Probabilistic categorization of kitchen objects in table settings with a composite sensor

In this paper, we investigate the problem of 3D object categorization of objects typically present in kitchen environments, from data acquired using a composite sensor. Our framework combines different sensing modalities and defines descriptive features in various spaces for the purpose of learning good object models. By fusing the 3D information acquired from a composite sensor that includes a color stereo camera, a time-of-flight (TOF) camera, and a thermal camera, we augment 3D depth data with color and temperature information which helps disambiguate the object categorization process. We make use of statistical relational learning methods (Markov Logic Networks and Bayesian Logic Networks) to capture complex interactions between the different feature spaces. To show the effectiveness of our approach, we analyze and validate the proposed system for the problem of recognizing objects in table settings scenarios.