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VISION-LIST Digest Volume 10 Issue 42
VISION-LIST Digest Thu Oct 10 13:15:59 PDT 91 Volume 10 : Issue 42
- Send submissions to Vision-List@ADS.COM
- Vision List Digest available via COMP.AI.VISION newsgroup
- If you don't have access to COMP.AI.VISION, request list
membership to Vision-List-Request@ADS.COM
- Access Vision List Archives via anonymous ftp to ADS.COM
Today's Topics:
Info on state of the art vision-guided grasping
Intersection algorithm
Compressing Framebuffer
Info on compressing framebuffers sought
Pattern recognition material for an undergraduate course
Fingerprint image analysis references
Share a room during "Intelligent Robotic Systems of SPIE"
Re: Graduate programs
AI and Film Colorization
Summary: Info. on Image Proc. software systems (long)
Re: need the right hardware (long)
Job advert: Research Fellow Required - Computer Vision
Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: mtc@aifh.edinburgh.ac.uk
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 91 09:58:31 BST
Subject: Info on state of the art vision-guided grasping
We are collecting information about the state of the art of
automatic grasping, particularly vision-guided. We welcome
references and information about:
1) vision-driven grasping systems in research and industrial
environment;
2) surveys and reports about the state-of-the-art;
3) any information and suggestion giving pointers to the
literature or existing systems;
4) main active projects in the field.
We will summarize for the Vision-List. Thanks in advance.
Emanuele Trucco
Department of Artificial Intelligence
University of Edinburgh
Forrest Hill,
Edinburgh EH1 2QL,
SCOTLAND.
Tel +44 31 650.3087 or 650.4504
FAX +44 31 225.9370
E-mail: mtc@aifh.ed.ac.uk
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 91 08:36:40 EDT
From: anjali@whale.ece.psu.edu
Subject: intersection algorithm
Hello,
We have a model based vision system for object recognition,localization
and inspection.This system predicts how features of an object appear
in images under various assumptions of lighting, viewpoint, sensor
and image processing operators.
We need to extend this system to incorporate curves. For this we need
efficient algorithm for reporting all pairwise intrsections (i.e.,
between lines and curves, curves and curves).
Any help (paper, references, existing software) will be highly
appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
anjali@whale.ece.psu.edu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 07 Oct 91 16:24:20 GMT
From: webb+@cs.cmu.edu (Jon Webb)
Organization: Carnegie Mellon University
Subject: Compressing Framebuffer
Does anyone know of a compressing framebuffer? I.e. boards that
allow an image to be captured from a camera, compressed, and then
transmitted to another board, or which accept a compressed image from
another board, uncompress it, and display it. I'm looking for
something that would take an image, say 480x512, and compress (ideally using
JPEG compression), and decompress. Ideally the device would attach to
a VME bus and be fast enough to supply, or receive, color images at 30
frames/second. I know there are chipsets out there fast enough to do
this; my question is, has anyone assembled them into a VME board? -- J
------------------------------
Date: 9 Oct 91 16:56:14 GMT
From: bradbury@yoko.rutgers.edu (Thomas Bradbury)
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Subject: Pattern recognition material for an undergraduate course
Keywords: Pattern recognition
I would appreciate any suggestions for material for an undergraduate
level Pattern Recognition course. References and book suggestions are
also welcome in addition to topics and public domain programs for the
IBM PC. Thanks in advance for any and all help.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1991 06:19:01 -0500
From: cpg@cs.utexas.edu (Carlos Puchol)
Subject: Fingerprint image analysis references
Hi y'all !
I would like to request if anybody has a list, or some pointer to
fingerprint image analysis readings wich I could use to introduce
myself in this field. I am interested in both issues of analysis
and recognition.
Thanks,
Carlos Puchol
cpg@cs.utexas.edu
Department of Computer Sciences
The University of Texas at Austin
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1991 12:25:56 EDT
From: Andrzej Hanczak <hanczak@alf.fzi.de>
Subject: share a room during "Intelligent Robotic Systems of SPIE"
Hi,
I am a PhD student of Forschungszentrum Informatik (= Informatics Research
Center) Karlsruhe (Germany).
I'd like to share a room with someone during "Intelligent Robotic Systems of
SPIE", November, 10-15 in Boston.
