Phil Birch

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• PhD in Adaptive Optics for Astronomy
• Professor (Associate) at University of Sussex

The availability of high resolution spatial light modulators (SLMs) and modern digital signal processors (DSPs) allows a convenient hybridization of digital and optical image processing to produce a small and compact correlator system. The hybridization allows the optical Fourier transform lens system for a correlator to be compact, such that it wi...

There are an increasing number of high-occupancy-vehicle lanes throughout the world. In these lanes each vehicle is required to have two or more occupants. These laws are currently manually enforced. This paper presents a new system for automating the enforcement process, using color image segmentation techniques to find the windshield area, and fa...

Since the introduction of SDF correlation filters vast amounts of work has been done on improving the filters' synthesis. Several different variations of classic SDF filter have been suggested. The objective is to create filters invariant to distortions from rotation, scaling, translation and inclusion of noise. Recently, the use of wavelets as a p...

We present the implementation of a clutter-tolerant filter in a hybrid correlator system. Wiener filters were mapped with a complex encoding technique onto a smectic A * liquid-crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). The technique overcomes the problem of representing high-dynamic-range data on SLM’s that have limited modulation capabilities. It als...

We present in detail the recorded results of the modified-hybrid optical neural network (M-HONN) filter during a full series of tests to examine its robustness and overall performance for object recognition tasks. We test the M-HONN filter for its detectability and peak sharpness with within-class distortion of the input object, its discrimination...

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with image processing and autonomous flight capabilities in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) represents a significant advancement in modern surveillance and tracking systems. This research explores a novel method for locating vehicles with pre-identified license plate numbers through an AI-enhanced fra...

Ultrasound imaging is widely used in medical diagnosis, especially for fetal health assessment. However, the availability of high-quality annotated ultrasound images is limited, which restricts the training of machine learning models. In this paper, we investigate the use of diffusion models to generate synthetic ultrasound images to improve the pe...

Many Multi-Object Tracking (MOT) approaches exploit motion information to associate all the detected objects across frames. However, traditional tracking-by-detection (TBD) methods, relying on the Kalman Filter, often work well in linear motion scenarios but struggle to accurately predict the locations of objects undergoing complex and non-linear m...

اكتشاف الأشياء يستخدم على نطاق واسع في العديد من التطبيقات مثل مراقبة المطارات ،تجنب الاصطدامات المحتملة، ،المساعدة في إدارة المجال الجوي وتعزيز سلامة الطيران بشكل عام. في هذا البحث، تم اقتراح خوارزمية للتعرف على الطائرات بغض النظر عن الفئات المختلفة مثل طراز الطائرات ،حجمها ولونها. يمكن أن تتمثل التحديات الرئيسية في مهام الكشف التلقائي عن الطائرات...

Many Multi-Object Tracking (MOT) approaches exploit motion information to associate all the detected objects across frames. However, many methods that rely on filtering-based algorithms, such as the Kalman Filter, often work well in linear motion scenarios but struggle to accurately predict the locations of objects undergoing complex and non-linear...

In aerial surveillance systems, achieving optimal object detection precision is of paramount importance for effective monitoring and reconnaissance. This article presents a novel approach to enhance object detection accuracy through the integration of Delaunay triangulation with multi-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. The methodology involves...

Optical signal processing can reduce the electrical power consumption required over that required by graphically processing units. There remain a number of challenges to overcome. Noise is potentially much larger in optical systems than in their electronic counterparts, and some of the operations, such as a bias addition, are not easy to implement...

Object detection is widely utilized in many applications, such as airport surveillance. Automated detection systems effectively contribute to the prevention of potential collisions, aid in airspace management, and enhance overall aviation safety. Additionally, such detection systems play a crucial role in security applications by enabling the rapid...

Images captured in low-light environments often suffer from significant degradation. However, most existing Retinex-based methods require an additional decomposition network and overlook the degradation caused by the illumination adjustment process, which results in the consumption of significant computational resources to achieve only average perf...

Crop height is a vital indicator of growth conditions. Traditional drone image-based crop height measurement methods primarily rely on calculating the difference between the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and the Digital Terrain Model (DTM). The calculation often needs more ground information, which remains labour-intensive and time-consuming. Moreo...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones have found applications in various fields including military operations, construction, parcel delivery, mapping, medical, search and rescue missions, exploration of hidden areas, monitoring power lines and oil rigs, precision farming, aerial surveillance, and wireless communication. Due to their modular fle...

Sensor-based Human Activity Recognition (HAR) suffers significant challenges in collecting sufficient ground truth data due to the variability of individual activities and data collection environments. Current data augmentation techniques aim to improve HAR model performance by applying various mathematical modifications to existing datasets. Howev...

This paper describes the selection of parameters of an Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) suitable for optimising the genotype of a fractal model of phenotypically realistic structures. To achieve the proposed goal an EA is implemented as a metaheuristic search tool to find the coefficients of the transformation matrices of an Iterated Function System (IF...

