The problem of epipolar geometry estimation together with correspondence establishment in case of wide baseline and large scale changes and rotation has been addressed in this work. This work deals with cases that are heavily noised by outliers. The jump diffusion MCMC method has been employed to search for the non-degenerate epipolar geometry with the highest probabilistic support of putative correspondences. At the same time, inliers in the putative set are also identified. The jump steps involve large movements guided by a distribution of similarity based priors while diffusion steps are small movements guided by a distribution of likelihoods given by the Joint Feature Distribution (JFD). The 'best so far' samples are accepted in accordance to Metropolis-Hastings method. The diffusion steps are carried out by sampling conditioned on the 'best so far', making it local to the 'best so far' sample, while jump steps remain unconditioned and span across the correspondence and motion space according to a similarity based proposal distribution making large movements. We advance the theory in three novel ways. First, a similarity based prior proposal distribution which guide jump steps. Second, JFD based likelihoods which guide diffusion steps allowing more focused correspondence establishment while searching for epipolar geometry. Third, a measure of degeneracy that allows to rule out degenerate configurations. The jump diffusion framework thus defined allows handling over 90% outliers even in cases where the number of inliers is very few. Practically, the advancement lies in higher precision and accuracy that has been detailed in this work by comparisons. In this work, BLOGS is compared with LO-RANSAC, NAPSAC, MAPSAC and BEEM algorithm, which are the current state of the art competing methods, on a dataset that has significantly more change in baseline, rotation, and scale than those used in the state of the art. Performance of these algorithms and BLOGS are quantitatively benchmark for a comparison by estimating the error in the epipolar geometry given by root mean Sampson's distance from manually specified corresponding point pairs which serve as a ground truth. Not just is BLOGS able to tolerate very high outlier rates, but also gives result of similar quality in 10 times lesser number of iterations than the most competitive among the compared algorithms.

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No / An algorithm for the rectification of uncalibrated images is presented and applied to a variety of cases. The algorithm generates the rectifying transformations directly from the geometrical relationship between the images, using any three correspondences in the images to define a reference plane. A small set of correspondences is used to calculate an initial rectification. Additional correspondences are introduced semi-automatically, by correlating regions of the rectified images. Since the rectified images of surfaces in the reference plane have no relative distortion, features can be matched very accurately by correlation, allowing small changes in disparity to be detected. In the 3-d reconstruction of an architectural scene, differences in depth are resolved to about 0.001 of the distance from camera to subject.

In this thesis, opti-acoustic stereo imaging, which is the deployment of two-dimensional (2D) high frequency imaging sonar with the electro-optical camera in calibrated stereo configuration, is studied. Optical cameras give detailed images in clear waters. However, in dark or turbid waters, information coming from electro-optical sensor is insufficient for accurate scene perception. Imaging sonars, also known as acoustic cameras, can provide enhanced target details under these scenarios. To illustrate these visibility conditions, a 2D high frequency imaging sonar simulator as well as an underwater optical image simulator is developed. A computationally efficient algorithm is also proposed for the post-processing of the returned sonar signals. Where optical visibility allows, integration of the sonar and optical images effectively provides binocular stereo vision capability and enables the recovery of three-dimensional (3D) structural information. This requires solving the feature correspondence problem for these completely different sensing modalities. Geometrical interpretation of this problem is examined on the simulated optical and sonar images. Matching the features manually, 3D reconstruction performance of opti-acoustic system is also investigated. In addition, motion estimation from opti-acoustic image sequences is studied. Finally, a method is proposed to improve the degraded optical images with the help of sonar images. First, a nonlinear mapping is found to match local the features in opti-acoustical images. Next, features in the sonar image is mapped to the optical image using the transformation. Performance of the mapping is evaluated for different scene geometries.

