[visionlist] Bio-inspired model of vergence eye movements

Dear Colleagues,

it is our pleasure to announce the release of a software that
implements a bio-inspired model for the control of vergence
eye movements.

http://ift.tt/2ocaHSU

The software can be used in for different purposes:
– as test-bed for the study of vergence eye movements,
– as a teaching tool to show vergence behaviour and its
implications,
– for the binocular coordination of a robotic stereo head.

The the robustness ad adaptivity of the bio-inspired approach
allows a control that is easily portable on stereo head with
different kinematic characteristics, and that is robust to
mechanical imprecision, as well as to changeable and
unpredictable lighting condition of real environments.

Features of the algorithm:
– Effective alignment of the eyes/cameras in the 3D space
(error < 0.2 deg)
– Control of both horizontal and vertical alignment of the
eyes/cameras
– Easy portability on binocular robotic platforms with
different geometries
– Real-time performance
– Software developed in C/C++ with OpenCV 3.3.1
– Compiled in Visual Studio 2012, Windows 10
– Portable to other IDEs (e.g., MinGW) and operative systems
(e.g., Linux)

The source code is provided with an application example that
loads a stereo pair from the Genoa Pesto Database (http://www.pspc.unige.it/genuapesto/index.html).

In the demo, the stereo pair is shown in anaglyph mode, and
the robot fixation is simulated by the user clicking with the
mouse cursor on the desired fixation point.
The vergence control is then computed at fixation and vergence
eye movements are simulated shifting the images proportionally
to the control.
If the control is working properly, the anaglyph at fixation.
image turns to gray scale

For a video of the demo click here: https://youtu.be/k6yDMyht184

For a video of the algorithm working on a iCub stereo head
click here: https://youtu.be/viO-SMzpHxo

Future work will be:
– Embed the control in a script to work in the iCub Simulator

– Port the code in Python

For questions, comments or suggestions you can reach the
authors.

Best regards,

    Agostino Gibaldi
        Mauricio Vanegas
            Andrea Canessa
                Silvio P. Sabatini

Reference publications:
Gibaldi, A., Vanegas, M., Canessa, A., & Sabatini, S. P.
(2017).
A portable bio-inspired architecture for efficient robotic
vergence control.
International Journal of Computer Vision, 121(2), 281-302.
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11263-016-0936-z

Gibaldi, A., Canessa, A., Chessa, M., Sabatini, S. P., &
Solari, F. (2011, October).
A neuromorphic control module for real-time vergence eye
movements on the iCub robot head.
In Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), 2011 11th IEEE-RAS
International Conference on (pp. 543-550).
  https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6100861/

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%%%%         A Portable Bio-Inspired Architecture for        
                           
%%%%           Efficient Robotic Vergence Control            
                            
%%%%
%%%%   
%%%%     Copyright (c) Sep. 2017                            
                       
%%%%     All rights reserved.                                
                    
%%%%    
%%%%     Authors: Agostino Gibaldi, Andrea Canessa, Silvio P.
Sabatini                
%%%% 
%%%%     PSPC-lab – Department of Informatics, Bioengineering,
                     
%%%%     Robotics and Systems Engineering – University of
Genoa                       
%%%%   
%%%%     The code is released for free use for SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH ONLY.        
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

%
%    Permission to use, copy, or modify this software and its
documentation
%    for educational and research purposes only and without
fee is hereby
%    granted, provided that this copyright notice and the
original authors'
%    names appear on all copies and supporting documentation.
This program
%    shall not be used, rewritten, or adapted as the basis of
a commercial
%    software or hardware product without first obtaining
permission of the
%    authors. The authors make no representations about the
suitability of
%    this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is"
without express
%    or implied warranty.
%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

%
%    This software serves for the control of binocular
coordination of
%       eye movements on a robotic stereo head
%
%    CREDITS:
%    Gibaldi, A., Vanegas, M., Canessa, A., & Sabatini, S.
P. (2017).
%    A portable bio-inspired architecture for efficient
robotic vergence
%    control. International Journal of Computer Vision,
121(2), 281-302.
%
%    Gibaldi, A., Canessa, A., Chessa, M., Sabatini, S. P.,
& Solari, F.
%     (2011, October). A neuromorphic control module for
real-time vergence
%    eye movements on the iCub robot head. In Humanoid Robots
(Humanoids),
%    2011 11th IEEE-RAS International Conference on (pp.
543-550). IEEE.
%
%     Kindly report any suggestions or corrections to
%    agostino.gibaldi@gmail.com

%
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