Abstract: Symbol spotting problem requires feature extraction strategies able to generalize from training samples and to localize the target object while discarding most part of the image. In the case of document analysis, symbol spotting techniques have to deal with a high variability of symbols' appearance. In this paper, we propose the Circular Blurred Shape Model descriptor. Feature extraction is performed capturing the spatial arrangement of significant object characteristics in a correlogram structure. Shape information from objects is shared among correlogram regions, being tolerant to the irregular deformations. Descriptors are learnt using a cascade of classifiers and Abadoost as the base classifier. Finally, symbol spotting is performed by means of a windowing strategy using the learnt cascade over plan and old musical score documents. Spotting and multi-class categorization results show better performance comparing with the state-of-the-art descriptors.

Abstract: Error Correcting Output Codes (ECOC) have demonstrate to be a powerful tool for treating multi-class problems. Nevertheless, predefined ECOC designs may not benefit from Error-correcting principles for particular multi-class data. In this paper, we introduce the Separability matrix as a tool to study and enhance designs for ECOC coding. In addition, a novel problem-dependent coding design based on the Separability matrix is tested over a wide set of challenging multi-class problems, obtaining very satisfactory results.

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a precise synthetic ground truth dataset to study the problem of detection of the shadows cast by static objects in outdoor environments during extended periods of time (days). For our dataset, we have created a virtual scenario using a rendering software. To increase the realism of the simulated environment, we have defined the scenario in a precise geographical location. In our dataset the sun is by far the main illumination source. The sun position during the simulation time takes into consideration factors related to the geographical location, such as the latitude, longitude, elevation above sea level, and precise image capturing day and time. In our simulation the camera remains fixed. The dataset consists of seven days of simulation, from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Images are captured every 10 seconds. The shadows' ground truth is automatically computed by the rendering software.

Abstract: We propose to use deformable template matching as a new approach to recognize characters and lineal symbols in hand-written line drawings, instead of traditional methods based on vectorization and feature extraction. Bayesian formulation of the deformable template matching allows combining fidelity to the ideal shape of the symbol with maximum flexibility to get the best fit to the input image. Lineal nature of symbols can be exploited to define a suitable representation of models and the set of deformations to be applied to them. Matching, however, is done over the original binary image to avoid losing relevant features during vectorization. We have applied this method to hand-written architectural drawings and experimental results demonstrate that symbols with high distortions from ideal shape can be accurately identified.

Abstract: Segmentation of architectural floor plans is a challenging task, mainly because of the large variability in the notation between different plans. In general, traditional techniques, usually based on analyzing and grouping structural primitives obtained by vectorization, are only able to handle a reduced range of similar notations. In this paper we propose an alternative patch-based segmentation approach working at pixel level, without need of vectorization. The image is divided into a set of patches and a set of features is extracted for every patch. Then, each patch is assigned to a visual word of a previously learned vocabulary and given a probability of belonging to each class of objects. Finally, a post-process assigns the final label for every pixel. This approach has been applied to the detection of walls on two datasets of architectural floor plans with different notations, achieving high accuracy rates.

Abstract: Error Correcting Output Codes (ECOC) is a successful technique in multi-class classification, which is a core problem in Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning. A major advantage of ECOC over other methods is that the multi- class problem is decoupled into a set of binary problems that are solved independently. However, literature defines a general error-correcting capability for ECOCs without analyzing how it distributes among classes, hindering a deeper analysis of pair-wise error-correction. To address these limitations this paper proposes an Error-Correcting Factorization (ECF) method, our contribution is three fold: (I) We propose a novel representation of the error-correction capability, called the design matrix, that enables us to build an ECOC on the basis of allocating correction to pairs of classes. (II) We derive the optimal code length of an ECOC using rank properties of the design matrix. (III) ECF is formulated as a discrete optimization problem, and a relaxed solution is found using an efficient constrained block coordinate descent approach. (IV) Enabled by the flexibility introduced with the design matrix we propose to allocate the error-correction on classes that are prone to confusion. Experimental results in several databases show that when allocating the error-correction to confusable classes ECF outperforms state-of-the-art approaches.

Abstract: An exportable and robust system for turn control using only camera images is proposed for path execution in robot navigation. Robot motion information is extracted in the form of optical flow from SURF robust descriptors of consecutive frames in the image sequence. This information is used to compute the instantaneous rotation angle. Finally, control loop is closed correcting robot displacements when it is requested for a turn command. The proposed system has been successfully tested on the four-legged Sony Aibo robot.