Torsten Merz
Senior Research Scientist
Contact
QCAT Technology Court
Pullenvale QLD 4069
Tel: 61 7 3327 4123
Fax: 61 7 3327 4455
torsten.Merz@csiro.au
Science Area
- Robotics
Biography
Torsten Merz studied "Applied Computer Science in the Natural Sciences" at the University of Bielefeld (Germany) and graduated 1995 with the degree of "Diplom-Informatiker".
From 1995 to 2000, he was a research assistant at the Institute for Pattern Recognition at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany). In 2000, he completed a doctoral thesis on the topic of model-based analysis of interference patterns and received a doctorate in engineering (Dr.-Ing.) from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg.
From 2001 to 2005 he was with the Artificial Intelligence and Integrated Computer Systems Division of the Department of Computer and Information Science at Linköping University (Sweden). He joined the division as a research scientist and later became assistant professor in AI robotics. He was head of the Perception and Control Group which, among others, developed an avionics system for an autonomous mini-helicopter.
In 2006, he joined CSIRO's Autonomous Systems Laboratory. He was leading the development of an aerial robot for power line inspection until the project was merged into the Smart Skies project. Since 2008 he has been acting as technical lead across different aerial robotics projects. Currently, his research focus is on dependable autonomous helicopter systems for research applications and real-world deployments.
Academic Qualifications
| 2000 | Doctoral degree in Engineering (Dr.-Ing.), Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany), Machine Vision |
| 1995 | Diploma in "Applied Computer Science in the Natural Sciences" (Dipl.-Inform.), Bielefeld University (Germany) |
Top 10 Publications
| Publication details |
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| T. Merz and F. Kendoul, "Beyond visual range obstacle avoidance and infrastructure inspection by an autonomous helicopter" IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2011. |
| T. Merz and S. Duranti and G. Conte, "Autonomous Landing of an Unmanned Helicopter Based on Vision and Inertial Sensing.", International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER), 2004. |
| T. Merz and P. Rudol and M. Wzorek, "Control System Framework for Autonomous Robots Based on Extended State Machines", International Conference on Autonomic and Autonomous Systems (ICAS), 2006. |
| T. Merz, "Building a System for Autonomous Aerial Robotics Research.", 5th IFAC Symposium on Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles (IAV), 2004. |
| P. Wu and D. Campbell and T. Merz "Multiobjective four-dimensional vehicle motion planning in large dynamic environments", IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics Part B: Cybernetics, 2011. |
| P. Doherty and P. Haslum and F. Heintz and T. Merz and T. Persson and B. Wingman, "A Distributed Architecture for Intelligent Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Experimentation", Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS), 2004 |
| T. Merz and F. Elandaloussi and D. Paulus and W. Osten, "Active approach for holographic non-destructive testing of satellite fuel tanks", Optical Measurement Systems for Industrial Inspection, SPIE, 1999. |
| T. Merz and D. Paulus and H. Niemann, "Feature Extraction from Interferograms for Phase Distribution Analysis", Laser Interferometry IX: Techniques and Analysis, SPIE, 1998. |
| T. Merz and D. Paulus and H. Niemann, "Line Segmentation for Interferograms of Continuously deforming objects", International Conference on Experimental Mechanics: Advances and Applications, SPIE, 1997. |
| T.Merz, "Ein System zur modellbasierten Analyse von Interferenzmustern technischer Objekte", Der andere Verlag, Osnabrück, 2001. |