With the advances in Body Sensor Networks (BSNs) and textile-integrated sensing, more sensor data becomes available from which human activities are recognised. However, some sensors may become unavailable unexpectedly in practice. Previous work proposed to complement the features of a missing sensor with regression-based methods but considered only...

We present the first work that investigates the potential of improving the performance of transportation mode recognition through fusing multimodal data from wearable sensors: motion, sound and vision. We first train three independent deep neural network (DNN) classifiers, which work with the three types of sensors, respectively. We then propose tw...

Deep learning for object detection offers the advantage of very low electrical power requirements but with the potential of a very large computation bandwidth due to the ability of Fraunhofer diffraction to perform correlation operations. However, many of the current designs of deep learning networks are not easily implemented in the optical domain...

A new blind image quality assessment method called No-Reference Image Quality Assessment Based on Multi-Order Gradients Statistics is proposed, which is aimed at solving the problem that the existing no-reference image quality assessment methods cannot determine the type of image distortion and that the quality evaluation has poor robustness for di...

Vision-based human activity recognition can provide rich contextual information but has traditionally been computationally prohibitive. We present a characterisation of five convolutional neural networks (DenseNet169, MobileNet, ResNet50, VGG16, VGG19) implemented with TensorFlow Lite running on three state of the art Android mobile phones. The net...

A spatial domain implementation of the optimal trade-off Maximum Average Correlation Height (OT-MACH) filter is investigated and is shown to have advantages over frequency domain implementations in that it can be made locally adaptive to spatial variations in the input image background clutter and so normalized for local intensity changes. We compa...

To solve the problems of occlusion and fast motion of small targets in unmanned aerial vehicle target tracking, an adaptive algorithm that fuses the improved color histogram tracking response and the correlation filter tracking response based on multichannel histogram of oriented gradient features is proposed to realize small target tracking with h...

A multiple-view polarimetric camera is developed. The system uses four separate action cameras, and software is employed to map the images onto each other in order to generate the Stokes vectors, the degree of linear polarization, and the angle images. To ensure robustness, an automated calibration system has been developed that ensures the pixels...

An obstacle detection algorithm is introduced for aiding the navigation of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV). Coloured obstacles are placed randomly in an indoor environment. The coloured obstacles are detected, analysed and processed using a proposed monocular vision algorithm. A camera calibration is conducted to determine the relative position and...

An obstacle detection algorithm is introduced for aiding the navigation of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV). Coloured obstacles are placed randomly in an indoor environment. The coloured obstacles are detected, analysed and processed using a proposed monocular vision algorithm. A camera calibration is conducted to determine the relative position and...

Purpose The motion control of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) is a challenge in the industry of automation. The purpose of this paper is to propose a fuzzy inference system (FIS) based on sensory information for solving the navigation challenge of UGV in cluttered and dynamic environments. Design/methodology/approach The representation of the dyn...

The presentation covers some history on lasers, then goes on to describe the the USA Airborne Laser Testbed and its Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL). The significance of laser modes for beam propagation is explained. Fibre lasers and their applications and construction is described. The US Navy 33kW fibre laser is reported, then the Lockheed Mar...

The quantum Fourier transform (QFT);Similarities and differences of coherent optical FFT to the QFT. Grover’s search algorithm implemented with a coherent optical correlator. Quantum algorithms requiring bit entanglement -Shor’s algorithm for large number factorisation. Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) pixels placed in a binary superposition state. Ad...

Gyrotrons are capable of producing Megawatt power radiation at millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths , they are very efficient, circa 60% and can be made to chirp over wide frequency ranges. Gryratrons offer a very effective means of defence against advanced weaponry that rely on embedded electronics and multiple communication systems. Electron...

Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) has allowed scientists to discern information about the chemical properties of biological processes and has become a vital tool in the life sciences and medical research communities. Measuring the spatial lifetime distribution of the fluorophores as well as the intensity distribution enables users to...

Previously we have examined the similarities of the quantum Fourier transform to the classical coherent optical implementation of the Fourier transform (R. Young et al, Proc SPIE Vol 87480, 874806-1, -11). In this paper, we further consider how superposition states can be generated on coherent optical wave fronts, potentially allowing coherent opti...

Some laser history Airborne Laser Testbed & COIL Laser modes and beam propagation Fibre lasers and applications US Navy Laser system – NRL 33kW fibre laser Lockheed Martin 30kW fibre laser Conclusions

Trajectory tracking is an essential capability of robotics operation in industrial automation. In this article, an artificial neural controller is proposed to tackle trajectory-tracking problem of an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV). The controller is implemented based on fractional order proportional integral derivative (FOPID) control that was alr...

This issue (DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4196.0403) includes the following papers; P1151031180, Nagachetan Bangalore and Rupert Young and Philip Birch and Chris Chatwin, "Tracking Moving Objects Using Bandpass Filter Enhanced Localisation and Automated Initialisation of Active Contour Snakes" P1151011027, Aba M. Patil and Satish R. Kolhe and Pradeep M. Pat...

