Robotics, Machine Vision and Autonomous Systems

Description:
Robotics has often been described as the intelligent connection of the perception to action. Robot actuators provide the action function. A variety of sensors provide the perception capability. Computers provide the framework for integration/connection as well as the intelligence needed to coordinate in a meaningful way the perception and action capabilities. Machine vision is one of the most powerful perception mechanisms. It involves extracting, characterizing and interpreting information from images in order to identify or describe objects in the environment. Autonomous robot systems are designed to operate in uncertain and highly dynamical environments.

Applications:
The range of applications includes robot systems operating in industrial, domestic, and difficult to reach or hazardous environments. Machine vision and other intelligent sensor systems, and human-computer interfaces are developed for industrial process control, medical applications androbotic vehicle navigation, and autonomous robot agents for environment monitoring and rescue missions.

PROFESSORS:

• Ahmed, Nasir Uddin
  dynamic models of flexible arms, control, optimization
• Groza, Voicu 
  embedded systems for healthcare monitoring, reconfigurable computing
• Gueaieb, Wail
  machine intelligence and mechatronics, robotics and control systems, computational intelligence: theory and applications
• Laganière, Robert
  image and video analysis, computer vision (visual surveillance, image-based modeling, view matching and 3D reconstruction)
• Lang, Jochen
  physical environment models, 3D environment models, measurement robots, haptics
• Payeur, Pierre
  robotics (probabilistic robot navigation, tactile sensing and deformable objects manipulation, autonomous mobile robots), machine vision (3d vision and range sensing, human motion capture)
• Petriu, Emil M.
  intelligent sensors, robot sensing and perception, interactive virtual environments, neural networks and fuzzy systems, digital integrated circuit testing

Research groups involving several professors:

• Embedded Microsystems Research Lab (GEMS)
• Sensing and Modeling Research Lab (SMR)

Some recent projects:

