2015

@inproceedings{baier2015a, author = {P. Baier and L. Srinivasan and J. Baier and W. Voelker and K. Schilling}, title = {Surfaces for modeling arteries in virtual reality simulators}, booktitle = {3rd IFAC Workshop on Internet Based Control Education }, year = {2015}, pages = {Coming soon}, city = {Brescia}, month = {November}, country = {Italy}, DOI = {10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.11.209} }

Coming soon

@article{bangert2015a, author = {P. Bangert and S. Busch and S. Dombrovski and A. Kramer and K. Schilling}, title = {UWE – Lessons Learned and Future Perspectives}, journal = {Proceedings of the 3rd IAA Conference on University Satellite Missions and CubeSat Workshop}, year = {2015} }

@article{bangert2015b, author = {P. Bangert and S. Busch and K. Schilling}, title = {In-Orbit Performance of the Pico-Satellite UWE-3}, journal = {10th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation}, year = {2015} }

@article{bock2015a, author = {D. Bock and A. Kramer and P. Bangert and K. Schilling}, title = {NanoFEEP on UWE Platform - Formation Flying of CubeSats}, journal = {Joint Conference of 30th ISTS, 34th IEPC, and 6th NSat}, year = {2015} }

@INPROCEEDINGS{borrmann2015a, author = {D. Borrmann, R. Hess, D. Eck, H. Houshiar, A. Nüchter, K. Schilling}, title = {Evaluation of Methods for Robotic Mapping of Cultural Heritage Sites}, booktitle = {Conference on Embedded Systems, Computational Intelligence and Telematics in Control}, year = {2015}, city ={Maribor}, country = {Slovenia}, DOI = {Coming Soon} }

In archaeological studies the use of new technologies has moved into focus in the past years creating new challenges such as the processing of the massive amounts of data. In this paper we present steps and processes for smart 3D modelling of environments by use of the mobile robot Irma3D. A robot that is equipped with multiple sensors, most importantly a photo camera and a laser scanner, enables the automation of most of the processes, including data acquisition and registration. The robot was tested in the Würzburg Residence. Methods for automatic 3D color reconstructions of cultural heritage sites are evaluated in this paper.

@INPROCEEDINGS{borrmann2015b, author = {D. Borrmann, R. Hess, D. Eck, Nüchter, K. Schilling}, title = {Robotic Mapping of Cultural Heritage Sites}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th ISPRS International Workshop 3D-ARCH 2015: "3D Virtual Reconstruction and Visualization of Complex Architectures"}, year = {2015}, city ={Avila}, country = {Spain}, pages = {9--16}, DOI = {10.5194/isprsarchives-XL-5-W4-9-2015} }

In archaeological studies the use of new technologies has moved into focus in the past years creating new challenges such as the processing of the massive amounts of data. In this paper we present steps and processes for smart 3D modelling of environments by use of the mobile robot Irma3D. A robot that is equipped with multiple sensors, most importantly a photo camera and a laser scanner, enables the automation of most of the processes, including data acquisition and registration. The robot was tested in two scenarios, Ostia Antica and the Würzburg Residence. The paper describes the steps for creating 3D color reconstructions of these renown cultural heritage sites.

@Article{Busch201573, Title = {UWE-3, in-orbit performance and lessons learned of a modular and flexible satellite bus for future pico-satellite formations }, Author = {S. Busch and P. Bangert and S. Dombrovski and K. Schilling}, Journal = {Acta Astronautica }, Year = {2015}, Pages = {73 - 89}, Volume = {117}, Doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2015.08.002}, ISSN = {0094-5765}, Keywords = {Pico-satellite}, Url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576515003185}, }

Abstract Formations of small satellites offer promising perspectives due to improved temporal and spatial coverage and resolution at reasonable costs. The UWE-program addresses in-orbit demonstrations of key technologies to enable formations of cooperating distributed spacecraft at pico-satellite level. In this context, the CubeSat UWE-3 addresses experiments for evaluation of real-time attitude determination and control. UWE-3 introduces also a modular and flexible pico-satellite bus as a robust and extensible base for future missions. Technical objective was a very low power consumption of the COTS-based system, nevertheless providing a robust performance of this miniature satellite by advanced microprocessor redundancy and fault detection, identification and recovery software. This contribution addresses the UWE-3 design and mission results with emphasis on the operational experiences of the attitude determination and control system.

