@article{FerreinRensMeyeretal.2011,
  author    = {Ferrein, Alexander and Rens, Gavin and Meyer, Thomas and Lakemeyer, Gerhard},
  title     = {A Logic for Specifying Partially Observable Stochastic Domains / Rens, Gavin ; Meyer, Thomas ; Ferrein, Alexander ; Lakemeyer, Gerhard},
  series = {Proceedings of the Ninth International Workshop pn non-Monotonic Reasoning, Action and Change (NRAC`11)},
  journal   = {Proceedings of the Ninth International Workshop pn non-Monotonic Reasoning, Action and Change (NRAC`11)},
  pages     = {15 -- 22},
  year      = {2011},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{SchifferFerreinLakemeyer2011,
  author    = {Schiffer, Stefan and Ferrein, Alexander and Lakemeyer, Gerhard},
  title     = {Fuzzy representations and control for domestic service robots in Golog},
  series = {Intelligent robotics and applications : 4th International conference, ICIRA 2011, Aachen, Germany, December 6-8, 2011, proceedings, part I. (Lecture notes in computer science ; 7102)},
  booktitle = {Intelligent robotics and applications : 4th International conference, ICIRA 2011, Aachen, Germany, December 6-8, 2011, proceedings, part I. (Lecture notes in computer science ; 7102)},
  isbn      = {978-3-642-25486-4},
  pages     = {241 -- 250},
  year      = {2011},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{FerreinSteinbauerVassos2012,
  author    = {Ferrein, Alexander and Steinbauer, Gerald and Vassos, Stavros},
  title     = {Action-Based Imperative Programming with YAGI},
  pages     = {24 -- 31},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {Many tasks for autonomous agents or robots are best described by a specification of the environment and a specification of the available actions the agent or robot can perform. Combining such a specification with the possibility to imperatively program a robot or agent is what we call the actionbased imperative programming. One of the most successful such approaches is Golog. In this paper, we draft a proposal for a new robot programming language YAGI, which is based on the action-based imperative programming paradigm. Our goal is to design a small, portable stand-alone YAGI interpreter. We combine the benefits of a principled domain specification with a clean, small and simple programming language, which does not exploit any side-effects from the implementation language. We discuss general requirements of action-based programming languages and outline YAGI, our action-based language approach which particularly aims at embeddability.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SchifferFerreinLakemeyer2012,
  author    = {Schiffer, Stefan and Ferrein, Alexander and Lakemeyer, Gerhard},
  title     = {Caesar: an intelligent domestic service robot},
  series = {Intelligent service robotics},
  volume    = {5},
  journal   = {Intelligent service robotics},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Berlin},
  issn      = {1861-2776},
  doi       = {10.1007/s11370-012-0118-y},
  pages     = {259 -- 276},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {In this paper we present CAESAR, an intelligent domestic service robot. In domestic settings for service robots complex tasks have to be accomplished. Those tasks benefit from deliberation, from robust action execution and from flexible methods for human-robot interaction that account for qualitative notions used in natural language as well as human fallibility. Our robot CAESAR deploys AI techniques on several levels of its system architecture. On the low-level side, system modules for localization or navigation make, for instance, use of path-planning methods, heuristic search, and Bayesian filters. For face recognition and human-machine interaction, random trees and well-known methods from natural language processing are deployed. For deliberation, we use the robot programming and plan language READYLOG, which was developed for the high-level control of agents and robots; it allows combining programming the behaviour using planning to find a course of action. READYLOG is a variant of the robot programming language Golog. We extended READYLOG to be able to cope with qualitative notions of space frequently used by humans, such as "near" and "far". This facilitates human-robot interaction by bridging the gap between human natural language and the numerical values needed by the robot. Further, we use READYLOG to increase the flexible interpretation of human commands with decision-theoretic planning. We give an overview of the different methods deployed in CAESAR and show the applicability of a system equipped with these AI techniques in domestic service robotics},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{FerreinMeyer2012,
  author    = {Ferrein, Alexander and Meyer, Thomas},
  title     = {A Brief Overview of Artificial Intelligence in South Africa},
