Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “visual target tracking”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2008

Visual Target Tracking on the Mars Exploration Rovers

Visual Target Tracking (VTT) has been implemented in the new Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Flight Software (FSW) R9.2 release, which is now running on both Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Applying the normalized cross-correlation (NCC) algorithm with template image magnification and roll compensation on MER Navcam images, VTT tracks the target and enables the rover to approach the target within a few cm over a 10 m traverse. Each VTT update takes 1/2 to 1 minute on the rovers, 2-3 times faster than one Visual Odometry (Visodom) update. VTT is a key element to achieve a target approach and instrument placement over a 10-m run in a single sol in contrast to the original baseline of 3 sols. VTT has been integrated into the MER FSW so that it can operate with any combination of blind driving, Autonomous Navigation (Autonav) with hazard avoidance, and Visodom. VTT can either guide the rover towards the target or simply image the target as the rover drives by. Three recent VTT operational checkouts on Opportunity were all successful, tracking the selected target reliably within a few pixels.

target approach↗
NASA NTRS2008

Visual Target Tracking on the Mars Exploration Rovers

Visual target tracking (VTT) software has been incorporated into Release 9.2 of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) flight software, now running aboard the rovers Spirit and Opportunity. In the VTT operation (see figure), the rover is driven in short steps between stops and, at each stop, still images are acquired by actively aimed navigation cameras (navcams) on a mast on the rover (see artistic rendition). The VTT software processes the digitized navcam images so as to track a target reliably and to make it possible to approach the target accurately to within a few centimeters over a 10-m traverse.

Kim, Won↗
NASA NTRS2006

Improvement in Visual Target Tracking for a Mobile Robot

In an improvement of the visual-target-tracking software used aboard a mobile robot (rover) of the type used to explore the Martian surface, an affine-matching algorithm has been replaced by a combination of a normalized- cross-correlation (NCC) algorithm and a template-image-magnification algorithm. Although neither NCC nor template-image magnification is new, the use of both of them to increase the degree of reliability with which features can be matched is new. In operation, a template image of a target is obtained from a previous rover position, then the magnification of the template image is based on the estimated change in the target distance from the previous rover position to the current rover position (see figure). For this purpose, the target distance at the previous rover position is determined by stereoscopy, while the target distance at the current rover position is calculated from an estimate of the current pose of the rover. The template image is then magnified by an amount corresponding to the estimated target distance to obtain a best template image to match with the image acquired at the current rover position.

Kim, Won↗
NASA NTRS2005

Rover mast calibration, exact camera pointing, and camara handoff for visual target tracking

This paper presents three technical elements that we have developed to improve the accuracy of the visual target tracking for single-sol approach-and-instrument placement in future Mars rover missions. An accurate, straightforward method of rover mast calibration is achieved by using a total station, a camera calibration target, and four prism targets mounted on the rover. The method was applied to Rocky8 rover mast calibration and yielded a 1.1-pixel rms residual error. Camera pointing requires inverse kinematic solutions for mast pan and tilt angles such that the target image appears right at the center of the camera image. Two issues were raised. Mast camera frames are in general not parallel to the masthead base frame. Further, the optical axis of the camera model in general does not pass through the center of the image. Despite these issues, we managed to derive non-iterative closed-form exact solutions, which were verified with Matlab routines. Actual camera pointing experiments aver 50 random target image paints yielded less than 1.3-pixel rms pointing error. Finally, a purely geometric method for camera handoff using stereo views of the target has been developed. Experimental test runs show less than 2.5 pixels error on high-resolution Navcam for Pancam-to-Navcam handoff, and less than 4 pixels error on lower-resolution Hazcam for Navcam-to-Hazcam handoff.