If interested, send email to: hanczak@fzi.de
A. Hanczak
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 6 Oct 91 08:06:42 PDT
From: 6500ferg%ucsbuxa@hub.ucsb.edu (J. Mitchell Ferguson)
Subject: Re: Graduate programs
Hi You posted new about grad programs. I was basically in the
same boat as you. I was Math major at harvey mudd college,
and just started at UCSB in the Human Info Processing
department. I am amazed how many perception people are in psychology
in fact most of the faculty were once Physics!
Im right now taking a class about sampling and
reconstruction in human vision. Its a psych class
but of the 10 people in it. 7 are Engineers.
The Vision worls is open to many disiplins.
One person to contact at UCSB Is David Brainard,
He is news faculty, and Studys models of eyes, and
mathematically examine human vision.
His email is brainard@condor.psych.ucsb.edu
Good Luck
- mitch
6500ferg@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu
------------------------------
Date: 8 Oct 91 22:06:33 GMT
From: bgsuvax!klopfens@cis.ohio-state.edu (Bruce Klopfenstein)
Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh.
Subject: AI and Film Colorization
Keywords: color
I am doing some research on the technology of colorizing
black-and-white images such as old movies. The best reference I have
seems dated, given the possible advances in technology. I'm hoping
some readers of this group can help.
American Film Technologies is the only company that colorizes
old black-and-white movies using an entirely digital process.
According to a 1987 IEEE Spectrum article, the company used its
own custom workstations. Only 2 seconds of digitized video
could be saved on 2 20-megabyte Bernoulli cartridges.
Colorization, Inc. used a custom machine built by Dubner Computer
Systems of Paramus, New Jersey. "The editing workstation
is based on a standard film industry CMX video editing system,
which communicates with the Dubner over Ethernet communications
lines" says the article. Can anyone translate this sentence
into street English? Why bother mentioning Ethernet?
I have other questions. What is a Bernoulli cartridge?
What newer technologies are available for colorizing computer
graphics? (Other companies colorize movies by drawing graphics
on the black-and-white images and then coloring them.)
What are the roles of supercomuters, artificial intelligence and
fuzzy logic in colorizing bkac-and-white images?
Please respond directly to me via email. I'll be happy to post
a summary.
Bruce C. Klopfenstein | klopfens@andy.bgsu.edu
Department of Telecommunications | klopfenstein@bgsuopie.bitnet
322 West Hall | klopfens@bgsuvax.UUCP
Bowling Green State University | (419) 372-2138; 372-2224
Bowling Green, OH 43403-0235 | fax (419) 372-8600
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 6 Oct 91 16:56:06 EDT
From: dorai@cps.msu.edu (Chitra Dorai)
Subject: Summary: Info. on Image Proc. software systems
Hi,
I had posted on the net a week ago, asking for information on Image
processing software systems.
Several people who responded suggested Khoros. Other responses
included information on packages such as LaboImage, Image Analyst,
Global Lab Image and Image.
I have included all detailed responses below.
************************************
This following article on Khoros was sent by rasure@natasha.unm.edu
KHOROS 1.0
INTRODUCTION
Khoros is an integrated software development environ-
ment for information processing and visualization, based on
X11R4. Khoros components include a visual programming
language, code generators for extending the visual language
and adding new application packages to the system, an
interactive user interface editor, an interactive image
display package, an extensive library of image processing,
numerical analysis and signal processing routines, and 2D/3D
plotting packages.
X Windows Applications
Animate - Interactive Image Sequence Display Tool
Cantata - Extensible Visual Programming Language
Concert - A system for distributed X user interfaces (group
ware)
Editimage - Interactive Image Display & Manipulation Program
Xprism2 and Xprism3 - Comprehensive 2D and 3D Plotting Pack-
ages
Viewimage - A basic interactive program for surface render-
ing
Warpimage - An interactive program for registering and warp-
ing images
Data Processing Algorithms
Khoros contains over 260 programs, in the following
categories: arithmetic, classification, color conversion,
data conversion, file format conversion, feature extraction,
frequency filtering, matrix algebra (LINPACK and EISPACK),
spatial filtering, morphology filtering, geometric manipula-
tion, histogram manipulation, statistics, signal generation,
linear operations, segmentation, spectral estimation, sub-
region, and transforms. Khoros supports the following file
formats: TIFF, pbm, BIG, DEM, DLG, ELAS, FITS, MAT*AB, Sun
raster, TGA, and xbm.
