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Publications

Publications by CRAS

2020

3d reconstruction of historical sites using an uav

Authors
Silva, P; Dias, A; Pires, A; Santos, T; Amaral, A; Rodrigues, P; Almeida, J; Silva, E;

Publication
Robots in Human Life- Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines, CLAWAR 2020

Abstract
This paper addresses Three-Dimensional (3D) reconstruction of historical sites with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), combining the information from a visible spectrum camera with a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). The developed solution was validated in two sites located in Monastery of Tibães (Braga, NW Portugal), within the scope of MineHeritage project, which intends to reach society on the importance of raw materials through a historical approach. The outputs obtained from the datasets, resulted in a successfully 3D reconstruction of the two studied sites on the Monastery. Although the research is still ongoing on this topic, this paper is a starting point and an important contribution to this field and this type of scenarios. © CLAWAR Association Ltd.

2020

MARA - A modular underwater robot for confined spaces exploration

Authors
Martins, A; Almeida, J; Almeida, C; Pereira, R; Sytnyk, D; Soares, E; Matias, B; Pereira, T; Silva, E;

Publication
GLOBAL OCEANS 2020: SINGAPORE - U.S. GULF COAST

Abstract
This paper presents an innovative modular autonomous underwater vehicle (MARA) developed for the exploration of underwater confined spaces such as underwater caves, flooded underground mines or complex tight infrastructures in underwater environments. The particular mission scenario of exploration of flooded underground mines was used as a key driver for the robot development. The autonomous underwater vehicle is described from the mechanical, hardware and software points of view. The availability of the INESC TEC underwater systems test tank and access conditions to Porto harbour and the Urgeirica mine allows for easy robot field validation. Preliminary results are also presented and discussed.

2020

A robotic solution for NETTAG lost fishing net problem

Authors
Martins, A; Almeida, C; Lima, P; Viegas, D; Silva, J; Almeida, JM; Almeida, C; Ramos, S; Silva, E;

Publication
GLOBAL OCEANS 2020: SINGAPORE - U.S. GULF COAST

Abstract
This paper presents an autonomous robotic system, IRIS, designed for lost fishing gear recovery. The vehicle was developed in the context of the NetTag project. This is a European Union project funded by EASME the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises addressing marine litter, and the reduction of quantity and impact of lost fishing gears in the ocean. NetTag intends to produce new technological devices for location and recovery of fishing gear and educational material about marine litter, raise awareness of fisheries industry and other stakeholders about the urgent need to combat marine litter and increase scientific knowledge on marine litter problematic, guaranteeing the engagement of fishers to adopt better practices to reduce and prevent marine litter derived from fisheries. The design of IRIS is presented in detail, addressing the mechanical design, hardware architecture, sensor system and navigation and control. Preliminary tests in tank and in controlled sea conditions are presented and ongoing developments on the recovery system are discussed.

2020

Dense disparity maps from rgb and sparse depth information using deep regression models

Authors
Leite, PN; Silva, RJ; Campos, DF; Pinto, AM;

Publication
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

Abstract
A dense and accurate disparity map is relevant for a large number of applications, ranging from autonomous driving to robotic grasping. Recent developments in machine learning techniques enable us to bypass sensor limitations, such as low resolution, by using deep regression models to complete otherwise sparse representations of the 3D space. This article proposes two main approaches that use a single RGB image and sparse depth information gathered from a variety of sensors/techniques (stereo, LiDAR and Light Stripe Ranging (LSR)): a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and a cascade architecture, that aims to improve the results of the first. Ablation studies were conducted to infer the impact of these depth cues on the performance of each model. The models trained with LiDAR sparse information are the most reliable, achieving an average Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 11.8 cm on our own Inhouse dataset; while the LSR proved to be too sparse of an input to compute accurate predictions on its own. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

2020

Multi-Agent Optimization for Offshore Wind Farm Inspection using an Improved Population-based Metaheuristic

Authors
Silva, RJ; Leite, PN; Pinto, AM;

Publication
2020 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AUTONOMOUS ROBOT SYSTEMS AND COMPETITIONS (ICARSC 2020)

Abstract
The use of robotic solutions in tasks such as the inspection and monitorization of offshore wind farms aims to, not only mitigate the involved risks, but also to reduce the costs of operating and maintaining these structures. Performing a complete inspection of the platforms in useful time is crucial. Therefore, multiple agents can prove to be a cost-effective solution. This work proposes a trajectory planning algorithm, based on the Ant Colony metaheuristic, capable of optimizing the number of Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs) to be used, and their corresponding route. Experiments conducted on a simulated environment, representative of the real scenario, proves this approach to be successful in planning a trajectory that is able to select the appropriate number of agents and the trajectory of each agent that avoids collisions and at the same time guarantees the full observation of the offshore structures.

2020

Detecting Docking-based Structures for Persistent ASVs using a Volumetric Neural Network

Authors
Pereira, MI; Leite, PN; Pinto, AM;

Publication
GLOBAL OCEANS 2020: SINGAPORE - U.S. GULF COAST

Abstract
In recent years, research concerning the operation of Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs) has seen an upward trend, although the full-scale application of this type of vehicles still encounters diverse limitations. In particular, the docking and undocking processes of an ASV are tasks that currently require human intervention. Aiming to take one step further towards enabling a vessel to dock autonomously, this article presents a Deep Learning approach to detect a docking structure in the environment surrounding the vessel. The work also included the acquisition of a dataset composed of LiDAR scans and RGB images, along with IMU and GPS information, obtained in simulation. The developed network achieved an accuracy of 95.99%, being robust to several degrees of Gaussian noise, with an average accuracy of 9334% and a deviation of 5.46% for the worst case.

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