camera handoff↗
NASA NTRS2009

Visual Target Tracking in the Presence of Unknown Observer Motion

Much attention has been given to the visual tracking problem due to its obvious uses in military surveillance. However, visual tracking is complicated by the presence of motion of the observer in addition to the target motion, especially when the image changes caused by the observer motion are large compared to those caused by the target motion. Techniques for estimating the motion of the observer based on image registration techniques and Kalman filtering are presented and simulated. With the effects of the observer motion removed, an additional phase is implemented to track individual targets. This tracking method is demonstrated on an image stream from a buoy-mounted or periscope-mounted camera, where large inter-frame displacements are present due to the wave action on the camera. This system has been shown to be effective at tracking and predicting the global position of a planar vehicle (boat) being observed from a single, out-of-plane camera. Finally, the tracking system has been extended to a multi-target scenario.

image mosaic↗
NASA NTRS2004

Visual target tracking for rover-based planetary exploration

To command a rover to go to a location of scientific interest on a remote planet, the rover must be capable of reliably tracking the target designated by the scientist from ten or more meters away. The rover must maintain lock on the target while traversing rough terrain and avoiding obstacles without the need for communication with Earth.

Bualat, Maria↗
NASA NTRS1990

Real time visual tracking of targets in six dimensions

Six dimensional target information is produced by a target tracking vision system for use in real time target tracking by a robotic system. The vision system described in this paper produces three axes of position data and three axes of orientation data using a single camera which views a three dimensional target. The system performs target detection, target discrimination and determines the target position and orientation relative to the camera. As the target information is determined, it is communicated to a computer which is controlling the robot motion in real time. Details of the image processing algorithms and image processing hardware used in the vision system are discussed in the paper.