Κατά τη διάρκεια της διπλωματικής εργασίας μελετήθηκαν συστήματα οπτικού προσανατολισμού. Έγινε μελέτη των μεθόδων οπτικού προσανατολισμού που στηρίζονται στην επίλυση του προβλήματος της επιπολικής γεωμετρίας. Πιο συγκεκριμένα έγινε μελέτη των σύγχρονων μεθόδων επίλυσης του προβλήματος της επιπολικής γεωμετρίας (μέθοδοι 5,7 και 8 σημείων). Παράλληλα έγινε μελέτη αλγορίθμων RANSAC για να εξασφαλιστεί η σθεναρότητα του συστήματος. Τα παραπάνω συστήματα υλοποιήθηκαν σε βιβλιοθήκες λογισμικού σε γλώσσα C++ με δυνατότητα απευθείας χρήσης τους από το περιβάλλον Labview. Αντίστοιχη μελέτη, ανάπτυξη και υλοποίηση έγινε και για το σύστημα απόλυτου προσανατολισμού που χρησιμοποιεί σημεία με γνωστές συντεταγμένες. Στη συνέχεια τα συστήματα που αναπτύχθηκαν αξιολογήθηκαν με χρήση συνθετικών δεδομένων. Τέλος διεξήχθη πειραματική αξιολόγηση του συστήματος που αναπτύχθηκε με πραγματικά δεδομένα μέσω της χρήσης μιας πειραματικής διάταξης όπου η κάμερα είναι προσαρτημένη σε μία διάταξη Pan-Tilt, ενώ προτάθηκαν και τρόποι βελτίωσης της ακρίβειας του συστήματος οπτικού προσανατολισμού. / During the diploma thesis, vision-only navigational systems have been studied. Firstly, the epipolar geometry methods (5,7 and 8 points) have been studied in depth. Secondly, a RANSAC framework have been developed to ensure the robustness of the system’s measures. The above systems have been implemented, using the C++ programming language, into software libraries that can be used by the Labview enviroment. Moreover vision-only absolute orientation systems that use landmarks have been developed and implemented. Then the systems developed were evaluated using synthetic data. Finally the system that have been developed was evaluated with real data using an experimental setup where the camera is attached to a Pan-Tilt unit,and ways of improving the vision-only navigational system have been proposed.