Free-space optical communication has the potential to transmit information with both high speed and security. However, since it is unguided it suffers from losses due to atmospheric turbulence and diffraction. To overcome the diffraction limits the long-distance propagation of Bessel beams is considered and compared against Gaussian beam properties...

A robust control technique is proposed to address the problem of trajectory tracking of an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV). This technique utilizes a fractional-order proportional integral derivative (FOPID) controller to control a non-holonomic autonomous ground vehicle to track the behaviour of the predefined reference path. Two FOPID controllers...

In this paper, we present a four-step ortho-rectification procedure for real-time geo-referencing of video data from a low-cost UAV equipped with a multi-sensor system. The basic procedures for the real-time ortho-rectification are: (1) decompilation of the video stream into individual frames; (2) establishing the interior camera orientation parame...

In this paper, we present a four-step ortho-rectification procedure for real-time geo-referencing of video data from a low-cost UAV equipped with a multi-sensor system. The basic procedures for the real-time ortho-rectification are: (1) decompilation of the video stream into individual frames; (2) establishing the interior camera orientation parame...

A new stereophotolithography technique utilizing a spatial light modulator ~SLM! to create threedimensional components with a planar, layer-by-layer process of exposure is described. With this procedure it is possible to build components with dimensions in the range of 50 mm–50 mm and feature sizes as small as 5 mm with a resolution of 1 mm. A poly...

Invited IET Lecture on Global Security concentrating of the Space Surveillance Network and its upgrade

The presentation gives a partial summary of some of the research conducted by the Industrial Informatics & Signal Processing Research Group over the last 20 years. This was to celebrate 50 years of Engineering at Sussex University; many of our past graduates attended. The conference was a great success and culminated in a very enjoyable dinner with...

We model the propagation of Gaussian and Bessel beams from ground through 22km altitude of atmospheric turbulence. We observe the Bessel beam has better performance based on RMS intensity error and the captured beam power.

Cities are in a constant state of evolution and made up of many different systems: energy, transport, water treatment and so on. There is a significant push by governments around the world to integrate these services using the Internet. The presentation looks at current progress and opportunities

Cities are in a constant state of evolution, and made up of many different system: energy, transport, healthcare, security, water treatment and so on. There is a significant push by governments around the world to integrate these services using the internet. This presentation looks at some history, current progress and opportunities.

The presentation gives a partial summary of some of the research conducted by the Industrial Informatics & Signal Processing Research Group over the last 20 years. This was to celebrate 50 years of Engineering at Sussex University; many of our past graduates attended. The conference was a great success and culminated in a very enjoyable dinner with...

The presentation gives a partial summary of some of the research conducted by the Industrial Informatics & Signal Processing Research Group over the last 20 years. This was to celebrate 50 years of Engineering at Sussex University; many of our past graduates attended. The conference was a great success and culminated in a very enjoyable dinner with...

A spatial domain optimal trade-off Maximum Average Correlation Height (OT-MACH) filter has been previously developed and shown to have advantages over frequency domain implementations in that it can be made locally adaptive to spatial variations in the input image background clutter and normalised for local intensity changes. In this paper we compa...

There is increasing reliance on video surveillance systems for systematic derivation, analysis and interpretation of the data needed for predicting, planning, evaluating and implementing public safety. This is evident from the massive number of surveillance cameras deployed across public locations. For example, in July 2013, the British Security In...

Many security systems employing different methods have been proposed to protect buried oil pipelines transporting petroleum products from the well-head via the refinery to: depots and other receiving stations. Currently there is a security gap in monitoring these buried pipelines in real time and in keeping them protected from third party interfere...

Many security systems employing different methods have been proposed to protect buried oil pipelines transporting petroleum products from the well-head via the refinery to: depots and other receiving stations. Currently there is a security gap in monitoring these buried pipelines in real time and in keeping them protected from third party interfere...

A solution was sought for control of Spodoptera exempta in cereal crops. The proposed solution enhanced a previous scheme since it provided control of the pest eggs and larvae and improved the quality of crop products by replacing pesticides. The scheme consists of a surveillance and monitoring system to activate a measured response to pest invasio...

An optimal control technique is proposed to address the problem of path tracking of an autonomous ground vehicle. This technique utilizes a Fractional Order Proportional Integral Derivative (FOPID) controller to control a non-holonomic autonomous ground vehicle to track the behaviour of the predefined reference path. Two FOPID controllers are desig...

Taro Scarab beetles (Papuana uninodis, Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) inflict severe damage on important root crops and plants such as Taro or Cocoyam, yam, sweet potatoes, oil palm and coffee tea plants across Africa and Asia resulting in economic hardship and starvation in some nations. Scoliid wasps and Metarhizium anisopliae fungus - bio-control age...

This article proposes an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for solving navigation problems of an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV). The system consists of four ANFIS controllers; two of which are used for regulating both the left and right angular velocities of the AGV in order to reach the target position; and other two ANFIS controllers...