WorldWideScience

Sample records for cooperative multi-robot observation

  1. Multi-robot motion control for cooperative observation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Center for Engineering Systems Advanced Research

    1997-06-01

    An important issue that arises in the automation of many security, surveillance, and reconnaissance tasks is that of monitoring (or observing) the movements of targets navigating in a bounded area of interest. A key research issue in these problems is that of sensor placement--determining where sensors should be located to maintain the targets in view. In complex applications involving limited-range sensors, the use of multiple sensors dynamically moving over time is required. In this paper, the authors investigate the use of a cooperative team of autonomous sensor-based robots for the observation of multiple moving targets. They focus primarily on developing the distributed control strategies that allow the robot team to attempt to minimize the total time in which targets escape observation by some robot team member in the area of interest. This paper first formalizes the problem and discusses related work. The authors then present a distributed approximate approach to solving this problem that combines low-level multi-robot control with higher-level reasoning control based on the ALLIANCE formalism. They analyze the effectiveness of the approach by comparing it to 3 other feasible algorithms for cooperative control, showing the superiority of the approach for a large class of problems.

  2. Multi-robot motion control for cooperative observation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, L.E.

    1997-01-01

    An important issue that arises in the automation of many security, surveillance, and reconnaissance tasks is that of monitoring (or observing) the movements of targets navigating in a bounded area of interest. A key research issue in these problems is that of sensor placement--determining where sensors should be located to maintain the targets in view. In complex applications involving limited-range sensors, the use of multiple sensors dynamically moving over time is required. In this paper, the authors investigate the use of a cooperative team of autonomous sensor-based robots for the observation of multiple moving targets. They focus primarily on developing the distributed control strategies that allow the robot team to attempt to minimize the total time in which targets escape observation by some robot team member in the area of interest. This paper first formalizes the problem and discusses related work. The authors then present a distributed approximate approach to solving this problem that combines low-level multi-robot control with higher-level reasoning control based on the ALLIANCE formalism. They analyze the effectiveness of the approach by comparing it to 3 other feasible algorithms for cooperative control, showing the superiority of the approach for a large class of problems

  3. Cooperative multi-robot observation of multiple moving targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, L.E.; Emmons, B.A.

    1997-01-01

    An important issue that arises in the automation of many security, surveillance, and reconnaissance tasks is that of monitoring, or observing, the movements of targets navigating in a bounded area of interest. A key research issue in these problems is that of sensor placement--determining where sensors should be located to maintain the targets in view. In complex applications of this type, the use of multiple sensors dynamically moving over time is required. In this paper, the authors investigate the sue of a cooperative team of autonomous sensor-based robots for multi-robot observation of multiple moving targets. They focus primarily on developing the distributed control strategies that allow the robot team to attempt to maximize the collective tie during which each object is being observed by at least one robot in the area of interest. The initial efforts in this problem address the aspects of distributed control in homogeneous robot teams with equivalent sensing and movement capabilities working in an uncluttered, bounded area. This paper first formalizes the problem, discusses related work, and then shows that this problem is NP-hard. They then present a distributed approximate approach to solving this problem that combines low-level multi-robot control with higher-level control

  4. Multi-robot Cooperation Behavior Decision Based on Psychological Values

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian JIANG

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The method based on psychology concept has been proved to be a successful tool used for human-robot interaction. But its related research in multi-robot cooperation has remained scarce until recent studies. To solve the problem, a decision-making mechanism based on psychological values is presented to be regarded as the basis of the multi-robot cooperation. Robots give birth to psychological values based on the estimations of environment, teammates and themselves. The mapping relationship between psychological values and cooperation tendency threshold values is set up with artificial neural network. Robots can make decision on the bases of these threshold values in cooperation scenes. Experiments show that the multi-robot cooperation method presented in the paper not only can ensure the rationality of robots’ decision-making, but also can ensure the speediness of robots’ decision-making.

  5. Cooperative Robots to Observe Moving Targets: Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Asif; Rinner, Bernhard; Cavallaro, Andrea

    2018-01-01

    The deployment of multiple robots for achieving a common goal helps to improve the performance, efficiency, and/or robustness in a variety of tasks. In particular, the observation of moving targets is an important multirobot application that still exhibits numerous open challenges, including the effective coordination of the robots. This paper reviews control techniques for cooperative mobile robots monitoring multiple targets. The simultaneous movement of robots and targets makes this problem particularly interesting, and our review systematically addresses this cooperative multirobot problem for the first time. We classify and critically discuss the control techniques: cooperative multirobot observation of multiple moving targets, cooperative search, acquisition, and track, cooperative tracking, and multirobot pursuit evasion. We also identify the five major elements that characterize this problem, namely, the coordination method, the environment, the target, the robot and its sensor(s). These elements are used to systematically analyze the control techniques. The majority of the studied work is based on simulation and laboratory studies, which may not accurately reflect real-world operational conditions. Importantly, while our systematic analysis is focused on multitarget observation, our proposed classification is useful also for related multirobot applications.

  6. Cooperative motion control for multi-target observation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1997-08-01

    An important issue that arises in the automation of many security, surveillance, and reconnaissance tasks is that of monitoring (or observing) the movements of targets navigating in a bounded area of interest. A key research issue in these problems is that of sensor placement--determining where sensors should be located to maintain the targets in view. In complex applications involving limited-range sensors, the use of multiple sensors dynamically moving over time is required. In this paper, the author investigates the use of a cooperative team of autonomous sensor-based robots for the observation of multiple moving targets. The focus is primarily on developing the distributed control strategies that allow the robot team to attempt to minimize the total time in which targets escape observation by some robot team member in the area of interest. This paper first formalizes the problem and discusses related work. The author then presents a distributed approximate approach to solving this problem that combines low-level multi-robot control with higher-level reasoning control based on the ALLIANCE formalism. The effectiveness of the approach is analyzed by comparing it to three other feasible algorithms for cooperative control, showing the superiority of the approach for a large class of problems.

  7. Cooperative motion control for multi-target observation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, L.E.

    1997-01-01

    An important issue that arises in the automation of many security, surveillance, and reconnaissance tasks is that of monitoring (or observing) the movements of targets navigating in a bounded area of interest. A key research issue in these problems is that of sensor placement--determining where sensors should be located to maintain the targets in view. In complex applications involving limited-range sensors, the use of multiple sensors dynamically moving over time is required. In this paper, the author investigates the use of a cooperative team of autonomous sensor-based robots for the observation of multiple moving targets. The focus is primarily on developing the distributed control strategies that allow the robot team to attempt to minimize the total time in which targets escape observation by some robot team member in the area of interest. This paper first formalizes the problem and discusses related work. The author then presents a distributed approximate approach to solving this problem that combines low-level multi-robot control with higher-level reasoning control based on the ALLIANCE formalism. The effectiveness of the approach is analyzed by comparing it to three other feasible algorithms for cooperative control, showing the superiority of the approach for a large class of problems

  8. Heterogeneous Multi-Robot Cooperation

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-02-01

    express my heartfelt thanks to my thesis advisor . Rod Brooks. who supported and encouraged me throughout my time at MIT. He provided a good mixture of...group than is possible with individual robots alone. 25 26 CHAPTER 3. ALLIANCE: THE COOPERATIVE ROBO ,ARCHITECTURE’ discuss the implications of these...available, robot teams should take advantage of it; however, I do not want the team to experience total breakdown when communication becomes unavailable

  9. Cognitive Coordination for Cooperative Multi-Robot Teamwork

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wei, C.

    2015-01-01

    Multi-robot teams have potential advantages over a single robot. Robots in a team can serve different functionalities, so a team of robots can be more efficient, robust and reliable than a single robot. In this dissertation, we are in particular interested in human level intelligent multi-robot

  10. A Case-Study for Life-Long Learning and Adaptation in Cooperative Robot Teams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, L.E.

    1999-01-01

    While considerable progress has been made in recent years toward the development of multi-robot teams, much work remains to be done before these teams are used widely in real-world applications. Two particular needs toward this end are the development of mechanisms that enable robot teams to generate cooperative behaviors on their own, and the development of techniques that allow these teams to autonomously adapt their behavior over time as the environment or the robot team changes. This paper proposes the use of the Cooperative Multi-Robot Observation of Multiple Moving Targets (CMOMMT) application as a rich domain for studying the issues of multi-robot learning and adaptation. After discussing the need for learning and adaptation in multi-robot teams, this paper describes the CMOMMT application and its relevance to multi-robot learning. We discuss the results of the previously- developed, hand-generated algorithm for CMOMMT and the potential for learning that was discovered from the hand-generated approach. We then describe the early work that has been done (by us and others) to generate multi- robot learning techniques for the CMOMMT application, as well as our ongoing research to develop approaches that give performance as good, or better, than the hand-generated approach. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop techniques for multi-robot learning and adaptation in the CMOMMT application domain that will generalize to cooperative robot applications in other domains, thus making the practical use of multi-robot teams in a wide variety of real-world applications much closer to reality

  11. Distributed control of multi-robot teams: Cooperative baton passing task

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1998-11-01

    This research addresses the problem of achieving fault tolerant cooperation within small- to medium-sized teams of heterogeneous mobile robots. The author describes a novel behavior-based, fully distributed architecture, called ALLIANCE, that utilizes adaptive action selection to achieve fault tolerant cooperative control. The robots in this architecture possess a variety of high-level functions that they can perform during a mission, and must at all times select an appropriate action based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and their own internal states. Since such cooperative teams often work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, the software architecture allows the team members to respond robustly and reliably to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. After presenting ALLIANCE, they describe the implementation of this architecture on a team of physical mobile robots performing a cooperative baton passing task. These experiments illustrate the ability of ALLIANCE to achieve adaptive, fault-tolerant cooperative control amidst dynamic changes during the task.

  12. Cooperative robots and sensor networks 2015

    CERN Document Server

    Dios, JRamiro

    2015-01-01

    This book compiles some of the latest research in cooperation between robots and sensor networks. Structured in twelve chapters, this book addresses fundamental, theoretical, implementation and experimentation issues. The chapters are organized into four parts namely multi-robots systems, data fusion and localization, security and dependability, and mobility.

  13. ALLIANCE: An architecture for fault tolerant multi-robot cooperation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1995-02-01

    ALLIANCE is a software architecture that facilitates the fault tolerant cooperative control of teams of heterogeneous mobile robots performing missions composed of loosely coupled, largely independent subtasks. ALLIANCE allows teams of robots, each of which possesses a variety of high-level functions that it can perform during a mission, to individually select appropriate actions throughout the mission based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and the robot`s own internal states. ALLIANCE is a fully distributed, behavior-based architecture that incorporates the use of mathematically modeled motivations (such as impatience and acquiescence) within each robot to achieve adaptive action selection. Since cooperative robotic teams usually work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, this software architecture allows the robot team members to respond robustly, reliably, flexibly, and coherently to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. The feasibility of this architecture is demonstrated in an implementation on a team of mobile robots performing a laboratory version of hazardous waste cleanup.

  14. ALLIANCE: An architecture for fault tolerant multi-robot cooperation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, L.E.

