Rudolf Mester
About
About
I am a Professor in the Department of Computer Science (IDI) at NTNU Trondheim, where I hold the DNV GL Endowed Professorship and am a member of the Norwegian Open AI Lab. Before joining NTNU in 2018, I led the Visual Sensorics and Information Processing Lab at Goethe University Frankfurt and held earlier positions in the Physics Department of the University of Frankfurt and at Bosch Corporate Research.
Over the past decade, my research has focused on intelligent visual vehicle sensorics, AI applications in mobile systems, visual surround sensing for autonomous driving, and machine learning for ‘trainable vehicles’ and vehicle control. I also conduct fundamental research in performance analysis and assurance of AI methods, with a focus on robust and reliable perception and planning algorithms grounded in estimation theory, control theory, and machine learning.
At NTNU, I focus on the performance, confidence quantification, and assurance of AI and machine learning methods, particularly for intelligent and autonomous systems—on the road, on and under water, and in the air.
Note: MSc students for the 2025/2026 season: see the information in the "Teaching" section in order to secure a spot in one of the project teams on Embodied AI or Aquaculture
My current research combines applied and theoretical work in computer vision and machine learning. In the maritime domain, I develop robust perception and tracking methods for autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), with a focus on near-shore navigation and docking. I contribute to SFI Autoship and am part of the AutoSight project, which aims to develop novel, resilient perception methods for maritime autonomy. I also play a leading role in a joint MSc project with students from NTNU’s Departments of Engineering Cybernetics (ITK) and Computer Science (IDI), equipping Blueboats with autonomous docking and collision avoidance capabilities. I lead the perception, planning & control, and system integration groups in this initiative.
In aquaculture, I lead the NTNU contribution to the NFR project cAIge, which focuses on AI-based methods for quantifying and tracking salmon health through non-invasive computer vision systems. Additionally, I am a Principal Investigator in the NFR project AROS (2020–2025), which advances perception and control for underwater robots—particularly the Eelume snake robot developed in Trondheim.
Beyond these applied areas, I continue to work on fundamental challenges in stereo vision, radiance field representation, and the integration of lightweight, multi-modal sensor systems for robust 3D perception.
I gratefully acknowledge the support and collaboration with DNV GL, reflected in the endowed professorship and our ongoing joint activities.
Research
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
- Performance analysis and assurance of AI systems
- Machine learning for autonomous and intelligent systems
- Confidence quantification and robustness in ML algorithms
- Supervised learning and reinforcement learning
- Using Transformers for pattern analysis
Computer Vision
- Visual perception for autonomous vehicles and robots (land, sea, underwater)
- Stereo and monocular visual odometry
- Deep learning for image/video processing and anonymization (e.g. GANs)
- Scene structure analysis and 3D reconstruction
- Visual SLAM and sensor fusion
- Image filtering, segmentation, motion estimation
Robotics & Autonomy
- Autonomy for surface and underwater robots (e.g. Eelume robot, Blueboats)
- Autonomous docking and collision avoidance
- State estimation and control in robotic systems
- Behavioural architectures and cognitive agents
Sensor Systems & Signal Processing
- Visual sensor systems (multi-sensor, stereo, polarization, LiDAR)
- Digital video, audio, and image signal processing
- Sensor data integration and simulation environments
Applied Research & Project Leadership
Applied AI in aquaculture and maritime autonomy
- Project leader / work package leader in major national and industrial R&D initiatives
- Academic–industrial collaboration experience (e.g. Bosch, Philips, Daimler, Scania, Vitronic)
- Technical lead in projects funded by RCN, BMBF, VINNOVA, DAAD, and LOEWE
Teaching & Academic Contributions
- Longstanding teaching record across 8+ advanced computer science and engineering courses
- Supervision of over 130 MSc and PhD students
- Guest professorship and curriculum development at Linköping University and Goethe University
Key Experiences
- Full Professor at NTNU Trondheim (2019–), DNV Professor in Artificial Intelligence, Norwegian Open AI Lab
- Professor at Goethe University Frankfurt (1995–2019), Head of Visual Sensorics and Information Processing Lab
- Guest Professor at Linköpings Universitet, Sweden (several years)
- Senior Researcher & Group Leader at Bosch Corporate Research
- Project Leader & Initiator of multiple large-scale research projects in AI, computer vision, and robotics.
