We cordially invite you to the colloquium by Prof. Dr. Andreas Nüchter!
On November 07, 12:00 till 12:45 p.m., Prof. Dr. Andreas Nüchter, Chair for Robotics at the University of Würzburg and Visiting Professor at ENSTA – Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Vice President of the research company Zentrum für Telematik e.V., Scientific Director of the graduate school BayWISS Digitalisierung and Vice Director of the Graduate School of Science & Technology (GSST), will give a research Talk.
The research talk is dedicated to the topic:
Mixed-Media – Towards Precise 3D Scanning and Photogrammetry from Air into Water
Abstract:
The robotics group at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg explores sensing methods for a range of applications, from aerospace to underwater. This allows us to address tasks such as lunar exploration, mapping vegetation and fruit on earth, as well as underwater robotics inspection. High-accurate 3D reconstruction across media boundaries remains a significant challenge in optical metrology, particularly when scanning submerged objects through a dynamic, wavy water surface from air. Although scanning in a single medium or across a flat water surface is relatively well understood, wavy interfaces introduce complex nonlinear refractive distortions that require new modelling and correction strategies. We have developed a custom-designed, low-cost wave generator to produce controlled wave patterns in a laboratory tank, enabling repeatable experimentation under realistic conditions. We investigated structured light stereo vision using a dual-camera system with statistical light projection, evaluating stereo correspondence algorithms and demonstrating superior results with our enhanced BICOS implementation. To model wave-induced distortions, we introduce a nonlinear ray-tracing-based refraction model and novel disparity metrics -- refractive-plane and back-refractive disparities -- which are optimised using the Ceres solver. Our method successfully estimates both instantaneous and average water surfaces. All software components are open source, paving the way for the future development of full 3D laser scanning systems for submerged and partially submerged environments.
About the speaker:
Prof. Andreas Nüchter holds since 2022 the chair for robotics at the University of Würzburg and is visiting professor at ENSTA - Institut Polytechnique de Paris. He is vice president of the research company Zentrum für Telematik e.V. and scientific director of the graduate school BayWISS Digitalisierung and vice director of the Graduate School of Science & Technology GSST. Andreas studied computer science at the University of in Bonn and the Washington State University in Pullman from 1996 to 2002 and worked as a doctoral student at the Fraunhofer Institute for Autonomous Intelligent Systems (AiS, now IAIS) and as a research assistant at the University of Osnabrück until 2004. In 2006, he received his Dr. rer. nat. degree from the University of Bonn, took up a junior professorship at the private Jacobs University Bremen (now Constructor University) in 2009, and has been a professor at the University of Würzburg since 2013.
The event is free of charge. Interested individuals are warmly invited to attend!