User Interface Tools
Preview - Graphical User Interface Display Tool
Composer - Interactive Graphical User Interface Editor
Conductor - Code Generation Tool for a Graphical User Inter-
face
Ghostwriter - Code Generation Tool for a Command Line User
Interface
Source Configuration & Management - Tools to install and
maintain a distributed source tree.
KHOROS DISTRIBUTION METHODS
1) Anonymous FTP
Khoros is available via anonymous ftp from pprg.eece.unm.edu
(129.24.24.10). Use your e-mail address as the password
(for example, ralph@whizbang.wmu.edu). Once you have logged
in, cd to the "pub/khoros/release" directory and get the
ascii file install.ftp. This file will give you complete
instructions on how to get Khoros and install it on your
system. To get this file, execute the following commands or
a. Use ftp to connect to pprg.eece.unm.edu.
% ftp pprg.eece.unm.edu
-or-
% ftp 129.24.24.10
b. Use "anonymous" or "ftp" as the user name.
Name (pprg.eece.unm.edu:login): anonymous
-or-
Name (pprg.eece.unm.edu:): ftp
c. Use your e-mail address as the password; please
carefully use a valid e-mail address, as this ver-
sion site logs all anonymous ftp's.
Password (pprg.eece.unm.edu:user): {your valid e-mail
address}
331 Anonymous login ok, use your E-MAIL address as
the password.
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
d. Get the release notes for acquiring Khoros via
anonymous ftp (note that "install.ftp" is the
plain text file - both ".ms" and ".ps" files are
available for those who would like them).
ftp> cd /pub/khoros/release
ftp> get install.ftp
2) Tape and Printed Documentation
If you would like to have a tape and printed documenta-
tion sent to you, fill out the order form below (last page)
and include a $250.00 check or purchase order (payable to
UNM EECE Dept., in U.S. funds). If you need additional
information or confirmation of your order, call the answer-
ing machine at 505-277-0806 and leave a message.
All communication to the Khoros group should be via e-
mail. If you have questions, comments or problems of a gen-
eral nature, mail the Khoros mailing list,
khoros@chama.unm.edu. To subscribe to the mailing list,
mail to khoros-request@chama.unm.edu. Once you have the
system and want to report bugs, mail to khoros-
bugs@chama.unm.edu.
KHOROS REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS
To run Khoros, you must have a UNIX platform running
the X11R3, X11R4, or OpenWindows servers. The Khoros system
consists of ~450,000 lines of C code; you will need a max-
imum of 120 Megabytes of storage for source, documentation
and binaries. To compile Khoros, the system requires X11R4
client software from MIT (patch levels 1-18), and an addi-
tional 50 Megabytes of storage.
Khoros 1.0, patch level 1 Compiles On These Machines
(MIT X unless otherwise noted)
Vendor Name Configuration
DEC 5000/3100 Ultrix 4.1, mips cc 2.0, f77(cc2.05) w/ bugfix ugen
DEC Vax 3600 Ultrix 4.1, cc1.37.1
SUN sparc 1/2 SUN OS 4.1.1, f77 1.3.1
SUN 3/260 SUN OS 4.1.1, f77 1.3.1, gcc 1.39
SGI 4D/25 OS 3.3.1, X11 1.2, f77 3.3
Apollo DN10000 OS 10.3, Fortran 10.8, cc 6.8
NeXT 68030,40 MACH 2.0, gcc 1.37, Absoft f77 2.0, Pensoft X
MIPS Magnum 3000 RISCOS 4.51, cc 2.11, f77 2.11, X 4.0
IBM RS/6000 AIX v3.x
The Khoros user community has ported Khoros to various
other platforms, including HP9000/700, Cray, Convex,
Sequent, and 386/486 machines. At this time, these platforms
are not directly supported by the Khoros Group.
KHOROS CONSORTIUM
If your organization is interested in distributing the
Khoros software system, and/or supporting further research
and development of software environments for data processing
and visualization please contact Tom Sauer at the address
below or e-mail consort@chama.unm.edu.
Tom Sauer, Khoros Consortium
Department of EECE, Room 110
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.
The X Window System is a trademark of Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology.
SunOS is a trademark for Sun Microsystems, Ultrix is a
trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation.