Abstract : Images acquired from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can provide data with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution for three-dimensional (3D) modeling. Solutions developed for this purpose are mainly operating based on photogrammetry concepts, namely UAV-Photogrammetry Systems (UAV-PS). Such systems are used in applications where both geospatial and visual information of the environment is required. These applications include, but are not limited to, natural resource management such as precision agriculture, military and police-related services such as traffic-law enforcement, precision engineering such as infrastructure inspection, and health services such as epidemic emergency management. UAV-photogrammetry systems can be differentiated based on their spatial characteristics in terms of accuracy and resolution. That is some applications, such as precision engineering, require high-resolution and high-accuracy information of the environment (e.g. 3D modeling with less than one centimeter accuracy and resolution). In other applications, lower levels of accuracy might be sufficient, (e.g. wildlife management needing few decimeters of resolution). However, even in those applications, the specific characteristics of UAV-PSs should be well considered in the steps of both system development and application in order to yield satisfying results. In this regard, this thesis presents a comprehensive review of the applications of unmanned aerial imagery, where the objective was to determine the challenges that remote-sensing applications of UAV systems currently face. This review also allowed recognizing the specific characteristics and requirements of UAV-PSs, which are mostly ignored or not thoroughly assessed in recent studies. Accordingly, the focus of the first part of this thesis is on exploring the methodological and experimental aspects of implementing a UAV-PS. The developed system was extensively evaluated for precise modeling of an open-pit gravel mine and performing volumetric-change measurements. This application was selected for two main reasons. Firstly, this case study provided a challenging environment for 3D modeling, in terms of scale changes, terrain relief variations as well as structure and texture diversities. Secondly, open-pit-mine monitoring demands high levels of accuracy, which justifies our efforts to improve the developed UAV-PS to its maximum capacities. The hardware of the system consisted of an electric-powered helicopter, a high-resolution digital camera, and an inertial navigation system. The software of the system included the in-house programs specifically designed for camera calibration, platform calibration, system integration, onboard data acquisition, flight planning and ground control point (GCP) detection. The detailed features of the system are discussed in the thesis, and solutions are proposed in order to enhance the system and its photogrammetric outputs. The accuracy of the results was evaluated under various mapping conditions, including direct georeferencing and indirect georeferencing with different numbers, distributions and types of ground control points. Additionally, the effects of imaging configuration and network stability on modeling accuracy were assessed. The second part of this thesis concentrates on improving the techniques of sparse and dense reconstruction. The proposed solutions are alternatives to traditional aerial photogrammetry techniques, properly adapted to specific characteristics of unmanned, low-altitude imagery. Firstly, a method was developed for robust sparse matching and epipolar-geometry estimation. The main achievement of this method was its capacity to handle a very high percentage of outliers (errors among corresponding points) with remarkable computational efficiency (compared to the state-of-the-art techniques). Secondly, a block bundle adjustment (BBA) strategy was proposed based on the integration of intrinsic camera calibration parameters as pseudo-observations to Gauss-Helmert model. The principal advantage of this strategy was controlling the adverse effect of unstable imaging networks and noisy image observations on the accuracy of self-calibration. The sparse implementation of this strategy was also performed, which allowed its application to data sets containing a lot of tie points. Finally, the concepts of intrinsic curves were revisited for dense stereo matching. The proposed technique could achieve a high level of accuracy and efficiency by searching only through a small fraction of the whole disparity search space as well as internally handling occlusions and matching ambiguities. These photogrammetric solutions were extensively tested using synthetic data, close-range images and the images acquired from the gravel-pit mine. Achieving absolute 3D mapping accuracy of 11±7 mm illustrated the success of this system for high-precision modeling of the environment. / Résumé : Les images acquises à l’aide d’aéronefs sans pilote (ASP) permettent de produire des données de résolutions spatiales et temporelles uniques pour la modélisation tridimensionnelle (3D). Les solutions développées pour ce secteur d’activité sont principalement basées sur des concepts de photogrammétrie et peuvent être identifiées comme des systèmes photogrammétriques embarqués sur aéronefs sans pilote (SP-ASP). Ils sont utilisés dans plusieurs applications environnementales où l’information géospatiale et visuelle est essentielle. Ces applications incluent notamment la gestion des ressources naturelles (ex. : agriculture de précision), la sécurité publique et militaire (ex. : gestion du trafic), les services d’ingénierie (ex. : inspection de bâtiments) et les services de santé publique (ex. : épidémiologie et gestion des risques). Les SP-ASP peuvent être subdivisés en catégories selon les besoins en termes de précision et de résolution. En effet, dans certains cas, tel qu’en ingénierie, l’information sur l’environnement doit être de haute précision et de haute résolution (ex. : modélisation 3D avec une précision et une résolution inférieure à un centimètre). Pour d’autres applications, tel qu’en gestion de la faune sauvage, des niveaux de précision et de résolution moindres peut être suffisants (ex. : résolution de l’ordre de quelques décimètres). Cependant, même dans ce type d’applications les caractéristiques des SP-ASP devraient être prises en considération dans le développement des systèmes et dans leur utilisation, et ce, pour atteindre les résultats visés. À cet égard, cette thèse présente une revue exhaustive des applications de l’imagerie aérienne acquise par ASP et de déterminer les challenges les plus courants. Cette étude a également permis d’établir les caractéristiques et exigences spécifiques des SP-ASP qui sont généralement ignorées ou partiellement discutées dans les études récentes. En conséquence, la première partie de cette thèse traite des aspects méthodologiques et d’expérimentation de la mise en place d’un SP-ASP. Le système développé a été évalué pour la modélisation précise d’une gravière et utilisé pour réaliser des mesures de changement volumétrique. Cette application a été retenue pour deux raisons principales. Premièrement, ce type de milieu fournit un environnement difficile pour la modélisation, et ce, en termes de changement d’échelle, de changement de relief du terrain ainsi que la grande diversité de structures et de textures. Deuxièment, le suivi de mines à ciel ouvert exige un niveau de précision élevé, ce qui justifie les efforts déployés pour mettre au point un SP-ASP de haute précision. Les composantes matérielles du système consistent en un ASP à propulsion électrique de type hélicoptère, d’une caméra numérique à haute résolution ainsi qu’une station inertielle. La composante logicielle est composée de plusieurs programmes développés particulièrement pour calibrer la caméra et la plateforme, intégrer les systèmes, enregistrer les données, planifier les paramètres de vol et détecter automatiquement les points de contrôle au sol. Les détails complets du système sont abordés dans la thèse et des solutions sont proposées afin d’améliorer le système et la qualité des données photogrammétriques produites. La précision des résultats a été évaluée sous diverses conditions de cartographie, incluant le géoréférencement direct et indirect avec un nombre, une répartition et des types de points de contrôle variés. De plus, les effets de la configuration des images et la stabilité du réseau sur la précision de la modélisation ont été évalués. La deuxième partie de la thèse porte sur l’amélioration des techniques de reconstruction éparse et dense. Les solutions proposées sont des alternatives aux techniques de photogrammétrie aérienne traditionnelle et adaptée aux caractéristiques particulières de l’imagerie acquise à basse altitude par ASP. Tout d’abord, une méthode robuste de correspondance éparse et d’estimation de la géométrie épipolaire a été développée. L’élément clé de cette méthode est sa capacité à gérer le pourcentage très élevé des valeurs aberrantes (erreurs entre les points correspondants) avec une efficacité de calcul remarquable en comparaison avec les techniques usuelles. Ensuite, une stratégie d’ajustement de bloc basée sur l’intégration de pseudoobservations du modèle Gauss-Helmert a été proposée. Le principal avantage de cette stratégie consistait à contrôler les effets négatifs du réseau d’images instable et des images bruitées sur la précision de l’autocalibration. Une implémentation éparse de cette stratégie a aussi été réalisée, ce qui a permis de traiter des jeux de données contenant des millions de points de liaison. Finalement, les concepts de courbes intrinsèques ont été revisités pour l’appariement stéréo dense. La technique proposée pourrait atteindre un haut niveau de précision et d’efficacité en recherchant uniquement dans une petite portion de l’espace de recherche des disparités ainsi qu’en traitant les occlusions et les ambigüités d’appariement. Ces solutions photogrammétriques ont été largement testées à l’aide de données synthétiques, d’images à courte portée ainsi que celles acquises sur le site de la gravière. Le système a démontré sa capacité a modélisation dense de l’environnement avec une très haute exactitude en atteignant une précision 3D absolue de l’ordre de 11±7 mm.