Walsh, Peter M.↗
NASA NTRS2006

NASA Tech Briefs, September 2006

Topics covered include: Improving Thermomechanical Properties of SiC/SiC Composites; Aerogel/Particle Composites for Thermoelectric Devices; Patches for Repairing Ceramics and Ceramic- Matrix Composites; Lower-Conductivity Ceramic Materials for Thermal-Barrier Coatings; An Alternative for Emergency Preemption of Traffic Lights; Vehicle Transponder for Preemption of Traffic Lights; Automated Announcements of Approaching Emergency Vehicles; Intersection Monitor for Traffic-Light-Preemption System; Full-Duplex Digital Communication on a Single Laser Beam; Stabilizing Microwave Frequency of a Photonic Oscillator; Microwave Oscillators Based on Nonlinear WGM Resonators; Pointing Reference Scheme for Free-Space Optical Communications Systems; High-Level Performance Modeling of SAR Systems; Spectral Analysis Tool 6.2 for Windows; Multi-Platform Avionics Simulator; Silicon-Based Optical Modulator with Ferroelectric Layer; Multiplexing Transducers Based on Tunnel-Diode Oscillators; Scheduling with Automated Resolution of Conflicts; Symbolic Constraint Maintenance Grid; Discerning Trends in Performance Across Multiple Events; Magnetic Field Solver; Computing for Aiming a Spaceborne Bistatic- Radar Transmitter; 4-Vinyl-1,3-Dioxolane-2-One as an Additive for Li-Ion Cells; Probabilistic Prediction of Lifetimes of Ceramic Parts; STRANAL-PMC Version 2.0; Micromechanics and Piezo Enhancements of HyperSizer; Single-Phase Rare-Earth Oxide/Aluminum Oxide Glasses; Tilt/Tip/Piston Manipulator with Base-Mounted Actuators; Measurement of Model Noise in a Hard-Wall Wind Tunnel; Loci-STREAM Version 0.9; The Synergistic Engineering Environment; Reconfigurable Software for Controlling Formation Flying; More About the Tetrahedral Unstructured Software System; Computing Flows Using Chimera and Unstructured Grids; Avoiding Obstructions in Aiming a High-Gain Antenna; Analyzing Aeroelastic Stability of a Tilt-Rotor Aircraft; Tracking Positions and Attitudes of Mars Rovers; Stochastic Evolutionary Algorithms for Planning Robot Paths; Compressible Flow Toolbox; Rapid Aeroelastic Analysis of Blade Flutter in Turbomachines; General Flow-Solver Code for Turbomachinery Applications; Code for Multiblock CFD and Heat-Transfer Computations; Rotating-Pump Design Code; Covering a Crucible with Metal Containing Channels; Repairing Fractured Bones by Use of Bioabsorbable Composites; Kalman Filter for Calibrating a Telescope Focal Plane; Electronic Absolute Cartesian Autocollimator; Fiber-Optic Gratings for Lidar Measurements of Water Vapor; Simulating Responses of Gravitational-Wave Instrumentation; SOFTC: A Software Correlator for VLBI; Progress in Computational Simulation of Earthquakes; Database of Properties of Meteors; Computing Spacecraft Solar-Cell Damage by Charged Particles; Thermal Model of a Current-Carrying Wire in a Vacuum; Program for Analyzing Flows in a Complex Network; Program Predicts Performance of Optical Parametric Oscillators; Processing TES Level-1B Data; Automated Camera Calibration; Tracking the Martian CO2 Polar Ice Caps in Infrared Images; Processing TES Level-2 Data; SmaggIce Version 1.8; Solving the Swath Segment Selection Problem; The Spatial Standard Observer; Less-Complex Method of Classifying MPSK; Improvement in Recursive Hierarchical Segmentation of Data; Using Heaps in Recursive Hierarchical Segmentation of Data; Tool for Statistical Analysis and Display of Landing Sites; Automated Assignment of Proposals to Reviewers; Array-Pattern-Match Compiler for Opportunistic Data Analysis; Pre-Processor for Compression of Multispectral Image Data; Compressing Image Data While Limiting the Effects of Data Losses; Flight Operations Analysis Tool; Improvement in Visual Target Tracking for a Mobile Robot; Software for Simulating Air Traffic; Automated Vectorization of Decision-Based Algorithms; Grayscale Optical Correlator Workbench; "One-Stop Shopping" for Ocean Remote-Sensing and Model Data; State Analysis Database Tool; Generating CAHV and CAHVOmages with Shadows in ROAMS; Improving UDP/IP Transmission Without Increasing Congestion; FORTRAN Versions of Reformulated HFGMC Codes; Program for Editing Spacecraft Command Sequences; Flight-Tested Prototype of BEAM Software; Mission Scenario Development Workbench; Marsviewer; Tool for Analysis and Reduction of Scientific Data; ASPEN Version 3.0; Secure Display of Space-Exploration Images; Digital Front End for Wide-Band VLBI Science Receiver; Multifunctional Tanks for Spacecraft; Lightweight, Segmented, Mostly Silicon Telescope Mirror; Assistant for Analyzing Tropical-Rain-Mapping Radar Data; and Anion-Intercalating Cathodes for High-Energy- Density Cells.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2012

Autonomous Rover Traverse and Precise Arm Placement on Remotely Designated Targets

This software controls a rover platform to traverse rocky terrain autonomously, plan paths, and avoid obstacles using its stereo hazard and navigation cameras. It does so while continuously tracking a target of interest selected from 10 20 m away. The rover drives and tracks the target until it reaches the vicinity of the target. The rover then positions itself to approach the target, deploys its robotic arm, and places the end effector instrument on the designated target to within 2-3-cm accuracy of the originally selected target. This software features continuous navigation in a fairly rocky field in an outdoor environment and the ability to enable the rover to avoid large rocks and traverse over smaller ones. Using point-and-click mouse commands, a scientist designates targets in the initial imagery acquired from the rover s mast cameras. The navigation software uses stereo imaging, traversability analysis, path planning, trajectory generation, and trajectory execution. It also includes visual target tracking of a designated target selected from 10 m away while continuously navigating the rocky terrain. Improvements in this design include steering while driving, which uses continuous curvature paths. There are also several improvements to the traversability analyzer, including improved data fusion of traversability maps that result from pose estimation uncertainties, dealing with boundary effects to enable tighter maneuvers, and handling a wider range of obstacles. This work advances what has been previously developed and integrated on the Mars Exploration Rovers by using algorithms that are capable of traversing more rock-dense terrains, enabling tight, thread-the-needle maneuvers. These algorithms were integrated on the newly refurbished Athena Mars research rover, and were fielded in the JPL Mars Yard. Forty-three runs were conducted with targets at distances ranging from 5 to 15 m, and a success rate of 93% was achieved for placement of the instrument within 2-3 cm of the target.