    1995-02-01

    ALLIANCE is a software architecture that facilitates the fault tolerant cooperative control of teams of heterogeneous mobile robots performing missions composed of loosely coupled, largely independent subtasks. ALLIANCE allows teams of robots, each of which possesses a variety of high-level functions that it can perform during a mission, to individually select appropriate actions throughout the mission based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and the robot's own internal states. ALLIANCE is a fully distributed, behavior-based architecture that incorporates the use of mathematically modeled motivations (such as impatience and acquiescence) within each robot to achieve adaptive action selection. Since cooperative robotic teams usually work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, this software architecture allows the robot team members to respond robustly, reliably, flexibly, and coherently to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. The feasibility of this architecture is demonstrated in an implementation on a team of mobile robots performing a laboratory version of hazardous waste cleanup

  15. On Open- source Multi-robot simulators

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Namoshe, M

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Open source software simulators play a major role in robotics design and research as platforms for developing, testing and improving architectures, concepts and algorithms for cooperative/multi-robot systems. Simulation environment enables control...

  16. A New Approach of Multi-robot Cooperative Pursuit Based on Association Rule Data Mining

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Li

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available An approach of cooperative hunting for multiple mobile targets by multi-robot is presented, which divides the pursuit process into forming the pursuit teams and capturing the targets. The data sets of attribute relationship is built by consulting all of factors about capturing evaders, then the interesting rules can be found by data mining from the data sets to build the pursuit teams. Through doping out the positions of targets, the pursuit game can be transformed into multi-robot path planning. Reinforcement learning is used to find the best path. The simulation results show that the mobile evaders can be captured effectively and efficiently, and prove the feasibility and validity of the given algorithm under a dynamic environment.

  17. A New Approach of Multi-Robot Cooperative Pursuit Based on Association Rule Data Mining

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Li

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available An approach of cooperative hunting for multiple mobile targets by multi-robot is presented, which divides the pursuit process into forming the pursuit teams and capturing the targets. The data sets of attribute relationship is built by consulting all of factors about capturing evaders, then the interesting rules can be found by data mining from the data sets to build the pursuit teams. Through doping out the positions of targets, the pursuit game can be transformed into multi-robot path planning. Reinforcement learning is used to find the best path. The simulation results show that the mobile evaders can be captured effectively and efficiently, and prove the feasibility and validity of the given algorithm under a dynamic environment.

  18. Cooperative control of multi-agent systems optimal and adaptive design approaches

    CERN Document Server

    Lewis, Frank L; Hengster-Movric, Kristian; Das, Abhijit

    2014-01-01

    Task complexity, communication constraints, flexibility and energy-saving concerns are all factors that may require a group of autonomous agents to work together in a cooperative manner. Applications involving such complications include mobile robots, wireless sensor networks, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), spacecraft, and so on. In such networked multi-agent scenarios, the restrictions imposed by the communication graph topology can pose severe problems in the design of cooperative feedback control systems.  Cooperative control of multi-agent systems is a challenging topic for both control theorists and practitioners and has been the subject of significant recent research. Cooperative Control of Multi-Agent Systems extends optimal control and adaptive control design methods to multi-agent systems on communication graphs.  It develops Riccati design techniques for general linear dynamics for cooperative state feedback design, cooperative observer design, and cooperative dynamic output feedback design.  B...

  19. Modelling cooperation of industrial robots as multi-agent systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hryniewicz, P.; Banas, W.; Foit, K.; Gwiazda, A.; Sekala, A.

    2017-08-01

    Nowadays, more and more often in a cell is more than one robot, there is also a dual arm robots, because of this cooperation of two robots in the same space becomes more and more important. Programming robotic cell consisting of two or more robots are currently performed separately for each element of the robot and the cell. It is performed only synchronization programs, but no robot movements. In such situations often placed industrial robots so they do not have common space so the robots are operated separately. When industrial robots are a common space this space can occupy only one robot the other one must be outside the common space. It is very difficult to find applications where two robots are in the same workspace. It was tested but one robot did not do of movement when moving the second and waited for permission to move from the second when it sent a permit - stop the move. Such programs are very difficult and require a lot of experience from the programmer and must be tested separately at the beginning and then very slowly under control. Ideally, the operator takes care of exactly one robot during the test and it is very important to take special care.

  20. Distributed consensus with visual perception in multi-robot systems

    CERN Document Server

    Montijano, Eduardo

    2015-01-01

    This monograph introduces novel responses to the different problems that arise when multiple robots need to execute a task in cooperation, each robot in the team having a monocular camera as its primary input sensor. Its central proposition is that a consistent perception of the world is crucial for the good development of any multi-robot application. The text focuses on the high-level problem of cooperative perception by a multi-robot system: the idea that, depending on what each robot sees and its current situation, it will need to communicate these things to its fellows whenever possible to share what it has found and keep updated by them in its turn. However, in any realistic scenario, distributed solutions to this problem are not trivial and need to be addressed from as many angles as possible. Distributed Consensus with Visual Perception in Multi-Robot Systems covers a variety of related topics such as: ·         distributed consensus algorithms; ·         data association and robustne...

  1. Multi-robot team design for real-world applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1996-10-01

    Many of these applications are in dynamic environments requiring capabilities distributed in functionality, space, or time, and therefore often require teams of robots to work together. While much research has been done in recent years, current robotics technology is still far from achieving many of the real world applications. Two primary reasons for this technology gap are that (1) previous work has not adequately addressed the issues of fault tolerance and adaptivity in multi-robot teams, and (2) existing robotics research is often geared at specific applications and is not easily generalized to different, but related, applications. This paper addresses these issues by first describing the design issues of key importance in these real-world cooperative robotics applications: fault tolerance, reliability, adaptivity, and coherence. We then present a general architecture addressing these design issues (called ALLIANCE) that facilities multi-robot cooperation of small- to medium-sized teams in dynamic environments, performing missions composed of loosely coupled subtasks. We illustrate an implementation of ALLIANCE in a real-world application, called Bounding Overwatch, and then discuss how this architecture addresses our key design issues.

  2. Generating Self-Reliant Teams of Autonomous Cooperating Robots: Desired design Characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1999-05-01

    The difficulties in designing a cooperative team are significant. Several of the key questions that must be resolved when designing a cooperative control architecture include: How do we formulate, describe, decompose, and allocate problems among a group of intelligent agents? How do we enable agents to communicate and interact? How do we ensure that agents act coherently in their actions? How do we allow agents to recognize and reconcile conflicts? However, in addition to these key issues, the software architecture must be designed to enable multi-robot teams to be robust, reliable, and flexible. Without these capabilities, the resulting robot team will not be able to successfully deal with the dynamic and uncertain nature of the real world. In this extended abstract, we first describe these desired capabilities. We then briefly describe the ALLIANCE software architecture that we have previously developed for multi-robot cooperation. We then briefly analyze the ALLIANCE architecture in terms of the desired design qualities identified.

  3. A formation control strategy with coupling weights for the multi-robot system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Xudong; Wang, Siming; Li, Weijie

    2017-12-01

    The distributed formation problem of the multi-robot system with general linear dynamic characteristics and directed communication topology is discussed. In order to avoid that the multi-robot system can not maintain the desired formation in the complex communication environment, the distributed cooperative algorithm with coupling weights based on zipf distribution is designed. The asymptotic stability condition for the formation of the multi-robot system is given, and the theory of the graph and the Lyapunov theory are used to prove that the formation can converge to the desired geometry formation and the desired motion rules of the virtual leader under this condition. Nontrivial simulations are performed to validate the effectiveness of the distributed cooperative algorithm with coupling weights.

  4. Telemanipulation of cooperative robots: a case of study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pliego-Jiménez, Javier; Arteaga-Pérez, Marco

    2018-06-01

    This article addresses the problem of dexterous robotic grasping by means of a telemanipulation system composed of a single master and two slave robot manipulators. The slave robots are analysed as a cooperative system where it is assumed that the robots can push but not pull the object. In order to achieve a stable rigid grasp, a centralised adaptive position-force control algorithm for the slave robots is proposed. On the other hand, a linear velocity observer for the master robot is developed to avoid numerical differentiation. A set of experiments with different human operators were carried out to show the good performance and capabilities of the proposed control-observer algorithm. In addition, the dynamic model and closed-loop dynamics of the telemanipulation is presented.

  5. Adaptive heterogeneous multi-robot teams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1998-11-01

    This research addresses the problem of achieving fault tolerant cooperation within small- to medium-sized teams of heterogeneous mobile robots. The author describes a novel behavior-based, fully distributed architecture, called ALLIANCE, that utilizes adaptive action selection to achieve fault tolerant cooperative control in robot missions involving loosely coupled, largely independent tasks. The robots in this architecture possess a variety of high-level functions that they can perform during a mission, and must at all times select an appropriate action based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and their own internal states. Since such cooperative teams often work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, the software architecture allows the team members to respond robustly and reliably to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. After presenting ALLIANCE, the author describes in detail the experimental results of an implementation of this architecture on a team of physical mobile robots performing a cooperative box pushing demonstration. These experiments illustrate the ability of ALLIANCE to achieve adaptive, fault-tolerant cooperative control amidst dynamic changes in the capabilities of the robot team.

  6. SWARMs Ontology: A Common Information Model for the Cooperation of Underwater Robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xin; Bilbao, Sonia; Martín-Wanton, Tamara; Bastos, Joaquim; Rodriguez, Jonathan

    2017-01-01

    In order to facilitate cooperation between underwater robots, it is a must for robots to exchange information with unambiguous meaning. However, heterogeneity, existing in information pertaining to different robots, is a major obstruction. Therefore, this paper presents a networked ontology, named the Smart and Networking Underwater Robots in Cooperation Meshes (SWARMs) ontology, to address information heterogeneity and enable robots to have the same understanding of exchanged information. The SWARMs ontology uses a core ontology to interrelate a set of domain-specific ontologies, including the mission and planning, the robotic vehicle, the communication and networking, and the environment recognition and sensing ontology. In addition, the SWARMs ontology utilizes ontology constructs defined in the PR-OWL ontology to annotate context uncertainty based on the Multi-Entity Bayesian Network (MEBN) theory. Thus, the SWARMs ontology can provide both a formal specification for information that is necessarily exchanged between robots and a command and control entity, and also support for uncertainty reasoning. A scenario on chemical pollution monitoring is described and used to showcase how the SWARMs ontology can be instantiated, be extended, represent context uncertainty, and support uncertainty reasoning. PMID:28287468

  7. Performance impact of mutation operators of a subpopulation-based genetic algorithm for multi-robot task allocation problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Chun; Kroll, Andreas

    2016-01-01

    Multi-robot task allocation determines the task sequence and distribution for a group of robots in multi-robot systems, which is one of constrained combinatorial optimization problems and more complex in case of cooperative tasks because they introduce additional spatial and temporal constraints. To solve multi-robot task allocation problems with cooperative tasks efficiently, a subpopulation-based genetic algorithm, a crossover-free genetic algorithm employing mutation operators and elitism selection in each subpopulation, is developed in this paper. Moreover, the impact of mutation operators (swap, insertion, inversion, displacement, and their various combinations) is analyzed when solving several industrial plant inspection problems. The experimental results show that: (1) the proposed genetic algorithm can obtain better solutions than the tested binary tournament genetic algorithm with partially mapped crossover; (2) inversion mutation performs better than other tested mutation operators when solving problems without cooperative tasks, and the swap-inversion combination performs better than other tested mutation operators/combinations when solving problems with cooperative tasks. As it is difficult to produce all desired effects with a single mutation operator, using multiple mutation operators (including both inversion and swap) is suggested when solving similar combinatorial optimization problems.