********************************************
LaboImage
Original notice
T. Pun, March 8th, 1989 (LaboImage 2.0)
Updated April 5th, 1989
Updated September 1st, 1989
Updated March 8th, 1990
Updated August 24th, 1990 (new version LaboImage 3.0)
Updated March 19th, 1991 (new version LaboImage 3.1)
Computer Science Center, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Thank you for your interest in Labo Image!
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Labo Image is a window based software for image processing and analysis. It
contains a comprehensive set of operators as well as general utilities. It
is designed to be open-ended; new modules can easily be added. The software
is written in C, and currently runs on Sun 3/xxx, Sun 4/xxx (OS3.5, 4.0 and
4.0.3) under SunView. The expert system for image segmentation is written in
Allegro Common Lisp. LaboImage has been extensively used by students as well
as researchers from various domains: computer science (image analysis),
medicine, biology, physics. It is distributed free of charge (source code).
STATUS
Version 0 has been released in January 1988, version 1 in November 1988,
version 2 in May 1989, version 3.0 in August 1990, version 3.1 in March 1991.
- hosts: Sun 3/xxx, Sun 4/xxx;
- OS: Sun OS 3.5, 4.0, 4.0.3;
- window system: SunView, X11/MOTIF as soon as possible;
- language: C (Allegro Common Lisp for the expert system);
- approx. code size: source 2MB (70'000 lines), executable 2MB under
SunView/OS4.0.3;
- documentation: manuals (english)
MEANS OF DISTRIBUTIONS
LaboImage source code is available by anonymous ftp at ads.com, login name
anonymous, in pub/VISION-LIST-ARCHIVE/SHAREWARE. If you have no access to ftp,
please contact the author.
If you wish to be kept current with update, error reports, ..., please send
us a mail with your full name, regular and electronic addresses.
DISTRIBUTION POLICY
In essence:
- this is a non-profit software, but it is our property and the copyright
notice must appear;
- the reference to cite in case of published results obtained with Labo
Image is: "A. Jacot-Descombes, K. Todorov, D.F. Hochstrasser,
C. Pellegrini and T. Pun: `LaboImage: a Workstation Environment for
Research in Image Processing and Analysis', Computer Applications in
the Biosciences, 7(2), IRL Press Limited, 1991";
- no responsibility is assumed;
- not to be used for profit making purposes;
- bugs will usually be corrected since we use intensively the software;
- modifications should be communicated to us, with (normally) allowance
for redistribution.
PAYMENT
Athough LaboImage has undergone many upgrades and suffered in the hands of
many users, the current version is certainly not bug free. For the time being,
we require NO prepayment, return postage or anything.
We may however change this policy in the future, and ask for nominal fees to
cover material expenditures. HOWEVER, if you are satisfied with the product,
why not send us some "souvenir" (edible or not) from your country...??!!
CAPABILITIES
Labo Image is an interactive software, whose interface is menu, mouse and
windows based. It can work on monochrome (binary) or color workstations. Its
main features are:
- input-output: LaboImage format file, SUN raster file, screen,
postscript;
- display: mono, RGB, dithering, 3-D perspective display, color table
editor;
- preprocessing: filters (median, high pass, low pass: hamming, gauss, etc),
background subtraction, histogram equalization;
- processing: thresholding, Fourier transforms, edge extractions: various
operators, ridge-riding, zero-crossing; segmentation into regions,
binary and gray tone mathematical morphology;
- measures: histograms, image statistics, power, region outlining,
object counting;
- auxiliary: conversions, arithmetic & logical operations, noise addition,
image generation, magnification, convolution/correlation with
masks, image; padding;
- elementary interactive operations: region outlining, statistics and
histogram computation, etc.;
- special tools:
- modify image at pixel level interactively,
- one-dimensional gel analysis,
- expert system for image segmentation,
- macros definitions, save and replay;
- on line documentation.
IMAGE FORMATS
Own format: descriptor file + data file (binary, byte, int, float, complex;
mono or RGB). Supports also Sun raster format. Conversions to various other
formats.
Constructs:
- iconic (pixel-based), with each image having its own parameter list;
- vectors (histograms, look-up tables);
- graphs (for regions; being implemented);
- strings (for macros).
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS (answers to commonly asked questions)
- FILE FORMAT: we decided to go for: 1) a machine independant format; 2) a
simple, data (ie. signal) oriented format. At the beginning of the
development (summer 1987), we were not aware of any image format used by
the whole community. There seems now to be some progress on the matter
(TIFF, etc.), but they are still not that widely used in the community.
