Visual Computing

Visual Computing combines established and scientific methods for position determination, tracking technologies and machine learning to drive the following innovations:

Systems with higher-value perception and assistance options
Smart devices and tools
Collaborating robots

Our current research focuses on spatial augmented reality for assembly assistance systems and a versatile perception system ‘AssemblyEye‘.

Our competences and main topics

We are a technology-enthusiastic team with competences in different fields (machine vision, parallel computing, deep neuronal networks, embedded systems, mechatronics, software engineering).

We offer solution competences with latest technologies and support our customers in the conception phase, in the proof-of-concept and in the product development of their innovations.
Our software extends existing (often imaging based) hardware components (e. g. 3D sensors, 2D sensors, inertial systems, tracking devices, wearables, …) and increases the potential and application possibilities of these basic technologies.
The resulting higher-value, partially disruptive technology is above the state of the art and lays the foundation for the innovations mentioned above.

It’s particularly important to us,

encapsulate the necessary complexity (such as the processing of sensor data, real-time capability through parallel data processing) in controllable modules and
to develop technology that is easy to use and integrate, and works in the real world so that new products can be created.

Visual computing developments are largely application independent. We are interested in applications arising from this. We are particularly pleased if our developments are not only used in a specific application context, but also in several application fields / domains to benefit our customers.

Projects

Automated visual quality inspection (AVQI) is essential for the production of high-quality goods. However, industrial companies often find that setting them up is time-consuming, error-prone and costly. They inevitably lead to unnecessary waste of resources and high energy consumption. The technical...+

FlexSpect.AI

Platform-based AI System for Human Motion Analysis to optimize Ergonomics of Hybrid Work Systems in Industry In the Hybrid Work Systems project, an extended, standardized and formal layer model of industrial processes is being developed, which can be used to describe joining processes, assistance st...+

Hybrid Work Systems

The international research project Teaming.ai with 15 partners, concerns the interaction of man and machine as a team. The goal is to achieve true teaming through a novel software framework. For example, AI systems can easily perform repetitive tasks with high accuracy, while humans find it easier t...+

Teaming.Ai

The aim of this international research project with six partners, is to create a high universal applicable construction site robot. Although the planned robot can be assembled from individual modules, it should be able to carry the heaviest loads. In addition to transporting components, it is also i...+

Concert

Which production step is the individual employee currently in? How does he/she act at assembly stations and workbenches and with what strategy does he/she solve a task? What work routes does he/she have, how quickly does he/she walk, what ergonomic strain does he/she have? The more flexible and unpr...+

Assembly Eye

Industrial Use Case – Location aware tablet & Medical Use Case – Projection based assistance Visual Augmented Reality Assistant for Spatial Mapping VizARd bridges the gap between the output of a digital planning step and the mapping onto real world objects. Static and/or mobile AR de...+

Vizard

Brain surgeries are very challenging and difficult interventions. They are only possible with the help of high technology and exceptional cognitive and motor skills of neurosurgeons. The project "Medical EDUcation in Surgical Aneurysm clipping (MEDUSA)" creates an innovative training and planning pl...+

Medusa

The research project InstructMe deals with the issues of a highly raising variance and volatility in production and aims the reduction of planning and executing new production processes. Coincidentally also the operational knowledge of experienced workers and experts should be passed and conserved b...+

InstructMe

The enormous increase in the number of variants and complexity in industrial products leads inevitably to a cost explosion at the industrial assembly process: Because of the high number of variants the assembly tasks have to be carried out manually. For example, for engine assembly it takes up to a ...+

ShowMe

An essential part of machine manufacturing is the interplay between construction and production. Often this connection leaks information in both ways: the construction team changes details in the last minute, while in production things are mounted in a different order or way as it was intended. With...+

SIAM

IMP explores new methods and tools for improving maintenance planning and execution in highly demanding and complex production systems by intuitively guiding, supervising and optimised scheduling. This includes the following priorities: (1) detection and classification of maintenance tasks from the ...+

IMP

Publications

Publications in peer reviewed Journals

Matthias Plasch, Gerhard Ebenhofer, Michael Hofmann, Martijn Rooker , Sharath Chandra Akkaladevi, Andreas Pichler, “Workspace Sharing Assembly Robots: Applying IEC 61499 to System Integration and Application Development“, in Distributed Control Applications – Guidelines, Design Patterns, and Application Examples with the IEC 61499, Alois Zoitl and Thomas Strasser, Eds. Florida, CRC Press, 2015, Ch.18, pp. 397 – 422. ISBN: 13: 978-1-4822-5905-6 (Hardback)

