AVM 2020 Call for Papers PDF

KEYNOTE: Automotive Camera Image Quality

This session is jointly sponsored by: Autonomous Vehicles and Machines 2020, and Image Quality and System Performance XVII.

Conference Welcome

AVM-001
LED flicker measurement: Challenges, considerations and updates from IEEE P2020 working group, Brian Deegan, Valeo Vision Systems (Ireland)

Brian Deegan is a senior expert at Valeo Vision Systems. The LED flicker work Deegan is involved with came about as part of the IEEE P2020 working group on Automotive Image Quality standards. One of the challenges facing the industry is the lack of agreed standards for assessing camera image quality performance. Deegan leads the working group specifically covering LED flicker. He holds a BS in computer engineering from the University of Limerick (2004), and an MSc in biomedical engineering from the University of Limerick (2005). Biomedical engineering has already made it’s way into the automotive sector. A good example would be driver monitoring. By analyzing a drivers patterns, facial expressions, eye movements etc, automotive systems can already tell if a driver has become drowsy and provide an alert.

KEYNOTE: Visibility

AVM-057
The automated drive west: Results, Sara Sargent, VSI Labs (United States)

Sara Sargent is the engineering project manager with VSI Labs. In this role she is the bridge between the client and the VSI Labs team of autonomous solutions developers. She is engaged in all lab projects, leads the Sponsorship Vehicle program, and the internship program. She contributes to social media, marketing & business development. Sargent brings sixteen years of management experience, including roles as engineering project manager for automated vehicle projects, project manager for software application development, president of a high powered collegiate rocket team, and involvement in the Century College Engineering Club, and the St. Thomas IEEE student chapter. Sargent holds a BS in electrical engineering from the University of St. Thomas.

KEYNOTE: Human Interaction

AVM-088
Regaining sight of humanity on the roadway towards automation, Mónica López-González, La Petite Noiseuse Productions (United States)

Mónica López-González is a multilingual English-French-Spanish-Italian-speaking cognitive scientist, educator, entrepreneur, multidisciplinary artist, and speaker. A firm believer in the intrinsic link between art and science, she is the cofounder and chief science and art officer at La Petite Noiseuse Productions.​ Her company’s work uniquely merges questions, methods, data, and theory from the visual, literary, musical and performing arts with the cognitive, brain, behavioral, health and data sciences. Her recognition as a particularly imaginative polymath by the Imagination Institute of the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center and her appearances as a rising public intellectual position her as a leading figure in building bridges across sectors and cultures. She has also most recently been a current Fellow and distinguished guest and speaker at the Salzburg Global Seminar in Salzburg, Austria. Prior to co-founding her company, López-González worked in the biotech industry as director of business development. She is the executive director of Business Development at Novodux and applies her business, scientific, and artistic acumen to digital challenges in healthcare and beyond. She has also simultaneously produced work as an accomplished artist since 2007 and exhibited her film photographs throughout Maryland and New York in both solo and group shows and premiered several films in various national festivals. Staunchly advocating for experiential, multidisciplinary, and multicultural learning, López-González has pioneered since 2009 a range of unique and popular STEAMM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics, medicine) courses for precollege to postgraduate students as faculty at Johns Hopkins University (United States), Peabody Institute, and Maryland Institute College of Art. A leading proponent of integrative science-art research, application, communication, and engagement within the scientific community, López-González has been a program committee member since 2015 for IS&T’s international Human Vision & Electronic Imaging conference and was the founding co-chair of its ‘Art & Perception’ session. She is a sought-after plenary and keynote speaker, panelist, consultant, adviser, and guest in various local, national, and international venues. Her work has been presented and published in a range of formats for various audiences, e.g., scientific papers, articles, abstracts, reports, posters, op-eds, presentations, workshops, novels, plays, videos, photographs, news/press releases, radio, and TV. López-González earned her BA in Psychology and French, and her MA and PhD in Cognitive Science, all from Johns Hopkins University (United States), a Certificate of Art in Photography from Maryland Institute College of Art, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University (United States) School of Medicine.

KEYNOTE: Quality Metrics

AVM-124
Automated optimization of ISP hyperparameters to improve computer vision accuracy, Doug Taylor, Avinash Sharma, Karl St. Arnaud, and Dave Tokic, Algolux (Canada)

PANEL: Sensors Technologies for Autonomous Vehicles

This session is jointly sponsored by: Autonomous Vehicles and Machines 2020, and Imaging Sensors and Systems 2020.

Imaging sensors are at the heart of any self-driving car project. However, selecting the right technologies isn't simple. Competitive products span a gamut of capabilities including traditional visible-light cameras, thermal cameras, lidar, and radar. Our session includes experts in all of these areas, and in emerging technologies, who will help us understand the strengths, weaknesses, and future directions of each. Presentations by the speakers listed below will be followed by a panel discussion.

