Visual-inertial tracking is a well known technique to track a combination of a camera and an inertial measurement unit (IMU). An issue with the straight-forward approach is the need of known 3D points. To by-pass this, 2D information can be used without recovering depth to estimate the position and orientation (pose) of the camera. This Master's thesis investigates the feasibility of using Optical Flow (OF) measurements and indicates the benifits using this approach. The 2D information is added using OF measurements. OF describes the visual flow of interest points in the image plane. Without the necessity to estimate depth of these points, the computational complexity is reduced. With the increased 2D information, the 3D information required for the pose estimate decreases. The usage of 2D points for the pose estimation has been verified with experimental data gathered by a real camera/IMU-system. Several data sequences containing different trajectories are used to estimate the pose. It is shown that OF measurements can be used to improve visual-inertial tracking with reduced need of 3D-point registrations.

With an increasing traffic intensity the demands on vehicular safety is higher than ever before. Active safety systems that have been developed recent years are a response to that. In this master thesis Sensor Fusion is used to combine information from a laser scanner and a microwave radar in order to get more information about the surroundings in front of a vehicle. The Extended Kalman Filter method has been used to fuse the information from the sensors. The process model consists partly of a Constant Turn model to describe the motion of the ego vehicle as well as a tracked object. These individual motions are then put together in a framework for spatial relationships to describe the relationship between them. Two measurement models have been used to describe the two sensors. They have been derived from a general sensor model. This filter approach has been used to estimate the position and orientation of an object relative the ego vehicle. Also velocity, yaw rate and the width of the object have been estimated. The filter has been implemented and simulated in Matlab. The data that has been recorded and used in this work is coming from a scenario where the ego vehicle is following an object in a quite straight line. Where the ego vehicle is a truck and the object is a bus. One important conclusion from this work is that the filter is sensitive to the number of laser beams that hits the object of interest. No qualitative validation has been made though.

Autonomous vehicles are an emerging trend in robotics, seen in a vast range of applications and environments. Consequently, Volvo Construction Equipment endeavour to apply the concept of autonomous vehicles onto one of their main products. In the company’s Autonomous Machine project an autonomous wheel loader is being developed. As an ob jective given by the company; a demonstration proving the possibility of conducting a fully autonomous load and haul cycle should be performed. Conducting such cycle requires the vehicle to be able to localise itself in its task space and navigate accordingly. In this Master’s Thesis, methods of solving those requirements are proposed and evaluated on a real wheel loader. The approach taken regarding localisation, is to apply sensor fusion, by extended Kalman filtering, to the available sensors mounted on the vehicle, including; odometric sensors, a Global Positioning System receiver and an Inertial Measurement Unit. Navigational control is provided through an interface developed, allowing high level software to command the vehicle by specifying drive paths. A path following controller is implemented and evaluated. The main objective was successfully accomplished by integrating the developed localisation and navigational system with the existing system prior this thesis. A discussion of how to continue the development concludes the report; the addition of a continuous vision feedback is proposed as the next logical advancement.

The continuous challenge to decrease emissions, sensor costs and fuel consumption in diesel engines is battled in this thesis. To reach higher goals in engine efficiency and environmental sustainability the prediction of engine states is essential due to their importance in engine control and diagnosis. Model output will be improved with help from sensors, advanced mathematics and non linear Kalman filtering. The task consist of constructing non linear Kalman Filters and to adaptively weight measurements against model output to increase estimation accuracy. This thesis shows an approach of how to improve estimates by nonlinear Kalman filtering and how to achieve additional information that can be used to acquire better accuracy when a sensor fails or to replace existing sensors. The best performing Kalman filter shows a decrease of the Root Mean Square Error of 75 % in comparison to model output.

A key requirement for developing any innovative system in a computing environment is to integrate a sufficiently friendly interface with the average end user. Accurate design of such a user-centered interface, however, means more than just the ergonomics of the panels and displays. It also requires that designers precisely define what information to use and how, where, and when to use it. Recent advances in user-centered design of computing systems have suggested that multimodal integration can provide different types and levels of intelligence to the user interface. The work of this thesis aims at improving speech recognition-based interfaces by making use of the visual modality conveyed by the movements of the lips. Designing a good visual front end is a major part of this framework. For this purpose, this work derives the optical flow fields for consecutive frames of people speaking. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is then used to derive basis flow fields. The coefficients of these basis fields comprise the visual features of interest. It is shown that using ICA on optical flow fields yields better classification results than the traditional approaches based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA). In fact, ICA can capture higher order statistics that are needed to understand the motion of the mouth. This is due to the fact that lips movement is complex in its nature, as it involves large image velocities, self occlusion (due to the appearance and disappearance of the teeth) and a lot of non-rigidity. Another issue that is of great interest to audio-visual speech recognition systems designers is the integration (fusion) of the audio and visual information into an automatic speech recognizer. For this purpose, a reliability-driven sensor fusion scheme is developed. A statistical approach is developed to account for the dynamic changes in reliability. This is done in two steps. The first step derives suitable statistical reliability measures for the individual information streams. These measures are based on the dispersion of the N-best hypotheses of the individual stream classifiers. The second step finds an optimal mapping between the reliability measures and the stream weights that maximizes the conditional likelihood. For this purpose, genetic algorithms are used. The addressed issues are challenging problems and are substantial for developing an audio-visual speech recognition framework that can maximize the information gather about the words uttered and minimize the impact of noise.

