An embedded real-time red peach detection system based on an OV7670 camera, ARM Cortex-M4 processor and 3D Look-Up Tables

This work proposes the development of an embedded real-time fruit detection system for future automatic fruit harvesting. The proposed embedded system is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 (STM32F407VGT6) processor and an Omnivision OV7670 color camera. The future goal of this embedded vision system will be to control a robotized arm to automatically select and pick some fruit directly from the tree. The complete embedded system has been designed to be placed directly in the gripper tool of the future robotized harvesting arm. The embedded system will be able to perform real-time fruit detection and tracking by using a three-dimensional look-up-table (LUT) defined in the RGB color space and optimized for fruit picking. Additionally, two different methodologies for creating optimized 3D LUTs based on existing linear color models and fruit histograms were implemented in this work and compared for the case of red peaches. The resulting system is able to acquire general and zoomed orchard images and to update the relative tracking information of a red peach in the tree ten times per second.

Formalizing argumentative reasoning in a possibilistic logic programming setting with fuzzy unification

Possibilistic Defeasible Logic Programming (P-DeLP) is a logic programming language which combines features from argumentation theory and logic programming, incorporating the treatment of possibilistic uncertainty at the object-language level. In spite of its expressive power, an important limitation in P-DeLP is that imprecise, fuzzy information cannot be expressed in the object language. One interesting alternative for solving this limitation is the use of PGL+, a possibilistic logic over Gödel logic extended with fuzzy constants. Fuzzy constants in PGL+ allow expressing disjunctive information about the unknown value of a variable, in the sense of a magnitude, modelled as a (unary) predicate. The aim of this article is twofold: firstly, we formalize DePGL+, a possibilistic defeasible logic programming language that extends P-DeLP through the use of PGL+ in order to incorporate fuzzy constants and a fuzzy unification mechanism for them. Secondly, we propose a way to handle conflicting arguments in the context of the extended framework.

A logic programming framework for possibilistic argumentation: formalization and logical properties

In the last decade defeasible argumentation frameworks have evolved to become a sound setting to formalize commonsense, qualitative reasoning. The logic programming paradigm has shown to be particularly useful for developing different argument-based frameworks on the basis of different variants of logic programming which incorporate defeasible rules. Most of such frameworks, however, are unable to deal with explicit uncertainty, nor with vague knowledge, as defeasibility is directly encoded in the object language. This paper presents Possibilistic Logic Programming (P-DeLP), a new logic programming language which combines features from argumentation theory and logic programming, incorporating as well the treatment of possibilistic uncertainty. Such features are formalized on the basis of PGL, a possibilistic logic based on G¨odel fuzzy logic. One of the applications of P-DeLP is providing an intelligent agent with non-monotonic, argumentative inference capabilities. In this paper we also provide a better understanding of such capabilities by defining two non-monotonic operators which model the expansion of a given program P by adding new weighed facts associated with argument conclusions and warranted literals, respectively. Different logical properties for the proposed operators are studied

Prospective motion correction of 3D echo-planar imaging data for functional MRI using optical tracking.

We evaluated the performance of an optical camera based prospective motion correction (PMC) system in improving the quality of 3D echo-planar imaging functional MRI data. An optical camera and external marker were used to dynamically track the head movement of subjects during fMRI scanning. PMC was performed by using the motion information to dynamically update the sequence's RF excitation and gradient waveforms such that the field-of-view was realigned to match the subject's head movement. Task-free fMRI experiments on five healthy volunteers followed a 2×2×3 factorial design with the following factors: PMC on or off; 3.0mm or 1.5mm isotropic resolution; and no, slow, or fast head movements. Visual and motor fMRI experiments were additionally performed on one of the volunteers at 1.5mm resolution comparing PMC on vs PMC off for no and slow head movements. Metrics were developed to quantify the amount of motion as it occurred relative to k-space data acquisition. The motion quantification metric collapsed the very rich camera tracking data into one scalar value for each image volume that was strongly predictive of motion-induced artifacts. The PMC system did not introduce extraneous artifacts for the no motion conditions and improved the time series temporal signal-to-noise by 30% to 40% for all combinations of low/high resolution and slow/fast head movement relative to the standard acquisition with no prospective correction. The numbers of activated voxels (p<0.001, uncorrected) in both task-based experiments were comparable for the no motion cases and increased by 78% and 330%, respectively, for PMC on versus PMC off in the slow motion cases. The PMC system is a robust solution to decrease the motion sensitivity of multi-shot 3D EPI sequences and thereby overcome one of the main roadblocks to their widespread use in fMRI studies.

Automatic Segmentation of the Eye in 3D Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Novel Statistical Shape Model for Treatment Planning of Retinoblastoma.

