Andreas Nuchter

University of Wuerzburg | JMU · Division of Informatics VII

The standard method of shrinkage measurement consists of immersion of the product in a fluid in order to calculate the volume changes before and after drying. It is destructive and time-consuming and also is not a practical method to be used in online drying monitoring systems. To date, it has been tried for measuring shrinkage based on passive ste...

Fast reconnaissance is essential for strategic decisions during the immediate response phase of urban search and rescue missions. Nowadays, UAVs with their advantageous overview perspective are increasingly used for reconnaissance besides manual inspection of the scenario. However, data evaluation is often limited to visual inspection of images or...

State-of-the-art LiDAR-based 3D scanning and mapping systems focus on scenarios where good sensing coverage is ensured, such as drones, wheeled robots, cars, or backpack-mounted systems. However, in some scenarios more unconventional sensor trajectories come naturally, e.g., rolling, descending, or oscillating back and forth, but the literature on...

In the field of autonomous motion and mapping, estimating the position and orientiation of a moving body is of high significance. This includes in particular the latest information about acceleration, speed, traveled distance and orientation. A wide range of different technologies exists that can be applied for this purpose. In case the state deter...

The development of modules and routines into an existing server-based control station to handle approach and docking maneuvers of mobile systems is the central achievement of this work. Efficient material flow in a digitized factory environment requires that goods are automatically loaded and unloaded onto transport robots. For this purpose, accura...

Space robotics applications, such as Active Space Debris Removal (ASDR), require representative testing before launch. A commonly used approach to emulate the microgravity environment in space is air-bearing based platforms on flat-floors, such as the European Space Agency's Orbital Robotics and GNC Lab (ORGL). This work proposes a control architec...

In recent years, implicit functions have drawn attention in the field of 3D reconstruction and have successfully been applied with Deep Learning. However, for incremental reconstruction, implicit function-based registrations have been rarely explored. Inspired by the high precision of deep learning global feature registration, we propose to combine...

Implicit representations are widely used for object reconstruction due to their efficiency and flexibility. In 2021, a novel structure named neural implicit map has been invented for incremental reconstruction. A neural implicit map alleviates the problem of inefficient memory cost of previous online 3D dense reconstruction while producing better q...

Digitalization is a major driver of competitiveness in industry. Especially, automated scheduling systems are broadly available to deal with production steering in complex production systems. Their underlying concept is the network plan to describe the logical relation between different production steps for the completion of a production process. T...

In industrial applications continuous wireless connectivity of mobile clients can rarely by guaranteed. Lack of communication negatively impacts the performance of industrial automation systems, e.g. Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) fleets. Utilizing industrial Mobile Ad-hoc NETworks (MANETs) and an adaptive positioning scheme can reduce the number o...

Implicit representations are widely used for object reconstruction due to their efficiency and flexibility. In 2021, a novel structure named neural implicit map has been invented for incremental reconstruction. A neural implicit map alleviates the problem of inefficient memory cost of previous online 3D dense reconstruction while producing better q...

The recent increase in yearly spacecraft launches and the high number of planned launches have raised questions about maintaining accessibility to space for all interested parties. A key to sustaining the future of space-flight is the ability to service malfunctioning - and actively remove dysfunctional spacecraft from orbit. Robotic platforms that...

In recent years, implicit functions have drawn attention in the field of 3D reconstruction and have successfully been applied with Deep Learning. However, for incremental reconstruction, implicit function-based registrations have been rarely explored. Inspired by the high precision of deep learning global feature registration, we propose to combine...

In recent years, 3D surveying using mobile mapping has become increasingly popular. Handheld or backpack mounted systems resulted in new uses and applications because they enable fast data acquisition in areas that are difficult to access. Many of these applications do not require high-precision measurement, but they often involve highly complex en...

Heat and excessive solar radiation can produce abiotic stresses during apple maturation, resulting fruit quality. Therefore, the monitoring of temperature on fruit surface (FST) over the growing period can allow to identify thresholds, above of which several physiological disorders such as sunburn may occur in apple. The current approaches neglect...

In this paper we will present a new dynamic point cloud compression based on different projection types and bit depth, combined with the surface reconstruction algorithm and video compression for obtained geometry and texture maps. Texture maps have been compressed after creating Voronoi diagrams. Used video compression is specific for geometry (FF...

