scholarly journals Semantic Information for Robot Navigation: A Survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Crespo ◽  
Jose Carlos Castillo ◽  
Oscar Martinez Mozos ◽  
Ramon Barber

There is a growing trend in robotics for implementing behavioural mechanisms based on human psychology, such as the processes associated with thinking. Semantic knowledge has opened new paths in robot navigation, allowing a higher level of abstraction in the representation of information. In contrast with the early years, when navigation relied on geometric navigators that interpreted the environment as a series of accessible areas or later developments that led to the use of graph theory, semantic information has moved robot navigation one step further. This work presents a survey on the concepts, methodologies and techniques that allow including semantic information in robot navigation systems. The techniques involved have to deal with a range of tasks from modelling the environment and building a semantic map, to including methods to learn new concepts and the representation of the knowledge acquired, in many cases through interaction with users. As understanding the environment is essential to achieve high-level navigation, this paper reviews techniques for acquisition of semantic information, paying attention to the two main groups: human-assisted and autonomous techniques. Some state-of-the-art semantic knowledge representations are also studied, including ontologies, cognitive maps and semantic maps. All of this leads to a recent concept, semantic navigation, which integrates the previous topics to generate high-level navigation systems able to deal with real-world complex situations.

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (5) ◽  
pp. 1286-1310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Mendez ◽  
Simon Hadfield ◽  
Nicolas Pugeault ◽  
Richard Bowden

Abstract The use of human-level semantic information to aid robotic tasks has recently become an important area for both Computer Vision and Robotics. This has been enabled by advances in Deep Learning that allow consistent and robust semantic understanding. Leveraging this semantic vision of the world has allowed human-level understanding to naturally emerge from many different approaches. Particularly, the use of semantic information to aid in localisation and reconstruction has been at the forefront of both fields. Like robots, humans also require the ability to localise within a structure. To aid this, humans have designed high-level semantic maps of our structures called floorplans. We are extremely good at localising in them, even with limited access to the depth information used by robots. This is because we focus on the distribution of semantic elements, rather than geometric ones. Evidence of this is that humans are normally able to localise in a floorplan that has not been scaled properly. In order to grant this ability to robots, it is necessary to use localisation approaches that leverage the same semantic information humans use. In this paper, we present a novel method for semantically enabled global localisation. Our approach relies on the semantic labels present in the floorplan. Deep Learning is leveraged to extract semantic labels from RGB images, which are compared to the floorplan for localisation. While our approach is able to use range measurements if available, we demonstrate that they are unnecessary as we can achieve results comparable to state-of-the-art without them.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (16) ◽  
pp. 1883
Author(s):  
Jingyu Li ◽  
Rongfen Zhang ◽  
Yuhong Liu ◽  
Zaiteng Zhang ◽  
Runze Fan ◽  
...  

Semantic information usually contains a description of the environment content, which enables mobile robot to understand the environment and improves its ability to interact with the environment. In high-level human–computer interaction application, the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) system not only needs higher accuracy and robustness, but also has the ability to construct a static semantic map of the environment. However, traditional visual SLAM lacks semantic information. Furthermore, in an actual scene, dynamic objects will reduce the system performance and also generate redundancy when constructing map. these all directly affect the robot’s ability to perceive and understand the surrounding environment. Based on ORB-SLAM3, this article proposes a new Algorithm that uses semantic information and the global dense optical flow as constraints to generate dynamic-static mask and eliminate dynamic objects. then, to further construct a static 3D semantic map under indoor dynamic environments, a fusion of 2D semantic information and 3D point cloud is carried out. the experimental results on different types of dataset sequences show that, compared with original ORB-SLAM3, both Absolute Pose Error (APE) and Relative Pose Error (RPE) have been ameliorated to varying degrees, especially on freiburg3-walking-xyz, the APE reduced by 97.78% from the original average value of 0.523, and RPE reduced by 52.33% from the original average value of 0.0193. Compared with DS-SLAM and DynaSLAM, our system improves real-time performance while ensuring accuracy and robustness. Meanwhile, the expected map with environmental semantic information is built, and the map redundancy caused by dynamic objects is successfully reduced. the test results in real scenes further demonstrate the effect of constructing static semantic maps and prove the effectiveness of our Algorithm.


Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Xiaoning Han ◽  
Shuailong Li ◽  
Xiaohui Wang ◽  
Weijia Zhou

Sensing and mapping its surroundings is an essential requirement for a mobile robot. Geometric maps endow robots with the capacity of basic tasks, e.g., navigation. To co-exist with human beings in indoor scenes, the need to attach semantic information to a geometric map, which is called a semantic map, has been realized in the last two decades. A semantic map can help robots to behave in human rules, plan and perform advanced tasks, and communicate with humans on the conceptual level. This survey reviews methods about semantic mapping in indoor scenes. To begin with, we answered the question, what is a semantic map for mobile robots, by its definitions. After that, we reviewed works about each of the three modules of semantic mapping, i.e., spatial mapping, acquisition of semantic information, and map representation, respectively. Finally, though great progress has been made, there is a long way to implement semantic maps in advanced tasks for robots, thus challenges and potential future directions are discussed before a conclusion at last.