PURPOSE: Proper delineation of ocular anatomy in 3-dimensional (3D) imaging is a big challenge, particularly when developing treatment plans for ocular diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is presently used in clinical practice for diagnosis confirmation and treatment planning for treatment of retinoblastoma in infants, where it serves as a source of information, complementary to the fundus or ultrasonographic imaging. Here we present a framework to fully automatically segment the eye anatomy for MRI based on 3D active shape models (ASM), and we validate the results and present a proof of concept to automatically segment pathological eyes. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Manual and automatic segmentation were performed in 24 images of healthy children's eyes (3.29 ± 2.15 years of age). Imaging was performed using a 3-T MRI scanner. The ASM consists of the lens, the vitreous humor, the sclera, and the cornea. The model was fitted by first automatically detecting the position of the eye center, the lens, and the optic nerve, and then aligning the model and fitting it to the patient. We validated our segmentation method by using a leave-one-out cross-validation. The segmentation results were evaluated by measuring the overlap, using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and the mean distance error. RESULTS: We obtained a DSC of 94.90 ± 2.12% for the sclera and the cornea, 94.72 ± 1.89% for the vitreous humor, and 85.16 ± 4.91% for the lens. The mean distance error was 0.26 ± 0.09 mm. The entire process took 14 seconds on average per eye. CONCLUSION: We provide a reliable and accurate tool that enables clinicians to automatically segment the sclera, the cornea, the vitreous humor, and the lens, using MRI. We additionally present a proof of concept for fully automatically segmenting eye pathology. This tool reduces the time needed for eye shape delineation and thus can help clinicians when planning eye treatment and confirming the extent of the tumor.

Reconstruction of 3D Planar Objects with Partial Occlusion

Kolmiulotteisten kappaleiden rekonstruktio on yksi konenäön haastavimmista ongelmista, koska kappaleiden kolmiulotteisia etäisyyksiä ei voida selvittää yhdestä kaksiulotteisesta kuvasta. Ongelma voidaan ratkaista stereonäön avulla, jossa näkymän kolmiulotteinen rakenne päätellään usean kuvan perusteella. Tämä lähestymistapa mahdollistaa kuitenkin vain rekonstruktion niille kappaleiden osille, jotka näkyvät vähintään kahdessa kuvassa. Piilossa olevien osien rekonstruktio ei ole mahdollista pelkästään stereonäön avulla. Tässä työssä on kehitetty uusi menetelmä osittain piilossa olevien kolmiulotteisten tasomaisten kappaleiden rekonstruktioon. Menetelmän avulla voidaan selvittää hyvällä tarkkuudella tasomaisista pinnoista koostuvan kappaleen muoto ja paikka käyttäen kahta kuvaa kappaleesta. Menetelmä perustuu epipolaarigeometriaan, jonka avulla selvitetään molemmissa kuvissa näkyvät kappaleiden osat. Osittain piilossa olevien piirteiden rekonstruointi suoritetaan käyttämäen stereonäköä sekä tietoa kappaleen rakenteesta. Esitettyä ratkaisua voitaisiin käyttää esimerkiksi kolmiulotteisten kappaleiden visualisointiin, robotin navigointiin tai esineentunnistukseen.

Simulation Supported Robot Programming using XML

The main objective of this master's thesis is to study robot programming using simulation software, and also how to embed the simulation software into company's own robot controlling software. The further goal is to study a new communication interface to the assembly line's components -more precisely how to connect the robot cell into this new communication system. Conveyor lines are already available where the conveyors use the new communication standard. The robot cell is not yet capable of communicating with to other devices using the new communication protocols. The main problem among robot manufacturers is that they all have their own communication systems and programming languages. There has not been any common programming language to program all the different robot manufacturers robots, until the RRS (Realistic Robot Simulation) standards were developed. The RRS - II makes it possible to create the robot programs in the simulation software and it gives a common user interface for different robot manufacturers robots. This thesis will present the RRS - II standard and the robot manufacturers situation for the RRS - II support. Thesis presents how the simulation software can be embedded into company's own robot controlling software and also how the robot cell can be connected to the CAMX (Computer Aided Manufacturing using XML) communication system.

Single breath-hold 3D measurement of left atrial volume using compressed sensing cardiovascular magnetic resonance and a non-model-based reconstruction approach.