During recent years: Principal Investigatore (cAIge, AROS), Senior Contributor & Advisor: AutoSight, SFI AutoShip) - Industrial Collaboration with Scania, Daimler, SICK AG, Philips, Bosch, and Vitronic
- Member of the Core Group at Norwegian Open AI Lab
Publications
Overview of Recent Research
My recent research involvement spans a broad range of topics within computer vision, machine learning, and autonomous systems, with a strong application focus in maritime autonomy, aquaculture monitoring, scene representation, and sensor integration.
These publications reflect my role as a senior academic advisor, where I have guided and shaped the conceptual direction of the work, often contributing key ideas and ensuring methodological rigor. Much of the practical development including data collection, implementation, and experimentation - was carried out by the talented PhD candidates and master's students I have worked closely with.
In the maritime autonomy domain, I have advised on projects addressing perception and navigation for autonomous surface vessels, including stereo and multi-sensor vision, target tracking near shorelines, docking assistance, and shape modeling for object tracking.
In aquaculture monitoring, I have contributed to vision-based approaches for fish welfare assessment, such as detecting scale loss and estimating salmon respiration—supporting more precise, non-invasive monitoring in operational settings.
In the area of scene representation and neural radiance fields, I have helped steer work on improving volumetric rendering and spatial consistency in complex or underwater environments.
Additional contributions include privacy-aware AI (e.g., full-body anonymization using GANs), vision-based localization and ground texture mapping, and sensor fusion for mobile systems, all reflecting a continued focus on reliable perception and applied AI for real-world autonomy.
2025
-
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Yip, Mau Hing;
Hamran, Victor Pierre;
Skui, Vegard;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2025)
Removing Adverse Volumetric Effects from Trained Neural Radiance Fields.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS)
Academic article
2024
-
Hilmarsen, Henrik;
Stahl, Annette;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen.
(2024)
Maritime Tracking-by-Detection
Using Camera and Lidar.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Larsen, Sindre;
Stahl, Annette;
Schellewald, Christian;
Mester, Rudolf;
Høgstedt, Espen Berntzen.
(2024)
Objective Analysis of Melanin Spots
as Welfare Signals in Atlantic Salmon
Using AI-Based Computer Vision.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Storstein, Fredrikke;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2024)
Design and Implementation of a Motion Simulator for an Autonomous Underwater Agent in Unreal Engine 5.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Fjorden, Thomas;
Stahl, Annette;
Schellewald, Christian;
Mester, Rudolf;
Høgstedt, Espen Berntzen.
(2024)
AI-driven Analysis: Image based qualification of Scale Loss in Fish using Machine Learning and Computer Vision.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Wiik, Magnus;
Stahl, Annette;
Schellewald, Christian;
Mester, Rudolf;
Høgstedt, Espen Berntzen.
(2024)
Assessing Re-Identification
Capabilities of Salmon Body Parts
Using AI-Based Computer Vision
Methods.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Høgstedt, Espen Berntzen;
Schellewald, Christian;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
Automated computer vision based individual salmon (Salmo salar) breathing rate estimation (SaBRE) for improved state observability.
Aquaculture
Academic article
-
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
Dynamic Scene Representation for Docking in Urban Waters Using a Stereo Camera.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS)
Academic article
-
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf;
Brekke, Edmund Førland.
(2024)
Combining Short and Wide Baseline Stereo Cameras for Improved Maritime Target Tracking.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Grini, Jon Torgeir;
Mester, Rudolf;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
FusedWSS: Water Surface Segmentation Fusing Machine Learning and Geometric Cues.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Hilmarsen, Henrik;
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
Maritime Tracking-By-Detection with Object Mask Depth Retrieval Through Stereo Vision and Lidar .
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Park, Yeonsoo;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2024)
RGB-D Mapping and Tracking in a Plenoxel Radiance Field.
