VIBOT
Encyclopedia
VIBOT is an abbreviation of VIsion and RoBOTics. It is a 2 year European Masters in Computer Vision and Robotics course, conducted by Heriot-Watt University
in Edinburgh
, Scotland
, Universitat de Girona in Girona
, Spain
and Université de Bourgogne in Le Creusot
, France
. It started in 2006 as part of the European Commission
's Erasmus Mundus
programme .
Vision
and Robotics
accredited in 2006 by the European Commission in the framework of the Erasmus Mundus program, a co-operation and mobility program of the European Commission
in the field of higher education in order to promote the European Union
as a centre of excellence in learning around the world
. It is the only Erasmus Mundus Master Program in 3D Vision and Robotics among the 103 Erasmus Mundus Master Programs accredited since 2004 in all disciplines.
VIBOT Master students have courses in the three collaborating universities: Université de Bourgogne in France, University of Girona
in Spain
and Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. They spend one semester in each of these three universities and the fourth semester in training. The admission of the brightest students from all over the world, some of whom were already working in companies, allows to create an international
and mobile educated workforce of high level for the European community.
VIBOT Master courses are given by faculties and visiting professors who belong to well-known research
laboratories that have long-standing reputation for high quality research. The courses start from a comprehensive coverage of the prerequisites in the field of digital imaging
(hardware
and software) and basic image processing
algorithms, and end up with research level teaching of their applications in the fields of robotics
, medical imaging
and 3D vision systems. The close location of research laboratories on campus allows the faculties to involve students at all stages of research and offer them many opportunities to participate in state-of-the-art research work.
. All the courses are taught in English in the three partner universities. However, the order in which the students attend the universities has changed from the first generation to the second generation of the program. Irrespective of the generation, the last semester consists of a training period, which is an introduction to research carried out in one of the laboratories of the (wider) network.
The first semester was carried out on the campus of Heriot Watt University in Scotland
(UK). Its constituting modules covered an introduction to signal and image processing
, as well as the key related area of artificial intelligence
. These subjects were supplemented by local culture studies, and training for drafting documents in English
.
The second semester took place in the Universitat de Girona, in Catalunya, Spain
. Topics were currently highly relevant to scientific and industrial communities like the segmentation
strategies, object recognition
and description, the acquisition of 3D information, and the application of hardware for specific real time applications. This semester covered: fundamentals on robotics
, autonomous robots, scene segmentation and interpretation, visual perception
, real time
image processing
and study of the local culture.
The third semester was hosted by the university Center Condorcet in Le Creusot
, which is a delocalization of the Université de Bourgogne. The subjects covered were: pattern recognition
, image analysis
(including the problems of multiresolution analysis and deconvolution). These modules were supplemented by the study of various types of image modalities such as: infra-red, ultrasonic
, radio-isotopique and X-ray
imagery, with an emphasis on their application to medical imagery. A module of local culture was also provided.
The organization of the semesters is as follows. An induction week is organized starting the first semester, in September, in Le Creusot
during which the enrolled students are informed about the program, the assessment and the rules. The induction week also permits new students to meet second-year students or former VIBOT students. The first semester is held at Universite de Bougogne
(UB) where the modules of Fundamentals on image processing
, sensors and acquisition, as well as mathematics and computer science are taught. The second semester is hosted at Universitat de Girona (UdG) with subjects as improvements on image processing
and pattern recognition
, complements on computer vision
and medical imaging
and an introduction to robotics
. The third semester is developed at Heriot-Watt University
(HWU), and more advanced courses related to methods and high-level processing for real-time implementation and integration of vision and robotics are taught.
However, the training period can also take place in any validated host laboratory or research center throughout the world
. The laboratories concerned belong to the worldwide research networks which the participating institutes have jointly developed through the international-class research activities of their laboratories. Some of the laboratories where some previous students have done their research fourth semester are: Honda Research Institute Europe GmbH (Offenbach am Main, Germany) , Erasmus University Rotterdam (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems LAAS-CNRS (Toulouse, France) , the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control INRIA (Grenoble, France) , Toshiba Medical Visualization Systems Europe (Edinburgh, UK) , Information and Communication Technologies (Queensland, Australia) , seeByte , Germany's National Research Center for Aeronautics and Space DLR (Wessling, Germany) , the Computational Vision and Robotics Laboratory CVRL (Crete,Greece), among others.
VIBOT Day 2009 was held at Heriot-Watt University Post-Graduate School, Edinburgh, UK, on June 19, 2009. It was a one-day event during which there were oral and poster presentations. The collaborative opportunities with different companies were also exposed.
VIBOT Day 2010 was held at the Science and Technology Park of the University of Girona in Spain during June 2010. Vibot Day 2011 will be held also at the University of Girona on June 16, 2011.
