Friday, 21st February
Introduction to drones (Lecturer: Iason Karakostas, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be: a) remote controlled and b) fly semi-autonomously based on a predetermined flight path. UAV Categories are overviewed: fixed wing UAVs (airplanes), helicopters/multicopters, vertical take-off and landing fixed wing UAVs. UAV subsystems are presented, e.g., motors, sensors, autopilots, as well as UAV flight modes. UAV architectures, control and telemetry are also analyzed. Finally, UAV applications are overviewed, notably: recreation, photography video, research and science, building inspection, photogrammetry, smart agriculture and search/rescue..
Fixed-wing UAV aerodynamics and design (Lecturer: Dr. Pericles Panayiotou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: The lecture will address key issues related to fixed-wing UAVs aerodynamics and layout design, emphasising on the conceptual and preliminary design phases. The advantages of fixed-wing UAV configurations will be presented, along with the main design challenges and implications on operational and performance specifications.
Multiple drone system architecture and communications (Lecturer: Paraskevi Nousi, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: In this lecture, the overall system architecture for using multiple drones in cinematography will be presented. The hardware and software issues both for the on-drone system and for the ground station will be detailed. Communication issues will be reviewed. Finally, ROS implementation and integration issues will be reviewed.
High Capacity Fiber Wireless millimeter wave fronthaul links with flexible beamsteering to meet the 5G KPI network requirements. (Lecturer: Dr. Christos Vagionas, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: On the verge of the 5G era, the widespread use of smart mobiles and bandwidth hungry applications, such as 4K video streaming, immersive video conference, augmented reality etc, and emerging applications, e.g. Machine to Machine Communication and Internet of Things, have been driving a drastic transformation of the mobile networks towards meeting a stringent and widely varying set of Key Performance Requirements (KPIs). This promotes the use of millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies as well as more efficient optical transport technologies. In this lecture, an overview of 5G network requirements will be presented along with recent advances on Fiber Wireless links using V-band frequencies and Analog Radio over Fiber transport schemes.
Deep neural networks – CNNs (Lecturer: Sotirios Papadopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: From multilayer perceptrons to deep architectures. Fully connected layers. Convolutional layers. Tensors and mathematical formulations. Pooling. Training convolutional NNs. Initialization. Data augmentation. Batch Normalization, Dropout. Deployment on embedded systems, Lightweight deep learning.
Object Detection (Lecturer: Paraskevi Nousi, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: Object detection using deep neural networks, Detection as search and classification task, Detection as classification and regression task, Modern architectures for target detection, RCNN, Faster RCNN, YOLO, SSD, lightweight architectures, Data augmentation, Deployment, Evaluation and benchmarking.
Object Tracking (Lecturer: Iason Karakostas, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: Object tracking is a crucial component of many computer vision systems. Many approaches regarding face/object detection and tracking in videos have been proposed. In this lecture, video tracking methods using correlation filters or convolutional neural networks are presented, focusing on video trackers that are capable of achieving real time performance for long-term tracking on a UAV platform.
Saturday, 22nd February
Simultaneous localization and mapping (Lecturer: Dr. Ioannis Mademlis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: The lecture includes the essential knowledge about how we obtain/get 2D and/or 3D maps that robots/drones need, taking measurements that allow them to perceive their environment with appropriate sensors. Semantic mapping includes how to add semantic annotations to the maps such as POIs, roads and landing sites. The section Localization is exploited to find the 3D drone or target location based on sensors using specifically Simultaneous mapping and localization (SLAM). Finally, the Fusion in drone localization section describes the improving accuracy on localization and mapping in Multidrone to exploit the synergies between different sensors.
Imaging for drone safety (Lecturer: Efstratios Kakaletsis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: Safety issues as well as adherence to safety-related regulations are of ultimate importance for drones. Image, video and 3D data analysis techniques can be used as an aid for the automatic or semi-automatic handling of such issues. Examples include crowd detection in images or videos captured by drones (so as to avoid flying over or near crowds), potential emergency landing site detection using 3D terrain data or images, annotating or updating the safety-related annotations of a map (e.g. no-fly zones) etc. This lecture will try to provide an overview of the related issues as well as the solutions provided by the current state of the art.
Drone mission simulations (Lecturer: Charalampos Symeonidis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: Drone Simulations are mainly used in Multidrone for three tasks. The first task is to use simulations in order to characterize the optimal drone parameters for specific scenarios and shot types in term of viewing experience. Another task for carrying out drone simulations is to generate UAV large-scale training and test data. For these two cases Unreal Engine 4 had been chosen because of its the high-level graphics capabilities. Finally, simulations are very important in order to test the control and behavior of the overall system (drones, supervision station). In this case, Gazebo was chosen as the most appropriate environment.
Privacy protection, ethics, safety and regulatory issues (Lecturer: Dr. Vasileios Mygdalis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: In drone cinematography, privacy and data protection issues arise in many cases. For example, the protection of personal data must be ensured in the acquired video and/or images. All types of data stored in drones and ground infrastructure or transmitted over the air must be protected. Also, all data to be distributed must be anonymous in order to make it impossible to link acquired data to real people and so numerous of face detection obfuscation, face de-identification, human body de-identification and car plate de-identification methods must be examined. Furthermore, flight safety is an important issue that is tackled in reference to the European and national regulatory issues.
Autonomous Car Vision (Lecturer: Sotirios Papadopoulos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: In this lecture, an overview of the autonomous car technologies will be presented (structure, HW/SW, perception), focusing on car vision. Examples of autonomous vehicle will be presented as a special case, including its sensors and algorithms. Then, an overview of computer vision applications in this autonomous vehicle will be presented, such as visual odometry, lane detection, road segmentation, etc. Also, the current progress of autonomous driving will be introduced.
Highway Infrastructure Inspection (Lecturer: Dr. Ioannis Mademlis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Abstract: The condition assessment of road infrastructure is essential to ensure their serviceability while still providing maximum road traffic safety. This lecture presents an overview of techniques to inspect road infrastructure (pothole, big cracks, structural failures). Several techniques will be surveyed, e.g., based on robust stereo vision using drones. Highly efficient stereo matching, as well as depth image analysis algorithms will be presented. Such algorithms can be easily implemented on the embedded systems such as NVIDIA Jetson TX2 GPU.