  8. Vision-based mapping with cooperative robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Little, James J.; Jennings, Cullen; Murray, Don

    1998-10-01

    Two stereo-vision-based mobile robots navigate and autonomously explore their environment safely while building occupancy grid maps of the environment. The robots maintain position estimates within a global coordinate frame using landmark recognition. This allows them to build a common map by sharing position information and stereo data. Stereo vision processing and map updates are done at 3 Hz and the robots move at speeds of 200 cm/s. Cooperative mapping is achieved through autonomous exploration of unstructured and dynamic environments. The map is constructed conservatively, so as to be useful for collision-free path planning. Each robot maintains a separate copy of a shared map, and then posts updates to the common map when it returns to observe a landmark at home base. Issues include synchronization, mutual localization, navigation, exploration, registration of maps, merging repeated views (fusion), centralized vs decentralized maps.

  9. Multi-Robot Search for a Moving Target: Integrating World Modeling, Task Assignment and Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-12-01

    Gemignani1, Daniele Nardi1 Abstract— In this paper, we address coordination within a team of cooperative autonomous robots that need to accomplish a common... cooperate to achieve a common goal. During the last years, the approaches to Multi-Robot Systems have been noticed and categorized in different survey...the environment). To highlight how our contribution compares to existing approaches, we categorize existing works on Fig. 2 by con - sidering their

  10. Study and Application of Reinforcement Learning in Cooperative Strategy of the Robot Soccer Based on BDI Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wu Bo-ying

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available The dynamic cooperation model of multi-Agent is formed by combining reinforcement learning with BDI model. In this model, the concept of the individual optimization loses its meaning, because the repayment of each Agent dose not only depend on itsself but also on the choice of other Agents. All Agents can pursue a common optimum solution and try to realize the united intention as a whole to a maximum limit. The robot moves to its goal, depending on the present positions of the other robots that cooperate with it and the present position of the ball. One of these robots cooperating with it is controlled to move by man with a joystick. In this way, Agent can be ensured to search for each state-action as frequently as possible when it carries on choosing movements, so as to shorten the time of searching for the movement space so that the convergence speed of reinforcement learning can be improved. The validity of the proposed cooperative strategy for the robot soccer has been proved by combining theoretical analysis with simulation robot soccer match (11vs11 .

  11. MOTION PLANNING OF MULTIPLE MOBILE ROBOTS COOPERATIVELY TRANSPORTING A COMMON OBJECT

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2000-01-01

    Many applications above the capability of a single robot need the cooperation of multiple mobile robots, but effective cooperation is hard to achieve. In this paper, a master-slave method is proposed to control the motions of multiple mobile robots that cooperatively transport a common object from a start point to a goal point. A noholonomic kinematic model to constrain the motions of multiple mobile robots is built in order to achieve cooperative motions of them, and a "Dynamic Coordinator" strategy is used to deal with the collision-avoidance of the master robot and slave robot individually. Simulation results show the robustness and effectiveness of the method.

  12. Proposed Methodology for Application of Human-like gradual Multi-Agent Q-Learning (HuMAQ) for Multi-robot Exploration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ray, Dip Narayan; Majumder, Somajyoti

    2014-01-01

    Several attempts have been made by the researchers around the world to develop a number of autonomous exploration techniques for robots. But it has been always an important issue for developing the algorithm for unstructured and unknown environments. Human-like gradual Multi-agent Q-leaming (HuMAQ) is a technique developed for autonomous robotic exploration in unknown (and even unimaginable) environments. It has been successfully implemented in multi-agent single robotic system. HuMAQ uses the concept of Subsumption architecture, a well-known Behaviour-based architecture for prioritizing the agents of the multi-agent system and executes only the most common action out of all the different actions recommended by different agents. Instead of using new state-action table (Q-table) each time, HuMAQ uses the immediate past table for efficient and faster exploration. The proof of learning has also been established both theoretically and practically. HuMAQ has the potential to be used in different and difficult situations as well as applications. The same architecture has been modified to use for multi-robot exploration in an environment. Apart from all other existing agents used in the single robotic system, agents for inter-robot communication and coordination/ co-operation with the other similar robots have been introduced in the present research. Current work uses a series of indigenously developed identical autonomous robotic systems, communicating with each other through ZigBee protocol

  13. Open middleware for robotics

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Namoshe, M

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available and their technologies within the field of multi-robot systems to ease the difficulty of realizing robot applications. And lastly, an example of algorithm development for multi-robot co-operation using one of the discussed software architecture is presented...

  14. FY1995 distributed control of man-machine cooperative multi agent systems; 1995 nendo ningen kyochogata multi agent kikai system no jiritsu seigyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-03-01

    In the near future, distributed autonomous systems will be practical in many situations, e.g., interactive production systems, hazardous environments, nursing homes, and individual houses. The agents which consist of the distributed system must not give damages to human being and should be working economically. In this project man-machine cooperative multi agent systems are studied in many kind of respects, and basic design technology, basic control technique are developed by establishing fundamental theories and by constructing experimental systems. In this project theoretical and experimental studies are conducted in the following sub-projects: (1) Distributed cooperative control in multi agent type actuation systems (2) Control of non-holonomic systems (3) Man-machine Cooperative systems (4) Robot systems learning human skills (5) Robust force control of constrained systems In each sub-project cooperative nature between machine agent systems and human being, interference between artificial multi agents and environment and new function emergence in coordination of the multi agents and the environment, robust force control against for the environments, control methods for non-holonomic systems, robot systems which can mimic and learn human skills were studied. In each sub-project, some problems were hi-lighted and solutions for the problems have been given based on construction of experimental systems. (NEDO)

  15. Investigation of the Impedance Characteristic of Human Arm for Development of Robots to Cooperate with Humans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Md. Mozasser; Ikeura, Ryojun; Mizutani, Kazuki

    In the near future many aspects of our lives will be encompassed by tasks performed in cooperation with robots. The application of robots in home automation, agricultural production and medical operations etc. will be indispensable. As a result robots need to be made human-friendly and to execute tasks in cooperation with humans. Control systems for such robots should be designed to work imitating human characteristics. In this study, we have tried to achieve these goals by means of controlling a simple one degree-of-freedom cooperative robot. Firstly, the impedance characteristic of the human arm in a cooperative task is investigated. Then, this characteristic is implemented to control a robot in order to perform cooperative task with humans. A human followed the motion of an object, which is moved through desired trajectories. The motion is actuated by the linear motor of the one degree-of-freedom robot system. Trajectories used in the experiments of this method were minimum jerk (the rate of change of acceleration) trajectory, which was found during human and human cooperative task and optimum for muscle movement. As the muscle is mechanically analogous to a spring-damper system, a simple second-order equation is used as models for the arm dynamics. In the model, we considered mass, stiffness and damping factor. Impedance parameter is calculated from the position and force data obtained from the experiments and based on the “Estimation of Parametric Model”. Investigated impedance characteristic of human arm is then implemented to control a robot, which performed cooperative task with human. It is observed that the proposed control methodology has given human like movements to the robot for cooperating with human.

  16. Cooperative Path Planning and Constraints Analysis for Master-Slave Industrial Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yahui Gan

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available A strategy of cooperative path planning for a master-slave multiple robot system is presented in this paper. The path planning method is based on motion constraints between the end-effectors of cooperative robots. Cooperation motions have been classified into three types by relative motions between end-effectors of master and slave robots, which is concurrent cooperation, coupled synchronous cooperation and combined synchronous cooperation. Based on this classification, position /orientation constraints and joint velocity constraints are explored in-depth here. In order to validate the path planning method and the theoretical developments in motion constraints analysis, representative experiments based on two industrial robots, Motoman VA1400 and HP20, are provided at the end of the paper. The experimental results have proved both the effectiveness of the path planning method and the correctness of the constraints analysis.

  17. Multi-Robot Assembly Strategies and Metrics

    Science.gov (United States)

    MARVEL, JEREMY A.; BOSTELMAN, ROGER; FALCO, JOE

    2018-01-01

    We present a survey of multi-robot assembly applications and methods and describe trends and general insights into the multi-robot assembly problem for industrial applications. We focus on fixtureless assembly strategies featuring two or more robotic systems. Such robotic systems include industrial robot arms, dexterous robotic hands, and autonomous mobile platforms, such as automated guided vehicles. In this survey, we identify the types of assemblies that are enabled by utilizing multiple robots, the algorithms that synchronize the motions of the robots to complete the assembly operations, and the metrics used to assess the quality and performance of the assemblies. PMID:29497234

  18. Multi-Robot Assembly Strategies and Metrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marvel, Jeremy A; Bostelman, Roger; Falco, Joe

    2018-02-01

    We present a survey of multi-robot assembly applications and methods and describe trends and general insights into the multi-robot assembly problem for industrial applications. We focus on fixtureless assembly strategies featuring two or more robotic systems. Such robotic systems include industrial robot arms, dexterous robotic hands, and autonomous mobile platforms, such as automated guided vehicles. In this survey, we identify the types of assemblies that are enabled by utilizing multiple robots, the algorithms that synchronize the motions of the robots to complete the assembly operations, and the metrics used to assess the quality and performance of the assemblies.

  19. Cooperative Path-Planning for Multi-Vehicle Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qichen Wang

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a collision avoidance algorithm for multi-vehicle systems, which is a common problem in many areas, including navigation and robotics. In dynamic environments, vehicles may become involved in potential collisions with each other, particularly when the vehicle density is high and the direction of travel is unrestricted. Cooperatively planning vehicle movement can effectively reduce and fairly distribute the detour inconvenience before subsequently returning vehicles to their intended paths. We present a novel method of cooperative path planning for multi-vehicle systems based on reinforcement learning to address this problem as a decision process. A dynamic system is described as a multi-dimensional space formed by vectors as states to represent all participating vehicles’ position and orientation, whilst considering the kinematic constraints of the vehicles. Actions are defined for the system to transit from one state to another. In order to select appropriate actions whilst satisfying the constraints of path smoothness, constant speed and complying with a minimum distance between vehicles, an approximate value function is iteratively developed to indicate the desirability of every state-action pair from the continuous state space and action space. The proposed scheme comprises two phases. The convergence of the value function takes place in the former learning phase, and it is then used as a path planning guideline in the subsequent action phase. This paper summarizes the concept and methodologies used to implement this online cooperative collision avoidance algorithm and presents results and analysis regarding how this cooperative scheme improves upon two baseline schemes where vehicles make movement decisions independently.