IEEE conference proceedings
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf;
Brekke, Edmund Førland.
(2024)
Advancing Sparse Classical Scene Flow into the Maritime Domain.
IFAC-PapersOnLine
Academic article
-
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Mester, Rudolf;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
Stereo Camera-based Free Space Estimation for Docking in Urban Waters.
MIC Journal: Modeling, Identification and Control
Academic article
-
Grini, Jon Torgeir;
Stahl, Annette;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Dalhaug, Nicholas.
(2024)
Bayesian Adaptive Segmentation of
Water Surfaces with Reflection
Correction.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
2023
-
Martens, Emil Ludvig;
Stahl, Annette;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2023)
Paving the Way for Enhanced Situational Awareness in the Maritime Domain: Designing and Assembling a Sensor Rig for Multi-Sensor Data Set Acquisition.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Lindseth, Frank;
Mester, Rudolf;
Hukkelås, Håkon.
(2023)
Deep Generative Models for Realistic Image Anonymization.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Doctoral theses at NTNU
Doctoral dissertation
-
Hukkelås, Håkon;
Smebye, Morten;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lindseth, Frank.
(2023)
Realistic Full-Body Anonymization with Surface-Guided GANs.
IEEE conference proceedings
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Lopez, Michael Ernesto;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2023)
Multiscan Shape Estimation for Extended Object Tracking.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Flemmen, Henrik Dobbe;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette;
Bryne, Torleiv Håland;
Brekke, Edmund Førland.
(2023)
Maritime radar odometry inspired by visual odometry.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
2022
-
Namazi, Elnaz;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lu, Chaoru;
Li, Jingyue.
(2022)
Geolocation estimation of target vehicles using image processing and geometric computation.
Neurocomputing
Academic article
-
Namazi, Elnaz;
Mester, Rudolf;
Li, Jingyue;
Lu, Chaoru;
Tang, Meng;
Xiong, Ying.
(2022)
Traffic Awareness Through Multiple Mobile Sensor Fusion.
IEEE Sensors Journal
Academic article
-
Schmidt, Magnus Stray;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf;
Yip, Mauhing.
(2022)
Underwater Incremental Surface Reconstruction from Dynamic 3D Point Clouds.
Fakultet for informasjonsteknologi og elektroteknikk, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk
Masters thesis
-
Kolsgaard, Amalie;
Stahl, Annette;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2022)
Improved Maritime Vessel Detection in Camera Images using Bag-of-Visual-Words.
Fakultet for informasjonsteknologi og elektroteknikk, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk
Masters thesis
-
Fagerli, Anders Thallaug;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf;
Yip, Mauhing.
(2022)
Deep Monocular Depth Estimation for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.
Fakultet for informasjonsteknologi og elektroteknikk, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk
Masters thesis
-
Hodne, Lars Martin;
Leikvoll, Eirik;
Yip, Mauhing;
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2022)
Detecting and Suppressing Marine Snow for Underwater Visual SLAM.
IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops (CVPRW)
Academic article
-
Namazi, Elnaz;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lu, Chaoru;
Log, Markus Metallinos;
Li, Jingyue.
(2022)
Improving Vehicle Localization with Two Low-Cost GPS Receivers.
Springer
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
2021
-
Zwilgmeyer, Peder Georg Olofsson;
Yip, Mauhing;
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2021)
The VAROS Synthetic Underwater Data Set: Towards realistic multi-sensor underwater data with ground truth.
IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV)
Academic article
-
Hukkelås, Håkon;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lindseth, Frank.
(2021)
Image Inpainting with Learnable Feature Imputation.
Springer Nature
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Saad, Aya;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2021)
Few-Shot Open World Learner.
IFAC-PapersOnLine
Academic article
2020
-
Vasstein, Kjetil;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Eide, Egil.
(2020)
Autoferry Gemini: a real-time simulation platform for electromagnetic radiation sensors on autonomous ships.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Academic article
-
Namazi, Elnaz;
Li, Jingyue;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lu, Chaoru.
