Notion and structure of sensor data fusion

Abstract

Sensor data fusion is an omnipresent phenomenon that existed prior to its technological realization or the scientific reflection on it. In fact, all living creatures, including human beings, by nature or intuitively perform sensor data fusion. Each in their own way, they combine or "fuse" sensations provided by different and mutually complementary sense organs with knowledge learned from previous experiences and communications from other creatures. As a result, they produce a "mental picture" of their individual environment, the basis of behaving appropriately in their struggle to avoid harm or successfully reach a particular goal in a given situation. © Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.