  series = {AI Magazine},
  volume    = {33},
  journal   = {AI Magazine},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {AAAI},
  address   = {Menlo Park},
  issn      = {0738-4602},
  doi       = {10.1609/aimag.v33i1.2357},
  pages     = {99 -- 101},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {South Africa in recent years is the establishment of a number of research hubs involved in AI activities ranging from mobile robotics and computational intelligence, to knowledge representation and reasoning, and human language technologies. In this survey we take the reader through a quick tour of the research being conducted at these hubs, and touch on an initiative to maintain and extend the current level of interest in AI research in the country.},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{FerreinKallweitLautermann2012,
  author    = {Ferrein, Alexander and Kallweit, Stephan and Lautermann, Mark},
  title     = {Towards an autonomous pilot system for a tunnel boring machine},
  series = {5th Robotics and Mechatronics Conference of South Africa (ROBMECH) : 26 - 27 November 2012 ; CSIR International Conference Centre Gauteng South Africa},
  booktitle = {5th Robotics and Mechatronics Conference of South Africa (ROBMECH) : 26 - 27 November 2012 ; CSIR International Conference Centre Gauteng South Africa},
  publisher = {IEEE},
  address   = {Piscataway, NJ},
  isbn      = {978-1-4673-5183-6},
  year      = {2012},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{RensFerrein2013,
  author    = {Rens, Gavin and Ferrein, Alexander},
  title     = {Belief-node condensation for online POMDP algorithms},
  publisher = {IEEE},
  address   = {New York},
  pages     = {1 -- 7},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Slightly extended version of the paper accepted at the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Workshop, a special track of IEEE AFRICON-2013, held in Mauritius, 9-12 September 2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{NiemuellerLakemeyerFerrein2013,
  author    = {Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Lakemeyer, Gerhard and Ferrein, Alexander},
  title     = {Aspects of integrating diverse software into robotic systems extended abstract},
  series = {ICRA 2013 - 8th Workshop on Software Development and Integration in Robotics (SDIR), Karlsruhe, Germany},
  booktitle = {ICRA 2013 - 8th Workshop on Software Development and Integration in Robotics (SDIR), Karlsruhe, Germany},
  pages     = {1 -- 2},
  year      = {2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{NiemuellerLakemeyerFerreinetal.2013,
  author    = {Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Lakemeyer, Gerhard and Ferrein, Alexander and Reuter, S. and Ewert, D. and Jeschke, S. and Pensky, D. and Karras, Ulrich},
  title     = {Proposal for advancements to the LLSF in 2014 and beyond},
  pages     = {Publ. online},
  year      = {2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{NiemuellerEwertReuteretal.2013,
  author    = {Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Ewert, Daniel and Reuter, Sebastian and Karras, Ulrich and Ferrein, Alexander},
  title     = {Towards benchmarking cyber-physical systems in factory automation scenarios},
  series = {KI 2013: advances in artificial intelligence : 36th Annual German Conference on AI, Koblenz, Germany, September 16-20, 2013 ; proceedings / Ingo J. Timm ... (ed.). (Lecture notes in computer science ; 8077)},
  booktitle = {KI 2013: advances in artificial intelligence : 36th Annual German Conference on AI, Koblenz, Germany, September 16-20, 2013 ; proceedings / Ingo J. Timm ... (ed.). (Lecture notes in computer science ; 8077)},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Berlin [u.a.]},
  isbn      = {978-3-642-40941-7},
  pages     = {296 -- 299},
  year      = {2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{LeingartnerMaurerSteinbaueretal.2013,
  author    = {Leingartner, Max and Maurer, Johannes and Steinbauer, Gerald and Ferrein, Alexander},
  title     = {Evaluation of sensors and mapping approaches for disasters in tunnels},
  series = {IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics : SSRR : 21-26 Oct. 2013, Linkoping, Sweden},
  booktitle = {IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics : SSRR : 21-26 Oct. 2013, Linkoping, Sweden},
  organization    = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers},
  isbn      = {978-1-4799-0879-0},
  pages     = {1 -- 7},
  year      = {2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{NiemuellerEwertReuteretal.2013,
  author    = {Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Ewert, Daniel and Reuter, Sebastian and Ferrein, Alexander and Jeschke, Sabina and Lakemeyer, Gerhard},
  title     = {The Carologistics RoboCup Logistics Team 2013},