  20. FY 1998 Report on research and development project. Research and development of human-cooperative/coexisting robot systems; 1998 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-03-01

    This R and D project is aimed at development of the human-cooperative/coexisting robot systems with high safety and reliability, capable of performing complicated works cooperatively and in a coexisting manner with humans in human working and living spaces, in order to help improve safety and efficiency in various industrial areas, improve services and convenience in manufacturing and service areas, and create new industries. The trend surveys cover humanoid robot systems, remote control systems and simulators, and the application surveys cover services for humans, basic humanoids and entertainment communication. The 1998 R and D efforts include research and development, fabrication and surveys for the following themes; (1) fabrication of robot platforms for supporting manual works, (2) development of surrounded visual display systems, (3) development of robot arm manipulation and force displaying systems, (4) development of a dynamic simulator, (5) development of a distributed software platform, (6) researches and development of computation algorithm for kinematic chain dynamics, (7) development of motion teaching system for multi-functional robots, (8) investigation of trends in robotics technology, and (9) researches and surveys of robot application. (NEDO)

  1. Multi-robot control interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruemmer, David J [Idaho Falls, ID; Walton, Miles C [Idaho Falls, ID

    2011-12-06

    Methods and systems for controlling a plurality of robots through a single user interface include at least one robot display window for each of the plurality of robots with the at least one robot display window illustrating one or more conditions of a respective one of the plurality of robots. The user interface further includes at least one robot control window for each of the plurality of robots with the at least one robot control window configured to receive one or more commands for sending to the respective one of the plurality of robots. The user interface further includes a multi-robot common window comprised of information received from each of the plurality of robots.

  2. ALLIANCE: An architecture for fault tolerant, cooperative control of heterogeneous mobile robots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1995-02-01

    This research addresses the problem of achieving fault tolerant cooperation within small- to medium-sized teams of heterogeneous mobile robots. The author describes a novel behavior-based, fully distributed architecture, called ALLIANCE, that utilizes adaptive action selection to achieve fault tolerant cooperative control in robot missions involving loosely coupled, largely independent tasks. The robots in this architecture possess a variety of high-level functions that they can perform during a mission, and must at all times select an appropriate action based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and their own internal states. Since such cooperative teams often work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, the software architecture allows the team members to respond robustly and reliably to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. After presenting ALLIANCE, the author describes in detail experimental results of an implementation of this architecture on a team of physical mobile robots performing a cooperative box pushing demonstration. These experiments illustrate the ability of ALLIANCE to achieve adaptive, fault-tolerant cooperative control amidst dynamic changes in the capabilities of the robot team.

  3. Surgery with cooperative robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehman, Amy C; Berg, Kyle A; Dumpert, Jason; Wood, Nathan A; Visty, Abigail Q; Rentschler, Mark E; Platt, Stephen R; Farritor, Shane M; Oleynikov, Dmitry

    2008-03-01

    Advances in endoscopic techniques for abdominal procedures continue to reduce the invasiveness of surgery. Gaining access to the peritoneal cavity through small incisions prompted the first significant shift in general surgery. The complete elimination of external incisions through natural orifice access is potentially the next step in reducing patient trauma. While minimally invasive techniques offer significant patient advantages, the procedures are surgically challenging. Robotic surgical systems are being developed that address the visualization and manipulation limitations, but many of these systems remain constrained by the entry incisions. Alternatively, miniature in vivo robots are being developed that are completely inserted into the peritoneal cavity for laparoscopic and natural orifice procedures. These robots can provide vision and task assistance without the constraints of the entry incision, and can reduce the number of incisions required for laparoscopic procedures. In this study, a series of minimally invasive animal-model surgeries were performed using multiple miniature in vivo robots in cooperation with existing laparoscopy and endoscopy tools as well as the da Vinci Surgical System. These procedures demonstrate that miniature in vivo robots can address the visualization constraints of minimally invasive surgery by providing video feedback and task assistance from arbitrary orientations within the peritoneal cavity.

  4. Cooperative Robot Localization Using Event-Triggered Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iglesias Echevarria, David I.

    It is known that multiple robot systems that need to cooperate to perform certain activities or tasks incur in high energy costs that hinder their autonomous functioning and limit the benefits provided to humans by these kinds of platforms. This work presents a communications-based method for cooperative robot localization. Implementing concepts from event-triggered estimation, used with success in the field of wireless sensor networks but rarely to do robot localization, agents are able to only send measurements to their neighbors when the expected novelty in this information is high. Since all agents know the condition that triggers a measurement to be sent or not, the lack of a measurement is therefore informative and fused into state estimates. In the case agents do not receive either direct nor indirect measurements of all others, the agents employ a covariance intersection fusion rule in order to keep the local covariance error metric bounded. A comprehensive analysis of the proposed algorithm and its estimation performance in a variety of scenarios is performed, and the algorithm is compared to similar cooperative localization approaches. Extensive simulations are performed that illustrate the effectiveness of this method.

  5. Control system of the inspection robots group applying auctions and multi-criteria analysis for task allocation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panfil, Wawrzyniec; Moczulski, Wojciech

    2017-10-01

    In the paper presented is a control system of a mobile robots group intended for carrying out inspection missions. The main research problem was to define such a control system in order to facilitate a cooperation of the robots resulting in realization of the committed inspection tasks. Many of the well-known control systems use auctions for tasks allocation, where a subject of an auction is a task to be allocated. It seems that in the case of missions characterized by much larger number of tasks than number of robots it will be better if robots (instead of tasks) are subjects of auctions. The second identified problem concerns the one-sided robot-to-task fitness evaluation. Simultaneous assessment of the robot-to-task fitness and task attractiveness for robot should affect positively for the overall effectiveness of the multi-robot system performance. The elaborated system allows to assign tasks to robots using various methods for evaluation of fitness between robots and tasks, and using some tasks allocation methods. There is proposed the method for multi-criteria analysis, which is composed of two assessments, i.e. robot's concurrency position for task among other robots and task's attractiveness for robot among other tasks. Furthermore, there are proposed methods for tasks allocation applying the mentioned multi-criteria analysis method. The verification of both the elaborated system and the proposed tasks' allocation methods was carried out with the help of simulated experiments. The object under test was a group of inspection mobile robots being a virtual counterpart of the real mobile-robot group.

  6. Evolutionary Fuzzy Control and Navigation for Two Wheeled Robots Cooperatively Carrying an Object in Unknown Environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juang, Chia-Feng; Lai, Min-Ge; Zeng, Wan-Ting

    2015-09-01

    This paper presents a method that allows two wheeled, mobile robots to navigate unknown environments while cooperatively carrying an object. In the navigation method, a leader robot and a follower robot cooperatively perform either obstacle boundary following (OBF) or target seeking (TS) to reach a destination. The two robots are controlled by fuzzy controllers (FC) whose rules are learned through an adaptive fusion of continuous ant colony optimization and particle swarm optimization (AF-CACPSO), which avoids the time-consuming task of manually designing the controllers. The AF-CACPSO-based evolutionary fuzzy control approach is first applied to the control of a single robot to perform OBF. The learning approach is then applied to achieve cooperative OBF with two robots, where an auxiliary FC designed with the AF-CACPSO is used to control the follower robot. For cooperative TS, a rule for coordination of the two robots is developed. To navigate cooperatively, a cooperative behavior supervisor is introduced to select between cooperative OBF and cooperative TS. The performance of the AF-CACPSO is verified through comparisons with various population-based optimization algorithms for the OBF learning problem. Simulations and experiments verify the effectiveness of the approach for cooperative navigation of two robots.

  7. Optimal Modality Selection for Cooperative Human-Robot Task Completion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacob, Mithun George; Wachs, Juan P

    2016-12-01

    Human-robot cooperation in complex environments must be fast, accurate, and resilient. This requires efficient communication channels where robots need to assimilate information using a plethora of verbal and nonverbal modalities such as hand gestures, speech, and gaze. However, even though hybrid human-robot communication frameworks and multimodal communication have been studied, a systematic methodology for designing multimodal interfaces does not exist. This paper addresses the gap by proposing a novel methodology to generate multimodal lexicons which maximizes multiple performance metrics over a wide range of communication modalities (i.e., lexicons). The metrics are obtained through a mixture of simulation and real-world experiments. The methodology is tested in a surgical setting where a robot cooperates with a surgeon to complete a mock abdominal incision and closure task by delivering surgical instruments. Experimental results show that predicted optimal lexicons significantly outperform predicted suboptimal lexicons (p human-robot collision) and the differences in the lexicons are analyzed.

  8. Cooperative Robot Teams Applied to the Site Preparation Task

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, LE

    2001-01-01

    Prior to human missions to Mars, infrastructures on Mars that support human survival must be prepared. robotic teams can assist in these advance preparations in a number of ways. This paper addresses one of these advance robotic team tasks--the site preparation task--by proposing a control structure that allows robot teams to cooperatively solve this aspect of infrastructure preparation. A key question in this context is determining how robots should make decisions on which aspect of the site preparation t6ask to address throughout the mission, especially while operating in rough terrains. This paper describes a control approach to solving this problem that is based upon the ALLIANCE architecture, combined with performance-based rough terrain navigation that addresses path planning and control of mobile robots in rough terrain environments. They present the site preparation task and the proposed cooperative control approach, followed by some of the results of the initial testing of various aspects of the system

  9. Multi-Locomotion Robotic Systems New Concepts of Bio-inspired Robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Fukuda, Toshio; Sekiyama, Kosuke; Aoyama, Tadayoshi

    2012-01-01

    Nowadays, multiple attention have been paid on a robot working in the human living environment, such as in the field of medical, welfare, entertainment and so on. Various types of researches are being conducted actively in a variety of fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive engineering, sensor- technology, interfaces and motion control. In the future, it is expected to realize super high functional human-like robot by integrating technologies in various fields including these types of researches. The book represents new developments and advances in the field of bio-inspired robotics research introducing the state of the art, the idea of multi-locomotion robotic system to implement the diversity of animal motion. It covers theoretical and computational aspects of Passive Dynamic Autonomous Control (PDAC), robot motion control, multi legged walking and climbing as well as brachiation focusing concrete robot systems, components and applications. In addition, gorilla type robot systems are described as...

  10. Cooperative robots and sensor networks 2014

    CERN Document Server

    Khelil, Abdelmajid

    2014-01-01

    This book is the second volume on Cooperative Robots and Sensor Networks. The primary objective of this book is to provide an up-to-date reference for cutting-edge studies and research trends related to mobile robots and wireless sensor networks, and in particular for the coupling between them. Indeed, mobile robots and wireless sensor networks have enabled great potentials and a large space for ubiquitous and pervasive applications. Robotics and wireless sensor networks have mostly been considered as separate research fields and little work has investigated the marriage between these two technologies. However, these two technologies share several features, enable common cyber-physical applications and provide complementary support to each other. The book consists of ten chapters, organized into four parts. The first part of the book presents three chapters related to localization of mobile robots using wireless sensor networks. Two chapters presented new solutions based Extended Kalman Filter and Particle Fi...