BACKGROUND: Left atrial (LA) dilatation is associated with a large variety of cardiac diseases. Current cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) strategies to measure LA volumes are based on multi-breath-hold multi-slice acquisitions, which are time-consuming and susceptible to misregistration. AIM: To develop a time-efficient single breath-hold 3D CMR acquisition and reconstruction method to precisely measure LA volumes and function. METHODS: A highly accelerated compressed-sensing multi-slice cine sequence (CS-cineCMR) was combined with a non-model-based 3D reconstruction method to measure LA volumes with high temporal and spatial resolution during a single breath-hold. This approach was validated in LA phantoms of different shapes and applied in 3 patients. In addition, the influence of slice orientations on accuracy was evaluated in the LA phantoms for the new approach in comparison with a conventional model-based biplane area-length reconstruction. As a reference in patients, a self-navigated high-resolution whole-heart 3D dataset (3D-HR-CMR) was acquired during mid-diastole to yield accurate LA volumes. RESULTS: Phantom studies. LA volumes were accurately measured by CS-cineCMR with a mean difference of -4.73 ± 1.75 ml (-8.67 ± 3.54%, r2 = 0.94). For the new method the calculated volumes were not significantly different when different orientations of the CS-cineCMR slices were applied to cover the LA phantoms. Long-axis "aligned" vs "not aligned" with the phantom long-axis yielded similar differences vs the reference volume (-4.87 ± 1.73 ml vs. -4.45 ± 1.97 ml, p = 0.67) and short-axis "perpendicular" vs. "not-perpendicular" with the LA long-axis (-4.72 ± 1.66 ml vs. -4.75 ± 2.13 ml; p = 0.98). The conventional bi-plane area-length method was susceptible for slice orientations (p = 0.0085 for the interaction of "slice orientation" and "reconstruction technique", 2-way ANOVA for repeated measures). To use the 3D-HR-CMR as the reference for LA volumes in patients, it was validated in the LA phantoms (mean difference: -1.37 ± 1.35 ml, -2.38 ± 2.44%, r2 = 0.97). Patient study: The CS-cineCMR LA volumes of the mid-diastolic frame matched closely with the reference LA volume (measured by 3D-HR-CMR) with a difference of -2.66 ± 6.5 ml (3.0% underestimation; true LA volumes: 63 ml, 62 ml, and 395 ml). Finally, a high intra- and inter-observer agreement for maximal and minimal LA volume measurement is also shown. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method combines a highly accelerated single-breathhold compressed-sensing multi-slice CMR technique with a non-model-based 3D reconstruction to accurately and reproducibly measure LA volumes and function.

Helical tomotherapy for the treatment of anal canal cancer: a dosimetric comparison with 3D conformal radiotherapy.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: The standard treatment of anal canal cancer (ACC) is combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy (RT), which is complex because of the shape of the target volumes and the need to minimize the irradiation of normal pelvic structures. In this study we compared the dosimetric results of helical tomotherapy (HT) plans with traditional 3D conformal RT (3DRT) plans for the treatment of ACC. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Twelve patients (median age 57 years, range 38-83; F/M 8/4) treated with HT and concurrent chemotherapy for locally advanced ACC were selected. All had histologically confirmed squamous-cell carcinoma. A clinical target volume including the tumor and pelvic and inguinal lymph nodes was treated with HT to a total dose of 36 Gy in 1.8-Gy daily fractions. Then a sequential boost of 23.4 Gy in 1.8-Gy daily fractions (total dose 59.4 Gy) was delivered to the tumor and involved nodes. For all 12 patients, 3DRT plans were generated for comparison. Treatment plans were evaluated by means of standard dose-volume histograms. Dose coverage of the planning target volumes (PTVs), homogeneity index (HI), and mean doses to organs at risk (OARs) were compared. RESULTS: The coverage of PTV was comparable between the two treatment plans. HI was better in the HT vs. 3DRT plans (1.25 and 3.57, respectively; p<0.0001). HT plans resulted in better sparing of OARs (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: HT showed superior target dose conformality and significant sparing of pelvic structures compared with 3DRT. Further investigation should determine if these dosimetric improvements will improve clinical outcomes regarding locoregional control, survival, and treatment-related acute and late morbidity.

