This work is a collection of front-end research papers on data fusion and perceptions. Authors are leading European experts of Artificial Intelligence, Mathematical Statistics and/or Machine Learning. Area overlaps with "Intelligent Data Analysis”, which aims to unscramble latent structures in collected data: Statistical Learning, Model Selection, Information Fusion, Soccer Robots, Fuzzy Quantifiers, Emotions and Artifacts.

This fundamental work explains in detail systems for active safety and driver assistance, considering both their structure and their function. These include the well-known standard systems such as Anti-lock braking system (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC) or Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). But it includes also new systems for protecting collisions protection, for changing the lane, or for convenient parking. The book aims at giving a complete picture focusing on the entire system. First, it describes the components which are necessary for assistance systems, such as sensors, actuators, mechatronic subsystems, and control elements. Then, it explains key features for the user-friendly design of human-machine interfaces between driver and assistance system. Finally, important characteristic features of driver assistance systems for particular vehicles are presented: Systems for commercial vehicles and motorcycles.

Multisensor Data Fusion: From Algorithms and Architectural Design to Applications covers the contemporary theory and practice of multisensor data fusion, from fundamental concepts to cutting-edge techniques drawn from a broad array of disciplines. Featuring contributions from the world’s leading data fusion researchers and academicians, this authoritative book: Presents state-of-the-art advances in the design of multisensor data fusion algorithms, addressing issues related to the nature, location, and computational ability of the sensors Describes new materials and achievements in optimal fusion and multisensor filters Discusses the advantages and challenges associated with multisensor data fusion, from extended spatial and temporal coverage to imperfection and diversity in sensor technologies Explores the topology, communication structure, computational resources, fusion level, goals, and optimization of multisensor data fusion system architectures Showcases applications of multisensor data fusion in fields such as medicine, transportation's traffic, defense, and navigation Multisensor Data Fusion: From Algorithms and Architectural Design to Applications is a robust collection of modern multisensor data fusion methodologies. The book instills a deeper understanding of the basics of multisensor data fusion as well as a practical knowledge of the problems that can be faced during its execution.

This thesis explores data fusion and distributed robotic perception through a series of theoretical developments, analyses and experiments. First, a GSF with component extended Kalman filters (EKF) is proposed as an approach to localize an autonomous vehicle in an urban environment with limited GPS availability. The GSF is used because of its ability to represent the posterior distribution of the vehicle pose with better efficiency (fewer terms, less computational complexity) than a corresponding bootstrap particle filter with various numbers of particles due to the interaction with measurement hypothesis tests. A series of in-depth empirical studies are performed using 37 minutes of recorded data from Cornell University's autonomous vehicle driven in an urban environment, including a 32 minute GPS blackout. Second, a distributed grid-based terrain mapping algorithm using Gaussian Mixture Models is developed for use in tree connected and arbitrary connected sensor networks. The distributed data fusion rules are developed that operates directly on the sufficient statistics summarizing the grid-cell height and uncertainty. The distributed grid-based terrain mapping algorithms is demonstrated in an experimental environment involving 8 autonomous robots operating in an indoor environment for 120 seconds. Third, an algorithm to segment 3D points in dense range maps generated from the fusion of a single optical camera and a multiple emitter/detector laser range finder is presented. The algorithm is demonstrated on data collected with the Cornell University DARPA Urban Challenge vehicle. Finally, two information theoretic procedures for fusing multiple distributions with unknown correlation are developed. The first approach developed is Entropy Weighted Chernoff fusion; this fusion procedure biases the WEP fusion weight towards the distribution with the lowest entropy. An information loss for the WEP conservative fusion rule is introduced and an approximation derived by computing the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the Naive Bayes and WEP fused distributions. The approximation is minimized for the second fusion approach: Minimum-Information-Loss fusion; the procedure generates the least conservative fused distribution in the family of WEP results. Experimental results include the fusion of multiple occupancy grid maps over an optimally connected sensor network, demonstrating consistent map estimates.

In the last few years the scientific community has realized that obtaining a better understanding of interactions between natural systems and the man-made environment across different scales demands more research efforts in remote sensing. An integrated Earth system observatory that merges surface-based, air-borne, space-borne, and even underground sensors with comprehensive and predictive capabilities indicates promise for revolutionizing the study of global water, energy, and carbon cycles as well as land use and land cover changes. The aim of this book is to present a suite of relevant concepts, tools, and methods of integrated multisensor data fusion and machine learning technologies to promote environmental sustainability. The process of machine learning for intelligent feature extraction consists of regular, deep, and fast learning algorithms. The niche for integrating data fusion and machine learning for remote sensing rests upon the creation of a new scientific architecture in remote sensing science that is designed to support numerical as well as symbolic feature extraction managed by several cognitively oriented machine learning tasks at finer scales. By grouping a suite of satellites with similar nature in platform design, data merging may come to help for cloudy pixel reconstruction over the space domain or concatenation of time series images over the time domain, or even both simultaneously. Organized in 5 parts, from Fundamental Principles of Remote Sensing; Feature Extraction for Remote Sensing; Image and Data Fusion for Remote Sensing; Integrated Data Merging, Data Reconstruction, Data Fusion, and Machine Learning; to Remote Sensing for Environmental Decision Analysis, the book will be a useful reference for graduate students, academic scholars, and working professionals who are involved in the study of Earth systems and the environment for a sustainable future. The new knowledge in this book can be applied successfully in many areas of environmental science and engineering.

The second edition of this handbook provides a state-of-the-art overview on the various aspects in the rapidly developing field of robotics. Reaching for the human frontier, robotics is vigorously engaged in the growing challenges of new emerging domains. Interacting, exploring, and working with humans, the new generation of robots will increasingly touch people and their lives. The credible prospect of practical robots among humans is the result of the scientific endeavour of a half a century of robotic developments that established robotics as a modern scientific discipline. The ongoing vibrant expansion and strong growth of the field during the last decade has fueled this second edition of the Springer Handbook of Robotics. The first edition of the handbook soon became a landmark in robotics publishing and won the American Association of Publishers PROSE Award for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics as well as the organization’s Award for Engineering & Technology. The second edition of the handbook, edited by two internationally renowned scientists with the support of an outstanding team of seven part editors and more than 200 authors, continues to be an authoritative reference for robotics researchers, newcomers to the field, and scholars from related disciplines. The contents have been restructured to achieve four main objectives: the enlargement of foundational topics for robotics, the enlightenment of design of various types of robotic systems, the extension of the treatment on robots moving in the environment, and the enrichment of advanced robotics applications. Further to an extensive update, fifteen new chapters have been introduced on emerging topics, and a new generation of authors have joined the handbook’s team. A novel addition to the second edition is a comprehensive collection of multimedia references to more than 700 videos, which bring valuable insight into the contents. The videos can be viewed directly augmented into the text with a smartphone or tablet using a unique and specially designed app. Springer Handbook of Robotics Multimedia Extension Portal: http://handbookofrobotics.org/