Also, due to development priorities we consider conversion routines a more
secondary issue as long as our format is simple.
In addition, the menu ACQUISITION/LTS is fairly versatile. Also, the SUN
raster images can now be read into LaboImage and likewise images on system
may be stored in SUN raster format.
However.. we would welcome any software contribution!
- SUN 3 and SUN 4: Labo Image currently runs on SUN 3/xxx and SUN 4/xxx under
SunOS 4.0.3. As long as you can compile on these machines, it should run.
- 3D IMAGE PROCESSING: nothing special for such images.
- REGIONAL DESCRIPTION: work is underway to develop region segmentation
algorithms. These regions will be described by a graph data structure.
- ON LINE HELP: available!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
More than 10 people have so far participated in this project, and their
contribution is gratefully acknowledged.
Staff: Pierre-Yves Burgi, Claudia Coiteux-Rosu, Ziping Hu, Alain Jacot-
Descombes, Rene Lutz, Christian Pellegrini, Thierry Pun, Marianne Rupp,
Krassimir Todorov.
Students: Anne Bobillier, Alain Brunner, Markus Buchi, Christian Girard, Rene
Perrier, Vrinda Shukla.
Amongst them, Ziping Hu is responsible for the expert system for image
segmentation, A. Jacot-Descombes is responsible for general design issues,
and is the keystone for implementation; R. Lutz is responsible for display
manipulations (Color Table Editor,etc.); T. Pun is responsible for the
original layout and general design issues; V. Shukla is responsible for the
upgrade from LaboImage 2.0 to LaboImage 3.0.
CONTACTS
Particular problems will be redirected to relevant persons, but we prefer
that all communications be made to the same address:
e-mail: "pun@uni2a.unige.ch" or pun@cgeuge51.bitnet (if this fails,
"pun@cui.unige.ch").
tel.: +(4122) 787 65 82 (T. Pun), 787 65 84 (A. Jacot-Descombes).
fax: +(4122) 735 39 05.
postal address: Thierry Pun
LaboImage
Computing Science Center, University of Geneva
12, rue du Lac
CH - 1207 Geneva SWITZERLAND
[ Available from the Vision List Archives (ftp to ADS.com). phil...]
*****************************************************
We found a neat program for the Mac available by ftp from alw.nih.gov
128.231.128.251. It can work with frame grabber cards, has a macro language
for image manipulation, and has many processing features such as FFT,
etc. Its called Image, and its in pub/image.
[ Available from the Vision List Archives (ftp to ADS.com). phil...]
*****************************************************
Digital Darkroom, though it is more of a mathematical manipulation paradigm.
There is also a package for the Mac called visionlab. Check with the
ARCHIE database server at mcgill to locate.
*****************************************************
There's a program called Image Analyst for the Apple Macintosh which has a
fairly wide variety of machine vision algorithms (pixel-counting, histograms,
connectivity ("blob counting"), edge detection, enhancement operators (both
hardwired such as Sobel and user-defined), morphology (grayscale and binary),
hough-based edge- and circle-finding). It's implemented in a proprietary
language called MacRAIL, which is written in C/Assembler. It is fast,
for pure software.
Automatix, Inc.
755 Middlesex Tpke.
Billerica, MA 01821
508/667-7900
Disclaimer: I work for Automatix. But you asked.
A new version 8.0 of the software is due out Real Soon Now. Its principal
feature is arbitrarily shaped regions of interest painted by the user.
There's a program called Global Lab Image for Microsoft Windows 3.0.
It has connectivity, frequency analysis, histograms, frame averaging,
gradients and morphology, image arithmetic, and geometry (raster scaling,
flipping and rotation). It's available from Data Translation in Marlboro, MA.
A new version should be out Real Soon Now which supports hardware frame
averaging, convolutions and binary morphology.
Disclaimer: I worked on GLI, too. But you did ask! :->
Nick
*****************************************************
Well, Media has an IP software package that can do object detection and give
you statistical information on the detected objects. I am not sure what you
mean by 'machine vision'. We do automatic object classification/measurement
(not realtime). It doesn't to things like realtime tracking or object
recognition.
> What I am looking for is a comprehensive software library to perform
> operations starting from Image acquisition, display and storage to
> edge detection, image enhancements like thresholding, histogram
> equalization, object recognition, etc.
