[robotics-worldwide] PostDoc Position: Development of 3D reconstruction algorithms for ultra-fast smart camera in SoC environment

[Francois BERRY]

Development of 3D reconstruction algorithms for ultra-fast smart camera 
in SoC environment

The purpose of this post-doc (proposed in VIRAGO project) is to use a 
smart stereo camera (designed at LASMEA) based on the reconfigurable 
logic and CMOS imagers. The main objective is to use a methodology 
matching the architecture and vision algorithms, to develop an optimal 
system of high speed embedded vision.
In fact, in conventional approaches, the use of cameras can be 
summarized by image storage and an "offline" processing. However these 
systems are expensive and completely inconsistent with the "real time" 
control of robots. Also, for direct use in the control loop of robot, it 
is necessary to have real time "sensor" information.
The approach proposed here is to process the large amount of information 
directly into the camera to eliminate the "bottleneck" between the 
sensor and control system. The second point is to use sensors using 
"Rolling Shutter" CMOS technology. The project VIRAGO is built on a 
major innovation (winner of a European Conference on Computer Vision 
2006) which involves the exploitation of algorithm using this 
technology. In the "rolling shutter" mode, all pixels of the imager are 
not simultaneously exposed to light but sequentially line by line. When 
the relative speed between camera and scene becomes very large, 
deformations or distortions appear in the image. These distortions are 
not taken into account in the classical perspective projection which 
considers the observation of a rigid world. This creates unusable images 
from cameras rolling shutter during pose estimation, and hence for 
three-dimensional reconstruction. This model allows calculating the 
accurate placement of the object but also operates the distortions 
induced by this phenomenon for measuring the instantaneous speed of 3D 
rigid objects.
In this case, the vision system is planned to have the low-level 
processing and technical computing compensating defects closer to the 
retina so as to provide not an image (which must be transferred to PC 
for processing) but a direct geometrical information (position, 
orientation, speed). This should provide such information at the rates 
of 1000 Hz, consistent with the rapid control of robots, and details 
that are usually less than a few Hertz frequency.

Contacts :
François Berry - Francois.Berry at lasmea.univ-bpclermont.fr – Tel : 04 73 
40 72 52
Omar AIT AIDER - omar.ait-aider at lasmea.univ-bpclermont.fr – Tel : 04 73 
40 55 67

Pre-requisite:
Proficiency in English(spoken and written) is obligatory.
The candidate should be experience in :

* Hardware Programing (VHDL)
* Electronic System concepts
* System Programing (in C)


Knowledge of following will be plus :

* Artificial vision
* Geometry and calibration


Bibliography
Simultaneous object pose and velocity computation using a single view 
from a rolling shutter camera
O. Ait-Aider, N. Andreff, J.M. Lavest and P. Martinet
9th European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV’06), Graz, Austria, May 
7-13, 2006. PAGE \*Arabic

Structure and Kinematics Triangulation with a Rolling Shutter Stereo Rig
O. Ait-Aider and F. Berry
International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV'09), Kyoto, Japan, 
October 2009.
Embedded active vision system based on an FPGA architecture
P. Chalimbaud, F. Berry
EURASIP Journal on Embedded Systems, 2007
Towards an embedded Visuo-Inertial Smart Sensor
P. Chalimbaud, F. Marmoiton and F. Berry
International Journal in Robotic Research 2007