This work supports the thesis that sound quantitative evaluation for spam filters leads to substantial improvement in the classification of email. To this end, new laboratory testing methods and datasets are introduced, and evidence is presented that their adoption at Text REtrieval Conference (TREC)and elsewhere has led to an improvement in state of the art spam filtering. While many of these improvements have been discovered by others, the best-performing method known at this time -- spam filter fusion -- was demonstrated by the author. This work describes four principal dimensions of spam filter evaluation methodology and spam filter improvement. An initial study investigates the application of twelve open-source filter configurations in a laboratory environment, using a stream of 50,000 messages captured from a single recipient over eight months. The study measures the impact of user feedback and on-line learning on filter performance using methodology and measures which were released to the research community as the TREC Spam Filter Evaluation Toolkit. The toolkit was used as the basis of the TREC Spam Track, which the author co-founded with Cormack. The Spam Track, in addition to evaluating a new application (email spam), addressed the issue of testing systems on both private and public data. While streams of private messages are most realistic, they are not easy to come by and cannot be shared with the research community as archival benchmarks. Using the toolkit, participant filters were evaluated on both, and the differences found not to substantially confound evaluation; as a result, public corpora were validated as research tools. Over the course of TREC and similar evaluation efforts, a dozen or more archival benchmarks -- some private and some public -- have become available. The toolkit and methodology have spawned improvements in the state of the art every year since its deployment in 2005. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, the spam track yielded new best-performing systems based on sequential compression models, orthogonal sparse bigram features, logistic regression and support vector machines. Using the TREC participant filters, we develop and demonstrate methods for on-line filter fusion that outperform all other reported on-line personal spam filters.

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is still in its early stages, although several attempts have been made to solve or minimize challenges associated with it. CBIR techniques use such visual contents as color, texture, and shape to represent and index images. Of these, shapes contain richer information than color or texture. However, retrieval based on shape contents remains more difficult than that based on color or texture due to the diversity of shapes and the natural occurrence of shape transformations such as deformation, scaling and orientation. This thesis presents an approach for fusing several shape-based image retrieval techniques for the purpose of achieving reliable and accurate retrieval performance. An extensive investigation of notable existing shape descriptors is reported. Two new shape descriptors have been proposed as means to overcome limitations of current shape descriptors. The first descriptor is based on a novel shape signature that includes corner information in order to enhance the performance of shape retrieval techniques that use Fourier descriptors. The second descriptor is based on the curvature of the shape contour. This invariant descriptor takes an unconventional view of the curvature-scale-space map of a contour by treating it as a 2-D binary image. The descriptor is then derived from the 2-D Fourier transform of the 2-D binary image. This technique allows the descriptor to capture the detailed dynamics of the curvature of the shape and enhances the efficiency of the shape-matching process. Several experiments have been conducted in order to compare the proposed descriptors with several notable descriptors. The new descriptors not only speed up the online matching process, but also lead to improved retrieval accuracy. The complexity and variety of the content of real images make it impossible for a particular choice of descriptor to be effective for all types of images. Therefore, a data- fusion formulation based on a team consensus approach is proposed as a means of achieving high accuracy performance. In this approach a select set of retrieval techniques form a team. Members of the team exchange information so as to complement each other’s assessment of a database image candidate as a match to query images. Several experiments have been conducted based on the MPEG-7 contour-shape databases; the results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed fusion scheme is superior to that achieved by any technique individually.

Title: Territorial identities and fusions - regional identity by interregional fusions   Level: Final assignment for Bachelors Degree in Social Science with specialization in Urban and Regional Planning. Major subject: Geography.   Author: Mladen Krajisnik   Supervisor: Carl-Johan Nordblom   Date: 2009 May   Intention: The main focus of this study is to verify the existence, or nonexistence, of local and regional identities. Considering the result regarding regional identities, this thesis will continue on to clarify if these identities are to be seemed as a threat or resource during fusions, and if so, how can one best manage these different identities. Method: Only secondary data has been used in this study. I've botanized amongst the literature that processes fusions, impact of culture, identities, regions, territory. Continuing on, the collected empirical resources have been compared to my theory, from which an analysis was able to be spawned and conclusions were drawn. Result & Conclusions: The thesis confirms different regional identities, although it does not treat the subject regarding the inner strength of regions comparing to one another. Furthermore, when fusions are initiated it is strongly vital that the different regional identities are supported, promoted and encouraged. A fusion consisting of many different identities is to be preferred ahead a homogenous one. Media has an vital part in structuring regional identities by the instruments of radio, newspapers and TV. Suggestions for future research: Which effects may the fusion between Växjö University and Högskolan  i Kalmar have, when merging into the Linné University? Are there any other similar examples one can study? Which factors should one consider regarding fusions of Universities? Contribution of the thesis: This study clarifies and explains regional identities, the impact of culture, fusions, territory and why and how one should promote heterogeneous fusions. Key words: Mergers/fusions, regions, identity, culture, territory, integration process.