Strasser, M. Rooker, G. Ebenhofer, A. Zoitl; Standardized Dynamic Reconfiguration of Control Applications in Industrial Systems, International Journal of Applied Industrial Engineering (IJAIE), DOI: 10.4018/ijaie.2014010104

Strasser, M. Rooker, G. Ebenhofer; An IEC 61499 Distributed Concept for Reconfigurable Robots, International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology 01/2011; 3:344-359. DOI: 10.1504/IJCAET.2011.040052

Contributed talks at international conferences

Christoph Heindl, Sharath Chandra Akkaladev, Harald Bauer; Capturing Photo-realistic and Printable 3D Models Using Low-Cost Hardware, 12th International Symposium on Visual Computing December 12-14, 2016 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Gerhard Ebenhofer, Markus Ikeda, Andreas Huber and Astrid Weiss; User-centered Assistive Robotics for Production – The AssistMe Project, ÖAGM/ARW 2016, University of Applied Sciences, Wels, Austria

Sharath Akkaladevi, Martin Ankerl, Gerald Fritz, Andreas Pichler; Real-time tracking of rigid objects using depth data, ÖAGM/ARW 2016, University of Applied Sciences, Wels, Austria

*Andreas Pichler, Christoph Heindl, Harald Bauer, Jürgen Minichberger, Markus Ikeda *; Flexible 3D Bildverarbeitung als Grundlage für Autonome Industrieroboter, Tagungsband IFM, Winterthur

Sharath Akkaladevi, Christoph Heindl, Alfred Angerer, Juergen Minichberger; Action Recognition for Industrial Applications using Depth Sensors, http://www.roboticsworkshop.at/Austrian Robotic Workshop 2015 http://www.roboticsworkshop.at/, Klagenfurt, Austria

Sharath Akkaladevi, Christoph Heindl; Action Recognition for Human Robot Interaction in Industrial Applications, 2015 IEEE International Conference on Computer Graphics, Vision and Information Security ( IEEE CGVIS), Bhubhaneswar, Odisha, India (DOI: 10.1109/CGVIS.2015.7449900)

Sharath Akkaladevi, Martin Ankerl, Christoph Heindl, Andreas Pichler; Tracking multiple rigid symmetric and non-symmetric objects in real-time using depth data, ICRA 2016 – IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Stockholm, Sweden

Kopf, C. Heindl, H. Bauer, A. Pichler; ReconstructMe – Towards a Full Autonomous Bust Generator, 5th International Conference and Exhibition on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland

Kai Zhou, Gerhard Ebenhofer, Christian Eitzinger, Uwe Zimmermann, Jose Navarro Oriol, Luis Perez Castano, Manuel Alejandro Fernandez Hernandez, Christoph Walter, Jose Saenz; Mobile Manipulator Is Coming To Aerospace Manufacturing Industry, 12th edition of the IEEE International Symposium on RObotic and Sensors Environments (ROSE 2014), Timisoara, Romania

Matthias Plasch, Michael Hofmann, Gerhard Ebenhofer, Martijn Rooker; Reduction of Development Time by Using Scriptable IEC 61499 Function Blocks in a Dynamically Loadable Type Library, 19th IEEE conference on Emerging Technologies & Factory Automation, Barcelona, Spain

Gerold Huber, Markus Ikeda, Michael Hofmann, Christoph Heindl, Andreas Pichler; Full Autonomous Quadcopter for Indoor 3D Reconstruction, Austrian Robotics Workshop 2014, Linz, Austria

Kopf, C. Heindl, M. Rooker, H. Hbauer, A. Pichler; A Portable, Low-Cost 3D Body Scanning System, 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Long Beach CA, USA

Andreas Pichler, Martijn Rooker, Alfred Angerer, Jose Capco, Christoph Heindl, Aitor Olarra, Elena Fuentes, Christian Wögerer; Flexible Grasping of Electronic Consumer Goods, 23rd International Conference on Flexible Automation & Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM 2013), Porto, Portugal