3D-suunnittelujärjestelmän ja tuotetiedonhallintajärjestelmän integrointi

3D-suunnittelujärjestelmät ovat tärkeitä työkaluja tuotetiedon luomista ja muokkaamista varten, joten niiden tehokas toiminta yhdessä tuotetiedonhallintajärjestelmien kanssa on erittäin tärkeää. 3D-suunnittelujärjestelmien kehityksen seurauksena 3D-malleihin voidaan sisällyttää entistä enemmän tuotetietoa, jolloin tehokas tiedon tallentaminen ja sen hallinta kasvattaa merkitystään. 3D-malleihin sisältyvää tietoa, kuten esimerkiksi kappaleen painoa tai geometriaa, halutaan myös tarkastella ilman tiettyä 3D-järjestelmää. Tuotetiedon hallinta on ollut jo pitkään tärkeä osa tuotteen suunnitteluprosessia. Tuotetiedon hallintaan sisältyy tiedon luomista, keräämistä ja muokkaamista koko tuotteen eliniän ajan. Näitä tietoja voivat olla esimerkiksi piirustukset, 3D-mallit, mittauspöytäkirjat, kokouspöytäkirjat, mallistoluettelot, lujuuslaskelmat, huoltoraportit jne. Tuotetiedonhallintajärjestelmä pitää huolta kaikesta tästä tiedosta ja sen kautta tuotteisiin liittyvää tietoa voidaan myös muokata ja jakaa tehokkaasti. Tässä diplomityössä tutkittiin näiden kahden järjestelmän integraation toteutusta erilaisilla menetelmillä. Työn tarkoituksena oli valita Valtra Oy:n tarkoituksiin parhaiten sopiva menetelmä tuotetiedon siirtämiseksi järjestelmien välillä tehokkaasti. Työn tuloksena annetaan suositus käytettävistä menetelmistä ja työkaluista.

Tuotteen suunnitteluketjun tehostaminen 3D-ympäristössä

Tämä diplomityö on tehty Andritz Oy:lle Washers & Filters tuoteryhmään. Työ on osa 3D-suunnittelujärjestelmän käyttöönottoprojektia. Tavoitteena on arvioida uuden laitesuunnittelujärjestelmän vaikutuksia yrityksen tietojärjestelmiin ja toimintatapoihin sekä etsiä potentiaalisia tulevaisuuden kehityskohteita. Suunnittelutietoa hyödyntäviä sidosryhmien edustajia haastattelemalla selvitettiin järjestelmille ja ohjelmistoille asetettavia vaatimuksia. Ohjelmistoihin tutustumalla saatiin käsitys niiden nykytilasta ja kehityssuunnista. 3D-geometrian hyödyntämiseen perustuvilla järjestelmillä voidaan poistaa päällekäistä työtä sekä lyhentää läpimenoaikoja suunnittelussa ja valmistuksessa sijoittamalla työvaiheita rinnakkain. Suurimmat 3D-suunnittelun edut saavutetaan tuotekehitysvaiheessa, tuotemuutoksia tehtäessä sekä valmistusprosesseja suunniteltaessa. Ongelmallisimmat osa-alueet tietojärjestelmien kehittämisessä ovat ensi-sijaisesti tiedonsiirto ohjelmistojen välillä, työntekijöiden muutosvastarinta sekä laadukkaiden järjestelmien korkea hinta. Laajojen tietojärjestelmä-projektien läpivienti on hyvin haastavaa ja onnistuminen vaatii kaikkien sidosryhmien mukana olemista ja tarkkaa projektin koordinointia.

Ultra-high-resolution 3D imaging of atherosclerosis in mice with synchrotron differential phase contrast: a proof of concept study.

The goal of this study was to investigate the performance of 3D synchrotron differential phase contrast (DPC) imaging for the visualization of both macroscopic and microscopic aspects of atherosclerosis in the mouse vasculature ex vivo. The hearts and aortas of 2 atherosclerotic and 2 wild-type control mice were scanned with DPC imaging with an isotropic resolution of 15 μm. The coronary artery vessel walls were segmented in the DPC datasets to assess their thickness, and histological staining was performed at the level of atherosclerotic plaques. The DPC imaging allowed for the visualization of complex structures such as the coronary arteries and their branches, the thin fibrous cap of atherosclerotic plaques as well as the chordae tendineae. The coronary vessel wall thickness ranged from 37.4 ± 5.6 μm in proximal coronary arteries to 13.6 ± 3.3 μm in distal branches. No consistent differences in coronary vessel wall thickness were detected between the wild-type and atherosclerotic hearts in this proof-of-concept study, although the standard deviation in the atherosclerotic mice was higher in most segments, consistent with the observation of occasional focal vessel wall thickening. Overall, DPC imaging of the cardiovascular system of the mice allowed for a simultaneous detailed 3D morphological assessment of both large structures and microscopic details.

El Cascanueces en 3D', versión libre de la adaptación del cuento de Hoffmann

Las navidades pasadas se presentó en las salas de cine El Cascanueces en 3D. Se trata de una adaptación libre del cuento de hadas de Navidad El Cascanueces y el rey de los ratones,2 creado por un escritor, músico, pintor, dramaturgo y jurista alemán llamado Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann3 (1776-1822). Hoffmann, gran admirador de Mozart, cambió su tercer nombre por el del músico austriaco y durante muchos años se ganó la vida como crítico musical,compositor y director de orquesta