Well, both our dos TOOLKIT allows all the stuff mentioned except object recog.
The unix TOOLKIT has the object recognition (although the software interface
is rather cumbersome), but does not have Image acquisition (this is too
hardware dependent - we (unix) imports files).
Image-Pro Plus (an end user application) does the stuff that you asked for.
The dos version does not have a toolkit interface. The Unix version
is a more capable product and has interfaces so that you can incorporate
anything that we didn't supply into the product. In addition, all the
individual components (tools) can be executed in a non-interactive way,
thus allowing a non-programming way ( simple shell scripts ) to accomplish
tasks.
If you wish, you can call the sales people here and have them send you some
literature. The number is 1-800-992-4256.
Roger Fujii - Media Cybernetics Phone: (301)495-3305
Internet: rmf%media@uunet.uu.net UUCP: {uunet,hqda-ai}!media!rmf
*****************************************************
thomas@duteca.et.tudelft.nl writes :
For the Macintosh, there is Image, a public-domain image-processing program
made at the National Institutes of Health. It is available through anonymous
ftp from alw.nih.gov, in /pub/image, and also from several Macintosh archive
sites.
The following was taken from the documentation:
"Image" is a public domain program for the Macintosh for doing digital
image processing and analysis. It can acquire, display, edit, enhance,
analyze, print, and animate images. It reads and writes TIFF, PICT, and
MacPaint files, providing compatibility with many other Macintosh
applications, including programs for scanning, processing, editing,
publishing, and analyzing images. It supports many standard image
processing functions, including histogram equalization, contrast
enhancement, density profiling, smoothing, sharpening, edge detection,
median filtering, and spatial convolution with user defined kernels up to
63x63. "Image" also incorporates a Pascal-like macro programming language,
providing the ability to automate complex, and frequently repetitive,
processing tasks.
"Image" can be used to measure the area, average density, center of
gravity, and angle of orientation of a user defined region of interest. It
also performs automated particle analysis and can be used to measure path
lengths and angles. Measurement results can be printed, exported to text
files, or copied to the Clipboard. Results can be calibrated to provide
real world values.
Density calibration can be done against radiation or optical density
standards using any user specified units. The user can select from any of
eight different curve fitting methods for generating calibration curves.
It provides MacPaint-like editing of color and grayscale images, including
the ability to draw lines, rectangles, ovals and text. It can flip, rotate,
invert and scale selections. It supports multiple windows and 8 levels of
magnification. All editing, filtering, and measurement functions operate at
any level of magnification and are undoable. It uses digital halftoning to
print images on PostScript printers and Floyd-Steinberg dithering for
printing on non-PostScript printers.
It supports the Data Translation QuickCapture card for digitizing images
using a TV camera. Acquired images can be shading corrected and frame
averaged.
"Image" is written using Think Pascal from Symantec Corporation, and the
source code is available. The program can be easily ported to MPW Pascal.
- Thomas (thomas@duteca.et.tudelft.nl)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 91 17:20:35 -0700
From: marcel@saturn.ads.com (Marcel Schoppers)
Subject: Re: need the right hardware (long)
For those of you interested in the outcome of our hardware search: here are
the results. I compared the DataCube MAXvideo20, a RasterOps board, the SUN
VideoPix board (of which I would need several), and the IMS1000 from Image
Manipulation Systems. In my opinion the IMS1000 is the one we want for our
purposes; the DataCube is capability overkill, the VideoPix is inadequate,
and the RasterOps is very close and lost on only one point. There are other
boards on the market (e.g. Matrox, Parallax) but I have not examined those.
REQUIRED CAPABILITIES:
- the hardware comes on one or more boards that are Sun-compatible
(either VMEbus or Sbus);
[ Most are Sbus. DataCube is VME. ]
- the hardware digitizes output from 3 black-and-white video
cameras in real time and (almost) simultaneously (e.g. by reading
3 black-and-white signals as if it was R,G,B color input);
[ The IMS1000 itself runs at 30 cycles/second. There is a program
controlled multiplexer that can instantaneously switch between
three input ports to which cameras & VCRs etc can be connected.
This means that for three input streams, each is serviced at
10 cycles/second. Most other boards run at 60 cycles/second.
