Human Position Detection Based on Depth Camera Image Information in Mechanical Safety

The devices used for human position detection in mechanical safety mainly include safety light curtain, safety laser scanner, safety pad, and vision system. However, these devices may be bypassed when used, and human or equipment cannot be distinguished. To solve this problem, a depth camera is proposed as a human position detection device in mechanical safety. The process of human position detection based on depth camera image information is given; it mainly includes image information acquisition, human presence detection, and distance measurement. Meanwhile, a human position detection method based on Intel RealSense depth camera and MobileNet-SSD algorithm is proposed and applied to robot safety protection. The result shows that the image information collected by the depth camera can detect the human position in real time, which can replace the existing mechanical safety human position detection device. At the same time, the depth camera can detect only human but not mobile devices and realize the separation and early warning of people and mobile devices.

Augmented Reality in the Presentation of City Monuments: A Case Study of “Bielsko-Biała AR Guide” Mobile Application

Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the modern technologies used for sharing 3D geospatial data. This article presents possible ways of enriching a mobile application containing information about 50 objects located in the city of Bielsko-Biała with an AR functionality. The application was created in two programs: Android Studio and Unity. The application allows to get to know historical objects of the city, encourages to visit them by adding virtual elements observed in the background of a real-time camera image from a mobile device. The article presents the statistics of the application usage and the results of a survey conducted among a group of testers. Feedback from application testers confirms the validity of using AR technology in the application. ROZSZERZONA RZECZYWISTOŚĆ W PREZENTACJI ZABYTKÓW MIASTA: APLIKACJA „BIELSKO-BIAŁA PRZEWODNIK AR”, STUDIUM PRZYPADKU Rzeczywistość Rozszerzona (Augmented Reality – AR) jest jedną z nowoczesnych technologii wykorzystywanych do udostępniania danych przestrzennych 3D. W artykule przedstawiono możliwe sposoby wzbogacenia aplikacji mobilnej o funkcjonalność AR. Aplikacja zawiera informacje o 50 obiektach zlokalizowanych na terenie miasta Bielska-Białej i została stworzona w dwóch programach: Android Studio oraz Unity. Aplikacja pozwala na poznanie zabytkowych obiektów miasta oraz zachęca do ich zwiedzania poprzez dodanie wirtualnych elementów obserwowanych w czasie rzeczywistym na tle obrazu z kamery urządzenia mobilnego. W artykule przedstawiono statystyki użytkowania aplikacji oraz wyniki ankiety przeprowadzonej wśród grupy testerów. Informacje zwrotne od testerów aplikacji potwierdzają zasadność zastosowania technologii AR w aplikacji.

Development of Tele-Operated Underfloor Mobile Manipulator

In this study, we propose a tele-operated mobile manipulator for conducting underfloor work, including both inspection and repair. We focus on a caulking operation, and develop a mobile manipulator for finding and repairing cracks in a foundation. When designing the mobile manipulator, we consider a typical narrow underfloor environment, and perform detailed calculations. As a user interface, we furnish an image-pointing system for enabling us to operate the manipulator simply by clicking on a hand camera image. Then, we evaluate its performance based on navigation experiments, trajectory tracking experiments, and overall evaluation experiments.

Estimate the Amount of Disaster Waste Disposal Work Using In-Vehicle Camera Images – A Case Study in Hitoyoshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture –

In recent years, a wide-area disaster causing enormous damage has occurred almost every year in Japan. The authors have been involved in the management of disaster volunteer centers in various places and have realized the difficulty in coordinating the actual number of activities in disaster-stricken areas and the required number of disaster volunteers. The number of disaster volunteers required varies greatly on a daily basis. The number of volunteer activities often depends on the quantity of disaster waste created from damaged houses. Accordingly, if the quantity of waste was grasped immediately on the spot, the number of disaster volunteers required in the short term could be estimated. In this study, the actual conditions in Hitoyoshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture, at the time of the Heavy Rainfall in July 2020 are considered as an example, and the method is considered to immediately grasp the quantity of waste to be disposed of and the number of people required for this task. We compared the amount of waste disposal work estimated from the in-vehicle camera image with the number of active residents and volunteers. As a result, it was estimated that 40–50% of the work was carried out by volunteers at the peak of volunteer activities.