Barattini, C. Morand, I. Almajai, N. Robertson, J. Hopgood, P. Ferrara, M. Bonasso, C. Strassmair, M. Rottenbacher, M. Staehr, R. Neumann, M. Tornari, A. Rovetta, M. Plasch, H. Bauer, C. Woegerer, A. Pichler; Towards Tailor made Robot Co Workers based on a Plug&Produce Framework, IEEE International Symposium on Assembly and Manufacturing” (ISAM 2013), Xi’an, China

Plasch, G. Ebenhofer, M. Hofmann, H. Bauer, C. Wögerer, M. Rooker, A. Pichler; Ein modulares Roboterassistenzsystem zur Effizienzsteigerung in der Produktion, Internationales Mechatronikforum (IFM 2013), Winterthur, Switzerland

Alois Zoitl, Gerhard Ebenhofer, Michael Hofmann; Developing a Monitoring Infrastructure for IEC 61499 Devices, 18th IEEE conference on Emerging Technologies & Factory Automation, Cagliari, Italy

Gerhard Ebenhofer, Harald Bauer, Matthias Plasch, Sebastian Zambal, Sharath Chandra Akkaladevi, Andreas Pichler; A System Integration Approach for Service-Oriented Robotics, 18th IEEE conference on Emerging Technologies & Factory Automation, Cagliari, Italy

Alois Zoitl, Thomas Streasser, Gerhard Ebenhofer; Developing Modular Reusable IEC 61499 Control Applications with 4DIAC, 11th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics, Bochum, Germany

Pichler, P. Barattini, C. Morand, I. Almajai, N. Robertson, J. Hopgood, P. Ferrara, M. Bonasso, C. Strassmair, M. Rottenbacher, M. Staehr, R. Neumann, M. Tornari, A. Rovetta, M. Plasch, H. Bauer, C. Woegerer; Tailor made Robot Co Workers based on a Plug&Produce Framework, 23rd International Conference on Flexible Automation & Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM 2013), Porto, Portugal

*Andreas Pichler, Christoph Heindl, Harald Bauer, Jürgen Minichberger, Markus Ikeda *; Flexible 3D Bildverarbeitung als Grundlage für Autonome Industrieroboter, Tagungsband IFM, Winterthur

Matthias Plasch, Andreas Pichler, Martijn Rooker, Gerhard Ebenhofer; Ein Modell-basierte Plug&Produce Ansatz für Roboterassistenzsysteme in der Produktion, Internationales Forum Mechatronik 2012, Zillertal, Austria

Gerhard Ebenhofer; IEC 61499 Coordinated Object Pose Recognition using ReconstructMe Technology, Third 4DIAC User’s Workshop, 17th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies & Factory Automation, Krakow, Poland

Gerhard Ebenhofer; Automatic Generation of IEC 61499 Applications based on Workflow Models, Third 4DIAC User’s Workshop, 17th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies & Factory Automation, Krakow, Poland

Matthias Plasch, Andreas Pichler, Harald Bauer, Martijn Rooker, Gerhard Ebenhofer; A Plug & Produce Approach to Design Robot Assistants in a Sustainable Manufacturing Environment, 22nd International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM 2012), Helsinki, Finland

Strasser, G. Ebenhofer, M. Rooker, I. Hegny; Domain-Specific Design of Industrial Automation and Control Systems: The MEDEIA Approach, 10th IFAC Workshop on Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS’10), Lisbon, Portugal

Wenger M., Froschauer R., Zoitl A., Rooker M., Ebenhofer G., Strasser T.; Model-driven Engineering of Networked Industrial Automation Systems, INDIN 2010, Osaka (Japan)

Schimmel A., Froschauer R., Rooker M., Ebenhofer G.; Model-Driven Communication Routing in Industrial Automation and Control Systems, INDIN 2010, Osaka (Japan)

Andreas Pichler, Martin Ankerl; User Centered Framework for Intuitive Robot Programming, IEEE International Workshop on Robotic and Sensors Environments (ROSE 2010), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Andreas Pichler, Markus Ikeda, Martin Ankerl; Eine neue Generation von Robotic Workers für autonomes Greifen, Tagungsband IFM, Winterthur

Thomas Strasser, Kurt Fessl, Alexander Hämmerle, Martin Ankerl; Rapid Reconfiguration of Machine-Tools for Holonic Manufacturing Systems, 16th IFAC World Congress, Prague, Czech Republic