Yesterday: (Wednesday) Really productive meeting with Faramarz about how I approach the distance-based pruning. Brainstormed how to perform the transformation-based pruning, which may no longer be as necessary. Current computation time is O(n) + O( (n2) / k) for k processors.
Emailed Kathreen, ccing supervisors, about possible motivation, the core idea of which is to "Figure out how to pepper spray grizzly bears using automated UAV patrols." (ie. Automated Park Wardens). It seems a little over-the-top, and requiring a lot more expertise than I have, but my chunk relates to building the tools for modeling 3D dynamic animals.
Connected with Matlab people about access to the Image Acquisition Toolbox and the Computer Vision Toolbox.
(Thursday, Friday) Started reading through the thesis of a colleague to provide sound technical questions and feedback.
Today: Continue reading thesis.
Document last Wednesday's discussion in latex for possible future writing/papers.
Install Matlab toolboxes and try them out. Visualize graph representation of these point clouds. Tweak/implement transformation-based validation (ie. step 2 of process). Generate a file-loading for test cases so there is consistency in process validation.
Explore how to properly tackle this project. Consider taking a year's leave to re-group/re-evaluate, and plan out future directions. eg. Work at somewhere I know I can do the work, and treat this as a hobby/side project, or alternatively work at a company or research team that specializes in observation-based 3D modeling working with 3D scanners.
Build a list of what I need (resources: financial, technical, human), and how to get them, including how to motivate others.
Communicate with:
- ranchers in Alberta to see what the issue is for livestock loss due to wildlife,
- conservation officers in Alberta to see what directions they're taking and if there would be an opportunity there for assisting,
- CP rail and what their financial obligations are for wildlife and livestock re-imbursement.
Roadblocks: Not being overwhelmed, being realistic, and taking it baby-step by baby-step.
Where Does this Fit In: Having 3D synthetic examples to work with is important in validating the developed reconstruction process. Developing good visualizations - as well as a mathematical discussion of the process - along the way helps demonstrate proof-of-concepts, provides affirmation of skill sets for resource/backing requests, and justifies the direction to be taken.