A rapid detection method for the surface defects of mosaic ceramic tiles

Due to its unique artistic value, mosaic ceramics are widely used in construction-related fields. To meet the artist's demand for high-quality mosaic ceramic to create artistic works, it is necessary to meet the needs for efficient screening of mosaic ceramic tiles. Different from the ordinary large-target ceramics, mosaic ceramics exhibit characteristics of small tile sizes, a variety of colors, large demand for quantities, and easy reflection on the surface. Common manual detection methods show problems of low efficiency or accuracy, easy to fatigue, and many others. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a new detection method to identify surface defects of mosaic ceramic tiles and designs a detection system platform to achieve rapid detection. The experiment proves that the detection system has a detection rate of 93.99% for small defects on the surface of mosaic ceramic tiles, and the detection time of a single mosaic ceramic tile is less than 0.06 s. The detection method can quickly and accurately screen out high-quality, defect-free mosaic ceramic tiles, which can effectively improve the quality and artistic value of mosaic ceramic art creation.     

基于改进相干增强扩散与纹理能量测度和高斯混合模型的导光板表面缺陷检测方法

针对液晶屏(LCD)导光板表面缺陷检测方法存在漏检率和误检率较高,对产品表面复杂渐变的纹理结构适应性差的问题,提出一种基于改进相干增强扩散(ICED)与纹理能量测度和高斯混合模型(TEM-GMM)的LCD导光板表面缺陷检测方法。首先,构建ICED模型,基于结构张量引入平均曲率流扩散(MCF)滤波,使得相干增强扩散(CED)模型对缺陷的细线状纹理有良好的边缘保持效果,并利用相干性得到缺陷纹理增强和背景纹理抑制的滤波后图像;然后,根据Laws纹理能量测度(TEM)提取图像纹理特征,将图像的背景纹理特征作为离线阶段高斯混合模型(GMM)的训练数据,使用期望最大化(EM)算法估计GMM参数;最后,计算待检测图像各像素的后验概率,并将其作为在线检测阶段缺陷像素的判断依据。实验结果表明,该检测方法在导光颗粒随机、规则两种分布的缺陷图像测试数据组上的漏检率和误检率分别为3.27%、4.32%和3.59%、4.87%。所提检测方法适用范围广,可有效检测出LCD导光板表面划痕、异物、脏污和压伤等类型的缺陷。     

Perception‐aware autonomous mast motion planning for planetary exploration rovers

Highly accurate real‐time localization is of fundamental importance for the safety and efficiency of planetary rovers exploring the surface of Mars. Mars rover operations rely on vision‐based systems to avoid hazards as well as plan safe routes. However, vision‐based systems operate on the assumption that sufficient visual texture is visible in the scene. This poses a challenge for vision‐based navigation on Mars where regions lacking visual texture are prevalent. To overcome this, we make use of the ability of the rover to actively steer the visual sensor to improve fault tolerance and maximize the perception performance. This paper answers the question of where and when to look by presenting a method for predicting the sensor trajectory that maximizes the localization performance of the rover. This is accomplished by an online assessment of possible trajectories using synthetic, future camera views created from previous observations of the scene. The proposed trajectories are quantified and chosen based on the expected localization performance. In this study, we validate the proposed method in field experiments at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Mars Yard. Furthermore, multiple performance metrics are identified and evaluated for reducing the overall runtime of the algorithm. We show how actively steering the perception system increases the localization accuracy compared with traditional fixed‐sensor configurations.     

Plant inspection by using a ground vehicle and an aerial robot: lessons learned from plant disaster prevention challenge in world robot summit 2018

Abstract

In recent years, to prevent accidents and disaster are desired by implementing maintenance and management of facilities, such as conducting periodic inspections with appropriate frequency at plants. However, because the dangerous materials such as flammable gas and explosives is used in a plant, and there are many dangerous places in a plant such as high-temperature environment and high places and narrow spaces, it is desirable to use a remote-controlled robot for safety work and short inspections. Against this background, the Disaster Robotics Category-Plant Disaster Prevention Challenge was held in Japan at the World Robot Summit 2018. Our team was ranked 3rd in this competition, because our strategy of ‘inspection and investigation in cooperation with UGV and UAV’ was effective. In this paper, the competition contents of World Robot Summit 2018 and the robot inspection system that we are studying are explained. And what kind of strategy was challenged and result for these given competition tasks by using our robot system are introduced. And the lessons learned such as advantages and issues in UGV and UAV collaboration work at this competition are described for evaluate a robot investigation system for disaster response and inspection work at plants.     