  11. Multi-robot caravanning

    KAUST Repository

    Denny, Jory

    2013-11-01

    We study multi-robot caravanning, which is loosely defined as the problem of a heterogeneous team of robots visiting specific areas of an environment (waypoints) as a group. After formally defining this problem, we propose a novel solution that requires minimal communication and scales with the number of waypoints and robots. Our approach restricts explicit communication and coordination to occur only when robots reach waypoints, and relies on implicit coordination when moving between a given pair of waypoints. At the heart of our algorithm is the use of leader election to efficiently exploit the unique environmental knowledge available to each robot in order to plan paths for the group, which makes it general enough to work with robots that have heterogeneous representations of the environment. We implement our approach both in simulation and on a physical platform, and characterize the performance of the approach under various scenarios. We demonstrate that our approach can successfully be used to combine the planning capabilities of different agents. © 2013 IEEE.

  12. Modelling of cooperating robotized systems with the use of object-based approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foit, K.; Gwiazda, A.; Banas, W.; Sekala, A.; Hryniewicz, P.

    2015-11-01

    Today's robotized manufacturing systems are characterized by high efficiency. The emphasis is placed mainly on the simultaneous work of machines. It could manifest in many ways, where the most spectacular one is the cooperation of several robots, during work on the same detail. What's more, recently a dual-arm robots are used that could mimic the manipulative skills of human hands. As a result, it is often hard to deal with the situation, when it is necessary not only to maintain sufficient precision, but also the coordination and proper sequence of movements of individual robots’ arms. The successful completion of this task depends on the individual robot control systems and their respective programmed, but also on the well-functioning communication between robot controllers. A major problem in case of cooperating robots is the possibility of collision between particular links of robots’ kinematic chains. This is not a simple case, because the manufacturers of robotic systems do not disclose the details of the control algorithms, then it is hard to determine such situation. Another problem with cooperation of robots is how to inform the other units about start or completion of part of the task, so that other robots can take further actions. This paper focuses on communication between cooperating robotic units, assuming that every robot is represented by object-based model. This problem requires developing a form of communication protocol that the objects can use for collecting the information about its environment. The approach presented in the paper is not limited to the robots and could be used in a wider range, for example during modelling of the complete workcell or production line.

  13. Multi-Robot Remote Interaction with FS-MAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunliang Jiang

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The need to reduce bandwidth, improve productivity, autonomy and the scalability in multi-robot teleoperation has been recognized for a long time. In this article we propose a novel finite state machine mobile agent based on the network interaction service model, namely FS-MAS. This model consists of three finite state machines, namely the Finite State Mobile Agent (FS-Agent, which is the basic service module. The Service Content Finite State Machine (Content-FS, using the XML language to define workflow, to describe service content and service computation process. The Mobile Agent computation model Finite State Machine (MACM-FS, used to describe the service implementation. Finally, we apply this service model to the multi-robot system, the initial realization completing complex tasks in the form of multi-robot scheduling. This demonstrates that the robot has greatly improved intelligence, and provides a wide solution space for critical issues such as task division, rational and efficient use of resource and multi-robot collaboration.

  14. Cooperative robots and sensor networks

    CERN Document Server

    Khelil, Abdelmajid

    2014-01-01

    Mobile robots and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have enabled great potentials and a large space for ubiquitous and pervasive applications. Robotics and WSNs have mostly been considered as separate research fields and little work has investigated the marriage between these two technologies. However, these two technologies share several features, enable common cyber-physical applications and provide complementary support to each other.
 The primary objective of book is to provide a reference for cutting-edge studies and research trends pertaining to robotics and sensor networks, and in particular for the coupling between them. The book consists of five chapters. The first chapter presents a cooperation strategy for teams of multiple autonomous vehicles to solve the rendezvous problem. The second chapter is motivated by the need to improve existing solutions that deal with connectivity prediction, and proposed a genetic machine learning approach for link-quality prediction. The third chapter presents an arch...

  15. Research and development at ORNL/CESAR towards cooperating robotic systems for hazardous environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mann, R.C.; Fujimura, K.; Unseren, M.A.

    1991-01-01

    One of the frontiers in intelligent machine research is the understanding of how constructive cooperation among multiple autonomous agents can be effected. The effort at the Center for Engineering Systems Advanced Research (CESAR)at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) focuses on two problem areas: (1) cooperation by multiple mobile robots in dynamic, incompletely known environments; and (2) cooperating robotic manipulators. Particular emphasis is placed on experimental evaluation of research and developments using the CESAR robot system testbeds, including three mobile robots, and a seven-axis, kinematically redundant mobile manipulator. This paper summarizes initial results of research addressing the decoupling of position and force control for two manipulators holding a common object, and the path planning for multiple robots in a common workspace. 15 refs., 3 figs

  16. L-ALLIANCE: a mechanism for adaptive action selection in heterogeneous multi-robot teams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1995-11-01

    In practical applications of robotics, it is usually quite difficult, if not impossible, for the system designer to fully predict the environmental states in which the robots will operate. The complexity of the problem is further increased when dealing with teams of robots which themselves may be incompletely known and characterized in advance. It is thus highly desirable for robot teams to be able to adapt their performance during the mission due to changes in the environment, or to changes in other robot team members. In previous work, we introduced a behavior-based mechanism called the ALLIANCE architecture -- that facilitates the fault tolerant cooperative control of multi-robot teams. However, this previous work did not address the issue of how to dynamically update the control parameters during a mission to adapt to ongoing changes in the environment or in the robot team, and to ensure the efficiency of the collective team actions. In this paper, we address this issue by proposing the L-ALLIANCE mechanism, which defines an automated method whereby robots can use knowledge learned from previous experience to continually improve their collective action selection when working on missions composed of loosely coupled, discrete subtasks. This ability to dynamically update robotic control parameters provides a number of distinct advantages: it alleviates the need for human tuning of control parameters, it facilitates the use of custom-designed multi-robot teams for any given application, it improves the efficiency of the mission performance, and It allows robots to continually adapt their performance over time due to changes in the robot team and/or the environment. We describe the L-ALLIANCE mechanism, present the results of various alternative update strategies we investigated, present the formal model of the L-ALLIANCE mechanism, and present the results of a simple proof of concept implementation on a small team of heterogeneous mobile robots.

  17. Optimal Control of Holding Motion by Nonprehensile Two-Cooperative-Arm Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Changan Jiang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Recently, more researchers have focused on nursing-care assistant robot and placed their hope on it to solve the shortage problem of the caregivers in hospital or nursing home. In this paper, a nonprehensile two-cooperative-arm robot is considered to realize holding motion to keep a two-rigid-link object (regarded as a care-receiver stable on the robot arms. By applying Newton-Euler equations of motion, dynamic model of the object is obtained. In this model, for describing interaction behavior between object and robot arms in the normal direction, a viscoelastic model is employed to represent the normal forces. Considering existence of friction between object and robot arms, LuGre dynamic model is applied to describe the friction. Based on the obtained model, an optimal regulator is designed to control the holding motion of two-cooperative-arm robot. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, simulation results are shown.

  18. A Multi-Sensorial Hybrid Control for Robotic Manipulation in Human-Robot Workspaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan A. Corrales

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Autonomous manipulation in semi-structured environments where human operators can interact is an increasingly common task in robotic applications. This paper describes an intelligent multi-sensorial approach that solves this issue by providing a multi-robotic platform with a high degree of autonomy and the capability to perform complex tasks. The proposed sensorial system is composed of a hybrid visual servo control to efficiently guide the robot towards the object to be manipulated, an inertial motion capture system and an indoor localization system to avoid possible collisions between human operators and robots working in the same workspace, and a tactile sensor algorithm to correctly manipulate the object. The proposed controller employs the whole multi-sensorial system and combines the measurements of each one of the used sensors during two different phases considered in the robot task: a first phase where the robot approaches the object to be grasped, and a second phase of manipulation of the object. In both phases, the unexpected presence of humans is taken into account. This paper also presents the successful results obtained in several experimental setups which verify the validity of the proposed approach.

  19. Safe human-robot cooperation in an industrial environment

    OpenAIRE

    Pedrocchi N.; Vicentini F.; Matteo M.; Tosatti L.M.

    2013-01-01

    The standard EN ISO10218 is fostering the implementation of hybrid production systems, i.e., production systems characterized by a close relationship among human operators and robots in cooperative tasks. Human‐robot hybrid systems could have a big economic benefit in small and medium sized production, even if this new paradigm introduces mandatory, challenging safety aspects. Among various requirements for collaborative workspaces, safety‐assurance involves two different application layers; ...

  20. Multi-Robot, Multi-Target Particle Swarm Optimization Search in Noisy Wireless Environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kurt Derr; Milos Manic

    2009-05-01

    Multiple small robots (swarms) can work together using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to perform tasks that are difficult or impossible for a single robot to accomplish. The problem considered in this paper is exploration of an unknown environment with the goal of finding a target(s) at an unknown location(s) using multiple small mobile robots. This work demonstrates the use of a distributed PSO algorithm with a novel adaptive RSS weighting factor to guide robots for locating target(s) in high risk environments. The approach was developed and analyzed on multiple robot single and multiple target search. The approach was further enhanced by the multi-robot-multi-target search in noisy environments. The experimental results demonstrated how the availability of radio frequency signal can significantly affect robot search time to reach a target.

  1. A Decentralized Interactive Architecture for Aerial and Ground Mobile Robots Cooperation

    OpenAIRE

    Harik, El Houssein Chouaib; Guérin, François; Guinand, Frédéric; Brethé, Jean-François; Pelvillain, Hervé

    2014-01-01

    International audience; —This paper presents a novel decentralized interactive architecture for aerial and ground mobile robots cooperation. The aerial mobile robot is used to provide a global coverage during an area inspection, while the ground mobile robot is used to provide a local coverage of ground features. We include a human-in-the-loop to provide waypoints for the ground mobile robot to progress safely in the inspected area. The aerial mobile robot follows continuously the ground mobi...

  2. Multi-Robot Item Delivery and Foraging: Two Sides of a Coin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Somchaya Liemhetcharat

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Multi-robot foraging has been widely studied in the literature, and the general assumption is that the robots are simple, i.e., with limited processing and carrying capacity. We previously studied continuous foraging with slightly more capable robots, and in this article, we are interested in using similar robots for item delivery. Interestingly, item delivery and foraging are two sides of the same coin: foraging an item from a location is similar to satisfying a demand. We formally define the multi-robot item delivery problem and show that the continuous foraging problem is a special case of it. We contribute distributed multi-robot algorithms that solve the item delivery and foraging problems and describe how our shared world model is synchronized across the multi-robot team. We performed extensive experiments on simulated robots using a Java simulator, and we present our results to demonstrate that we outperform benchmark algorithms from multi-robot foraging.