SAMMANFATTNING   Bakgrund: Whiplashrelaterade besvär är vanligt förekommande efter en bilolycka. En behandling för dessa patienter är steloperation av övre nackkotpelaren. Dock finns lite forskning kring hur detta i allmänhet och i synnerhet ur ett beteendemedicinskt perspektiv kan påverka en patient. Syfte: Var att utvärdera om steloperation av övre nackkotpelaren hade effekt för två patienter med långvariga whiplashrelaterade besvär, avseende vissa beteendemedicinska aspekter innehållande psykologiska och kognitiva funktioner. Metod: Experimentell single–subject studie som innehåller baslinje-, interventions- och uppföljandemätningar (A1-B-A2 design). Två personer med whiplashrelaterade besvär som skulle genomgå steloperation av övre nackkotpelaren, deltog i studien. Dessa skattade i frågeformlär kring beteendemedicinska aspekter vid två tillfällen under 14 dagar före och 6 veckor, 3, 6 och 12 månader efter operation. Deltagarna skattade även dagliga aktiviteter med hjälp av dagbok, vid dessa tillfällen och under 14 dagar före operation. Resultat: Båda deltagarna uppvisade förbättringar i de flesta uppmätta aspekterna vid 12 månader, jämfört med första skattningen före operationen. I två av deltagarnas dagliga aktiviteter ses signifikanta skillnader efter operationen jämfört med baslinjeskattningarna. Slutsatser: Steloperation av övre nackkotpelaren har en positiv effekt för dessa patienter och ökar deras self-efficacy, minskar rörelserelaterad rädsla, katastroftankar, ångest/depressivitet, funktionsnedsättning, whiplashsymptom, ökar livskvalitet samt minskar smärta/hinder i dagliga aktiviteter.   Nyckelord: Fusion, katastroftankar, livskvalitet, rörelserädsla, self-efficacy whiplashrelaterade besvär. / ABSTRACT   Background: Whiplash associated disorders are common problems after a car-accident. One treatment for these patients is a fusion of the upper neck vertebra. However, there is little research available about how this treatment in general and in particular from a behavioural medicine perspective can affect a patient. Purpose: To evaluate if a fusion of the upper neck vertebra had an affect for two patients with prolonged whiplash associated disorders, concerning some behavioural medicine aspects including psychological and cognitive functions. Method: Experimental single – subject study containing baseline-, interventions- and follow up measurements (A1-B-A2 design). Two persons with whiplash associated disorders scheduled for fusion of the upper neck vertebra, participated in the study. They fulfilled questionnaires about behavioural medicine aspects at two occasions during 14 days before and at 6 weeks, 3, 6 and 12 months after the operation. The participants also rated disability and pain intensity in daily activities in a journal at these occasions and during 14 days before the operation. Results: Both participants showed improvements in most of the measured aspects at 12 months, compared to the baseline before the operation. In two of the participants’ daily activities significant differences could be seen compared to the baseline measures. Conclusions: A fusion of the upper neck vertebra has a positive effect for these patients and increases their self-efficacy, decreases kinesiophobia, catastrophizing, anxiety/depression, impairment, whiplash symptoms, increases neck functioning, quality of life and decreases pain/disability in daily activities.   Keywords: Catastrophizing, fusion, kinesiophobia, quality of life, self-efficacy, Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD).

<p>Miles Davis, never one for self-effacing humility, took his boasting to new heights when he proclaimed in a <i>Rolling Stone</i> interview from December 1969, "I could put together the greatest rock and roll band you ever heard." Most critics agree that <i>A Tribute to Jack Johnson</i>, recorded between February and April of 1970, was his attempt to do just that. The album featured an ensemble that was closer to a rock power trio than a jazz quintet, musicians who were as schooled in rock and R&B as in jazz, and a prominent use of emerging instrument and studio technologies previously unheard in Davis's music. In highlighting these stylistic markers, <i>A Tribute to Jack Johnson</i> made definitive the musical transition that Davis's immediately preceding works had set in motion. </p><p> Though few fans of the era would have been surprised by Davis's invocation of the value-laden vocabulary of "greatness" in describing his music, many were taken aback by his desire to associate with rock and roll. For a musician trained in the jazz tradition and revered as a master of the genre, the intentional incorporation of influences from popular music was viewed by many jazz listeners as nothing short of heretical. What did it mean, then, for Davis to make such a claim - and such an album - at the particular time that he did? </p><p> To address these two questions, I investigate in my dissertation the production, circulation, and reception of both the stand-alone album <i>A Tribute to Jack Johnson</i> and the documentary film for which parts of the album were initially the soundtrack. Combining my training in music with scholarly perspectives on identity politics, technology studies, film studies, and African American social and political history, I demonstrate how this recording comprises both a signal incursion into accepted jazz practice, and a unique window onto vital debates around jazz, popular culture, and identity constructions in the U.S. in the early 1970s. This dissertation thereby offers one approach for continuing the critical re-evaluation of fusion jazz that has prominently been in progress since the late 1990s.</p> / Dissertation