Date: 18 Aug 90 14:15:59-PST
From: Vision-List moderator Phil Kahn <Vision-List-Request@ADS.COM>
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Vision-List Digest	Sat Aug 18 14:15:59 PDT 90

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Today's Topics:

 Re: DataCube Users Group
 Hand-Eye Calibration for Laser Range Sensors
 Suppliers of real-time digital video equipment
 Post-Doc Postion in Medical Imaging, CAS at the Stanford Robotics Lab
 SIEMENS Job Announcement
 Proceedings for the AAAI-90 Workshop on Qualitative Vision
 NEW JOURNAL -SYSTEMS ENGINEERING- SPRINGER VERLAG

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 14 Aug 90 01:01:15 GMT
From: razzell@cs.ubc.ca (Dan Razzell)
Subject: Re: DataCube Users Group ???
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

There is a mailing list called

  <datacube-list@media-lab.media.mit.edu>.

To get on the list, send a message to

  <datacube-list-request@media-lab.media.mit.edu>.

      .^.^.      Dan Razzell <razzell@cs.ubc.ca>
     . o o .     Laboratory for Computational Vision
     . >v< .     University of British Columbia
  ____mm.mm____

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 14 Aug 90 15:47:19 EDT
From: Jean Lessard <sade%ireq-robot.UUCP@Larry.McRCIM.McGill.EDU>
Subject: Hand-Eye Calibration for Laser Range Sensors

    We are in the process of completing the installation of two
different laser range finders (one axis type) in our robotics lab. The
first one, having a working distance of 15 cm to 100 cm, with a field
of view of approx. 45 deg. and weighing 1.2 Kg, is intended to be
mounted on a PUMA-760 robot for telerobotics research applied to live
line maintenance and repair. The other one, more compact and with a
much smaller work distance, will be mounted on a custom designed 6 dof
robot which itself is mounted on a rail for turbine blade repair.

    I am looking for information and/or references on:

  1)	Sensor positioning and mounting on the robot. I expect
      difficulties with the sensor and wires causing limited robot
      movements, etc.

  2)	Hand-Eye calibration algorithms for this type of sensor. Are
      there any techniques developed to accurately link the sensor
      reference frame to the robot reference frame? Any good practical
      algorithms would be welcome.

Jean Lessard				      jlessard@ireq-robot.hydro.qc.ca
Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Quebec		     jlessard@ireq-robot.uucp
Varennes, QC, Canada   J3X 1S1
PHONE: +1 514 652-8136			               FAX:   +1 514 652-8435

------------------------------

Date:        Wed, 15 Aug 90 09:35:53 BST
From: Adrian F Clark <alien%sx.ac.uk@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
Subject:     Suppliers of real-time digital video equipment

Someone was recently asking about equipment for digitising image
sequences in real time.  Here at Essex we do a lot of work on coding
moving sequences, packet video and the like, and we have recently
looked at similar equipment.  Our choice came down to two:

1. the Abekas A60 (which we eventually chose and with which we're very
satisfied).  This is based on two parallel transfer discs and holds 30
seconds worth of digital video as luminance/chrominance (the latter
sampled at half the rate, as you'd expect).  There's also a four-disc
system which holds 60 seconds.  The A60 expects to input
CCIR601-format video, but Abekas sell the A20, which converts RGB to
CCIR601 in real time.  Just plug them together and you're away.  The
A60 outputs CCIR601, RGB or lum/chrom.  In terms of display, the
system is limited to the size of a standard TV frame (575x768), though
you can load and read smaller frames if you want.  The A60 is hosted
off Ethernet and supports rcp, rsh, etc, which makes it easy to
transfer image data to/from it.  The main disadvantage is that it's
very noisy -- keep it in a soundproofed room or invest in some ear
plugs at the same time.  In the UK, Abekas is at Portman House, 12
Portman Road, Reading, Berks, RG3 1EA.  Tel: +44 734-585421.  Fax: +44
734-597267.  They don't do educational discounts (boo, hiss).

2. DVS of Hannover (Abekas is US/UK, incidentally) sell a RAM-based
system which is more flexible (in terms of image sizes) than the A60.
However, when I looked at them, they couldn't hold anything like as
much as the A60 and were somewhat more expensive.  I don't have any
info to hand, not even an address, but I believe their systems came in
VME cages, so you stand a chance of interfacing one to a SparcStation.
Dunno about drivers, though.  If interested parties want to contact
DVS, mail me and I'll have a look for their address.

