astronomy

VisLab

VisLab is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand VisLab rather than just read about it. In short: VisLab is an Italian company working on computer vision and environmental perception for vehicular applications. It was founded in the early 90s as a research laboratory at University of Parma.

Key takeaways

VisLab belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect VisLab to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of VisLab from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

VisLab is an Italian company working on computer vision and environmental perception for vehicular applications. It was founded in the early 90s as a research laboratory at University of Parma. It started its activities in 1990, with its involvement in the Eureka PROMETHEUS Project. Since then the research group has focused on vehicular applications. VisLab, directed by Alberto Broggi, undertakes basic and applied research, including the perception of the surrounding environment in vehicular applications using cameras and fusion with other sensors. Its researchers contribute to fields such as artificial vision, image processing, machine learning, neural networks, robotics, and sensor fusion. In 2009, eleven VisLab researchers started a spinoff company, named VisLab srl, to commercialize the results of their main researches. The University of Parma owned a share of 5%. In 2015, VisLab was acquired by Silicon Valley company Ambarella Inc., and about 30 researchers asked and then were hired by VisLab to staff their new Parma location.

History In the early years, the research group formed by Broggi, Massimo Bertozzi and Alessandra Fascioli designed, realized, and tested an autonomous car known as ARGO. ARGO was a passenger car able to perceive the environment through the use of micro cameras, analyze the surroundings, plan a trajectory, and drive itself on normal roads. It was tested in 1998 with a 2000+ km tour in Italy, dubbed Mille Miglia in Automatic. In this test the vehicle drove for more than 94% in automatic mode. It was the first test in the world to use off-the-shelf and low cost technology (a Pentium 200 MHz PC and two low-cost video-phone cameras) in normal conditions of traffic, environment, and weather. In 2005 a vehicle called TerraMax was able to successfully conclude the DARPA Grand Challenge; VisLab's vision system was its primary means of perception. In 2007, a new version of TerraMax qualified for the DARPA Urban Challenge, which was not completed due to a fault. In 2010 VisLab launched VIAC, the VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge, a 13,000 km test run for autonomous vehicles, from Italy to China. This was the first autonomous driving test on an intercontinental route; it lasted three months. On 12 July 2013 VisLab tested the BRAiVE vehicle in downtown Parma. BRAiVE successfully negotiating two-way narrow rural roads, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, speed bumps, pedestrian areas, and tight roundabouts. VisLab engineers activated the vehicle in Parma University Campus and stopped it in Piazza della Pilotta (downtown Parma): a 20 minute run in a real environment, together with real traffic at 11am on a working day, that required absolutely no human intervention. On 31 March 2014 VisLab unveiled the new autonomous car DEEVA, which features more than 20 cameras, 4 lasers, GPS, KTM and IMU, and all sensors are hidden.

Location VisLab is located in the University of Parma main campus, south of Parma, Italy.

References

External links VisLab homepage BRAiVE homepage ARGO Project historical homepage

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with VisLab

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what VisLab claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to VisLab before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about VisLab ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of VisLab

In research: VisLab appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses VisLab in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: VisLab is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Artificial intelligence laboratories, Automotive technologies, Italian companies established in 1990, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for VisLab outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study VisLab in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what VisLab means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain VisLab out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is VisLab in simple terms?

VisLab is an Italian company working on computer vision and environmental perception for vehicular applications. It was founded in the early 90s as a research laboratory at University of Parma.

Why does VisLab matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study VisLab?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on VisLab.