@article{dadhich2015a, author = {S. Dadhich and P. Bangert and K. Schilling}, title = {Attitutde Control of UWE-4 for Orbit Correction During Formation Flying}, journal = {Joint Conference of 30th ISTS, 34th IEPC, and 6th NSat}, year = {2015} }

@article{dombrovski2015a, author = {S. Dombrovski and P. Bangert}, title = {Introduction of a new Sandbox Interpreter Approach for Advanced Satellite Operations and Safe On-Board Code Execution}, journal = {Proceedings 66th IAC}, year = {2015} }

@ARTICLE{demisse2015a, author = {Girum G. Demisse and Dorit Borrmann and Andreas Nüchter}, title = {Interpreting Thermal 3D Models of Indoor Environments for Energy Efficiency}, year = {2015}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10846-014-0099-5}, journal = {Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems}, volume = {77}, number = {1}, pages = {55-72}, }

In recent years 3D models of buildings are used in maintenance and inspection, preservation, and other building related applications. However, the usage of these models is limited because most models are pure representations with no or little associated semantics. In this paper we present a pipeline of techniques used for interior interpretation, object detection, and adding energy related semantics to windows of a 3D thermal model. A sequence of algorithms is presented for building the fundamental semantics of a 3D model. Among other things, these algorithms enable the system to differentiate between objects in a room and objects that are part of the room, e.g. floor, windows. Subsequently, the thermal information is used to construct a stochastic mathematical model - namely Markov Random Field - of the temperature distribution of the detected windows. As a result, the MAP(Maximum a posteriori) framework is used to further label the windows as either open, closed or damaged based upon their temperature distribution. The experimental results showed the robustness of the techniques. Furthermore, a strategy to optimize the free parameters is described, in cases where there is a sample training dataset.

@INPROCEEDINGS{eck2015a, author = {D. Eck, R. Hess, D. Borrmann, K. Schilling}, title = {Evaluation of a Kalman Filter based Localization Using a High-Precision Positioning System}, booktitle = {Conference on Embedded Systems, Computational Intelligence and Telematics in Control}, year = {2015}, city ={Maribor}, country = {Slovenia}, DOI = {Coming Soon} }

Coming Soon.

@inproceedings{evita2015a, author = {M. Evita ; M. Djamal ; B. Zimanowski ; K. Schilling}, title = {Mobile Monitoring System for Indonesian volcano}, booktitle = {4th International Conference on Instrumentation, Communications, Information Technology, and Biomedical Engineering (ICICI-BME)}, year = {2015}, pages = {278-281}, city = {Bandung}, month = {November}, country = {Indonesia}, DOI = {10.1109/ICICI-BME.2015.7401378} }

A new combination between Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), mobile robot and satellite technology for Indonesian volcano monitoring system, Mobile Monitoring System for Indonesian Volcano (MONICA) has been developed. This system divided into two modes: fixed-mode and mobile mode. The first mode has shown a good performance. For a small event of volcano activity, the system only uses power 1 million times lower than the power from existing equipment (seismometer). Bandwidth management technique results in 1 normalized throughput with average delay 6 ms as perfect as quality management technique which detects no false alarm and 100% delivery rate.

@inproceedings{evita2015b, author = {M. Evita ; M. Djamal ; B. Zimanowski ; K. Schilling}, title = {Fixed-mode of mobile monitoring system for Indonesian volcano}, booktitle = {4th International Conference on Instrumentation, Communications, Information Technology, and Biomedical Engineering (ICICI-BME)}, year = {2015}, pages = {282-287}, city = {Bandung}, month = {November}, country = {Indonesia}, DOI = {10.1109/ICICI-BME.2015.7401379} }

A system based on Wireless Sensor Network, Mobile Robot and satellite technology has been proposed to overcome some problems in Indonesian volcano monitoring system. Fixed-mode of this mobile monitoring system for Indonesian volcano (MONICA) has been defined and shown efficiency both in power consumption and bandwidth utilization. In this research, we investigated the application of our system for a strong motion earthquake case, which leads to a big eruption. The simulation result shows that our system could manage the power (total 0.39 kJ with 0.07 mJ when there is no data to be sent) as efficient as the bandwidth (0.98 normalized throughput). To guarantee the system to be adaptive and robust to its environment, a quality of service management has been applied to the system. Transmission process consumed the most energy (0.30 kJ), following by seismic processing (0.06 kJ) and reception process of the data (0.03 kJ). The data delivered 100% as well as there was no false alarm with 1 second alarm detection.