• Intelligent Visual Surveillance: Development of a 'Virtual Guard' system that will combine video analytics, telecommunication, web, and mobile messaging technologies to create a fully-integrated Smart Home/Enterprise Monitoring System, [Ontario Centres of Excellence (Market Readiness program), Ottawa Technology Transfer Network [Robert Laganiere ; NSERC-IPM, Ontario Research Commercialization Program] http://www.site.uottawa.ca/~laganier/surveillance/ , www.visualcortek.com
• NAVIRE: virtual navigation in image-based representations of real-world environments: Address and solve the technical challenges required to achieve effective and natural virtual navigation in image-based renditions of real environments. Based on a large database of panoramic images, a navigation software allows users to virtually explore a distant environment by looking at the scene from various points of view [Eric Dubois, Robert Laganière, Gerhard Roth, Chris Herdman; NSERC Strategic Project] http://www.site.uottawa.ca/research/viva/projects/ibr/
• Selective Range Sensing for Advanced Robotic Applications: Development of intelligent range sensing solutions able to locate and focus scans over automatically selected regions of interest and integration with mobile and manipulator robotic platforms for safe and efficient operation [Pierre Payeur; Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Innovation Trust, Ontario Centres of Excellence (CITO), NSERC / Partners: Neptec Design Group Ltd (www.neptec.com)]
• Vision-Based Industrial Inspection and Quality Control: Development of adaptive visual inspection systems with auto-tuning capabilities for applications in inspection and quality control of manufactured goods, namely for food products [Pierre Payeur; Precarn / Partners: Dipix Technologies Inc.]
• Markerless Motion Capture in Unconstrained Environments: Design of a multi-camera monitoring network and innovative segmentation techniques able to adapt to unconstrained environments. The system can perform live motion capture of a performer without using any marker on the subject nor imposing a specific dress code. Development is pursued in the context of piano pedagogy, repetitive injuries prevention and early diagnosis of arthritis [Pierre Payeur; NSERC, University of Ottawa-Interdisciplinary Initiatives / Partners: University of Ottawa-Piano Pedagogy Research Laboratory, Yamaha Canada Music].
• Modelling Consumer Products for Low-End Haptic Displays: Study haptic parameter acquisition, generalization of haptic parameters for object modelling and display of consumer products for e-commerce web applications [Jochen Lang; ORNEC-Ontario Research Network in Electronic Commerce, Point Grey Research Inc.]
• Acquisition System for Image-based Modeling of Large-scale Environments : Development of new approaches for the design of a virtual navigation system in which a user is offered the possibility to virtually walk through a remote real-world environment. In this navigation system, the rendering of the environment is based on a large collection of actual images of that site. When, in the course of the exploration, the user requests a particular view of the environment, the system must select the closest available images and possibly perform view interpolation in order to provide the user with the correct visual information. Such an image-based approach gives far greater realism than currently existing virtual navigation systems that are based on computer-graphics models of an environment [Eric Dubois, Jochen Lang ; NSERC RTI-I]
• Physical Modelling by Human-Object Interactions : Development of a new approach to acquire physical models of our environment in a simpler and more natural way. The specific approach to the acquisition of physical properties of objects is based on observing the probing of an object by a human. The human is observed by cameras which use advanced computer vision techniques to track the human-object interactions. The human modeller will be able to explore an object's behaviour in a natural way by using a force-sensing pen for the probing. The research has focused on elastic deformation of objects but additional behaviour will be explored in the future [Jochen Lang : NSERC Discovery Grant].
• Haptic Sensors and Interfaces : Development of more efficient haptic robot sensors and human interfaces for robotic telemanipulation systems. Development of new instrumentation and sensor data fusion techniques for the production of geometric and haptic composite object models which are conformal representations of real physical objects, accounting for their geometric shape and elastic behaviour while interacting through direct contact with other objects, Study of new computing techniques for the storage and real-time rendering of the composite geometric and haptic object models [Emil M. Petriu, NSERC Discovery Grant].
• Ubiquitous Computing Technologies for e-Society: Development of networked wireless sensor-based Intelligent Information Appliances (I2As) able to autonomously carry out their designed functions and interact with their environments, other I2As and diverse computer and/or human users. Development of an Intelligent Sensor Agent (ISA) network for knowledge acquisition in physical environments as a proof of concept system for the ubiquitous I2A paradigm [Emil M. Petriu, University of Ottawa – URC]
• Robust Blood Pressure Monitoring System: Conception and development of embedded systems for monitoring and recording patients' vital bio-signals, to be integrated in smart homes so that doctors may have remotely real-time access to the acquired data [Voicu Groza; Proof of Concept - Ontario Centres of Excellence, Biosign. Inc., University of Ottawa]
• Reconfigurable Distributed Virtual Instrumentation: Designing configurable computer architectures and building development frameworks for reconfigurable instrumentation systems by employing hardware/software co-design methodologies and run-time reprogrammable devices [Voicu Groza; NSERC Discovery Grant]
• Intelligent Control of Dual Cooperative Robotic Manipulator Systems: Designining a new family of adaptive fuzzy controllers that operate within a hybrid hierarchical structure for the control of ill-defined multi-manipulator systems subject to modeling uncertainties and unstructured external disturbances to keep up with the increasingly demanding design requirements of modern complex cooperative robotic systems [Wail Gueaieb; NSERC / Partners: NeuroRobotics Ltd.]
• Mobile Robot Navigation System using RFID Technology: Development of a modular cost-effective mobile robot/vehicle navigation system using RFID technology. Such a system would offer an affordable and computationally-inexpensive alternative to the traditional vision-based navigation techniques [Wail Gueaieb; Canadian Foundation of Innovation (CFI) / Partners: Dr. Robot Inc.]
• Smart Autonomous Mobile Robots for Rescue Missions (SAMRRM): Design and implementation of a cooperative multi-robotic system to assist human rescuers to gather vital information about crisis zones, such as in the case of earthquakes and floods, for example. Due to their unstructured workspaces, various types of robots will be designed, namely aerial and terrestrial robots, to survive unforgiving conditions. The project is concerned with the design of novel path planning, navigation, and multi-robot coordination paradigms to serve the demanding needs and the stringent requirements of such an application [Wail Gueaieb; Canadian Foundation of Innovation (CFI), Ontario Research Foundation (ORF) / Partners: Dr. Robot Inc., Vestec Inc.]