TY - CHAP A1 - Neumann, Tobias A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Kallweit, Stephan A1 - Scholl, Ingrid T1 - Towards a mobile mapping robot for underground mines T2 - 7th Conference of Robotics and Mechatronics : RobMech 2014 : 27th and 28th Nov. 2014, Cape Town Y1 - 2014 SP - 1 EP - 6 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Alhwarin, Faraj A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Scholl, Ingrid T1 - IR stereo kinect: improving depth images by combining structured light with IR stereo T2 - 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) N2 - 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. Y1 - 2014 SN - 978-3-319-13559-5 (Print) ; 978-3-319-13560-1 (E-Book) U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13560-1_33 SP - 409 EP - 421 PB - Springer CY - München ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Rebel, Sören A1 - Hüning, Felix A1 - Scholl, Ingrid A1 - Ferrein, Alexander T1 - MQOne: Low-cost design for a rugged-terrain robot platform T2 - Intelligent robotics and applications : 8th International Conference, ICIRA 2015, Portsmouth, UK, August 24-27, 2015, Proceedings, Part II (Lecture notes in computer science : vol. 9245) N2 - Rugged terrain robot designs are important for field robotics missions. A number of commercial platforms are available, however, at an impressive price. In this paper, we describe the hardware and software component of a low-cost wheeled rugged-terrain robot. The robot is based on an electric children quad bike and is modified to be driven by wire. In terms of climbing properties, operation time and payload it can compete with some of the commercially available platforms, but at a far lower price. Y1 - 2015 SN - 978-3-319-22875-4 (print) ; 978-3-319-22876-1 (E-Book) U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22876-1_19 SP - 209 EP - 221 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Niemueller, Tim A1 - Reuter, Sebastian A1 - Ewert, Daniel A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Jeschke, Sabina A1 - Lakemeyer, Gerhard ED - Almeida, Luis T1 - The Carologistics Approach to Cope with the Increased Complexity and New Challenges of the RoboCup Logistics League 2015 T2 - RoboCup 2015: Robot World Cup XIX Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-3-319-29339-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29339-4_4 N1 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science ; 9513 SP - 47 EP - 59 PB - Springer International Publishing CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Niemueller, Tim A1 - Reuter, Sebastian A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Jeschke, Sabina A1 - Lakemeyer, Gerhard ED - Almeida, Luis T1 - Evaluation of the RoboCup Logistics League and Derived Criteria for Future Competitions T2 - RoboCup 2015: Robot World Cup XIX Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-3-319-29339-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29339-4_3 N1 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science ; 9513 SP - 31 EP - 43 PB - Springer International Publishing CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Niemueller, Tim A1 - Reuter, Sebastian A1 - Ferrein, Alexander ED - Almeida, Luis T1 - Fawkes for the RoboCup Logistics League T2 - RoboCup 2015: Robot World Cup XIX Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-3-319-29339-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29339-4_31 N1 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science ; 9513 SP - 365 EP - 373 PB - Springer International Publishing CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Limpert, Nicolas A1 - Schiffer, Stefan A1 - Ferrein, Alexander T1 - A Local Planner for Ackermann-Driven Vehicles in ROS SBPL T2 - Proceedings of the International Conference on Pattern Recognition Association of South Africa and Robotics and Mechatronics (PRASA-RobMech), 2015 Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/RoboMech.2015.7359518 SP - 172 EP - 177 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Leingartner, Max A1 - Maurer, Johannes A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Steinbauer, Gerald T1 - Evaluation of Sensors and Mapping Approaches for Disasters in Tunnels JF - Journal of Field Robotics N2 - Ground or aerial robots equipped with advanced sensing technologies, such as three-dimensional laser scanners and advanced mapping algorithms, are deemed useful as a supporting technology for first responders. A great deal of excellent research in the field exists, but practical applications at real disaster sites are scarce. Many projects concentrate on equipping robots with advanced capabilities, such as autonomous exploration or object manipulation. In spite of this, realistic application areas for such robots are limited to teleoperated reconnaissance or search. In this paper, we investigate how well state-of-the-art and off-the-shelf components and algorithms are suited for reconnaissance in current disaster-relief scenarios. The basic idea is to make use of some of the most common sensors and deploy some widely used algorithms in a disaster situation, and to evaluate how well the components work for these scenarios. We acquired the sensor data from two field experiments, one from a disaster-relief operation in a motorway tunnel, and one from a mapping experiment in a partly closed down motorway tunnel. Based on these data, which we make publicly available, we evaluate state-of-the-art and off-the-shelf mapping approaches. In our analysis, we integrate opinions and replies from first responders as well as from some algorithm developers on the usefulness of the data and the limitations of the deployed approaches, respectively. We discuss the lessons we learned during the two missions. These lessons are interesting for the community working in similar areas of urban search and rescue, particularly reconnaissance and search. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/rob.21611 SN - 1556-4967 VL - 33 IS - 8 SP - 1037 EP - 1057 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Maier, Christopher A1 - Mühlbacher, Clemens A1 - Niemueller, Tim A1 - Steinbauer, Gerald A1 - Vassos, Stravros T1 - Controlling Logistics Robots with the Action-based Language YAGI T2 - Proceedings of the 2015 IROS Workshop on Workshop on Task Planning for Intelligent Robots in Service and Manufacturing Y1 - 2015 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Maier, Christopher A1 - Mühlbacher, Clemens A1 - Niemüller, Tim A1 - Steinbauer, Gerald A1 - Vassos, Stravros T1 - Controlling logistics robots with the action-based language YAGI T2 - Intelligent Robotics and Applications: 9th International Conference, ICIRA 2016, Tokyo, Japan, August 22-24, 2016, Proceedings, Part I Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-3-319-43505-3 (Print) SN - 978-3-319-43506-0 (Online) U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43506-0_46 N1 - Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics) VL - 9834 SP - 525 EP - 537 PB - Springer ER -