Hybrid Geometry-VLM Evaluation of Surveillance Norms on a Patrol Robot

Master Thesis (2026)
Author(s)

G.J. Lutje Beerenbroek (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)

Contributor(s)

Holger Caesar – Mentor (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)

Y.B. Eisma – Mentor (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)

Willem van der Geest – Mentor (Ministry of Defence)

Anne Steenbeek – Mentor (Ministry of Defence)

Faculty
Mechanical Engineering
More Info
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Publication Year
2026
Language
English
Graduation Date
02-10-2026
Awarding Institution
Delft University of Technology
Programme
Mechanical Engineering, Vehicle Engineering, Cognitive Robotics
Faculty
Mechanical Engineering
Page Views
16
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Abstract

A patrol robot drives the same route repeatedly; which of the changes between one visit and the next a supervisor should see depends on the surroundings, earlier moments, and local rules. We present a hybrid geometry-VLM pipeline for evaluating operational surveillance norms. LiDAR change detection and person tracking feed a spatio-temporal evidence graph of changed objects, people, and site areas; the graph indexes what is passed to a vision-language model. The model characterises what it is shown and judges it against the site’s norms, which range from explicit through relational to implicit. Developed at one site and evaluated at another, with reportable and non-reportable situations staged, it reaches an F1 of 0.70 at a precision of 0.66. A camera-only alternative nearly matches its recall but at an alert precision of 0.08; withdrawing the relational evidence costs 0.17 of F1. What a design must supply differs across the three norm categories.

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