This paper introduces an innovative approach for the autonomous landing of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using only a front-facing monocular camera, therefore obviating the requirement for depth estimation cameras. Drawing on the inherent human estimating process, the proposed method reframes the landing task as an optimization problem. The UAV employs variations in the visual characteristics of a specially designed lenticular circle on the landing pad, where the perceived color and form provide critical information for estimating both altitude and depth. Reinforcement learning algorithms are utilized to approximate the functions governing these estimations, enabling the UAV to ascertain ideal landing settings via training. This method's efficacy is assessed by simulations and experiments, showcasing its potential for robust and accurate autonomous landing without dependence on complex sensor setups. This research contributes to the advancement of cost-effective and efficient UAV landing solutions, paving the way for wider applicability across various fields.

Display photometric stereo uses a display as a programmable light source to illuminate a scene with diverse illumination conditions. Recently, differentiable display photometric stereo (DDPS) [1] demonstrated improved normal reconstruction accuracy by using learned display patterns. However, DDPS faced limitations in practicality, requiring a fixed desktop imaging setup using a polarization camera and a desktop-scale monitor. In this paper, we propose a more practical physics-based photometric stereo, differentiable mobile display photometric stereo (DMDPS), that leverages a mobile phone consisting of a display and a camera. We overcome the limitations of using a mobile device by developing a mobile app and method that simultaneously displays patterns and captures high-quality HDR images. Using this technique, we capture real-world 3D-printed objects and learn display patterns via a differentiable learning process. We demonstrate the effectiveness of DMDPS on both a 3D printed dataset and a first dataset of fallen leaves. The leaf dataset contains reconstructed surface normals and albedos of fallen leaves that may enable future research beyond computer graphics and vision. We believe that DMDPS takes a step forward for practical physics-based photometric stereo.

The ICRA conference is celebrating its $40^{th}$ anniversary in Rotterdam in September 2024, with as highlight the Happy Birthday ICRA Party at the iconic Holland America Line Cruise Terminal. One month later the IROS conference will take place, which will include the Earth Rover Challenge. In this challenge open-world autonomous navigation models are studied truly open-world settings. As part of the Earth Rover Challenge several real-world navigation sets in several cities world-wide, like Auckland, Australia and Wuhan, China. The only dataset recorded in the Netherlands is the small village Oudewater. The proposal is to record a dataset with the robot used in the Earth Rover Challenge in Rotterdam, in front of the Holland America Line Cruise Terminal, before the festivities of the Happy Birthday ICRA Party start.

State estimation is a critical foundational module in robotics applications, where robustness and performance are paramount. Although in recent years, many works have been focusing on improving one of the most widely adopted state estimation methods, visual inertial odometry (VIO), by incorporating multiple cameras, these efforts predominantly address synchronous camera systems. Asynchronous cameras, which offer simpler hardware configurations and enhanced resilience, have been largely overlooked. To fill this gap, this paper presents VINS-Multi, a novel multi-camera-IMU state estimator for asynchronous cameras. The estimator comprises parallel front ends, a front end coordinator, and a back end optimization module capable of handling asynchronous input frames. It utilizes the frames effectively through a dynamic feature number allocation and a frame priority coordination strategy. The proposed estimator is integrated into a customized quadrotor platform and tested in multiple realistic and challenging scenarios to validate its practicality. Additionally, comprehensive benchmark results are provided to showcase the robustness and superior performance of the proposed estimator.

For the money, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better three-channel dash cam system than Viofo's A229 Plus 3-channel. Strong 1440p front and rear captures, GPS, phone connectivity, and voice control are just some of the highlights. If you want maximum video coverage of your vehicle and its surroundings, you need a three-channel system such as Viofo's $280 A229 Plus 3ch. Its front, cabin, and rear cameras capture just about everything not blocked by your vehicle's roof pillars, and with colorful detail. Further reading: See our roundup of the best dash cams to learn about competing products.

The Papago GoSafe S810 camera duo has more "safety" features than you can shake a stick at, including one I'd never even considered--stop sign recognition. It recognizes stop signs and pops the digital equivalent up on its display. Kind of fun, but as I'm wont to say: If you need this stuff, call a cab or wait for self-driving vehicles. Admonishment aside, the $170 S810 is more than just fancy features. It takes very, very good day and night video, and the rear camera, unlike some we've seen recently, actually captures enough detail to be useful.

The Google Pixel Slate isn't the first Chrome tablet, but it's setting new standards for what a Chrome tablet can be. Announced Tuesday at Google's Made By Google Launch event in New York, the Pixel Slate "isn't a laptop trying to be a tablet," said Google's Trond Wuellner, "or a tablet that's really a phone pretending to be a computer." The Pixel Slate shows how Google's trying to evolve Chrome OS from its original desktop aspirations. The Pixel Slate brings together touch, pen, and voice input in a compact, versatile form factor. The Pixel Slate also looks as gorgeous as an Apple iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab S. We've highlighted below the important specs and most intriguing new features that we know so far.

Lenovo Smart Display is Google's play against Amazon's Echo Show. If the Google Assistant is primed to compete against Amazon's Alexa in a game of "show and tell," it has its work cut out for it. Beginning this weekend, Lenovo becomes the first of Google's consumer tech partners to bring out a Google Smart Display smart speaker, which has a screen to visually complement whatever you ask the Google Assistant, woken up with a familiar "OK Google" or "Hey Google" voice command. In so doing, Google (via Lenovo) is pitted against its most obvious direct competitor, the Echo Show from Amazon, which was the first of the Alexa-based smart speakers to add a display. I was able to use the Lenovo Smart Display to surface my Google Calendar and Google Photos, watch news from CNN and Reuters, set timers, play music on Spotify, make a video call through the Google Duo app, and check out YouTube videos on such topics as making sushi. As with the Google Home speakers without a screen, you can use Smart Displays to control such things as your Nest thermostats and Philips Hue lightbulbs.

Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG), the global smartphone giant, has announced the launch of its new HUAWEI nova 3 and HUAWEI nova 3i in the UAE. Both smartphones are powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its overall functioning and camera features. With dual front camera (24MP 2MP), users can expect the best-in-technology'selfie' that a smartphone can offer. HUAWEI nova 3 series was initially designed with the younger and trendier consumers in mind, for whom a smartphone is not just part of their lifestyle but also represents their personal style. The series is designed to offer an AI-enhanced lifestyle, which includes a huge focus on an outstanding selfie experience with its AI beautification features and front camera that allows one to capture AI selfies.

Xiaomi may have already released the Mi Mix 2S earlier this year, but it's actually kept its true 2018 flagship, the Mi 8, for marking its eight anniversary -- hence the jump from last year's "Mi 6." As announced in Shenzhen today, the new handset starts at 2,699 yuan (about $420) and comes in a familiar-looking dual-sided glass design, with the most notable difference being the new vertical dual camera -- exactly the same module found on the Mix 2S, according to Xiaomi. And yes, there's a notch, which is for accommodating an infrared front camera for facial recognition. There's even a higher-end Mi 8 Explorer Edition which uses a more powerful 3D face scanner instead -- one that's similar to the TrueDepth camera on the iPhone X. Not only that, this version also has a fully transparent back to show off its chips and battery. For the sake of this cool look, there's no rear fingerprint reader; instead, this device uses an in-display fingerprint reader, which is backed by pressure activation to save power.