The main goal of this master’s thesis was get up used methods for observation the stereoscopic scene with one couple of cameras and find out good solving for processing these resulting pictures for two-view and multiple-view autostereoscopic displays for three-dimensional perception. For methods for acquisition video was introduced two methods. They were method “Off-axis” with parallel camera axis and method “Toe in” with intersections axis. For fit method was choice the method named as “Off-axis“. It was not produces the vertical parallax and in detail was in this work described principle of this method. Further were describe principles off used methods for three-dimensional perception namely from the oldest method named anaglyph after methods for viewing at autostereoscopic displays. The Autostereoscopic displays were main goal of this thesis and so their principles were described in details. For production the result image for autostereoscopic displays was used generation intermediate images between left and right camera. Resulting videos were acquisition for testing scene in created in 3D studio Blender, where was possible setting system of cameras exactly parallel axis. Then were introduce principles processing video where was extract from the couple of cameras where were connected to PC for help digitizing card and next time with two web cameras. Here is not guaranteed exact parallel axis system. Therefore this work try for real cameras achieve exactly parallel axis system by the help of transformations of frames with stereo rectification. Stereo rectification was solving with OpenCV libraries and was used two methods. Both methods work from principles epipolar geometry that was described in this work also in detail. First method rectifies pictures on the basis fundamental matrix and found correspondences points in two images of the scene and second method rectifies pictures from knowledge intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of stereoscopic system of cameras. In the end of this work was described application for implementation introduced methods.

This master's thesis will take us through theoretical procedure that allows us to determine the distance of an object by stereoscopic sensor. Part of this work presents the description of the steps to achieve image of objects, calibraton and rectification. At the next part our study provides an overview of algortihms for creating disparity maps and determining the distance of the object from sensor. In the following part of thesis deals with the implementation of these processes into aplication which aim is to measure the distance.

This master's thesis will take us through theoretical procedure that allows us to determine the distance of an object by stereoscopic sensor. Part of this work presents the description of the steps to achieve image of objects, calibraton and rectification. At the next part our study provides an overview of algortihms for creating disparity maps and determining the distance of the object from sensor. In the following part of thesis deals with the implementation of these processes into aplication which aim is to measure the distance.

This work describes 3D reconstruction using stereo vision. It presents methods for automatic localization of corresponding points in both images and their reprojection into 3D space. Application created can be used for navigation of a robot and object avoidance. Second part of the document describes chosen components of the robot. Path finding algorithms are also discussed, particulary Voronoi's diagram.