Nesnas, Issa A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The Franco-American macaque experiment

The details of studies to be carried out jointly by French and American teams on two rhesus monkeys prepared for future experiments aboard the Space Shuttle are discussed together with the equipment involved. Seven science discipline teams were formed, which will study the effects of flight and/or weightlessness on the bone and calcium metabolism, the behavior, the cardiovascular system, the fluid balance and electrolytes, the muscle system, the neurovestibular interactions, and the sleep/biorhythm cycles. New behavioral training techniques were developed, in which the animals were trained to respond to behavioral tasks in order to measure the parameters involving eye/hand coordination, the response time to target tracking, visual discrimination, and muscle forces used by the animals. A large data set will be obtained from different animals on the two to three Space Shuttle flights; the hardware technologies developed for these experiments will be applied for primate experiments on the Space Station.

Cipriano, Leonard F.↗
NASA NTRS2010

360-Degree Visual Detection and Target Tracking on an Autonomous Surface Vehicle

This paper describes perception and planning systems of an autonomous sea surface vehicle (ASV) whose goal is to detect and track other vessels at medium to long ranges and execute responses to determine whether the vessel is adversarial. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed a tightly integrated system called CARACaS (Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command and Sensing) that blends the sensing, planning, and behavior autonomy necessary for such missions. Two patrol scenarios are addressed here: one in which the ASV patrols a large harbor region and checks for vessels near a fixed asset on each pass and one in which the ASV circles a fixed asset and intercepts approaching vessels. This paper focuses on the ASV's central perception and situation awareness system, dubbed Surface Autonomous Visual Analysis and Tracking (SAVAnT), which receives images from an omnidirectional camera head, identifies objects of interest in these images, and probabilistically tracks the objects' presence over time, even as they may exist outside of the vehicle's sensor range. The integrated CARACaS/SAVAnT system has been implemented on U.S. Navy experimental ASVs and tested in on-water field demonstrations.

ASV (AUTONOMOUS SEA SURFACE VEHICLE)↗
NASA NTRS1990

Qualitative evaluation of a conformal velocity vector display for use at high angles-of-attack in fighter aircraft

A piloted simulation study was conducted to evaluate the utility of a display device designed to illustrate graphically and conformally the approximate location of a fighter aircraft's velocity vector. The display device consisted of two vertical rows of light emitting diodes (LED's) located toward the center of the cockpit instrument panel to each side of the control stick. The light strings provided a logical extension of the head up display (HUD) velocity vector symbol at flight path angles which exceeded the HUD field-of-view. Four test subjects flew a modified F/A-18 model with this display in an air-to-air engagement task against an equally capable opponent. Their responses to a questionnaire indicated that the conformal velocity vector information could not be used during the scenarios investigated due to the inability to visually track a target and view the lights simultaneously.

Jones, Denise R.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Conditions for Interference Versus Facilitation During Sequential Sensorimotor Adaptation

We investigated how sensorimotor adaptation acquired during one experimental session influenced the adaptation in a subsequent session. The subjects' task was to track a visual target using a joystick-controlled cursor, while the relationship between joystick and cursor position was manipulated to introduce a sensorimotor discordance. Each subject participated in two sessions, separated by a pause of 2 min to 1 month duration. We found that adaptation was achieved within minutes, and persisted in the memory for at least a month, with only a small decay (experiment A). When the discordances administered in the two sessions were in mutual conflict, we found evidence for task interference (experiment B). However, when the discordances were independent, we found facilitation rather than interference (experiment C); the latter finding could not be explained by the use of an "easier" discordance in the second session (experiment D). We conclude that interference is due to an incompatibility between task requirements, and not to a competition of tasks for short-term memory. We further conclude that the ability to adapt to a sensorimotor discordance.