(2020)
Identifying and Counting Vehicles in Multiple Lanes by Using a Low-Cost Vehicle-Mounted Sensor for Intelligent Traffic Management Systems.
Springer
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Schmid, Jan Fabian;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2020)
Ground texture based localization: Do we need to detect keypoints?.
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
Article in business/trade/industry journal
-
Kretz, Adrian;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2020)
A Shared Representation for Object Tracking and Classification using Siamese Networks.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
2019
-
Hukkelås, Håkon;
Lindseth, Frank;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
DeepPrivacy: A Generative Adversarial Network for Face Anonymization.
Springer Nature
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Brickwedde, Fabian;
Abraham, Steffen;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
Mono-SF: Multi-View Geometry meets Single-View Depth for Monocular Scene Flow Estimation of Dynamic Traffic Scenes.
IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV)
Academic article
-
Sanchez, Ricardo M;
Mester, Rudolf;
Kudryashev, Mikhail.
(2019)
Fast Cross Correlation for Limited Angle Tomographic Data.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS)
Academic article
-
Kreuzig, Robin;
Ochs, Matthias;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
DistanceNet: Estimating Traveled Distance from Monocular Images using a Recurrent Convolutional Neural Network.
IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops (CVPRW)
Academic article
-
Ochs, Matthias;
Kretz, Adrian;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
SDNet: Semantically Guided Depth Estimation Network.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS)
Academic article
-
Sanchez, Ricardo M;
Mester, Rudolf;
Kudryashev, Mikhail.
(2019)
Fast alignment of limited angle tomograms by projected cross correlation.
European Signal Processing Conference
Academic article
-
Klose, Patrick;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
Simulated autonomous driving in a realistic driving environment using deep reinforcement learning and a deterministic finite state machine.
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
2018
-
Ochs, Matthias;
Bradler, Henry;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2018)
Spatio-Temporal Depth Interpolation (STDI).
IEEE conference proceedings
IEEE conference proceedings
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
-
Fanani, Nolang;
Ochs, Matthias;
Stürck, Alina;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2018)
CNN-based multi-frame IMO detection from a monocular camera.
IEEE conference proceedings
IEEE conference proceedings
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
Journal publications
-
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Yip, Mau Hing;
Hamran, Victor Pierre;
Skui, Vegard;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2025)
Removing Adverse Volumetric Effects from Trained Neural Radiance Fields.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS)
Academic article
-
Høgstedt, Espen Berntzen;
Schellewald, Christian;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
Automated computer vision based individual salmon (Salmo salar) breathing rate estimation (SaBRE) for improved state observability.
Aquaculture
Academic article
-
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
Dynamic Scene Representation for Docking in Urban Waters Using a Stereo Camera.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS)
Academic article
-
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf;
Brekke, Edmund Førland.
(2024)
Advancing Sparse Classical Scene Flow into the Maritime Domain.
IFAC-PapersOnLine
Academic article
-
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Mester, Rudolf;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
Stereo Camera-based Free Space Estimation for Docking in Urban Waters.
MIC Journal: Modeling, Identification and Control
Academic article
-
Namazi, Elnaz;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lu, Chaoru;
Li, Jingyue.
(2022)
Geolocation estimation of target vehicles using image processing and geometric computation.
Neurocomputing
Academic article
-
Namazi, Elnaz;
Mester, Rudolf;
Li, Jingyue;
Lu, Chaoru;
Tang, Meng;
Xiong, Ying.
(2022)
Traffic Awareness Through Multiple Mobile Sensor Fusion.
IEEE Sensors Journal
Academic article
-
Hodne, Lars Martin;
Leikvoll, Eirik;
Yip, Mauhing;
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2022)
Detecting and Suppressing Marine Snow for Underwater Visual SLAM.
IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops (CVPRW)
Academic article
-
Zwilgmeyer, Peder Georg Olofsson;
Yip, Mauhing;
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2021)
The VAROS Synthetic Underwater Data Set: Towards realistic multi-sensor underwater data with ground truth.
IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV)
Academic article
-
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Saad, Aya;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2021)
Few-Shot Open World Learner.