 Adrian F. Clark                                      JANET: alien@uk.ac.essex
 INTERNET: alien%uk.ac.essex@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk          FAX: (+44) 206-872900
 BITNET: alien%uk.ac.essex@ac.uk              PHONE: (+44) 206-872432 (direct)
 Dept ESE, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex, C04 3SQ, UK.

------------------------------

Date: 15 Aug 90 17:52:02 GMT
From: sumane@zsazsa.stanford.edu (Thilaka Sumanaweera)
Subject: Post-Doc Postion in Medical Imaging, CAS at the Stanford Robotics Lab

		  Post Doctoral Research Position
		Stanford Computer Aided Surgery Group
		       (Starting Fall, 1990)

	Summery:

	  The Stanford Computer Aided Surgery group, whose original 
	goal was to provide intelligent software tools for Stereotaxis 
	Surgery, is now moving onto new areas such as: Frameless 
	Stereotaxis Surgery, Geometric and Biomechanic Modelling of the 
	Spine, Stereotaxic Guided Clipping of AVM Feeders, Feature Space 
	Merging of MR and CT data and Robotic Manipulator Assisted 
	Stereotaxic Surgery. The systems developed at this group are now 
	being used at the Stanford Hospital during brain tumor retraction.

	In this group, we are concentrating on applying the techniques
	available in Computer Vision, Signal Processing and Robotics
        into medicine, especially surgery.

	The new Post-Doc has the following duties:
	  1). To carry out independant research in related areas and 
	      assist graduate students and surgeons in problem-solving.
	  2). Provide professional-quality systems administration support 
	      in maintaining the computer system which is being used at 
	      the operating room during surgery.
	  3). To facilitate building a set of state of the art surgical 
	      tools system which will be standard in the future.

	Requirements:
	  1). PhD in Computer Science, Electrical ENgineering, 
	      Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
	  2). Expertice in system building in Unix environment
	      in C, X-windows, LISP.
	  3). Start working in the Fall, 1990.
	  4). Some knowledge in medicine is a plus but not necessary.

	Our computer facilities include:
	  1). Silicon Graphics Personal IRIS 4D/25 machines.
	  2). SONY NEWS Networkstations.
	  3). Symbolics LISP machines.
	  4). DEC 3100 Workstations.
	  5). A fully equipped Computer Vision Lab.
	  6). Accessibility to General Electric MR and CT scanners.

	Please send your resume' to:
	 	Hiring Committee
		C/O Prof. Thomas O. Binford
		Post Doctoral Research Position in CAS
		Robotics Laboratory
		Computer Science Department
		Stanford University
		Stanford, CA 94305

		Internet: binford@cs.stanford.edu
		Fax:	  (415)725-1449

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 14 Aug 90 11:24:31 PDT
From: kuepper@ICSI.Berkeley.EDU (Wolfgang Kuepper)
Subject: SIEMENS Job Announcement

		IMAGE UNDERSTANDING and ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS

	The Corporate Research and Development Laboratories of Siemens AG, 
	one of the largest companies worldwide in the electrical and elec-
	tronics industry, have research openings in the Computer Vision 
	as well as in the Neural Network Groups. The groups do basic and 
	applied studies in the areas of image understanding (document inter-
	pretation, object recognition, 3D modeling, application of neural 
	networks) and artificial neural networks (models, implementations, 
	selected applications). The Laboratory is located in Munich, an 
	attractive city in the south of the Federal Republic of Germany.

	Connections exists with our sister laboratory, Siemens Corporate 
	Research in Princeton, as well as with various research institutes 
	and universities in Germany and in the U.S. including MIT, CMU and 
	ICSI.

	Above and beyond the Laboratory facilities, the groups have a 
	network of Sun and DEC workstations, Symbolics Lisp machines, 
	file and compute servers, and dedicated image processing hardware.

	The successful candidate should have an M.S. or Ph.D. in Computer 
	Science, Electrical Engineering, or any other AI-related or 
	Cognitive Science field. He or she should prefarably be able to 
	communicate in German and English.

	Siemens is an equal opportunity employer.

