CALL FOR PAPERS SPIE's 13th Annual International Symposium on Aerospace/Defense Sensing, Simulation and Controls 5-9 April 1999 Marriott's Orlando World Center Resort and Convention Center Orlando, Florida USA ENHANCED AND SYNTHETIC VISION 1999 (or03) ----------------------------------------- CONFERENCE CHAIR: Jacques G. Verly, MIT Lincoln Lab. PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Andrew K. Barrows, Stanford University Alberto Broggi, Univ. di Parma (Italy) Ernst D. Dickmanns, Univ. der Bundeswehr Muenchen (Germany) Thomas J. Meitzler, U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Jeffrey D. Radke, Honeywell Technology Ctr. Jens Schiefele, Technical Univ. Darmstadt (Germany) Harro von Viebahn, VDO Luftfahrtgeraete Werk (Germany) The focus of this conference is "situation awareness", for guidance, control, and navigation of air, land, sea, and other vehicles, typically under poor visibility, such as in adverse-weather conditions or at night. Also of interest are situation-awareness displays and related human factors (for manned vehicles) and automatic scene understanding (for unmanned vehicles). The term "Enhanced Vision (EV)" is now generally used when situation awareness is primarily achieved through the use of imaging sensors, such as Low-Light-Level CCD, FLIR, MMW radar, PMMW camera, etc. "Synthetic Vision (SV)" (although originally used in aviation to refer to what is now called EV) currently designates situation-awareness systems that create a synthetic/graphical view of the environment using database information and position/attitude information (INS, GPS, etc). Future systems will probably consist of a mix of EV and SV. For aviation applications, papers are sought on all aspects of EV and SV, including imaging sensors, 2D/3D/4D displays, image-processing, computer-vision, databases, human factors, etc. Also sought are papers describing the use of GPS for the creation of "tunnels in the sky" for all phases of flight. Papers on other applications of GPS for aviation applications, particularly for landing and approach, are also sought, whether or not an EV/SV connection presently exist. For automotive applications, papers are sought in the area of "enhanced driving", where human vision is enhanced primarily through inexpensive EV sensors and displays. Papers are also sought on all aspects of autonomous driving (primarily on roads), whether in good or bad visibility, including road/lane following, obstacle avoidance, etc. (To preserve the focus of the conference, papers on indoor robotics are not sollicited.) Papers on novel applications of EV/SV are also welcome, such as for rescue, surveillance, firefighting and military operations through smoke and obscurants. (Below, SV refers both to SV and EV.) Aviation Applications: * Past and current programs (e.g., ALG, APALS, AWARD, VERSATILE); lessons learned * Airlines and pilots' needs for, and views of, SVSs * Economics of SVs * SVS for manual and hands-off landing * Error budgets for SVS-based autoland * SVS sensors: LLL CCD, FLIR, MMW radar, PMMW camera, etc * Sensors' capabilities in haze, fog, rain, and snow * Characterization of airport surfaces at MMW and low grazing angles * Enhancement, geometric transformations, and feature extraction for SVS imagery * Fusion of SVS images and/or features * SVS displays (e.g., HUDs and HMDs) * Electronic windows in windowless cockpits * Line-drawing and photo-realistic displays * 3D/4D Flight guidance displays (e.g., "tunnel in the sky") * Matching of airport/runway/taxiway features * Extraction of vehicle dynamics from image sequences (runway, carrier deck) * Use of SVS measurements in flight management systems and autopilots * Fully-autonomous, computer-vision-based approach and landing * Approach/landing trajectory measurements by computer vision * Simulation of weather conditions and SVSs in flight simulators * Human factors for SVSs, HUDs, HMDs * SV for helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft (including wire detection) * SV for landing on aircraft/helicopter carriers * SV for hypersonic transports, e.g., in High Speed Research (HSR) program * SV for Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) * SV for runway and taxiway following, obstacle detection (e.g., runway incursions) * Terrain following and "Nap-Of-Earth (NOE)" operations * Night vision, including "color night vision" * Detection of dangerous weather (microbursts, windshears, etc) * Other vision-based Enhanced Situation Awareness Systems (ESAS) * SVS databases (terrain, obstacles, navigation aids, airports); acquisition, generation, verification, certification, formats, real-time aspects * All applications of GPS to aviation, with emphasis on approach, landing and "tunnels in the sky". * SV/GPS synergism * Automotive Applications: * Equivalent of above topics for land vehicles * "Enhanced driving" in poor visibility and at night * Evaluation and integration of HUDs and HMDs * Special headlights * Vision-based guidance of unmanned vehicles * Road/lane following, lane changing, obstacle detection/avoidance * Description of research vehicles and major demonstrations * Analysis of real-time constraints for vehicle driving * Vehicle navigation in unknown outdoor environments * Integration of specialized hardware on vehicles * Legal aspects. Abstract Submissions Information Abstract Due Date: 7 September 1998 Manuscript Due Date: 8 March 1999 *On-Site Abstract Due Date: *On-Site Manuscript Due Date: 24 August 1998 11 January 1999 To receive a complete Call for Papers via postal mail, or to request an Advance Technical Program for any of these conferences (when available), please contact SPIE. Phone: +1 360/676-3290. Fax: +1 360/647-1445. E-mail: OR99@spie.org For further information: http://www.spie.org/info/or http://www.spie.org/web/meetings/calls/or99/confs/or03.html