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University is a university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The name commemorates George Heriot, the 16th century financier to King James, and James Watt, the great 18th century inventor and engineer....
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Universitat de Girona in Girona
Girona
Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell, with an official population of 96,236 in January 2009. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Université de Bourgogne in Le Creusot
Le Creusot
Le Creusot is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by metallurgical companies such as ArcelorMittal, Schneider Electric, and Alstom.Since the 1990s, the...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It started in 2006 as part of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
's Erasmus Mundus
Erasmus Mundus
The European Union's Erasmus Mundus programme aims to enhance quality in higher educationthrough scholarships and academic co-operation between Europe and the rest of the world.Erasmus Mundus comprises three Actions:-Erasmus Mundus Joint Programmes:...
programme .
Introduction
VIBOT is a two-year Master Program in 3DThree-dimensional space
Three-dimensional space is a geometric 3-parameters model of the physical universe in which we live. These three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and depth , although any three directions can be chosen, provided that they do not lie in the same plane.In physics and mathematics, a...
Vision
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
and Robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
accredited in 2006 by the European Commission in the framework of the Erasmus Mundus program, a co-operation and mobility program of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
in the field of higher education in order to promote the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
as a centre of excellence in learning around the world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
. It is the only Erasmus Mundus Master Program in 3D Vision and Robotics among the 103 Erasmus Mundus Master Programs accredited since 2004 in all disciplines.
VIBOT Master students have courses in the three collaborating universities: Université de Bourgogne in France, University of Girona
University of Girona
The University of Girona is located in the city of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.It was founded in 1991, and as of 2010 consists of several campus and buildings across Girona: Barri Vell, Emili Grahit, Campus de Montilivi, Parc Científic i Tecnològic and Campus del Mercadal. A sixth one, Campus de...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. They spend one semester in each of these three universities and the fourth semester in training. The admission of the brightest students from all over the world, some of whom were already working in companies, allows to create an international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
and mobile educated workforce of high level for the European community.
VIBOT Master courses are given by faculties and visiting professors who belong to well-known research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
laboratories that have long-standing reputation for high quality research. The courses start from a comprehensive coverage of the prerequisites in the field of digital imaging
Digital imaging
Digital imaging or digital image acquisition is the creation of digital images, typically from a physical scene. The term is often assumed to imply or include the processing, compression, storage, printing, and display of such images...
(hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
and software) and basic image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
algorithms, and end up with research level teaching of their applications in the fields of robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
, medical imaging
Medical imaging
Medical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes or medical science...
and 3D vision systems. The close location of research laboratories on campus allows the faculties to involve students at all stages of research and offer them many opportunities to participate in state-of-the-art research work.
Course Structure
The Masters Course is divided in four semesters, each having a value of 30 ECTSEuropean Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
This page describes ECTS-credits. For information about the ECTS grading system go to ECTS grading scale.European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System is a standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union and other...
. All the courses are taught in English in the three partner universities. However, the order in which the students attend the universities has changed from the first generation to the second generation of the program. Irrespective of the generation, the last semester consists of a training period, which is an introduction to research carried out in one of the laboratories of the (wider) network.
First Generation
The so called VIBOT first generation comprises the first five promotions of the program (promotions starting from 2006 to 2010). For this primer generation, the mobility order was the following: Scotland, Spain, France.The first semester was carried out on the campus of Heriot Watt University in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
(UK). Its constituting modules covered an introduction to signal and image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
, as well as the key related area of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
. These subjects were supplemented by local culture studies, and training for drafting documents in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The second semester took place in the Universitat de Girona, in Catalunya, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Topics were currently highly relevant to scientific and industrial communities like the segmentation
Segmentation
Segmentation may mean:*Market segmentation, in economics and marketingBiology*A process of morphogenesis that divides a metazoan body into a series of semi-repetitive segments*Segmentation , a series of semi-repetitive segments...
strategies, object recognition
Object recognition
Object recognition in computer vision is the task of finding a given object in an image or video sequence. Humans recognize a multitude of objects in images with little effort, despite the fact that the image of the objects may vary somewhat in different view points, in many different sizes / scale...
and description, the acquisition of 3D information, and the application of hardware for specific real time applications. This semester covered: fundamentals on robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
, autonomous robots, scene segmentation and interpretation, visual perception
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
, real time
Real-time computer graphics
Real-time computer graphics is the subfield of computer graphics focused on producing and analyzing images in real time. The term is most often used in reference to interactive 3D computer graphics, typically using a GPU, with video games the most noticeable users...
image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
and study of the local culture.
The third semester was hosted by the university Center Condorcet in Le Creusot
Le Creusot
Le Creusot is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by metallurgical companies such as ArcelorMittal, Schneider Electric, and Alstom.Since the 1990s, the...