IFAC-PapersOnLine
Academic article
-
Vasstein, Kjetil;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Eide, Egil.
(2020)
Autoferry Gemini: a real-time simulation platform for electromagnetic radiation sensors on autonomous ships.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Academic article
-
Schmid, Jan Fabian;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2020)
Ground texture based localization: Do we need to detect keypoints?.
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
Article in business/trade/industry journal
-
Brickwedde, Fabian;
Abraham, Steffen;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
Mono-SF: Multi-View Geometry meets Single-View Depth for Monocular Scene Flow Estimation of Dynamic Traffic Scenes.
IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV)
Academic article
-
Sanchez, Ricardo M;
Mester, Rudolf;
Kudryashev, Mikhail.
(2019)
Fast Cross Correlation for Limited Angle Tomographic Data.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS)
Academic article
-
Kreuzig, Robin;
Ochs, Matthias;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
DistanceNet: Estimating Traveled Distance from Monocular Images using a Recurrent Convolutional Neural Network.
IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops (CVPRW)
Academic article
-
Ochs, Matthias;
Kretz, Adrian;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
SDNet: Semantically Guided Depth Estimation Network.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS)
Academic article
-
Sanchez, Ricardo M;
Mester, Rudolf;
Kudryashev, Mikhail.
(2019)
Fast alignment of limited angle tomograms by projected cross correlation.
European Signal Processing Conference
Academic article
Books
-
Ochs, Matthias;
Bradler, Henry;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2018)
Spatio-Temporal Depth Interpolation (STDI).
IEEE conference proceedings
IEEE conference proceedings
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
-
Fanani, Nolang;
Ochs, Matthias;
Stürck, Alina;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2018)
CNN-based multi-frame IMO detection from a monocular camera.
IEEE conference proceedings
IEEE conference proceedings
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
Part of book/report
-
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf;
Brekke, Edmund Førland.
(2024)
Combining Short and Wide Baseline Stereo Cameras for Improved Maritime Target Tracking.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Grini, Jon Torgeir;
Mester, Rudolf;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
FusedWSS: Water Surface Segmentation Fusing Machine Learning and Geometric Cues.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Hilmarsen, Henrik;
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2024)
Maritime Tracking-By-Detection with Object Mask Depth Retrieval Through Stereo Vision and Lidar .
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Teigen, Andreas Langeland;
Park, Yeonsoo;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2024)
RGB-D Mapping and Tracking in a Plenoxel Radiance Field.
IEEE conference proceedings
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Hukkelås, Håkon;
Smebye, Morten;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lindseth, Frank.
(2023)
Realistic Full-Body Anonymization with Surface-Guided GANs.
IEEE conference proceedings
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Lopez, Michael Ernesto;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette.
(2023)
Multiscan Shape Estimation for Extended Object Tracking.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Flemmen, Henrik Dobbe;
Mester, Rudolf;
Stahl, Annette;
Bryne, Torleiv Håland;
Brekke, Edmund Førland.
(2023)
Maritime radar odometry inspired by visual odometry.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Namazi, Elnaz;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lu, Chaoru;
Log, Markus Metallinos;
Li, Jingyue.
(2022)
Improving Vehicle Localization with Two Low-Cost GPS Receivers.
Springer
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Hukkelås, Håkon;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lindseth, Frank.
(2021)
Image Inpainting with Learnable Feature Imputation.
Springer Nature
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Namazi, Elnaz;
Li, Jingyue;
Mester, Rudolf;
Lu, Chaoru.
(2020)
Identifying and Counting Vehicles in Multiple Lanes by Using a Low-Cost Vehicle-Mounted Sensor for Intelligent Traffic Management Systems.
Springer
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Kretz, Adrian;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2020)
A Shared Representation for Object Tracking and Classification using Siamese Networks.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Hukkelås, Håkon;
Lindseth, Frank;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
DeepPrivacy: A Generative Adversarial Network for Face Anonymization.
Springer Nature
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Klose, Patrick;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2019)
Simulated autonomous driving in a realistic driving environment using deep reinforcement learning and a deterministic finite state machine.