In industrial applications continuous wireless connectivity of mo- bile clients can rarely by guaranteed. Lack of communication nega- tively impacts the performance of industrial automation systems, e.g. Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) fleets. Utilizing industrial Mobile Ad-hoc NETworks (MANETs) and adaptive positioning sys- tems can reduce the numb...

Spherical robots are a robot format that is notyet thoroughly studied for the application of mobile mapping.However, in contrast to other forms, they provide some uniqueadvantages. For one, the spherical shell provides protectionagainst harsh environments, e.g., guarding the sensors andactuators against dust and solid rock. This is particularlyusef...

Spherical robots are a format that has not been thoroughly explored for the application of mobile mapping. In contrast to other designs, it provides some unique advantages. Among those is a spherical shell that protects internal sensors and actuators from possible harsh environments, as well as an inherent rotation for locomotion that enables measu...

A tightly integrated spherical robotic device • Protecting sensors and scientific equipment in rough, uneven environments • Complementary payload set consisting of panoramic cameras [1] and 3D laser scanners • Autonomous capabilities •

Localization and navigation for autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) has always been a major challenge and many situations complex solutions had to be devised. One of the main approaches is visual odometry using a stereo camera. In this study, the Intel T265 fisheye stereo camera has been calibrated and tested to determine it’s usability for localis...

In recent years a wide range of 3D multi sensor systems for various applications has been proposed. Each of them has its own benefits and limitations. This paper proposes a modified unicycle with a 2D laser profiler attached to the wheel axle, thus creating a radial 3D scanning pattern. This novel low-cost device combines the advantages of wheeled...

This chapter covers the essentials regarding indoor 3D data, from scanning to reconstruction. It is aimed for education and professionals. The order of presentation is background, history in measurement method development, sensors, sensor systems, positioning algorithms, reconstruction, and applications. The authors' backgrounds are in indoor 3D, m...

This paper proposes an autonomous approach to 3D mapping using the concept of impulse by conservation of angular momentum (IBCOAM) as a unidirectional drive to roll a 2D laser scanner in an IMU equipped, pose-tracked spherical robot system. An experimental prototype of the robot is introduced, giving details about the hardware. The laser scanning r...

The DAEDALUS mission concept aims at exploring and characterising the entrance and initial part of Lunar lava tubes within a compact, tightly integrated spherical robotic device, with a complementary payload set and autonomous capabilities. The mission concept addresses specif- ically the identification and characterisation of potential resources f...

Descriptors play an important role in point cloud registration. The current state-of-the-art resorts to the high regression capability of deep learning. However, recent deep learning-based descriptors require different levels of annotation and selection of patches, which make the model hard to migrate to new scenarios. In this work, we learn local...

Mapping and localization of mobile robots in an unknown environment are essential for most high-level operations like autonomous navigation or exploration. This paper presents a novel approach for combining estimated trajectories, namely curvefusion. The robot used in the experiments is equipped with a horizontally mounted 2D profiler, a constantly...

Quality of the egg is examined before the production process in the food industry. In this study, a 3D laser scanning approach was developed to measure internal quality traits of the egg. Experiments were carried out on 450 chicken egg samples in different freshness stages. Spectroscopic analysis showed 600–700 nm would be a suitable wavelength reg...

In this work, we propose to learn local descriptors for point clouds in a self-supervised manner. In each iteration of the training, the input of the network is merely one unlabeled point cloud. On top of our previous work, that directly solves the transformation between two point sets in one step without correspondences, the proposed method is abl...

In this work, we propose to directly find the one-step solution for the point set registration problem without correspondences. Inspired by the Kernel Correlation method, we consider the full connected objective function between two point sets, thus avoiding the computation of correspondences. By utilizing least square minimization the transformed...

In recent years a wide range of 3D measurement devices for various applications has been proposed. Each of them has its own benefits and limitations. This paper proposes a modified unicycle with a 2D laser scanner attached to the wheel axle, thus creating a radial 3D scanning pattern. This novel low-cost device combines the advantages of wheeled sc...

The detection of markers or reflectors within point cloud data (PCD) is often used for 3-D scan registration, mapping, and 3-D environmental modeling. However, the reliable detection of such artifacts is diminished when PCD is sparse and corrupted by detection and spatial errors, for example, when the sensing environment is contaminated by high dus...

In this paper we present the setup of a low cost underwater test environment. The employed materials and structures are described as well as the lessons learned during operations and experiments conducted in the water tank. We provide the bill of materials and a break-down of the costs involved in setting up the test site.The goal was to build a lo...