@INPROCEEDINGS{Freimann2015a, author = {A. Freimann and A. Kleinschrodt and M. Schmidt and K. Schilling}, Title = {Evaluation of a Delay-Tolerant Networking Approach for Inter-Satellite Communication in LEO for Time Sensitive Traffic Monitoring}, Author = {A. Freimann and A. Kleinschrodt and K. Schilling and H. D{\"o}bler and B. Scheuermann}, Booktitle = {10th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation}, Year = {2015} }

Coming Soon!

@ARTICLE{houshiar2015a, author = {H. Houshiar, D. Borrmann, J. Elseberg, A. Nüchter}, title = {A Study of Projections for Key Point Based Registration of Panoramic Terrestrial 3D Laser Scans}, booktitle = {Journal of Geo-spatial Information Science}, year = {2015}, pages = {11--31}, DOI = {10.1080/10095020.2015.1017913} }

This paper surveys state of the art image features and descriptors for the task of 3D scan registration based on panoramic reflectance images. As modern terrestrial laser scanners digitize their environment in a spherical way, the sphere has to be projected to a two-dimensional image. To this end, we evaluate the equirectangular, the cylindrical, the Mercator, the rectilinear, the Pannini, the stereographic, and the z-axis projection. We show that the Mercator and the Pannini projection outperform the other projection methods.

@inproceedings{Lampariello2015, address = {Big Sky, MT, USA}, author = {Lampariello, Roberto and Oumer, Nassir W. and Artigas, Jordi and Rackl, Wolfgang and Panin, Giorgio and Purschke, Ralf and Harder, Jan and Walter, Ulrich and Frickel, J{\"{u}}rgen and Masic, Ismar and Ravandoor, Karthik and Scharnagl, Julian and Schilling, Klaus and Landzettel, Klaus and Hirzinger, Gerd}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the IEEE Aerospace Conference}, doi = {10.1109/AERO.2015.7118944}, keywords = {FORROST}, mendeley-tags = {FORROST}, publisher = {IEEE}, title = {{FORROST: Advances in On-Orbit Robotic Technologies}}, year = {2015} }

Orbital robotics is receiving growing attention worldwide for applications in servicing and repositioning of partially or fully defective satellites. In this paper, we present the scope and main results of a four-year research project, which aimed at developing necessary robotic technologies for such applications. The scope is two-fold, since we address both the human-operated robotic operational mode, referred to in robotics as force-feedback teleoperation, as well as the alternative autonomous mode, for the specific task of approaching and grasping a free-tumbling target satellite. We present methodological developments and experimental as well as numerical validations in the fields of tele-communications, computer vision, robot and spacecraft control and system identification. The results of this work constitute important advances in the fundamental building blocks necessary for the orbital applications of interest.

@INPROCEEDINGS{leutert2015a, author = {F. Leutert, K. Schilling}, title = {Augmented Reality for Telemaintenance and -inspection in Force-Sensitive Industrial Robot Applications}, booktitle = {Conference on Embedded Systems, Computational Intelligence and Telematics in Control}, year = {2015}, DOI = {Coming Soon} }

Telematic solutions allow fast remote support in industrial robot work cells: Robotic experts can assist the local staff in work process modifications or tracking down errors without having to actually travel to the remote site. In order to be able to perform such teleinspection and telemaintenance tasks the operator needs to establish a data connection to the robot and get an understanding of the remote work process as well as of the transmitted data. This contribution introduces a telematic control system developed for remote monitoring and controlling of an industrial robot performing force-sensitive work applications. An Augmented Reality interface is proposed for intuitive representation of complex robotic data, allowing quick analysis of the current working cycle and process data and for altering the robot’s program remotely while still having a clear spatial reference to the work piece.

