Currently, scientific study of animals in situ requires vigilant observation of detailed animal behavior over weeks or months. When animals live in remote and/or inhospitable locations, observation can be an arduous, expensive, dangerous, and lonely experience for scientists. The project proposes a new class of hybrid teleoperated/autonomous robotic "observatories" that allow groups of scientists, via the internet, to remotely observe, record, and index detailed animal activity. Such observatories are made possible by emerging advances in robotic cameras, long-range wireless networking, and distributed sensors.

This project will investigate the algorithmic foundations for such observatories: new metrics, models, data structures, and algorithms, that will comprise a robust, mathematical framework for collaborative observation. The project will build on past work to extend and formally characterize hybrid models of collaborative and automated observation that draw on computational geometry, stochastic modeling and optimization. The project will advance fundamental understanding of networked robotics and develop efficient algorithms for collaborative observation that combines human and sensor input. This effort is intended to benefit biological scientists and facilitate collaboration among researchers. It will produce working prototypes that will be accessible via the internet to scientists, students, and the public worldwide.

Updates, hardware designs, CAD models, schematics, source code, experimental data, and documentation will be  posted on this website as they emerge.

• CONE Welder
            Collaborative observatory to study bird range change in Welder Wildlife Foundation, Sinton, TX: launching in Mar. 2008

• CONE Sutro Forest  
            Collaborative observatory to identify birds in sutro forest, California, April 2007 to November 2007

• ACONE 1.0  
            Automated Observatory to assist in the search for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, Arkansas, Fall 2006

• CONE 1.0  
            Collaborative Observatory for Natural Environments, Audobon Nature Preserve, Mill Valley, CA, Fall 2005

1. Dezhen Song, Ni Qin, and Ken Goldberg, Systems, Control Models, and Codec for Collaborative Observation of Remote Environments with an Autonomous Networked Robotic Camera, Autonomous Robots, May 2008, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 435–449 [Download from Springer]

2. Dezhen Song and Ken Goldberg, Approximate Algorithms for a Collaboratively Controlled Robotic Camera, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 1061-1070 [Download from IEEE]

3. Dezhen Song, A Frank van der Stappen, and Ken Goldberg, Exact Algorithms for Single Frame Selection on Multi-Axis Satellites, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 1. January 2006, pp.16-28.[Download from IEEE].

4. Yiliang Xu, Dezhen Song, Jingang Yi, and A.Frank van der Stappen, An Approximation Algorithm for the Least Overlapping p-Frame Problem with Non-Partial Coverage for Networked Robotic Cameras, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Pasadena, CA, May 2008. [pdf 310k]

5. Ni Qin and Dezhen Song, On-Demand Sharing of a High-Resolution Panorama Video from Networked Robotic Cameras, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Oct, 2007, San Diego, CA [pdf 260k]

6. Dezhen Song and Ken Goldberg, Networked Robotic Cameras for Collaborative Observation of Natural Environments, The 12th International Symposium of Robotics Research (ISRR 2005), October 12th-15th, 2005, San Francisco, CA, USA [pdf 480k]

7. Dezhen Song, Ni Qin, and Ken Goldberg, A Minimum Variance Calibration Algorithm for Pan-Tilt Robotic Cameras in Natural Environments, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May. 2006, Orlando, Florida [pdf 250k]

8. Ni Qin, Dezhen Song, and Ken Goldberg, Aligning Windows of Live Video from an Imprecise Pan-Tilt-Zoom Robotic Camera into a Remote Panoramic Display, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May. 2006, Orlando, Florida [pdf 380k]

9. Dezhen Song, Qiang Hu, Ni Qin, and Ken Goldberg, Automating Inspection and Documentation of Remote Building Construction using a Robotic Camera, IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE) 2005,  August 1 & 2, 2005, Edmonton, Canada [pdf 550k]

10. Dezhen Song, A. Frank van der Stappen, and Ken Goldberg, An Exact Algorithm Optimizing Coverage-Resolution for Automated Satellite Frame Selection, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2004 [pdf 809k]

11. Dezhen Song, Algorithms and Systems for Shared Access to a Robotic Streaming Video Camera, Doctoral Symposium, ACM Multimedia 2003 (MM2003), Berkeley, California, Nov., 2003 [pdf  125k]

12. D. Song and K. Goldberg, ShareCam Part I: Interface, System Architecture, and Implementation of a Collaboratively Controlled Robotic Webcam, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 2003. [pdf 737k]

13. D. Song, K. Goldberg, and A. Pashkevich, ShareCam Part II: Approximate and Distributed Algorithms for a Collaboratively Controlled Robotic Webcam, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct.2003. [pdf 326k]

14. S. Har-Peled, V. Koltun, D. Song, and K. Goldberg, Efficient Algorithms for Shared Camera Control, In Proceedings of the 19th ACM Symposium on Computational Geometry, 2003. [pdf 380k]

15. D. Song, A.F. van der Stappen, and K. Goldberg, Exact and Distributed Algorithms for Collaborative Camera Control, the Fifth International Workshop on Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics. Nice, France, Dec 15~17, 2002. [pdf 600k]

"Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation."

Last modified: Friday Mar. 28 12:33:33 CDT 2008