  3. Interacting with Multi-Robot Systems Using BML

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-01

    presented to the operator. 1. Introduction There are many operations in which a multi-robot system (MRS) can be deployed to support the human forces...within the MRS easily. © Fraunhofer FKIE Communication Architecture ~ ~ Fraunhofer FKIE © Fraunhofer FKIE Battle Mangement Language BML...Fraunhofer FKIE Battle Mangement Language Orders Orders move patrol observe distribute guard recce imagery intelligence gathering

  4. Safe Human-Robot Cooperation in an Industrial Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicola Pedrocchi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The standard EN ISO10218 is fostering the implementation of hybrid production systems, i.e., production systems characterized by a close relationship among human operators and robots in cooperative tasks. Human-robot hybrid systems could have a big economic benefit in small and medium sized production, even if this new paradigm introduces mandatory, challenging safety aspects. Among various requirements for collaborative workspaces, safety-assurance involves two different application layers; the algorithms enabling safe space-sharing between humans and robots and the enabling technologies allowing acquisition data from sensor fusion and environmental data analysing. This paper addresses both the problems: a collision avoidance strategy allowing on-line re-planning of robot motion and a safe network of unsafe devices as a suggested infrastructure for functional safety achievement.

  5. Robotic Cooperative Learning Promotes Student STEM Interest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mosley, Pauline; Ardito, Gerald; Scollins, Lauren

    2016-01-01

    The principal purpose of this investigation is to study the effect of robotic cooperative learning methodologies on middle school students' critical thinking, and STEM interest. The semi-experimental inquiry consisted of ninety four six-grade students (forty nine students in the experimental group, forty five students in the control group), chosen…

  6. A robotic system for researching social integration in honeybees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karlo Griparić

    Full Text Available In this paper, we present a novel robotic system developed for researching collective social mechanisms in a biohybrid society of robots and honeybees. The potential for distributed coordination, as observed in nature in many different animal species, has caused an increased interest in collective behaviour research in recent years because of its applicability to a broad spectrum of technical systems requiring robust multi-agent control. One of the main problems is understanding the mechanisms driving the emergence of collective behaviour of social animals. With the aim of deepening the knowledge in this field, we have designed a multi-robot system capable of interacting with honeybees within an experimental arena. The final product, stationary autonomous robot units, designed by specificaly considering the physical, sensorimotor and behavioral characteristics of the honeybees (lat. Apis mallifera, are equipped with sensing, actuating, computation, and communication capabilities that enable the measurement of relevant environmental states, such as honeybee presence, and adequate response to the measurements by generating heat, vibration and airflow. The coordination among robots in the developed system is established using distributed controllers. The cooperation between the two different types of collective systems is realized by means of a consensus algorithm, enabling the honeybees and the robots to achieve a common objective. Presented results, obtained within ASSISIbf project, show successful cooperation indicating its potential for future applications.

  7. A robotic system for researching social integration in honeybees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griparić, Karlo; Haus, Tomislav; Miklić, Damjan; Polić, Marsela; Bogdan, Stjepan

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we present a novel robotic system developed for researching collective social mechanisms in a biohybrid society of robots and honeybees. The potential for distributed coordination, as observed in nature in many different animal species, has caused an increased interest in collective behaviour research in recent years because of its applicability to a broad spectrum of technical systems requiring robust multi-agent control. One of the main problems is understanding the mechanisms driving the emergence of collective behaviour of social animals. With the aim of deepening the knowledge in this field, we have designed a multi-robot system capable of interacting with honeybees within an experimental arena. The final product, stationary autonomous robot units, designed by specificaly considering the physical, sensorimotor and behavioral characteristics of the honeybees (lat. Apis mallifera), are equipped with sensing, actuating, computation, and communication capabilities that enable the measurement of relevant environmental states, such as honeybee presence, and adequate response to the measurements by generating heat, vibration and airflow. The coordination among robots in the developed system is established using distributed controllers. The cooperation between the two different types of collective systems is realized by means of a consensus algorithm, enabling the honeybees and the robots to achieve a common objective. Presented results, obtained within ASSISIbf project, show successful cooperation indicating its potential for future applications.

  8. Development and implementation of algorithms in a population of cooperative autonomous mobile robots

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Namoshe, M

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available An increase in the number of mobile robot users has lead to the design and implementation of cooperative autonomous mobile robots. Autonomous robots require the ability to build maps of an unknown environment while simultaneously using these maps...

  9. Communicating Cooperative Robots with Bluetooth

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schiøler, Henrik; Son, L.T.; Madsen, Ole Brun

    2001-01-01

    A generic architecture for system of cooperating communicating mobile robots is presented. An overall structure is defined from a modularity viewpoint, where a number of generic modules are identified; low level communication interface, network layer services such as initial and adaptive network...... structuring, routing and capacity management, overall behaviour which includes commitment to overall strategies as well as local behaviour like trajectory planning and navigation. Focus is kept on communication aspects and an example application of establishing a reliable wireless real-time communication...

  10. Towards Coordination and Control of Multi-robot Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Quottrup, Michael Melholt

    This thesis focuses on control and coordination of mobile multi-robot systems (MRS). MRS can often deal with tasks that are difficult to be accomplished by a single robot. One of the challenges is the need to control, coordinate and synchronize the operation of several robots to perform some...... specified task. This calls for new strategies and methods which allow the desired system behavior to be specified in a formal and succinct way. Two different frameworks for the coordination and control of MRS have been investigated. Framework I - A network of robots is modeled as a network of multi...... a requirement specification in Computational Tree Logic (CTL) for a network of robots. The result is a set of motion plans for the robots which satisfy the specification. Framework II - A framework for controller synthesis for a single robot with respect to requirement specification in Linear-time Temporal...

  11. Evolution of Signaling in a Multi-Robot System: Categorization and Communication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ampatzis, Christos; Tuci, Elio; Trianni, Vito; Dorigo, Marco

    We use Evolutionary Robotics to design robot controllers in which decision-making mechanisms to switch from solitary to social behavior are integrated with the mechanisms that underpin the sensory-motor repertoire of the robots. In particular, we study the evolution of behavioral and communicative skills in a categorization task. The individual decision-making structures are based on the integration over time of sensory information. The mechanisms for switching from solitary to social behavior and the ways in which the robots can affect each other's behavior are not predetermined by the experimenter, but are aspects of our model designed by artificial evolution. Our results show that evolved robots manage to cooperate and collectively discriminate between different environments by developing a simple communication protocol based on sound signaling. Communication emerges in the absence of explicit selective pressure coded in the fitness function. The evolution of communication is neither trivial nor obvious; for a meaningful signaling system to evolve, evolution must produce both appropriate signals and appropriate reactions to signals. The use of communication proves to be adaptive for the group, even if, in principle, non-cooperating robots can be equally successful with cooperating robots.

  12. A Fully Sensorized Cooperative Robotic System for Surgical Interventions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tovar-Arriaga, Saúl; Vargas, José Emilio; Ramos, Juan M.; Aceves, Marco A.; Gorrostieta, Efren; Kalender, Willi A.

    2012-01-01

    In this research a fully sensorized cooperative robot system for manipulation of needles is presented. The setup consists of a DLR/KUKA Light Weight Robot III especially designed for safe human/robot interaction, a FD-CT robot-driven angiographic C-arm system, and a navigation camera. Also, new control strategies for robot manipulation in the clinical environment are introduced. A method for fast calibration of the involved components and the preliminary accuracy tests of the whole possible errors chain are presented. Calibration of the robot with the navigation system has a residual error of 0.81 mm (rms) with a standard deviation of ±0.41 mm. The accuracy of the robotic system while targeting fixed points at different positions within the workspace is of 1.2 mm (rms) with a standard deviation of ±0.4 mm. After calibration, and due to close loop control, the absolute positioning accuracy was reduced to the navigation camera accuracy which is of 0.35 mm (rms). The implemented control allows the robot to compensate for small patient movements. PMID:23012551

  13. Multi-agent cooperative systems applied to precision applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKay, M.D.; Anderson, M.O.; Gunderson, R.W.; Flann, N.; Abbott, B.

    1998-01-01

    Regulatory agencies are imposing limits and constraints to protect the operator and/or the environment. While generally necessary, these controls also tend to increase cost and decrease efficiency and productivity. Intelligent computer systems can be made to perform these hazardous tasks with greater efficiency and precision without danger to the operators. The Idaho national Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and the Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems at Utah State University have developed a series of autonomous all-terrain multi-agent systems capable of performing automated tasks within hazardous environments. This paper discusses the development and application of cooperative small-scale and large-scale robots for use in various activities associated with radiologically contaminated areas, prescription farming, and unexploded ordinances

  14. Construction of multi-agent mobile robots control system in the problem of persecution with using a modified reinforcement learning method based on neural networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patkin, M. L.; Rogachev, G. N.

    2018-02-01

    A method for constructing a multi-agent control system for mobile robots based on training with reinforcement using deep neural networks is considered. Synthesis of the management system is proposed to be carried out with reinforcement training and the modified Actor-Critic method, in which the Actor module is divided into Action Actor and Communication Actor in order to simultaneously manage mobile robots and communicate with partners. Communication is carried out by sending partners at each step a vector of real numbers that are added to the observation vector and affect the behaviour. Functions of Actors and Critic are approximated by deep neural networks. The Critics value function is trained by using the TD-error method and the Actor’s function by using DDPG. The Communication Actor’s neural network is trained through gradients received from partner agents. An environment in which a cooperative multi-agent interaction is present was developed, computer simulation of the application of this method in the control problem of two robots pursuing two goals was carried out.

  15. Research status of multi - robot systems task allocation and uncertainty treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Dahui; Fan, Qi; Dai, Xuefeng

    2017-08-01

    The multi-robot coordination algorithm has become a hot research topic in the field of robotics in recent years. It has a wide range of applications and good application prospects. This paper analyzes and summarizes the current research status of multi-robot coordination algorithms at home and abroad. From task allocation and dealing with uncertainty, this paper discusses the multi-robot coordination algorithm and presents the advantages and disadvantages of each method commonly used.

  16. Distributed cooperative H∞ optimal tracking control of MIMO nonlinear multi-agent systems in strict-feedback form via adaptive dynamic programming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luy, N. T.

    2018-04-01

    The design of distributed cooperative H∞ optimal controllers for multi-agent systems is a major challenge when the agents' models are uncertain multi-input and multi-output nonlinear systems in strict-feedback form in the presence of external disturbances. In this paper, first, the distributed cooperative H∞ optimal tracking problem is transformed into controlling the cooperative tracking error dynamics in affine form. Second, control schemes and online algorithms are proposed via adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) and the theory of zero-sum differential graphical games. The schemes use only one neural network (NN) for each agent instead of three from ADP to reduce computational complexity as well as avoid choosing initial NN weights for stabilising controllers. It is shown that despite not using knowledge of cooperative internal dynamics, the proposed algorithms not only approximate values to Nash equilibrium but also guarantee all signals, such as the NN weight approximation errors and the cooperative tracking errors in the closed-loop system, to be uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is shown by simulation results of an application to wheeled mobile multi-robot systems.