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Report
-
Hilmarsen, Henrik;
Stahl, Annette;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Dalhaug, Nicholas;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen.
(2024)
Maritime Tracking-by-Detection
Using Camera and Lidar.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
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Larsen, Sindre;
Stahl, Annette;
Schellewald, Christian;
Mester, Rudolf;
Høgstedt, Espen Berntzen.
(2024)
Objective Analysis of Melanin Spots
as Welfare Signals in Atlantic Salmon
Using AI-Based Computer Vision.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
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Storstein, Fredrikke;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2024)
Design and Implementation of a Motion Simulator for an Autonomous Underwater Agent in Unreal Engine 5.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Fjorden, Thomas;
Stahl, Annette;
Schellewald, Christian;
Mester, Rudolf;
Høgstedt, Espen Berntzen.
(2024)
AI-driven Analysis: Image based qualification of Scale Loss in Fish using Machine Learning and Computer Vision.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Wiik, Magnus;
Stahl, Annette;
Schellewald, Christian;
Mester, Rudolf;
Høgstedt, Espen Berntzen.
(2024)
Assessing Re-Identification
Capabilities of Salmon Body Parts
Using AI-Based Computer Vision
Methods.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Grini, Jon Torgeir;
Stahl, Annette;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf;
Nygård, Trym Anthonsen;
Dalhaug, Nicholas.
(2024)
Bayesian Adaptive Segmentation of
Water Surfaces with Reflection
Correction.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Martens, Emil Ludvig;
Stahl, Annette;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2023)
Paving the Way for Enhanced Situational Awareness in the Maritime Domain: Designing and Assembling a Sensor Rig for Multi-Sensor Data Set Acquisition.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Masters thesis
-
Lindseth, Frank;
Mester, Rudolf;
Hukkelås, Håkon.
(2023)
Deep Generative Models for Realistic Image Anonymization.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Doctoral theses at NTNU
Doctoral dissertation
-
Schmidt, Magnus Stray;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf;
Yip, Mauhing.
(2022)
Underwater Incremental Surface Reconstruction from Dynamic 3D Point Clouds.
Fakultet for informasjonsteknologi og elektroteknikk, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk
Masters thesis
-
Kolsgaard, Amalie;
Stahl, Annette;
Brekke, Edmund Førland;
Mester, Rudolf.
(2022)
Improved Maritime Vessel Detection in Camera Images using Bag-of-Visual-Words.
Fakultet for informasjonsteknologi og elektroteknikk, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk
Masters thesis
-
Fagerli, Anders Thallaug;
Stahl, Annette;
Mester, Rudolf;
Yip, Mauhing.
(2022)
Deep Monocular Depth Estimation for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.
Fakultet for informasjonsteknologi og elektroteknikk, Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk
Masters thesis
Teaching
Courses
- TK8155 - Advanced Visual Perception Systems
- DT8124 - Intelligent Agents: Reasoning, Planning, Perception and Cooperation
- TDT4137 - Cognitive systems
NEW: Largely updated course information on the restructured PhD course DT8124
Supervision
Preprojects and MSc Projects for the 2025/26 season
📣 Early Contact Recommended
If you’re interested in one of these MSc projects, please get in touch with Prof. Rudolf Mester well before May 1st to receive personal guidance and secure your spot in a suitable project.