  series = {RoboCup 2013 : Eindhoven},
  booktitle = {RoboCup 2013 : Eindhoven},
  organization    = {Robocup <2013, Eindhoven>},
  pages     = {1 -- 8},
  year      = {2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{FerreinNiemuellerSchifferetal.2013,
  author    = {Ferrein, Alexander and Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Schiffer, Stefan and Lakemeyer, Gerhard},
  title     = {Lessons learnt from developing the embodied AI platform CAESAR for domestic service robotics},
  series = {Designing intelligent robots : reintegrating AI II ; papers from the AAAI spring symposium ; [held March 25 - 27, 2013 in Palo Alto, California, USA, on the campus of Stanford University]. (Technical Report / Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence ; 2013,4)},
  booktitle = {Designing intelligent robots : reintegrating AI II ; papers from the AAAI spring symposium ; [held March 25 - 27, 2013 in Palo Alto, California, USA, on the campus of Stanford University]. (Technical Report / Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence ; 2013,4)},
  editor    = {Boots, Byron},
  organization    = {American Association for Artificial Intelligence},
  isbn      = {9781577356011},
  pages     = {21 -- 26},
  year      = {2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@incollection{PriedeFerrein2013,
  author    = {Priede, Gareth and Ferrein, Alexander},
  title     = {Towards passive walking for the fully-actuated biped robot Nao},
  series = {Emerging trends in computing, informatics, systems sciences, and engineering. (Lecture notes in electrical engineering : vol. 151)},
  booktitle = {Emerging trends in computing, informatics, systems sciences, and engineering. (Lecture notes in electrical engineering : vol. 151)},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {New York, NY},
  isbn      = {978-1-4614-3557-0 ; 978-1-4614-3558-7},
  doi       = {10.1007/978-1-4614-3558-7_18},
  pages     = {225 -- 236},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Many biped robots deploy a form of gait that follows the zero moment point (ZMP) approach, that is, the robot is in a stable position at any point in time. This requires the robot to be fully actuated. While very stable, the draw-backs of this approach are a fairly slow gait and high energy consumption. An alternative approach is the so-called passive-dynamic walking, where the gait makes use of the inertia and dynamic stability of the robot. In this paper we describe our ongoing work of combining the principles of passive-dynamic walking on the fully-actuated biped robot Nao, which is also deployed for robotic soccer applications. We present a simple controller that allows the robot to stably rock sidewards, showing a closed limit-cycle. We discuss first results of superimposing a forward motion on the sidewards motion. Based on this we expect to endow the Nao with a fast, robust, and stable passive-dynamic walk on the fully-actuated Nao in the future.},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{NiemuellerLakemeyerFerrein2013,
  author    = {Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Lakemeyer, Gerhard and Ferrein, Alexander},
  title     = {Incremental task-level reasoning in a competitive factory automation scenario},
  series = {Designing intelligent robots : reintegrating AI II ; papers from the AAAI spring symposium ; [held March 25 - 27, 2013 in Palo Alto, California, USA, on the campus of Stanford University]. (Technical Report / Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence ; 2013,4)},
  booktitle = {Designing intelligent robots : reintegrating AI II ; papers from the AAAI spring symposium ; [held March 25 - 27, 2013 in Palo Alto, California, USA, on the campus of Stanford University]. (Technical Report / Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence ; 2013,4)},
  editor    = {Boots, Byron},
  organization    = {American Association for Artificial Intelligence},
  isbn      = {9781577356011},
  pages     = {43 -- 48},
  year      = {2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BeckBuchleitnerFerreinetal.2014,
  author    = {Beck, Daniel and Buchleitner, Martin and Ferrein, Alexander and Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Steinbauer, Gerald},
  title     = {Mostly Harmless \& AllemaniACs - mixed innovations},
  pages     = {1 -- 8},
  year      = {2014},
  language  = {en}
}
@incollection{NiemuellerEwertReuteretal.2014,
  author    = {Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Ewert, Daniel and Reuter, Sebastian and Ferrein, Alexander and Jeschke, Sabina and Lakemeyer, Gerhard},
  title     = {RoboCup logistics league sponsored by festo: A competitive factory automation testbed},
  series = {RoboCup 2013: Robot World Cup XVII : Eindhoven; Netherlands; 1 July 2013 through 1 July 2013. (Lecture notes in computer science ; 8371)},
