Improving Video Segmentation by Fusing Depth Cues and the Visual Background Extractor (ViBe) Algorithm

Anthropometric Ratios for Lower-Body Detection Based on Deep Learning and Traditional Methods

Lower-body detection can be useful in many applications, such as the detection of falling and injuries during exercises. However, it can be challenging to detect the lower-body, especially under various lighting and occlusion conditions. This paper presents a novel lower-body detection framework using proposed anthropometric ratios and compares the performance of deep learning (convolutional neural networks and OpenPose) and traditional detection methods. According to the results, the proposed framework helps to successfully detect the accurate boundaries of the lower-body under various illumination and occlusion conditions for lower-limb monitoring. The proposed framework of anthropometric ratios combined with convolutional neural networks (A-CNNs) also achieves high accuracy (90.14%), while the combination of anthropometric ratios and traditional techniques (A-Traditional) for lower-body detection shows satisfactory performance with an averaged accuracy (74.81%). Although the accuracy of OpenPose (95.82%) is higher than the A-CNNs for lower-body detection, the A-CNNs provides lower complexity than the OpenPose, which is advantageous for lower-body detection and implementation on monitoring systems.

Real-Time Detection and Spatial Localization of Insulators for UAV Inspection Based on Binocular Stereo Vision

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become important tools for power transmission line inspection. Cameras installed on the platforms can efficiently obtain aerial images containing information about power equipment. However, most of the existing inspection systems cannot perform automatic real-time detection of transmission line components. In this paper, an automatic transmission line inspection system incorporating UAV remote sensing with binocular visual perception technology is developed to accurately detect and locate power equipment in real time. The system consists of a UAV module, embedded industrial computer, binocular visual perception module, and control and observation module. Insulators, which are key components in power transmission lines as well as fault-prone components, are selected as the detection targets. Insulator detection and spatial localization in aerial images with cluttered backgrounds are interesting but challenging tasks for an automatic transmission line inspection system. A two-stage strategy is proposed to achieve precise identification of insulators. First, candidate insulator regions are obtained based on RGB-D saliency detection. Then, the skeleton structure of candidate insulator regions is extracted. We implement a structure search to realize the final accurate detection of insulators. On the basis of insulator detection results, we further propose a real-time object spatial localization method that combines binocular stereo vision and a global positioning system (GPS). The longitude, latitude, and height of insulators are obtained through coordinate conversion based on the UAV’s real-time flight data and equipment parameters. Experiment results in the actual inspection environment (220 kV power transmission line) show that the presented system meets the requirement of robustness and accuracy of insulator detection and spatial localization in practical engineering.

Deep Attention Models for Human Tracking Using RGBD

Visual tracking performance has long been limited by the lack of better appearance models. These models fail either where they tend to change rapidly, like in motion-based tracking, or where accurate information of the object may not be available, like in color camouflage (where background and foreground colors are similar). This paper proposes a robust, adaptive appearance model which works accurately in situations of color camouflage, even in the presence of complex natural objects. The proposed model includes depth as an additional feature in a hierarchical modular neural framework for online object tracking. The model adapts to the confusing appearance by identifying the stable property of depth between the target and the surrounding object(s). The depth complements the existing RGB features in scenarios when RGB features fail to adapt, hence becoming unstable over a long duration of time. The parameters of the model are learned efficiently in the Deep network, which consists of three modules: (1) The spatial attention layer, which discards the majority of the background by selecting a region containing the object of interest; (2) the appearance attention layer, which extracts appearance and spatial information about the tracked object; and (3) the state estimation layer, which enables the framework to predict future object appearance and location. Three different models were trained and tested to analyze the effect of depth along with RGB information. Also, a model is proposed to utilize only depth as a standalone input for tracking purposes. The proposed models were also evaluated in real-time using KinectV2 and showed very promising results. The results of our proposed network structures and their comparison with the state-of-the-art RGB tracking model demonstrate that adding depth significantly improves the accuracy of tracking in a more challenging environment (i.e., cluttered and camouflaged environments). Furthermore, the results of depth-based models showed that depth data can provide enough information for accurate tracking, even without RGB information.