The Sun VideoPix board runs at 7 cycles/second, and seems not
to be intended for live video input/display. ]
- when used to digitize 3 black-and-white cameras, the digitizer
output should be three planes of light-intensity bytes; [ yes ]
- the hardware can be used as a frame grabber; [ yes ]
- the hardware can download parts/subregions of frames into RAM
[ Yes, and obviously, download time is a function of the amount
of data downloaded. The RasterOps "SPARC card TCPIP ColorBoard"
failed this one. ]
- video image resolution is at least 512 x 512 pixels; [ yes ]
- while also functioning as frame grabber, the hardware can
simultaneously send each video input straight through to its
own window on the Sun workstation's screen, again without
burdening the host processor;
[ Yes, but the IMS1000's redisplay frequency on the screen is a
function of the number of video inputs being multiplexed, see
above. The DataCube MAXvideo20 fails this one completely
because of its dedication to EGA/VGA displays. ]
- the hardware allows us to overlay line drawings onto the video
signal being displayed on the screen;
[ Yes, the IMS1000 and RasterOps boards have an overlay plane that
covers the entire Sun screen. I don't yet know whether parts of
the overlay plane can be redrawn without erasing other parts. The
DataCube MAXvideo20 can be configured for up to six overlay planes.
The Sun VideoPix board has NO overlay plane, so the only way to
superimpose graphics is to read images into Sun RAM, modify them,
and write them to the screen, thereby cutting the redisplay
frequency to about twice per second. ]
- it is reliable hardware, and in case of breakdown the vendor can
provide a quick replacement service (a few days);
[ The IMS1000 comes with a warranty that lasts for a few years,
they provide a quick-replacement contract, and the company is
small enough that they'll adapt to your needs. Similar comments
apply to DataCube. Don't know about RasterOps. SUN, I doubt it,
but the VideoPix is so cheap that you can buy spares. ]
- the software required to use the hardware can be written in
one labor week (or so);
[ The IMS1000 comes with a small extension to X11 release 5, so
runs conveniently under either Motif or InterViews. DataCube
provides an immense library of software, as one might expect
from their board's immense capabilities. ]
- the hardware should cost much less than $20K.
[ Yes, most comparable boards are around $6K not including academic
discount, so we will buy a couple of them and avoid any tug-of-war
between us and our subcontractors over who gets a board when. The
DataCube MAXvideo20 costs over $20 without academic discount. The
SUN VideoPix is less than $1K. ]
NICE BUT OPTIONAL CAPABILITIES
- the hardware can subtract two non-consecutive frames on the
board, i.e. without burdening the host processor, and can
download the result to the Sun's RAM.
[ Nobody but DataCube does this. ]
Marcel Schoppers
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 91 15:24:47 BST
From: R.Fairwood@ee.surrey.ac.uk
Subject: Research Fellow Required - Computer Vision
UNIVERSITY OF SURREY, U.K.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
RESEARCH FELLOW REQUIRED - COMPUTER VISION
A Research Fellow is required for a project in Computer Vision,
concerned with a strategy for recognition of 3D objects from a large
model database. It will be carried out within an active Vision, Speech
and Signal Processing research group, which has extensive computing
resources including SUN Sparc stations as well as specialised image
processing facilities.
The successful candidate will be required to develop and implement a
strategy for extracting intermediate level image features and invoking
high level model categories using geometric primitives. Applicants
should have a degree in mathematics, electronics, computer science,
artificial intelligence or physics. Previous experience or a higher
degree in computer vision, image processing or knowledge based methods
will be an advantage.
The appointment will be initially for up to three years with a salary
in the range 11,969 - 14,170 pounds pa (including a 5% interim pay
award) depending upon age, qualifications and experience, with
superannuation under USS conditions.
Applications in the form of a curriculum vitae (3 copies) including
the names and addresses of two referees should be sent to the
Personnel Office (JLG), University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2
5XH, U.K. by 8 November 1991 quoting reference 054. Further information may
be obtained from Dr R C Fairwood or Professor J Kittler, Department of
Electronic and Electrical Engineering on (0483) 300800, e-mail:
r.fairwood@ee.surrey.ac.uk.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 91 09:37:32 +0100
From: Steve Easterbrook <steveea@cogs.sussex.ac.uk>
Subject: Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour
THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AND SIMULATION OF BEHAVIOUR (AISB)
AISB was established 26 years ago and is the U.K.'s original and foremost
A.I. society with an international membership. It has over 900 members drawn
from both industry and academia.