@article{nogueira2015a, address = {Berlin, Germany}, author = {Nogueira, Tiago and Scharnagl, Julian and Kotsiaros, Stavros and Schilling, Klaus}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 10th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation}, keywords = {4G,NetSat,formation,magnetic gradiometry,mission concept,nano-satellites,netsat}, mendeley-tags = {4G,NetSat}, publisher = {IAA}, title = {{A four nano-satellite formation for global geomagnetic gradiometry}}, year = {2015} }

This paper proposes a concept for a Global GeomaGnetic Gradiometry (4G) nano-satellite mission. The proposed concept makes use of a formation of four nano- satellites carrying vector magnetometers and flying in a Cartwheel-Helix formation at low altitude. The use of four satellites makes possible the simultaneous measurement of the geomagnetic gradients in all three directions (east-west, north-south and radial), and thus the realisation of a full gradiometry mission. The concept foresees the use of a miniaturised propulsion system for formation acquisition and maintenance, allowing not only to setup optimal formation geometries for optimal gradient retrieval but also to extend the mission lifetime at the targeted low altitude. The preliminary results of an end-to-end simulation are presented, and the gradient concept for NetSat-4G demonstrated. Given the constraints inherent to a nano-satellite platform, measurement performance is still, as expected, inferior to what can nowadays be achieved with larger and more expensive missions. Despite the disadvantages, the proposed concept is still considered pertinent as it would allow, for the first time, to implement a full geomagnetic gradiometry mission.

@INPROCEEDINGS{Rathinam2015, Title = { Structural Design, Integration of Micro Propulsion units and Thermal Analysis of UWE (University of Wurzburg’s Experimental Satellites) Platform }, Author = {Rathinam, A.; Bangert, P.; Bock, D; Pietzka, M.; Tajmar, M.; & Schilling, K.;}, Journal = {6TH EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR AERONAUTICS AND SPACE SCIENCES}, Year = {2015}, Keywords = {Pico-satellite}, City = {Krakow}, Country = {Poland}, }

Pico satellites have seen major technological advancements in recent years. Upcoming UWE mission objective is to demonstrate orbit manoeuvring capabilities combined with the precise attitude control using a micro propulsion system. This paper summarizes the thruster integration concepts, CAD design and analysis. Structural analysis is carried out using NX Nastran with the launch conditions and results are presented. Also, Orbital heating analysis was performed using NX Space Systems Thermal to study the thermal behaviour and results are validated against in-orbit data from predecessor UWE-3. Based on the results, generic design is qualified for launch and is expected to serve as a platform for future satellites.

@inproceedings{scharnagl2015a, author = {J. Scharnagl and L. Srinivasan and K. Ravandoor and K. Schilling}, title = {Automated Collision Avoidance for Rendezvous and Docking in Space }, booktitle = {Workshop on Advanced Control and Navigation for Autonomous Aeroespace Vehicles}, year = {2015}, pages = {239-244}, city = {Seville}, month = {June}, DOI = {10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.08.090} }

In this paper a collision avoidance system is presented that is especially designed for close range maneuver in space, like rendezvous and docking and on-orbit servicing. Based on relative position and orientation information from a visual sensor the future trajectory of an observed target spacecraft is predicted. Possible collisions on that trajectory are detected and, in the event of an imminent collision, the required velocity corrections (dV) to perform a collision avoidance maneuver to a safe hold point are calculated. In addition to that, approach corridor and velocity profile as well as minimum distance are considered as trigger criteria. dV computation is based on Hill-Clohessy-Wiltshire equations using specific constraints for intended hold point position on V-bar. The system has been implemented and tested in a hardware-in-the-loop setup at University of Würzburg that consists of two industrial manipulators holding a Photonic Mixer Device camera and a satellite mockup model.