The AutoDocking25 joint student project
Thematic Clusters of MSc Topics
The MSc thesis and preproject topics supervised by Prof. Rudolf Mester organized into several closely connected thematic clusters within the broader field of Embodied AI. These topics focus on the design, implementation, and evaluation of intelligent systems that physically operate in the world. The projects are often interdisciplinary and involve collaborations with industry and other NTNU departments, especially the Department of Engineering Cybernetics. The main clusters are:
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Autonomous Maritime Systems
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Computer Vision and Perception
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AI in Aquaculture
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Reinforcement Learning and Motion Planning
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Sensor Fusion and Remote Sensing
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Robotics and Embodied Learning Agents
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Fundamental AI and Machine Learning
Structured Overview of MSc Topics
1. Autonomous Maritime Systems
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SLAM for Autonomous Docking (Zeabuz)
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Situation Awareness for Autonomous Ferry
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Maritime Object Tracking with Deep Learning (Zeabuz)
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Adaptive Motion Planning for Small Ships using RL and MPC
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Weather and Sea Condition Estimation from SITAW (Fugro)
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Digital Twin Vision for Ship Hulls (DNV)
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Maritime Object Detection – Sample Selection (Maritime Robotics)
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Instance Segmentation with LiDAR and Cameras (Maritime Robotics)
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Monocular Depth Estimation (Zeabuz)
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AI-Driven Multi-Modal Perception with LiDAR and Stereo Vision
2. Computer Vision and Perception
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Temporal-YOLO: Time-aware object detection in video
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Transformer-based Pattern Inference Under Occlusion (Jotun)
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Point Cloud Generation from Stereo Images (Fugro)
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Bad Weather Vision Systems for Autonomous Driving
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Attention Mechanisms for Perception Enhancement
3. AI in Aquaculture
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7 projects on AI for Salmon Health Monitoring
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Intelligent Camera-Based Systems for Aquaculture
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Sonar and Video-Based Monitoring of Wild Salmon (NINA)
4. Reinforcement Learning and Motion Planning
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Adaptive Motion Planning for Ships (also listed in Cluster 1)
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Multi-Agent RL for Simulated Autonomous Driving
5. Sensor Fusion and Remote Sensing
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Fusion of LiDAR and Camera for USVs (Maritime Robotics)
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W-Band Radar for Maritime Perception (Fugro)
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Multi-Modal Perception (LiDAR + Stereo)
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Sonar-Video Fusion for Spawning Run Monitoring (NINA)
6. Robotics and Embodied Learning Agents
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LIMO Robot for Autonomous Ground Navigation
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AI-Based Environment Perception for Underwater Robots (AROS project)
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Visual SLAM for Underwater Snake Robots (AROS project)
7. Fundamental AI and Machine Learning
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NeRFs in Motion – Dynamic Scene Representation
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Uncertainty Quantification in Detection and Classification
Supervision Philosophy and Project Organization
Students working under Prof. Rudolf Mester can expect:
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Individualized, regular supervision, typically on a weekly basis.
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Intensive guidance during the preproject and Master’s thesis writing phases.
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A clear philosophy: writing begins on Day 1 to ensure continuity, clarity, and documentation of progress.
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Many projects are embedded in larger research clusters (4–15 students), often part of nationally funded projects (e.g., Norwegian Research Council).
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Projects are often carried out in cooperation with other departments, notably the Department of Engineering Cybernetics (ITK), and with strong ties to industrial partners.
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The overarching research focus is on Embodied AI—developing tangible, intelligent systems such as autonomous ships, underwater robots, self-driving vehicles, and more.
📌 Important Note (April 2025)
Students interested in these topics are strongly encouraged to contact Prof. Rudolf Mester directly way before May 1 in order to receive individual guidance and additional information about available projects.