For an annual membership fee of only 18.00 (pounds UK), 12.00 for students
you will receive:
* FREE ACCESS TO UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION IN THE FIELD THROUGH:
- The AISB Quarterly Newsletter
- The European Journal on Artificial Intelligence (AI Communications)
- The AISB Electronic Mail Directory
* SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTIONS AT AISB EVENTS INCLUDING:
- A Biennial Conference - the next will be AISB93 in Birmingham.
- Sponsored Conferences and Workshops
(e.g. AI and Education 1993, Edinburgh)
- Schools and Tutorials
(e.g. AISB Post-Graduate Workshop to be held in January 1992)
Other activities of the society of benefit to members include:
* TRAVEL AWARD SCHEME for young researchers in the field
* Access to the ECCAI TRAVEL AWARD SCHEME
* The opportunity to receive new books in return for an 800 word
review to be published in the AISB Quarterly
* Reduced rates to journals
'ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE' (Elsevier Science) and
'ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REVIEW' (Kluwer Academic Publ).
THESE POINTS ARE COVERED IN MORE DETAIL BELOW.
Further information and sample copies of the 'AISB Quarterly' and
'AI Communications' are available from Judith Dennison.
YOU CAN JOIN NOW BY PRINTING OUT AND POSTING THE APPLICATION FORM BELOW
==================================================================
APPLICATION FORM
Return to:
Judith Dennison Email: judithd@cogs.sussex.ac.uk
AISB Administration Tel: +44 (0) 273 678379
Cognitive and Computing Sciences Fax: +44 (0) 273 678188
University of Sussex
BRIGHTON BN1 9QH, UK
NAME_____________________________________________________________
ADDRESS_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
EMAIL ADDRESS___________________________________________________
(please note this will be added to the AISB Email Directory unless
otherwise requested)
Annual Membership fees are as follows:
Regular Student (all figures are in pounds UK)
UK 18.00 12.00 Students should sent proof of
EUROPE 20.00 14.00 their full-time student status
ELSEWHERE 25.00 18.00 e.g. copy of registration card
Cheques should be in sterling made payable to AISB.
Membership starts from the month of joining unless otherwise requested.
Members wishing to pay by standing order can obtain details from
Judith Dennison.
====================================================================
FURTHER INFORMATION
THE AISB QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
This is sent to all members and contains up to date news, conference
announcements and reports, technical features and articles, book reviews,
advertising material including information on courses, jobs and
new publications.
ECCAI - The European Co-ordinating Committee on Artificial Intelligence
AISB has strong links with its European counterparts in particular
through being a member group of ECCAI. AISB distributes
'AI Communications' the official journal of ECCAI. 'AI Communications'
covers the whole European AI Community and publishes refereed articles
concerning scientific and technical AI procedures, as well as as opinions,
policies and news. All European AISB members receive this free of charge.
ECCAI has also introduced a travel award scheme which AISB members are
eligible for.
THE AISB ELECTRONIC MAIL DIRECTORY
AISB has published an EMAIL Directory updated at intervals. This is
available in booklet/on-line form to members and contains the electronic
mail addresses of those members wishing to take part in it. Members
are sent updated material regarding conferences, jobs, and general
information regarding the society.
AISB CONFERENCES
AISB holds a bi-ennial conference which offers substantially reduced
rates to members - reductions are significantly bigger than the cost
of joining AISB! The next conference - the 9th in the series - will
be held at the University of Birmingham in 1993. The conference is
usually preceded by tutorials.
AISB also sponsors other conferences and workshops in the field.
Recent meetings include Turing 90, Interact 90, Computers and Writing 91.
Future meetings include Psychology of Programming Workshop 92.
POSTGRADUATE WORKSHOPS
The AISB Postgraduate Workshops have proved very rewarding to students
in the past - the next one is in January 1992 at the University of
Nottingham. They provide a forum for current PG students to meet and
describe their work as well as hosting sessions on AI methodology and
surviving the Ph.D. process.
TRAVEL AWARD SCHEME
AISB awards a limited number of travel grants to British, European or
International conferences or workshops on AI. The grants are aimed at
young or new researchers in the field. Apply early - these are very
popular!
AISB also assists in the formation of local and regional AI Groups
by providing small grants to enable groups to organise and to pay for
external speakers.
JOIN NOW BY USING THE MEMBERSHIP FORM ABOVE
------------------------------
End of VISION-LIST digest 10.42
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