  17. Fiscal 2000 report on result of R and D on robot system cooperating and coexisting with human beings. R and D on robot system cooperating and coexisting with human beings; 2000 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-06-01

    A highly safe and reliable robot is being developed capable of cooperating with human beings and executing complicated operations in a human working/living space. This paper describes the fiscal 2000 results. Development of robot motion library was continued for extended task for providing services to people in care houses for the aged controlling motions of the humanoid robot. A basic design for a personal service system by the humanoid robot was conducted with the aim of nursing assistance and for the objective of developing a portable terminal type tele-operation device. A public and a home cockpit were researched with the purpose of developing user interfaces for telexistence control. A dynamic simulator for humanoid robots was built, with motions of standing-up and walking examined, in order to develop basic theories for the dual-handed tasks aided by the leg-arm cooperative motion. To develop a robot that properly and safely cooperates and coexists with the human beings, it is essential to obtain a dynamically reasonable and natural control law, so that the basic studies were conducted in this direction. With the purpose of developing a motion capture and learning system, a virtual robot platform and an information acquiring interface were developed. Studies were also conducted on modeling technique for achieving realistic material properties from high-precision image synthesis and actual images. (NEDO)

  18. I Reach Faster When I See You Look: Gaze Effects in Human–Human and Human–Robot Face-to-Face Cooperation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boucher, Jean-David; Pattacini, Ugo; Lelong, Amelie; Bailly, Gerard; Elisei, Frederic; Fagel, Sascha; Dominey, Peter Ford; Ventre-Dominey, Jocelyne

    2012-01-01

    Human–human interaction in natural environments relies on a variety of perceptual cues. Humanoid robots are becoming increasingly refined in their sensorimotor capabilities, and thus should now be able to manipulate and exploit these social cues in cooperation with their human partners. Previous studies have demonstrated that people follow human and robot gaze, and that it can help them to cope with spatially ambiguous language. Our goal is to extend these findings into the domain of action, to determine how human and robot gaze can influence the speed and accuracy of human action. We report on results from a human–human cooperation experiment demonstrating that an agent’s vision of her/his partner’s gaze can significantly improve that agent’s performance in a cooperative task. We then implement a heuristic capability to generate such gaze cues by a humanoid robot that engages in the same cooperative interaction. The subsequent human–robot experiments demonstrate that a human agent can indeed exploit the predictive gaze of their robot partner in a cooperative task. This allows us to render the humanoid robot more human-like in its ability to communicate with humans. The long term objectives of the work are thus to identify social cooperation cues, and to validate their pertinence through implementation in a cooperative robot. The current research provides the robot with the capability to produce appropriate speech and gaze cues in the context of human–robot cooperation tasks. Gaze is manipulated in three conditions: Full gaze (coordinated eye and head), eyes hidden with sunglasses, and head fixed. We demonstrate the pertinence of these cues in terms of statistical measures of action times for humans in the context of a cooperative task, as gaze significantly facilitates cooperation as measured by human response times. PMID:22563315

  19. I Reach Faster When I See You Look: Gaze Effects in Human-Human and Human-Robot Face-to-Face Cooperation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boucher, Jean-David; Pattacini, Ugo; Lelong, Amelie; Bailly, Gerrard; Elisei, Frederic; Fagel, Sascha; Dominey, Peter Ford; Ventre-Dominey, Jocelyne

    2012-01-01

    Human-human interaction in natural environments relies on a variety of perceptual cues. Humanoid robots are becoming increasingly refined in their sensorimotor capabilities, and thus should now be able to manipulate and exploit these social cues in cooperation with their human partners. Previous studies have demonstrated that people follow human and robot gaze, and that it can help them to cope with spatially ambiguous language. Our goal is to extend these findings into the domain of action, to determine how human and robot gaze can influence the speed and accuracy of human action. We report on results from a human-human cooperation experiment demonstrating that an agent's vision of her/his partner's gaze can significantly improve that agent's performance in a cooperative task. We then implement a heuristic capability to generate such gaze cues by a humanoid robot that engages in the same cooperative interaction. The subsequent human-robot experiments demonstrate that a human agent can indeed exploit the predictive gaze of their robot partner in a cooperative task. This allows us to render the humanoid robot more human-like in its ability to communicate with humans. The long term objectives of the work are thus to identify social cooperation cues, and to validate their pertinence through implementation in a cooperative robot. The current research provides the robot with the capability to produce appropriate speech and gaze cues in the context of human-robot cooperation tasks. Gaze is manipulated in three conditions: Full gaze (coordinated eye and head), eyes hidden with sunglasses, and head fixed. We demonstrate the pertinence of these cues in terms of statistical measures of action times for humans in the context of a cooperative task, as gaze significantly facilitates cooperation as measured by human response times.

  20. Multi-sensor measurement system for robotic drilling

    OpenAIRE

    Frommknecht, Andreas; Kühnle, Jens; Pidan, Sergej; Effenberger, Ira

    2015-01-01

    A multi-sensor measurement system for robotic drilling is presented. The system enables a robot to measure its 6D pose with respect to the work piece and to establish a reference coordinate system for drilling. The robot approaches the drill point and performs an orthogonal alignment with the work piece. Although the measurement systems are readily capable of achieving high position accuracy and low deviation to perpendicularity, experiments show that inaccuracies in the robot's 6D-pose and e...

  1. Intelligent control and cooperation for mobile robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stingu, Petru Emanuel

    The topic discussed in this work addresses the current research being conducted at the Automation & Robotics Research Institute in the areas of UAV quadrotor control and heterogenous multi-vehicle cooperation. Autonomy can be successfully achieved by a robot under the following conditions: the robot has to be able to acquire knowledge about the environment and itself, and it also has to be able to reason under uncertainty. The control system must react quickly to immediate challenges, but also has to slowly adapt and improve based on accumulated knowledge. The major contribution of this work is the transfer of the ADP algorithms from the purely theoretical environment to the complex real-world robotic platforms that work in real-time and in uncontrolled environments. Many solutions are adopted from those present in nature because they have been proven to be close to optimal in very different settings. For the control of a single platform, reinforcement learning algorithms are used to design suboptimal controllers for a class of complex systems that can be conceptually split in local loops with simpler dynamics and relatively weak coupling to the rest of the system. Optimality is enforced by having a global critic but the curse of dimensionality is avoided by using local actors and intelligent pre-processing of the information used for learning the optimal controllers. The system model is used for constructing the structure of the control system, but on top of that the adaptive neural networks that form the actors use the knowledge acquired during normal operation to get closer to optimal control. In real-world experiments, efficient learning is a strong requirement for success. This is accomplished by using an approximation of the system model to focus the learning for equivalent configurations of the state space. Due to the availability of only local data for training, neural networks with local activation functions are implemented. For the control of a formation

  2. Designing a Social Environment for Human-Robot Cooperation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amram, Fred M.

    Noting that work is partly a social activity, and that workers' psychological and emotional needs influence their productivity, this paper explores avenues for improving human-robot cooperation and for enhancing worker satisfaction in the environment of flexible automation. The first section of the paper offers a brief overview of the…

  3. Cooperative Three-Robot System for Traversing Steep Slopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stroupe, Ashley; Huntsberger, Terrance; Aghazarian, Hrand; Younse, Paulo; Garrett, Michael

    2009-01-01

    Teamed Robots for Exploration and Science in Steep Areas (TRESSA) is a system of three autonomous mobile robots that cooperate with each other to enable scientific exploration of steep terrain (slope angles up to 90 ). Originally intended for use in exploring steep slopes on Mars that are not accessible to lone wheeled robots (Mars Exploration Rovers), TRESSA and systems like TRESSA could also be used on Earth for performing rescues on steep slopes and for exploring steep slopes that are too remote or too dangerous to be explored by humans. TRESSA is modeled on safe human climbing of steep slopes, two key features of which are teamwork and safety tethers. Two of the autonomous robots, denoted Anchorbots, remain at the top of a slope; the third robot, denoted the Cliffbot, traverses the slope. The Cliffbot drives over the cliff edge supported by tethers, which are payed out from the Anchorbots (see figure). The Anchorbots autonomously control the tension in the tethers to counter the gravitational force on the Cliffbot. The tethers are payed out and reeled in as needed, keeping the body of the Cliffbot oriented approximately parallel to the local terrain surface and preventing wheel slip by controlling the speed of descent or ascent, thereby enabling the Cliffbot to drive freely up, down, or across the slope. Due to the interactive nature of the three-robot system, the robots must be very tightly coupled. To provide for this tight coupling, the TRESSA software architecture is built on a combination of (1) the multi-robot layered behavior-coordination architecture reported in "An Architecture for Controlling Multiple Robots" (NPO-30345), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 28, No. 10 (October 2004), page 65, and (2) the real-time control architecture reported in "Robot Electronics Architecture" (NPO-41784), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 32, No. 1 (January 2008), page 28. The combination architecture makes it possible to keep the three robots synchronized and coordinated, to use data

  4. Fairness in multi-agent systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jong, de S.; Tuyls, K.P.; Verbeeck, K.

    2008-01-01

    Multi-agent systems are complex systems in which multiple autonomous entities, called agents, cooperate in order to achieve a common or personal goal. These entities may be computer software, robots, and also humans. In fact, many multi-agent systems are intended to operate in cooperation with or as

  5. Advantages of Task-Specific Multi-Objective Optimisation in Evolutionary Robotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trianni, Vito; López-Ibáñez, Manuel

    2015-01-01

    The application of multi-objective optimisation to evolutionary robotics is receiving increasing attention. A survey of the literature reveals the different possibilities it offers to improve the automatic design of efficient and adaptive robotic systems, and points to the successful demonstrations available for both task-specific and task-agnostic approaches (i.e., with or without reference to the specific design problem to be tackled). However, the advantages of multi-objective approaches over single-objective ones have not been clearly spelled out and experimentally demonstrated. This paper fills this gap for task-specific approaches: starting from well-known results in multi-objective optimisation, we discuss how to tackle commonly recognised problems in evolutionary robotics. In particular, we show that multi-objective optimisation (i) allows evolving a more varied set of behaviours by exploring multiple trade-offs of the objectives to optimise, (ii) supports the evolution of the desired behaviour through the introduction of objectives as proxies, (iii) avoids the premature convergence to local optima possibly introduced by multi-component fitness functions, and (iv) solves the bootstrap problem exploiting ancillary objectives to guide evolution in the early phases. We present an experimental demonstration of these benefits in three different case studies: maze navigation in a single robot domain, flocking in a swarm robotics context, and a strictly collaborative task in collective robotics.

  6. Advantages of Task-Specific Multi-Objective Optimisation in Evolutionary Robotics.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vito Trianni

    Full Text Available The application of multi-objective optimisation to evolutionary robotics is receiving increasing attention. A survey of the literature reveals the different possibilities it offers to improve the automatic design of efficient and adaptive robotic systems, and points to the successful demonstrations available for both task-specific and task-agnostic approaches (i.e., with or without reference to the specific design problem to be tackled. However, the advantages of multi-objective approaches over single-objective ones have not been clearly spelled out and experimentally demonstrated. This paper fills this gap for task-specific approaches: starting from well-known results in multi-objective optimisation, we discuss how to tackle commonly recognised problems in evolutionary robotics. In particular, we show that multi-objective optimisation (i allows evolving a more varied set of behaviours by exploring multiple trade-offs of the objectives to optimise, (ii supports the evolution of the desired behaviour through the introduction of objectives as proxies, (iii avoids the premature convergence to local optima possibly introduced by multi-component fitness functions, and (iv solves the bootstrap problem exploiting ancillary objectives to guide evolution in the early phases. We present an experimental demonstration of these benefits in three different case studies: maze navigation in a single robot domain, flocking in a swarm robotics context, and a strictly collaborative task in collective robotics.