	Please send your resume and a reference list to
		Peter Moeckel
		Siemens AG
		ZFE IS INF 1
		Otto-Hahn-Ring 6
		D-8000 Muenchen 83
		West Germany
	e-mail: gm%bsun4@ztivax.siemens.com
	Tel. +49-89-636-3372
	FAX  +49-89-636-2393

	Inquiries may also be directed to
		Wolfgang Kuepper (on leave from Siemens until 8/91)
		International Computer Science Institute
		1947 Center Street - Suite 600
		Berkeley, CA 94704
	e-mail: kuepper@icsi.berkeley.edu
	Tel. (415) 643-9153
	FAX  (415) 643-7684

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 13 Aug 90 18:43:05 -0700
From: pkahn@deimos (Philip Kahn)
Subject: Proceedings for the AAAI-90 Workshop on Qualitative Vision

Copies of the proceedings from the AAAI-90 Workshop on Qualitative
Vision are available for $35 (in North America) and $45US
(international), and can be obtained by writing: 

	AAAI-90 Workshop on Qualitative Vision
	Advanced Decision Systems
	Mountain View, CA  94043-1230

When requesting a copy of the Proceedings, please make your check
(payable in US $) to Advanced Decision Systems (this includes postage
and handling), specify the complete mailing address to which the
proceedings should be mailed, and (if available) include your e-mail
address in case there are any questions or problems.


                AAAI-90 WORKSHOP ON QUALITATIVE VISION
                             July 29, 1990
                              Boston, MA

Qualitative descriptions   of  the visual  environment   are receiving
greater  interest in   the  computer  vision   community.  This recent
increase in interest  is partly due  to   the difficulties that  often
arise in  the   practical application  of  more  quantitative methods.
These quantitative  approaches tend  to be computationally  expensive,
complex and brittle.  They require constraints which limit generality.
Moreover inaccuracies in  the input  data do  not often  justify  such
precise methods.    Alternatively,   physical  constraints  imposed by
application domains  such as    mobile robotics and real-time   visual
perception  have prompted  the exploration  of  qualitative mechanisms
which require less  computation, have better response time,  focus  on
salient and relevant aspects of the  environment, and use enviromental
constraints more effectively.

The  one-day AAAI-90  Workshop on  Qualitative  Vision seeks  to bring
together   researchers  from different   disciplines  for   the active
discussion  of  the   technical  issues and   problems related  to the
development  of  qualitative  vision   techniques  to  support  robust
intelligent  systems.     The  Workshop   examines  aspects   of   the
methodology, the  description of  qualitative  vision  techniques, the
application of qualitative techniques  to visual domains  and the role
of qualitative vision  in  the building of robust intelligent systems.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 14 Aug 90 07:41:38 bst
From: eba@computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk
Subject: NEW JOURNAL -SYSTEMS ENGINEERING- SPRINGER VERLAG
Organization: Univ. of Wales Coll. of Cardiff, Dept. of Electronic & Systems Engineering

**** NEW JOURNAL *** NEW JOURNAL *** NEW JOURNAL *** NEW JOURNAL ****

             -----------------------------------------
             [     JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING    ]
             [    SPRINGER - VERLAG - INTERNATIONAL  ]
             -----------------------------------------

AIMS AND SCOPE

	The Journal of Systems Engineering will be a 
refereed academic journal which publishes both fundamental
and applied work in the field of systems engineering. 
Its aim will be to provide an active forum for 
disseminating the results of research and advanced 
industrial practice in systems engineering, thereby
stimulating the development and consolidation of this field.
	The scope of the journal will encompass all subjects
pertinent to systems engineering: systems analysis, 
modelling, simulation, optimisation, synthesis, operation,
monitoring, identification, evaluation, diagnosis, control 
etc. The journal will encourage the reporting of new 
theories, tools, algorithms, and techniques to support these
activities . It will also cover critical discussions of 
novel applications of systems principles and methods and 
of original implementations of different engineering systems,
including intelligent systems. 'Hard' and 'soft' systems from
all branches of engineering will be of interest to the 
journal. Papers on any systems aspects, from accuracy,
stability, noise inmunity, complexity, to efficiency, 
quality and reliability, will be considered.


ADDRESS

Please submit contributions to: 

	The Editor: Prof. D.T. Pham,
                    Journal of Systems Engineering,
                    University of Wales,
	       	    School of Electrical, Electronic and
                      Systems Engineering.
                    P.O. Box 904, Cardiff CF1 3YH,
                    United Kingdom
		    Tel. 0222- 874429
	            Telex 497368
		    Fax  0222- 874192 			  
 	            email  PhamDT@uk.ac.cardiff

------------------------------

End of VISION-LIST
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