@inproceedings{scharnagl2015b, author = {Scharnagl, Julian and Kleinschrodt, Alexander and Freimann, Andreas and Ravandoor, Karthik and Bangert, Philip and Srinivasan, Lakshminarasimhan and Schilling, Klaus}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 3rd IAA Conference on University Satellite Missions and CubeSat Workshop}, publisher = {IAA}, title = {{Nanosatellite Constellations for Large-Scale Railway Transportation Monitoring}}, year = {2015} }

In the recent past, large-scale railway transportation became increasingly important since it is more eco-friendly and more cost- efficient than transportation by sea or air. At present, the lack of system-optimization and reliability are key problems of railway transportation, especially in areas with poor infrastructure. Inter- continental trains need to travel through secluded areas, where only minimal area-wide mobile data communication is available at high costs. We propose a system using a constellation of nanosatellites for monitoring large scale railway transportation. Requirements are established for a nanosatellite platform including the corresponding payloads on the satellite and the cargo containers for trains. We also propose a concept for the design of a constellation of nano- satellites. Application driven monitoring scenarios with different degrees of coverage ranging from the observation of a single railway line (Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Beijing) to global cov- erage are discussed.

@article{Schilling2015a, author = {K. Schilling}, title = {THE UWE-ROADMAP TO PICO-SATELLITE FORMATION FLYING: IN-ORBIT EXPERIENCES}, journal = {Proceedings IWSCFF 2015 Delft}, year = {2015} }

@article{Schilling2015b, author = {K. Schilling}, title = {KOOPERIERENDE VERTEILTE PICO-SATELLITENSYSTEME}, journal = {Proceedings DWT Forum Unmanned Vehicles Bonn 2015}, year = {2015} }

@article{Schilling2015d, author = {K. Schilling}, title = {Innovation Potential by Small Satellites for Spacecraft Design}, journal = {„6th International Conference on Space Technology Innovation“}, month ={November}, year = {2015} }

@article{Schilling2015e, author = {K. Schilling}, title = {Small Satellite Formations for Earth Observation and Telecommunication}, journal = {„6th International Conference on Space Technology Innovation“}, month ={November}, year = {2015} }

@article{Schilling2015d, author = {K. Schilling and P. Bangert and S. Busch and S. Dombrovski and A. Freimann and A. Kleinschrodt and A. Kramer and T. Nogoueira and D. Ris and J. Scharnagl and T. Tzschichholz}, title = {NETSAT: A FOUR PICO/NANO-SATELLITE MISSION FOR DEMONSTRATION OF AUTONOMOUS FORMATION FLYING}, journal = {Proceedings 66. IAC Congress, Jerusalem IAC-15-D1.4.2}, year = {2015} }

@article{Schilling2015a, author = {K. Schilling}, title = {Winzlinge im Orbit}, journal = {Spektrum der Wissenschaft, Heft Mai (2015)}, volume = {Mai}, year = {2015}, pages = {48-51} }

@inproceedings{srini2015a, author = {L. Srinivasan and J. Scharnagl and C. Herrmann and K. Schilling}, title = {Adaptive teleoperation using intelligent dynamic voting}, booktitle = {Conference on Embedded Systems, Computational Intelligence and Telematics in Control}, year = {2015}, volume = {48}, pages = {111–116}, city = {Maribor}, month = {June}, DOI = {doi:10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.08.117} }

This paper addresses the design of an adative teleoperation framework for spatially displaced robotics. Although teleoperation controllers have been optimized and frameworks developed for single user single robot teleoperation, the same cannot be said for multi-user control of a single remote agent. Typical collaborative teleoperation consists of a group of people working on a single remote robotic system with a user voting interface to decide on the commands sent to the robot. These are majority based systems and just like in a democracy, problems occur. This research is focussed on a system that uses an intelligent and adaptive dynamic voting paradigm in order to enable adaptive teleoperation.

@inproceedings{srini2015b, author = {L. Srinivasan and P. Baier and C. Herrmann and J. Scharnagl and K. Schilling}, title = {Redefining voting to enable simultaneous multioperator robot navigation}, booktitle = {3rd IFAC Workshop on Internet Based Control Education }, year = {2015}, pages = {Coming soon}, city = {Brescia}, month = {November}, country = {Italy}, DOI = {10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.11.232} }

This paper details an algorithm where multiple users can simultaneously and efficiently operate on a single remote robot. Single user single robot remote operation is fairly advanced but multi-user operation is faced with many drawbacks, especially when users are spatially seperated and have no means of knowing what commands are being issued by other operators at the same time. This is a non-trivial problem and has so far always been solved using human intervention using built in voting mechanisms. This paper is focussed on using an intelligent voting algorithm which dynamically computes a vote based on operator commands without the need for any manual intervention. Extended results are documented and analysed.