Gene ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 165 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reema Mukhija ◽  
Prithy Rupa ◽  
Devika Pillai ◽  
Lalit C. Garg

Glycobiology ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 633-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Reddy ◽  
B. G. Grimwood ◽  
T. H. Plummer ◽  
A. L. Tarentino

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Nah ◽  
Joy Geng

While objects are fundamental units of vision that convey meaning, how different types of semantic knowledge affect perception is not fully understood. In contrast, the concept literature divides semantic information into taxonomic and thematic types. Taxonomic relationships reflect categorization by similarities (e.g., dog – wolf); thematic groups are based on complementary relationships shared within a common event (e.g., swimsuit – goggles; pool). A critical difference between these two information types is that thematic relationships are learned from the experienced co-occurrence of objects whereas taxonomic relationships are learned abstractly. In two studies, we test the hypothesis that visual processing of thematically related objects is more rapid because they serve as mutual visual primes and form a perceptual unit. The results demonstrate that learned co-occurrence not only shapes semantic knowledge, but also affects low level visual processing, revealing a link between how information is acquired (e.g., experienced vs. unobserved) and how it modulates perception.


Author(s):  
Andreas Wiesner-Steiner ◽  
Heike Wiesner ◽  
Petra Luck

The cultural and technical history of e-learning scenarios can be traced back to traditional forms of distance studies, CD-Rom learning programmes, audio-programmes or educational TV. But other than these forerunners, two closely related myths often shape policy towards ICT and education: the irresistible power of globalisation and the determining effect of technology. Both views present the success of e-learning throughout the education system as inevitable. The space left for practitioners in higher education is either to embrace the new media or to watch its inevitable unfolding. In this paper we take a critical stance towards that perspective and suggest that the shape and learning effect of new media in higher education is contested and evolves in communities of practice. No technologies are neutral and it is more appropriate to speak of economic, technological and societal features as interactively fostering the importance of e-learning through distributed actions (Rammert, 2002). From such a perspective, e-learning is perceived as a co-product of didactically and technically situated features (Wiesner-Steiner, Wiesner, & Schelhowe, 2006) that foster and enable but don`t determine human learning through the use of digital technologies. Main characteristics are: • Interactive and multimedial design of content • Learning via digital networks • Netbased communication The EU-Leonardo-project “European Enhancement of Early Years Management Skills—EEEYMS” (http://www. eeeyms.org/) was intended to enhance employability of people employed in the Early Years Childcare management sector by providing access to a high level qualification in line with the emerging industry requirements. This was achieved by developing distance learning materials available via the World Wide Web and other forms of media including CDRom` s, specific to the employment area which is also aligned to a degree pathway, and will be available within Europe. It was further achieved by the creation of a European network association for childcare to ensure sustainability after the project is complete. EEEYMS provides an accredited route for the attainment of a relevant degree level qualification for careers and managers within the childcare sector, and assist in attracting suitable people into this employment sector to meet the childcare demand over the next 10 years. With ODL materials, the project enhances employment opportunities and career status for a still predominantly female workforce. Research suggests that the increased status and professionalisation obtained through the availability of a high level qualification will make the industry more attractive to male employees. EEEYMS thus provided higher level qualification to people disadvantaged in the labour market and those who faced discrimination in accessing training due to disability, geographical location or family commitments. The use of ICT systems was thus thought to enhance knowledge and learning experience and the employability factors, as the knowledge will be directly transferable to the work environment.


Author(s):  
Sefa Secen

Abstract Under what conditions do governments view and respond to the arrival of refugees primarily as a security threat? Comparatively analyzing the securitization of Syrian refugees in two host countries, Turkey and Lebanon, this paper proposes a domestic political context–based theory and typology of securitization. Based on a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the media data including mainstream national Turkish and Lebanese newspaper articles, this research first differentiates between different levels of securitization and finds that moderate securitization in Lebanon during the early years of the refugee crisis (2013–2014) coincided with an open border policy, inaction, legal ambiguity, and benign neglect. From 2015, a marked increase of securitization in Lebanon coincided with controlled borders, restrictive policies, and heightened tension. Securitization of Syrian refugees has followed a somewhat different trajectory in Turkey, where the state switched from non-recognition (2013–2014) to recognition (2014–2016) and then from recognition to integration (2016–present), while a decrease in securitization mapped onto this policy trajectory despite the opposition's and the public's increasing discontentment with the presence of refugees. Then, this paper argues that the low level of securitization in Turkey is an outcome of the incumbent party's Islamist political ideology that motivates transnational religious solidarity, whereas the high level of securitization in Lebanon is a consequence of elite divisions and the country's unique historical experiences with Palestinian refugees that engender competing security perspectives and agendas on Syrian refugees. Overall, this study demonstrates how contextual or domestic factors are key to explaining government attitudes toward refugee groups and contributes to our understanding of the sources and processes of securitization.


Author(s):  
Denis Gingras

In this chapter, the authors will review the problem of estimating in real-time the position of a vehicle for use in land navigation systems. After describing the application context and giving a definition of the problem, they will look at the mathematical framework and technologies involved to design positioning systems. The authors will compare the performance of some of the most popular data fusion approaches and provide some insights on their limitations and capabilities. They will then look at the case of robustness of the positioning system when one or some of the sensors are faulty and will describe how the positioning system can be made more robust and adaptive in order to take into account the occurrence of faulty or degraded sensors. Finally, they will go one step further and explore possible architectures for collaborative positioning systems, whereas many vehicles are interacting and exchanging data to improve their own position estimate. The chapter is concluded with some remarks on the future evolution of the field.


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