This paper presents an underwater laser scanning system and GNSS based trajectory estimation system for scanning from a surface vessle in shallow water. The system has an above-the-water and an underwater component. Above-the-water two low-cost multiband GNSS receivers with an antenna baseline of one meter are used for RTK positioning with heading....

Planetary surfaces consist of rough terrain and cave-like environments. Future planetary exploration demands for accurate mapping. However, recent backpack mobile mapping systems are mostly tested in structured, indoor environments. This paper evaluates the use of a backpack mobile mapping system in a cave-like environment. The experiments demonstr...

The project Viable Alternative Mine Operating System (¡VAMOS!) develops a novel underwater mining technique for extracting inland mineral deposits in flooded open-cut mines. From a floating launch and recovery vessel a remotely-operated underwater mining vehicle with a roadheader cutting machine is deployed. The cut material is transported to the s...

In this work we look at 3D acquisition of semi-submerged structures with a triangulation based underwater laser scanning system. The motivation is that we want to simultaneously capture data above and below water to create a consistent model without any gaps. The employed structured light scanner consists of a machine vision camera and a green line...

Abstract— This paper presents the positioning, navigation and awareness (PNA) system developed for the Underwater Robotic Mining System of the ¡VAMOS! project [1]. It describes the main components of the ¡VAMOS! system, the PNA sensors in each of those components, the global architecture of the PNA system, and its main subsystems: Position and Navi...

Unter der Überschrift „Industrie 4.0“ hält die Digitalisierung Einzug in die Produktion. Damit einher geht das Bestreben, papierbasierte Prozesse abzulösen und menschliche Entscheidungen zu automa-tisieren. Netzpläne bilden die Basis für Produktionsplanungs- und Steuerungssysteme, indem sie die Beziehungen zwischen den Produktionsschritten als Vorg...

For the purpose of visualization and further post-processing of 3D point cloud data, it is often desirable to remove moving objects from a given data set. Common examples for these moving objects are pedestrians, bicycles and motor vehicles in outdoor scans or manufactured goods and employees in indoor scans of factories. We present a new change de...

In this work we look at 3D acquisition of semi-submerged structures with a triangulation based underwater laser scanning system. The motivation is that we want to simultaneously capture data above and below water to create a consistent model without any gaps. The employed structured light scanner consist of a machine vision camera and a green line...

This paper describes the estimation of the body weight of a person in front of an RGB-D camera. A survey of different methods for body weight estimation based on depth sensors is given. First, an estimation of people standing in front of a camera is presented. Second, an approach based on a stream of depth images is used to obtain the body weight o...

Even though it would be desirable for most post-processing purposes to obtain a point cloud without moving objects in it, it is often impractical or downright impossible to free a scene from all non-static clutter. Outdoor environments contain pedestrians, bicycles, and motor vehicles which cannot easily be stopped from entering the sensor range an...

This paper studies self-calibration of a structured light system, which reconstructs 3D information using video from a static consumer camera and a handheld cross line laser projector. Intersections between the individual laser curves and geometric constraints on the relative position of the laser planes are exploited to achieve dense 3D reconstruc...

Mobile scanning can be an equally accurate yet more cost-effective solution than traditional terrestrial laser scanning done with tripods. To succeed, however, mobile scanners not only require a suitable combination of sensors, but also reliable and continuous knowledge about where the scanners are located and the direction in which they are pointi...

Recently published approaches to SLAM algorithms process laser sensor measurements and output a map as a point cloud of the environment. Often the actual precision of the map remains unclear, since SLAMalgorithms apply local improvements to the resulting map. Unfortunately, it is not trivial to compare the performance of SLAMalgorithms objectively,...

Accurate three-dimensional (3D) data from indoor spaces are of high importance for various applications in construction, indoor navigation and real estate management. Mobile scanning techniques are offering an efficient way to produce point clouds, but with a lower accuracy than the traditional terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). In this paper, we fi...

Body weight is a crucial parameter when it comes to drug or radiation dosing. In case of emergency treatment time is short so that physicians estimate the body weight by the visual appearance of a patient. Further, visual body weight estimation might be a feature for person identification. This paper presents the anthropometric feature extraction f...

Body weight is a crucial parameter when it comes to drug or radiation dosing. In case of emergency treatment time is short so that physicians estimate the body weight by the visual appearance of a patient. Further, visual body weight estimation might be a feature for person identification. This paper presents the anthropometric feature extraction f...