Pipeline inspection is a very human intensive taskand automation could improve efficiencies significantly. We propose a system that could allow an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), to detect pipeline damage in a stream of images.Our classifiers were based on transfer learning from pre-trained convolutional neural networks (CNN). This allows us to achieve good results despite relatively few training examples of damage. We test the approach using data from an actual pipeline inspection.

This paper studies the problem of detection and tracking of general objects with semistatic dynamics observed by a mobile robot moving in a large environment. A key problem is that due to the environment scale, the robot can only observe a subset of the objects at any given time. Since some time passes between observations of objects in different places, the objects might be moved when the robot is not there. We propose a model for this movement in which the objects typically only move locally, but with some small probability they jump longer distances through what we call global motion. For filtering, we decompose the posterior over local and global movements into two linked processes. The posterior over the global movements and measurement associations is sampled, while we track the local movement analytically using Kalman filters. This novel filter is evaluated on point cloud data gathered autonomously by a mobile robot over an extended period of time. We show that tracking jumping objects is feasible, and that the proposed probabilistic treatment outperforms previous methods when applied to real world data. The key to efficient probabilistic tracking in this scenario is focused sampling of the object posteriors.

Highly automated driving systems are required to make robust decisions in many complex driving environments, such as urban intersections with high traffic. In order to make as informed and safe decisions as possible, it is necessary for the system to be able to predict the future maneuvers and positions of other traffic agents, as well as to provide information about the uncertainty in the prediction to the decision making module. While Bayesian approaches are a natural way of modeling uncertainty, recently deep learning-based methods have emerged to address this need as well. However, balancing the computational and system complexity, while also taking into account agent interactions and uncertainties, remains a difficult task. The work presented in this paper proposes a method of producing predictions of other traffic agents' trajectories in intersections with a singular Deep Learning module, while incorporating uncertainty and the interactions between traffic participants. The accuracy of the generated predictions is tested on a simulated intersection with a high level of interaction between agents, and different methods of incorporating uncertainty are compared. Preliminary results show that the CVAE-based method produces qualitatively and quantitatively better measurements of uncertainty and manage to more accurately assign probability to the future occupied space of traffic agents.

In this letter, we proposed a new deep learning based dense monocular simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) method. Compared to existing methods, the proposed framework constructs a dense three-dimensional (3-D) model via a sparse to dense mapping using learned surface normals. With single view learned depth estimation as prior for monocular visual odometry, we obtain both accurate positioning and high-quality depth reconstruction. The depth and normal are predicted by a single network trained in a tightly coupled manner. Experimental results show that our method significantly improves the performance of visual tracking and depth prediction in comparison to the state-of-the-art in deep monocular dense SLAM.

On-the-fly registration of overlapping multibeam images is important for path planning by AUVs performing underwater surveys. In order to meet specification on such things as survey accuracy, coverage and density, precise corrections to the AUV trajectory while underway are required. There are fast methods for aligning point clouds that have been developed for robots. We compare several state of the art methods to align point clouds of large, unstructured, sub-aquatic areas to build a global map. We first collect the multibeam point clouds into smaller submaps that are then aligned using variations of the ICP algorithm. This alignment step can be applied if the error in AUV pose is small. It would be the final step in correcting a larger error on loop closing where a place recognition and a rough alignment would precede it. In the case of a lawn mower pattern survey it would be making more continuous corrections to small errors in the overlap between parallel lines. In this work we compare different methods for registration in order to determine the most suitable one for underwater terrain mapping. To do so, we benchmark the current state of the art solutions according to an error metrics and show the results.

On-the-fly registration of overlapping multi-beam images is important for path planning by AUVs per-forming underwater surveys. In order to meet specificationon such things as survey accuracy, coverage and density,precise corrections to the AUV trajectory while underwayare required. There are fast methods for aligning pointclouds that have been developed for robots. We compareseveral state of the art methods to align point clouds oflarge, unstructured, sub-aquatic areas to build a globalmap. We first collect the multibeam point clouds intosmaller submaps that are then aligned using variationsof the ICP algorithm. This alignment step can be appliedif the error in AUV pose is small. It would be the finalstep in correcting a larger error on loop closing where aplace recognition and a rough alignment would precedeit. In the case of a lawn mower pattern survey it would bemaking more continuous corrections to small errors in theoverlap between parallel lines. In this work we comparedifferent methods for registration in order to determinethe most suitable one for underwater terrain mapping. Todo so, we benchmark the current state of the art solutionsaccording to an error metrics and show the results.

Mobile robot navigation in complex and dynamic environments is a challenging but important problem. Reinforcement learning approaches fail to solve these tasks efficiently due to reward sparsities, temporal complexities and high-dimensionality of sensorimotor spaces which are inherent in such problems. We present a novel approach to train action policies to acquire navigation skills for wheel-legged robots using deep reinforcement learning. The policy maps height-map image observations to motor commands to navigate to a target position while avoiding obstacles. We propose to acquire the multifaceted navigation skill by learning and exploiting a number of manageable navigation behaviors. We also introduce a domain randomization technique to improve the versatility of the training samples. We demonstrate experimentally a significant improvement in terms of data-efficiency, success rate, robustness against irrelevant sensory data, and also the quality of the maneuver skills.

In this paper, we propose a new learning scheme for generating geometric correspondences to be used for visual odometry. A convolutional neural network (CNN) combined with a recurrent neural network (RNN) are trained together to detect the location of keypoints as well as to generate corresponding descriptors in one unified structure. The network is optimized by warping points from source frame to reference frame, with a rigid body transform. Essentially, learning from warping. The overall training is focused on movements of the camera rather than movements within the image, which leads to better consistency in the matching and ultimately better motion estimation. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves better results than both related deep learning and hand crafted methods. Furthermore, as a demonstration of the promise of our method we use a naive SLAM implementation based on these keypoints and get a performance on par with ORB-SLAM.

In highway driving scenarios it is important for highly automated driving systems to be able to recognize and predict the intended maneuvers of other drivers in order to make robust and informed decisions. Many methods utilize the current kinematics of vehicles to make these predictions, but it is possible to examine the relations between vehicles as well to gain more information about the traffic scene and make more accurate predictions. The work presented in this paper proposes a novel method of predicting lane change maneuvers in highway scenarios using deep learning and a generic visual representation of the traffic scene. Experimental results suggest that by operating on the visual representation, the spacial relations between arbitrary vehicles can be captured by our method and used for more informed predictions without the need for explicit dynamic or driver interaction models. The proposed method is evaluated on highway driving scenarios using the Interstate-80 dataset and compared to a kinematics based prediction model, with results showing that the proposed method produces more robust predictions across the prediction horizon than the comparison model.

Forward Looking Sonars (FLS) are a typical choiceof sonar for autonomous underwater vehicles. They are mostoften the main sensor for obstacle avoidance and can be usedfor monitoring, homing, following and docking as well. Thosetasks require discrimination between noise and various classes ofobjects in the sonar images. Robust recognition of sonar data stillremains a problem, but if solved it would enable more autonomyfor underwater vehicles providing more reliable informationabout the surroundings to aid decision making. Recent advancesin image recognition using Deep Learning methods have beenrapid. While image recognition with Deep Learning is known torequire large amounts of labeled data, there are data-efficientlearning methods using generic features learned by a networkpre-trained on data from a different domain. This enables usto work with much smaller domain-specific datasets, makingthe method interesting to explore for sonar object recognitionwith limited amounts of training data. We have developed aConvolutional Neural Network (CNN) based classifier for FLS-images and compared its performance to classification usingclassical methods and hand-crafted features.