, which is a delocalization of the Université de Bourgogne. The subjects covered were: pattern recognition
Pattern recognition
In machine learning, pattern recognition is the assignment of some sort of output value to a given input value , according to some specific algorithm. An example of pattern recognition is classification, which attempts to assign each input value to one of a given set of classes...
, image analysis
Image analysis
Image analysis is the extraction of meaningful information from images; mainly from digital images by means of digital image processing techniques...
(including the problems of multiresolution analysis and deconvolution). These modules were supplemented by the study of various types of image modalities such as: infra-red, ultrasonic
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
, radio-isotopique and X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
imagery, with an emphasis on their application to medical imagery. A module of local culture was also provided.
Second Generation
The VIBOT second generation starts in 2011 with the sixth promotion and is expected to last at least for five promotions. The main changes consist in the mobility order. Unlike the first generation, the second generation spends the semesters in the following order: France, Spain, Scotland. The overall objective is to start from science fundamentals and low-level image processing, then to introduce mid-level image processing, computer vision and applications in medical imaging, and to end with robotics and high-level integration so that the main methods and algorithms in the state-of-art of computer vision and robotics (through both a theoretical and applied point of view) are covered.The organization of the semesters is as follows. An induction week is organized starting the first semester, in September, in Le Creusot
Le Creusot
Le Creusot is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by metallurgical companies such as ArcelorMittal, Schneider Electric, and Alstom.Since the 1990s, the...
during which the enrolled students are informed about the program, the assessment and the rules. The induction week also permits new students to meet second-year students or former VIBOT students. The first semester is held at Universite de Bougogne
University of Burgundy
The University of Burgundy is a university located in Dijon, France.The University of Burgundy is situated on a large campus called Campus Montmuzard, 15 minutes by bus from the City Centre...
(UB) where the modules of Fundamentals on image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
, sensors and acquisition, as well as mathematics and computer science are taught. The second semester is hosted at Universitat de Girona (UdG) with subjects as improvements on image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
and pattern recognition
Pattern recognition
In machine learning, pattern recognition is the assignment of some sort of output value to a given input value , according to some specific algorithm. An example of pattern recognition is classification, which attempts to assign each input value to one of a given set of classes...
, complements on computer vision
Computer vision
Computer vision is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions...
and medical imaging
Medical imaging
Medical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes or medical science...
and an introduction to robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
. The third semester is developed at Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University is a university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The name commemorates George Heriot, the 16th century financier to King James, and James Watt, the great 18th century inventor and engineer....
(HWU), and more advanced courses related to methods and high-level processing for real-time implementation and integration of vision and robotics are taught.
Training Period
The training period in research corresponds to the fourth semester of the course. The laboratories belonging to the consortium of universities are the laboratories where the students are initially expected to do the training period. These laboratories are: Vision, Image and Signal Processing (VISP) and Ocean Systems Laboratory (OSL) in Heriot-Watt University, the laboratory for Computer Vision and Robotics (VICOROB) at the Universitat de Girona, and the Laboratory of Electronics, Informatics and Image (Le2i) in Le Creusot.However, the training period can also take place in any validated host laboratory or research center throughout the world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
. The laboratories concerned belong to the worldwide research networks which the participating institutes have jointly developed through the international-class research activities of their laboratories. Some of the laboratories where some previous students have done their research fourth semester are: Honda Research Institute Europe GmbH (Offenbach am Main, Germany) , Erasmus University Rotterdam (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems LAAS-CNRS (Toulouse, France) , the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control INRIA (Grenoble, France) , Toshiba Medical Visualization Systems Europe (Edinburgh, UK) , Information and Communication Technologies (Queensland, Australia) , seeByte , Germany's National Research Center for Aeronautics and Space DLR (Wessling, Germany) , the Computational Vision and Robotics Laboratory CVRL (Crete,Greece), among others.
VIBOT Days
VIBOT Day 2008 was held in Le Creusot, France, on September 9, 2008. It was a one-day event during which participants learned more about the VIBOT Master program and the collaborative opportunities that were offered to companies wishing to sponsor the program. Participants also attended several oral and poster presentations given by newly graduated students that raised their awareness of the academic excellence of the students as well as the high level of the courses taught in the program. Moreover, the one-day event also gave an opportunity for participants to meet and discuss with past, current and future international students.VIBOT Day 2009 was held at Heriot-Watt University Post-Graduate School, Edinburgh, UK, on June 19, 2009. It was a one-day event during which there were oral and poster presentations. The collaborative opportunities with different companies were also exposed.
VIBOT Day 2010 was held at the Science and Technology Park of the University of Girona in Spain during June 2010. Vibot Day 2011 will be held also at the University of Girona on June 16, 2011.