  booktitle = {RoboCup 2013: Robot World Cup XVII : Eindhoven; Netherlands; 1 July 2013 through 1 July 2013. (Lecture notes in computer science ; 8371)},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Berlin},
  organization    = {RoboCup International Symposium <17, 2013, Eindhoven>},
  isbn      = {978-3-662-44467-2 (Print) 978-3-662-44468-9 (Online)},
  pages     = {336 -- 347},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {A new trend in automation is to deploy so-called cyber-physical systems (CPS) which combine computation with physical processes. The novel RoboCup Logistics League Sponsored by Festo (LLSF) aims at such CPS logistic scenarios in an automation setting. A team of robots has to produce products from a number of semi-finished products which they have to machine during the game. Different production plans are possible and the robots need to recycle scrap byproducts. This way, the LLSF is a very interesting league offering a number of challenging research questions for planning, coordination, or communication in an application-driven scenario. In this paper, we outline the objectives of the LLSF and present steps for developing the league further towards a benchmark for logistics scenarios for CPS. As a major milestone we present the new automated referee system which helps in governing the game play as well as keeping track of the scored points in a very complex factory scenario.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{AlhwarinFerreinScholl2014,
  author    = {Alhwarin, Faraj and Ferrein, Alexander and Scholl, Ingrid},
  title     = {IR stereo kinect: improving depth images by combining structured light with IR stereo},
  pages     = {1 -- 9},
  year      = {2014},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{NeumannFerreinKallweitetal.2014,
  author    = {Neumann, Tobias and Ferrein, Alexander and Kallweit, Stephan and Scholl, Ingrid},
  title     = {Towards a mobile mapping robot for underground mines},
  series = {7th Conference of Robotics and Mechatronics : RobMech 2014 : 27th and 28th Nov. 2014, Cape Town},
  booktitle = {7th Conference of Robotics and Mechatronics : RobMech 2014 : 27th and 28th Nov. 2014, Cape Town},
  organization    = {Conference of Robotics and Mechatronics <7, 2014, Cape Town, South Africa>},
  pages     = {1 -- 6},
  year      = {2014},
  language  = {en}
}
@incollection{AlhwarinFerreinScholl2014,
  author    = {Alhwarin, Faraj and Ferrein, Alexander and Scholl, Ingrid},
  title     = {IR stereo kinect: improving depth images by combining structured light with IR stereo},
  series = {PRICAI 2014: Trends in artificial intelligence : 13th Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence : Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, December 1-5, 2014 : proceedings. (Lecture notes in computer science ; vol. 8862)},
  booktitle = {PRICAI 2014: Trends in artificial intelligence : 13th Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence : Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, December 1-5, 2014 : proceedings. (Lecture notes in computer science ; vol. 8862)},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {M{\"u}nchen},
  isbn      = {978-3-319-13559-5 (Print) ; 978-3-319-13560-1 (E-Book)},
  doi       = {10.1007/978-3-319-13560-1_33},
  pages     = {409 -- 421},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {RGB-D sensors such as the Microsoft Kinect or the Asus Xtion are inexpensive 3D sensors. A depth image is computed by calculating the distortion of a known infrared light (IR) pattern which is projected into the scene. While these sensors are great devices they have some limitations. The distance they can measure is limited and they suffer from reflection problems on transparent, shiny, or very matte and absorbing objects. If more than one RGB-D camera is used the IR patterns interfere with each other. This results in a massive loss of depth information. In this paper, we present a simple and powerful method to overcome these problems. We propose a stereo RGB-D camera system which uses the pros of RGB-D cameras and combine them with the pros of stereo camera systems. The idea is to utilize the IR images of each two sensors as a stereo pair to generate a depth map. The IR patterns emitted by IR projectors are exploited here to enhance the dense stereo matching even if the observed objects or surfaces are texture-less or transparent. The resulting disparity map is then fused with the depth map offered by the RGB-D sensor to fill the regions and the holes that appear because of interference, or due to transparent or reflective objects. Our results show that the density of depth information is increased especially for transparent, shiny or matte objects.},
  language  = {en}
}