基于机器视觉的运煤车车号识别技术研究

在铁路运煤装车过程中为了快速、准确地识别车号,提出一种基于机器视觉的运煤车车号识别技术。将连通区域提取与投影分割法结合,实现车号的粗定位、细分割,并对图像中的断裂字符进行二次分割,构建了基于BP神经网络的分类模型进行车号识别,提升了煤炭装车的效率和精度。     

基于DoG检测图像特征点的快速二进制描述子

针对SIFT描述子实时性差和传统二进制描述子对尺度、旋转和视角变化鲁棒性差的问题,本文通过优化采样模式和添加灰度差分不变量比较测试进行改进,提出了一种鲁棒性更高的二进制描述子。首先,设计了一种尺度关联、编号标记的采样模式;然后,旋转采样模式中各采样点到特定位置,确保描述子尺度、旋转不变性;接着,分析了采样点点对模式对描述子的影响,选择使用机器学习训练后的128对采样点对;最后,选择灰度值比较测试及梯度绝对值和比较测试构建二进制描述子。实验中采用DoG检测图像关键点,结果表明:本文提出的描述子在描述子构建和描述子匹配上比SIFT描述子分别快84%和67%;在有视角变化的图像匹配上,准确率比传统的二进制描述子高3%~5%,召回率平均要高30%以上。本文提出的特征点描述方法适用于时间要求高的图像匹配领域。     

Deployment of a cloud pipeline for real-time visual inspection using fast streaming high-definition images

We investigate the challenges of building an end-to-end cloud pipeline for real-time intelligent visual inspection system for use in automotive manufacturing. Current methods of visual detection in automotive assembly are highly labor intensive, and thus prone to errors. An automated process is sought that can operate within the real-time constraints of the assembly line and can reduce errors. Components of the cloud pipeline include capture of a large set of high-definition images from a camera setup at the assembly location, transfer and storage of the images as needed, execution of object detection, and notification to a human operator when a fault is detected. The end-to-end execution must complete within a fixed time frame before the next car arrives in the assembly line. In this article, we report the design, development, and experimental evaluation of the tradeoffs of performance, accuracy, and scalability for a cloud system.     

基于视觉颜色感知——光学相似的图像去雾方法

针对雾霾环境影响致使户外获取的图像质量严重下降问题，提出了一种基于视觉颜色感知—光学相似的图像去雾方法。充分利用人眼感知颜色的视觉机理，结合图像的相似性原理，构造了光学相似度函数，建立了新的基于视觉颜色感知—光学相似的图像去雾模型并设计相关算法，进而进行仿真验证。仿真实验结果表明，提出的方法在对有雾图像清晰化处理过程中效果明显，并与现有的图像去雾方法在主观视觉和客观量化方面进行图像去雾效果对比，进一步表明提出的方法在清晰化含雾图像处理中取得了较好的效果。     

Field‐based robotic phenotyping of sorghum plant architecture using stereo vision

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is known as a major feedstock for biofuel production. To improve its biomass yield through genetic research, manually measuring yield component traits (e.g. plant height, stem diameter, leaf angle, leaf area, leaf number, and panicle size) in the field is the current best practice. However, such laborious and time‐consuming tasks have become a bottleneck limiting experiment scale and data acquisition frequency. This paper presents a high‐throughput field‐based robotic phenotyping system which performed side‐view stereo imaging for dense sorghum plants with a wide range of plant heights throughout the growing season. Our study demonstrated the suitability of stereo vision for field‐based three‐dimensional plant phenotyping when recent advances in stereo matching algorithms were incorporated. A robust data processing pipeline was developed to quantify the variations or morphological traits in plant architecture, which included plot‐based plant height, plot‐based plant width, convex hull volume, plant surface area, and stem diameter (semiautomated). These image‐derived measurements were highly repeatable and showed high correlations with the in‐field manual measurements. Meanwhile, manually collecting the same traits required a large amount of manpower and time compared to the robotic system. The results demonstrated that the proposed system could be a promising tool for large‐scale field‐based high‐throughput plant phenotyping of bioenergy crops.     

Visually deficient working conditions and reduced work performance in office workers: Is it mediated by visual discomfort?

IntroductionThe main purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate whether visual discomfort acts as a mediating factor between perceived visual ergonomic working conditions and self-rated visual performance among office workers who carry out administrative tasks and computer-based work at the Swedish Tax Agency.MethodsA questionnaire was sent to 94 office workers addressing: 1) perceived visual quality of the visual display units; 2) prevalence of eye symptoms; and 3) self-rated visual performance. Eighty-six persons (54 women (63%), 31 men (36%), and 1 of unspecified sex) answered the questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis investigated the association between visual ergonomic working conditions and visual performance, both with and without visual discomfort as a mediator.ResultsThe group mean of the Indexed survey questions indicated a reasonably good quality of visual ergonomic working conditions, a relative absence of eye symptoms, and acceptable self-rated visual performance. Results from multiple regression analysis showed a significant association between perceived visual ergonomic working conditions and self-rated visual performance (r² = 0.30, β = 0.327, p < 0.01). When visual discomfort was used as a mediator, the association between perceived visual ergonomic working conditions and self-rated visual performance remained the same (r² = 0.32, β = 0.315, p < 0.01).DiscussionIt was remarkable to discover that self-rated visual performance was independent of visual discomfort. Possible explanations include exposure factors not included in the current study, such as dry air and sensory irritation in the eyes, psychosocial stress, time spent performing near work activities, or time exposed to visually deficient working conditions.Relevance to industryThe strong connection between satisfaction with visual ergonomic working conditions and productivity in this study has implications for workplace profitability and staff satisfaction. If productivity is enhanced by better visual ergonomic working conditions, then managers of workplaces may be able to improve work outcomes by optimizing the physical work environment.