Bock, Otmar↗
NASA NTRS2009

Aerobot Autonomy Architecture

An architecture for autonomous operation of an aerobot (i.e., a robotic blimp) to be used in scientific exploration of planets and moons in the Solar system with an atmosphere (such as Titan and Venus) is undergoing development. This architecture is also applicable to autonomous airships that could be flown in the terrestrial atmosphere for scientific exploration, military reconnaissance and surveillance, and as radio-communication relay stations in disaster areas. The architecture was conceived to satisfy requirements to perform the following functions: a) Vehicle safing, that is, ensuring the integrity of the aerobot during its entire mission, including during extended communication blackouts. b) Accurate and robust autonomous flight control during operation in diverse modes, including launch, deployment of scientific instruments, long traverses, hovering or station-keeping, and maneuvers for touch-and-go surface sampling. c) Mapping and self-localization in the absence of a global positioning system. d) Advanced recognition of hazards and targets in conjunction with tracking of, and visual servoing toward, targets, all to enable the aerobot to detect and avoid atmospheric and topographic hazards and to identify, home in on, and hover over predefined terrain features or other targets of scientific interest. The architecture is an integrated combination of systems for accurate and robust vehicle and flight trajectory control; estimation of the state of the aerobot; perception-based detection and avoidance of hazards; monitoring of the integrity and functionality ("health") of the aerobot; reflexive safing actions; multi-modal localization and mapping; autonomous planning and execution of scientific observations; and long-range planning and monitoring of the mission of the aerobot. The prototype JPL aerobot (see figure) has been tested extensively in various areas in the California Mojave desert.

Elfes, Alberto↗
NASA NTRS1996

STS-78 Flight Day 10

On this tenth day of the STS-78 mission, the flight crew, Cmdr. Terence T. Henricks, Pilot Kevin R. Kregel, Payload Cmdr. Susan J. Helms, Mission Specialists Richard M. Linnehan, Charles E. Brady, Jr., and Payload Specialists Jean-Jacques Favier, Ph.D. and Robert B. Thirsk, M.D., continue to perform in a nearly flawless fashion. The crew is shown completing another of four tests focusing on the effects of microgravity on the vestibular system in the inner ear. In space, the vestibular system sometimes becomes confused as to which way is up and down, leading to nausea and disorientation. Using specially designed head gear to monitor head movement and eye coordination, Linnehan, Brady, Favier, Thirsk and Helms performed tests throughout their shifts to determine how the head and eyes track visual and motion targets in microgravity. The study is providing scientists with important information about the crews' ability to adapt to microgravity.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1994

Global Positioning System Synchronized Active Light Autonomous Docking System

A Global Positioning System Synchronized Active Light Autonomous Docking System (GPSSALADS) for automatically docking a chase vehicle with a target vehicle comprises at least one active light emitting target which is operatively attached to the target vehicle. The target includes a three-dimensional array of concomitantly flashing lights which flash at a controlled common frequency. The GPSSALADS further comprises a visual tracking sensor operatively attached to the chase vehicle for detecting and tracking the target vehicle. Its performance is synchronized with the flash frequency of the lights by a synchronization means which is comprised of first and second internal clocks operatively connected to the active light target and visual tracking sensor, respectively, for providing timing control signals thereto, respectively. The synchronization means further includes first and second Global Positioning System receivers operatively connected to the first and second internal clocks, respectively, for repeatedly providing simultaneous synchronization pulses to the internal clocks, respectively. In addition, the GPSSALADS includes a docking process controller means which is operatively attached to the chase vehicle and is responsive to the visual tracking sensor for producing commands for the guidance and propulsion system of the chase vehicle.

Howard, Richard↗