster than the other state-of-the-art methods. This is of high relevance for implementation on mobile robots with limited computational resources. I