Introduction: David Cardinal, ExtremeTech.com, Moderator

David Cardinal has had an extensive career in high-tech, including as a general manager at Sun Microsystems and co-founder and CTO of FirstFloor Software and Calico Commerce. More recently he operates a technology consulting business and is a technology journalist, writing for publications including PC Magazine, Ars Technica, and ExtremeTech.com.

LiDAR for Self-driving Cars: Nikhil Naikal, VP of Software Engineering, Velodyne

Nikhil Naikal is the VP of software engineering at Velodyne Lidar. He joined the company through their acquisition of Mapper.ai where he was the founding CEO. At Mapper.ai, Naikal recruited a skilled team of scientists, engineers and designers inspired to build the next generation of high precision machine maps that are crucial for the success of self-driving vehicles. Naikal developed his passion for self driving technology while working with Carnegie Mellon University’s Tartan Racing team that won the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007 and honed his expertise in high precision navigation while working at Robert Bosch research and subsequently Flyby Media, which was acquired by Apple in 2015. Naikal holds a PhD in electrical engineering from UC Berkeley, and a Masters in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Challenges in Designing Cameras for Self-driving Cars: Nicolas Touchard, VP of Marketing, DXOMARK

Nicolas Touchard leads the development of new business opportunities for DXOMARK, including the recent launch of their new Audio Quality Benchmark, and innovative imaging applications including automotive. Starting in 2008 he led the creation of dxomark.com, now a reference for scoring the image quality of DSLRs and smartphones. Prior to DxO, Nicolas spent 15+ years at Kodak managing international R&D teams, where he initiated and headed the company's worldwide mobile imaging R&D program.

Using Thermal Imaging to Help Cars See Better: Mike Walters, VP of Product Management for Thermal Cameras, FLIR Systems

Abstract: The existing suite of sensors deployed on autonomous vehicles today have proven to be insufficient for all conditions and roadway scenarios. That’s why automakers and suppliers have begun to examine complementary sensor technology, including thermal imaging, or long-wave infrared (LWIR). This presentation will explore and show how thermal sensors detect a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum compared to other existing sensors, and thus are very effective at detecting living things, including pedestrians, and other important roadside objects in challenging conditions such as complete darkness, in cluttered city environments, in direct sun glare, or in inclement weather such as fog or rain.

Mike Walters has spent more than 35 years in Silicon Valley, holding various executive technology roles at HP, Agilent Technologies, Flex and now FLIR Systems Inc. Mike currently leads all product management for thermal camera development, including for autonomous automotive applications. Mike resides in San Jose and he holds a masters in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Radar's Role: Greg Stanley, Field Applications Engineer, NXP Semiconductors

Abstract: While radar is already part of many automotive safety systems, there is still room for significant advances within the automotive radar space. The basics of automotive radar will be presented, including a description of radar and the reasons radar is different from visible camera, IR camera, ultrasonic and lidar. Where is radar used today, including L4 vehicles? How will radar improve in the no-too-distant future?

Greg Stanley is a field applications engineer at NXP Semiconductors. At NXP, Stanley supports NXP technologies as they are integrated into automated vehicle and electric vehicle applications. Prior to joining NXP, Stanley lived in Michigan where he worked in electronic product development roles at Tier 1 automotive suppliers, predominately developing sensor systems for both safety and emissions related automotive applications.

Tales from the Automotive Sensor Trenches: Sanjai Kohli, CEO, Visible Sensors, Inc.

Abstract: An analysis of markets and revenue for new tech companies in the area of radar sensors for automotive and robotics.

Sanjai Kohli has been involved in creating multiple companies in the area of localization, communication, and sensing. Most recently Visible Sensors. He has been recognized for his contributions in the industry and is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Auto Sensors for the Future: Alberto Stochino, Founder and CEO, Perceptive

Abstract: The sensing requirements of Level 4 and 5 autonomy are orders of magnitude above the capability of today’s available sensors. A more effective approach is needed to enable next-generation autonomous vehicles. Based on experience developing some of the world most precise sensors at LIGO, AI silicon at Google, and autonomous technology at Apple, Perceptive is reinventing sensing for Autonomy 2.0.

Alberto Stochino is the founder and CEO of Perceptive, a company that is bringing cutting edge technology first pioneered in gravitational wave observatories and remote sensing satellites into autonomous vehicles. Stochino has a PhD in physics for his work on the LIGO observatories at MIT and Caltech. He also built instrumental ranging and timing technology for NASA spacecraft at Stanford and the Australian National University. Before starting Perceptive in 2017, Stochino developed autonomous technology at Apple.

KEYNOTE: Image Processing

AVM-262
Deep image processing, Vladlen Koltun, Intel Labs (United States)

Vladlen Koltun is the chief scientist for Intelligent Systems at Intel. He directs the Intelligent Systems Lab, which conducts high-impact basic research in computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and related areas. He has mentored more than 50 PhD students, postdocs, research scientists, and PhD student interns, many of whom are now successful research leaders.