Outreach
2024
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Academic lectureNygård, Trym Anthonsen; Brekke, Edmund Førland; Mester, Rudolf; Stahl, Annette. (2024) Dynamic Scene Representation for Docking in Urban Waters Using a Stereo Camera. MTEC/ICMASS , Trondheim 2024-10-29 - 2024-10-30
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Academic lectureLopez, Michael Ernesto; Vasstein, Kjetil; Brekke, Edmund Førland; Mester, Rudolf; Stahl, Annette. (2024) A General Low-Parameter 3D Ship Hull Extent Model for Object Tracking. 27th International Conference on Information Fusion , Venice 2024-07-07 - 2024-07-11
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Academic lectureTeigen, Andreas Langeland; Park, Yikyung; Mester, Rudolf; Stahl, Annette. (2024) RGB-D Mapping and Tracking in a Plenoxel Radiance Field. IEEE Xplore IEEE/CVF Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV) , Waikoloa, Hawaii 2024-01-14 - 2024-01-17
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Academic lectureMartens, Emil Ludvig; Brekke, Edmund Førland; Mester, Rudolf; Stahl, Annette. (2024) A Lightweight, Polarization-Camera Equipped Sensor Rig for the Development of Autonomous Surface Vehicles. MTEC/ICMASS , Trondheim 2024-10-29 - 2024-10-30
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Academic lectureDalhaug, Nicholas; Stahl, Annette; Mester, Rudolf; Brekke, Edmund Førland. (2024) Combining Short and Wide Baseline Stereo Cameras for Improved Maritime Target Tracking. 27th International Conference on Information Fusion , Venice 2024-07-07 - 2024-07-11
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Academic lectureHilmarsen, Henrik; Dalhaug, Nicholas; Nygård, Trym Anthonsen; Brekke, Edmund Førland; Mester, Rudolf; Stahl, Annette. (2024) Maritime Tracking-By-Detection with Object Mask Depth Retrieval Through Stereo Vision and Lidar . 27th International Conference on Information Fusion , Venice 2024-07-07 - 2024-07-11
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Academic lectureGrini, Jon Torgeir; Mester, Rudolf; Nygård, Trym Anthonsen; Dalhaug, Nicholas; Brekke, Edmund Førland; Stahl, Annette. (2024) FusedWSS: Water Surface Segmentation Fusing Machine Learning and Geometric Cues. 27th International Conference on Information Fusion , Venice 2024-07-07 - 2024-07-11
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Academic lectureDalhaug, Nicholas; Nygård, Trym Anthonsen; Stahl, Annette; Mester, Rudolf; Brekke, Edmund Førland. (2024) Advancing Sparse Classical Scene Flow into the Maritime Domain. IFAC CAMS 2024-09-03 - 2024-09-05
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Academic lectureTeigen, Andreas Langeland; Yip, Mau Hing; Hamran, Victor Pierre; Skui, Vegard; Stahl, Annette; Mester, Rudolf. (2024) Removing adverse volumetric effects from trained neural radiance fields. International Symposium on Visual Computing , Nevada 2024-10-21 - 2024-10-23
2023
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Academic lectureKlemsdal, Even; Mester, Rudolf. (2023) A gentle introduction to Deep Reinforcement Learning. NLDL , Tromsø 2023-01-09 - 2023-01-13
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Academic lectureLopez, Michael Ernesto; Brekke, Edmund Førland; Mester, Rudolf; Stahl, Annette. (2023) Multiscan Shape Estimation for Extended Object Tracking. Fusion 2023 2023-06-27 - 2023-06-30
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Academic lectureFlemmen, Henrik Dobbe; Mester, Rudolf; Stahl, Annette; Bryne, Torleiv Håland; Brekke, Edmund Førland. (2023) Maritime radar odometry inspired by visual odometry. International Society of Information Fusion (ISIF) 2023 26th International Conference on Information Fusion (FUSION) , Charleston 2023-06-27 - 2023-06-30
2022
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Academic lectureHodne, Lars Martin; Leikvoll, Eirik; Yip, Mauhing; Teigen, Andreas Langeland; Stahl, Annette; Mester, Rudolf. (2022) Detecting and Suppressing Marine Snow for Underwater Visual SLAM. IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recogniti Fourth Workshop on Image Matching: Local Features and Beyond , New Orleans, Louisiana 2022-06-19 - 2022-06-23
2021
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Academic lectureTeigen, Andreas Langeland; Saad, Aya; Stahl, Annette; Mester, Rudolf. (2021) Few-Shot Open World Learner. International Federation of Automatic Control 13th IFAC Conference on Control Applications in Marine Systems, Robotics, and Vehicles IFAC CAMS , Online Conference - University Oldenburg, Germany 2021-09-22 - 2021-09-24
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Academic lectureZwilgmeyer, Peder Georg Olofsson; Yip, Mauhing; Teigen, Andreas Langeland; Mester, Rudolf; Stahl, Annette. (2021) The VAROS Synthetic Underwater Data Set: Towards realistic multi-sensor underwater data with ground truth. ICCV Workshop Computer Vision in the Ocean 2021-10-17 - 2021-10-17