  7. IMPERA: Integrated Mission Planning for Multi-Robot Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Saur

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of the project IMPERA (Integrated Mission Planning for Distributed Robot Systems. The goal of IMPERA was to realize an extraterrestrial exploration scenario using a heterogeneous multi-robot system. The main challenge was the development of a multi-robot planning and plan execution architecture. The robot team consists of three heterogeneous robots, which have to explore an unknown environment and collect lunar drill samples. The team activities are described using the language ALICA (A Language for Interactive Agents. Furthermore, we use the mission planning system pRoPhEt MAS (Reactive Planning Engine for Multi-Agent Systems to provide an intuitive interface to generate team activities. Therefore, we define the basic skills of our team with ALICA and define the desired goal states by using a logic description. Based on the skills, pRoPhEt MAS creates a valid ALICA plan, which will be executed by the team. The paper describes the basic components for communication, coordinated exploration, perception and object transportation. Finally, we evaluate the planning engine pRoPhEt MAS in the IMPERA scenario. In addition, we present further evaluation of pRoPhEt MAS in more dynamic environments.

  8. Visual Detection and Tracking System for a Spherical Amphibious Robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Shuxiang; Pan, Shaowu; Shi, Liwei; Guo, Ping; He, Yanlin; Tang, Kun

    2017-04-15

    With the goal of supporting close-range observation tasks of a spherical amphibious robot, such as ecological observations and intelligent surveillance, a moving target detection and tracking system was designed and implemented in this study. Given the restrictions presented by the amphibious environment and the small-sized spherical amphibious robot, an industrial camera and vision algorithms using adaptive appearance models were adopted to construct the proposed system. To handle the problem of light scattering and absorption in the underwater environment, the multi-scale retinex with color restoration algorithm was used for image enhancement. Given the environmental disturbances in practical amphibious scenarios, the Gaussian mixture model was used to detect moving targets entering the field of view of the robot. A fast compressive tracker with a Kalman prediction mechanism was used to track the specified target. Considering the limited load space and the unique mechanical structure of the robot, the proposed vision system was fabricated with a low power system-on-chip using an asymmetric and heterogeneous computing architecture. Experimental results confirmed the validity and high efficiency of the proposed system. The design presented in this paper is able to meet future demands of spherical amphibious robots in biological monitoring and multi-robot cooperation.

  9. Visual Detection and Tracking System for a Spherical Amphibious Robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Shuxiang; Pan, Shaowu; Shi, Liwei; Guo, Ping; He, Yanlin; Tang, Kun

    2017-01-01

    With the goal of supporting close-range observation tasks of a spherical amphibious robot, such as ecological observations and intelligent surveillance, a moving target detection and tracking system was designed and implemented in this study. Given the restrictions presented by the amphibious environment and the small-sized spherical amphibious robot, an industrial camera and vision algorithms using adaptive appearance models were adopted to construct the proposed system. To handle the problem of light scattering and absorption in the underwater environment, the multi-scale retinex with color restoration algorithm was used for image enhancement. Given the environmental disturbances in practical amphibious scenarios, the Gaussian mixture model was used to detect moving targets entering the field of view of the robot. A fast compressive tracker with a Kalman prediction mechanism was used to track the specified target. Considering the limited load space and the unique mechanical structure of the robot, the proposed vision system was fabricated with a low power system-on-chip using an asymmetric and heterogeneous computing architecture. Experimental results confirmed the validity and high efficiency of the proposed system. The design presented in this paper is able to meet future demands of spherical amphibious robots in biological monitoring and multi-robot cooperation. PMID:28420134

  10. Hybrid FES-robot cooperative control of ambulatory gait rehabilitation exoskeleton.

    Science.gov (United States)

    del-Ama, Antonio J; Gil-Agudo, Angel; Pons, José L; Moreno, Juan C

    2014-03-04

    Robotic and functional electrical stimulation (FES) approaches are used for rehabilitation of walking impairment of spinal cord injured individuals. Although devices are commercially available, there are still issues that remain to be solved. Control of hybrid exoskeletons aims at blending robotic exoskeletons and electrical stimulation to overcome the drawbacks of each approach while preserving their advantages. Hybrid actuation and control have a considerable potential for walking rehabilitation but there is a need of novel control strategies of hybrid systems that adequately manage the balance between FES and robotic controllers. Combination of FES and robotic control is a challenging issue, due to the non-linear behavior of muscle under stimulation and the lack of developments in the field of hybrid control. In this article, a cooperative control strategy of a hybrid exoskeleton is presented. This strategy is designed to overcome the main disadvantages of muscular stimulation: electromechanical delay and change in muscle performance over time, and to balance muscular and robotic actuation during walking.Experimental results in healthy subjects show the ability of the hybrid FES-robot cooperative control to balance power contribution between exoskeleton and muscle stimulation. The robotic exoskeleton decreases assistance while adequate knee kinematics are guaranteed. A new technique to monitor muscle performance is employed, which allows to estimate muscle fatigue and implement muscle fatigue management strategies. Kinesis is therefore the first ambulatory hybrid exoskeleton that can effectively balance robotic and FES actuation during walking. This represents a new opportunity to implement new rehabilitation interventions to induce locomotor activity in patients with paraplegia.Acronym list: 10 mWT: ten meters walking test; 6 MWT: six minutes walking test; FSM: finite-state machine; t-FSM: time-domain FSM; c-FSM: cycle-domain FSM; FES: functional electrical

  11. What Role for Emotions in Cooperating Robots? - The Case of RH3-Y

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dessimoz, Jean-Daniel; Gauthey, Pierre-François

    The paper reviews key aspects of emotions in the context of cooperating robots (mostly, robots cooperating with humans), and gives numerous concrete examples from RH-Y robots. Emotions have been first systematically studied in relation to human expressions, and then the shift has come towards a machine-based replication. Emotions appear to result from changes, from convergence or deviation between status and goals; they trigger appropriate activities, are commonly represented in 2D or 3D affect space, and can be made visible by facial expressions. While specific devices are sometimes created, emotive expressions seem to be conveniently rendered by a set of facial images or more simply by some icons; they can also possibly be parameterized in a few dimensions for continuous modulation. In fact however, internal forces for activities and changes may be expressed in many ways other than faces: screens, panels, and operational behaviors. Relying on emotions ensures useful aspects, such as experience reuse, legibility or communication. But it also includes limits such as due to the nature of robots, of interactive media, and even of the very domain of emotions. For our goal, the design of effective and efficient, cooperating robots, in domestic applications, communication and interaction play key roles; best practices become evident after experimental verification; and our experience gained so far, over 10 years and more, points at a variety of successful strategic attitudes and expression modes, much beyond classic human emotions and facial or iconic images.

  12. A 2.5D Map-Based Mobile Robot Localization via Cooperation of Aerial and Ground Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nam, Tae Hyeon; Shim, Jae Hong; Cho, Young Im

    2017-11-25

    Recently, there has been increasing interest in studying the task coordination of aerial and ground robots. When a robot begins navigation in an unknown area, it has no information about the surrounding environment. Accordingly, for robots to perform tasks based on location information, they need a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) process that uses sensor information to draw a map of the environment, while simultaneously estimating the current location of the robot on the map. This paper aims to present a localization method based in cooperation between aerial and ground robots in an indoor environment. The proposed method allows a ground robot to reach accurate destination by using a 2.5D elevation map built by a low-cost RGB-D (Red Green and Blue-Depth) sensor and 2D Laser sensor attached onto an aerial robot. A 2.5D elevation map is formed by projecting height information of an obstacle using depth information obtained by the RGB-D sensor onto a grid map, which is generated by using the 2D Laser sensor and scan matching. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for its accuracy in location recognition and computing speed.

  13. A 2.5D Map-Based Mobile Robot Localization via Cooperation of Aerial and Ground Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tae Hyeon Nam

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Recently, there has been increasing interest in studying the task coordination of aerial and ground robots. When a robot begins navigation in an unknown area, it has no information about the surrounding environment. Accordingly, for robots to perform tasks based on location information, they need a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM process that uses sensor information to draw a map of the environment, while simultaneously estimating the current location of the robot on the map. This paper aims to present a localization method based in cooperation between aerial and ground robots in an indoor environment. The proposed method allows a ground robot to reach accurate destination by using a 2.5D elevation map built by a low-cost RGB-D (Red Green and Blue-Depth sensor and 2D Laser sensor attached onto an aerial robot. A 2.5D elevation map is formed by projecting height information of an obstacle using depth information obtained by the RGB-D sensor onto a grid map, which is generated by using the 2D Laser sensor and scan matching. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for its accuracy in location recognition and computing speed.

  14. A proposal toward a possibilistic multi-robot task allocation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guerrero, J.

    2017-07-01

    One of the main problems to solve in multi-agent (or multi-robot) systems is to select the best robot or group of robots to carry out a specific task. This problem, referenced as Multi-Agent (robot) task allocation (MRTA), is still an open issue in real environments. Swarm intelligence methods provide very simple solutions for the MRTA problem. One of the most widely used swarm methods are the so-called Response Threshold algorithms, where the behavior of the systems is modeled as a Markov chain and the robots in each time step select the next task to execute according to a transition probability function. Among other factors, this probability depends on a stimulus (for example the distance between the robot and the task). This classical probabilistic approach presents a lot of disadvantages:the transition function must meet constraints of a probabilistic distribution, the system only convergences to a stationary asymptotically, and so on. In order to overcome these problems, a new theoretical framework based on fuzzy (possibilistic) Markov chains was proposed [2]. As was proved, the possibilistic Markov chains outperform the classical probabilistic when a Max-Min algebra is considered for matrix composition. For example, fuzzy Markov chains convergence to a stable state in a finite number of steps 10 times faster than its probability counter part. Moreover, they improve the predictions of the system under imprecise information. Firstly, this paper will review relevant work in MRTA, from theoretical and experimental point of view. Then it will be summarized the aforementioned recent advances given toward a new possibilistic swarm multi-robot task allocation framework. It will be seen how the possibilistic Markov chains behave when other algebras are considered for matrix composition [1] and how the possibility transition function impacts on the system's performance [3]. Finally, it will be proposed new future works in this field. (Author)

  15. A proposal toward a possibilistic multi-robot task allocation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guerrero, J.

    2017-01-01

    One of the main problems to solve in multi-agent (or multi-robot) systems is to select the best robot or group of robots to carry out a specific task. This problem, referenced as Multi-Agent (robot) task allocation (MRTA), is still an open issue in real environments. Swarm intelligence methods provide very simple solutions for the MRTA problem. One of the most widely used swarm methods are the so-called Response Threshold algorithms, where the behavior of the systems is modeled as a Markov chain and the robots in each time step select the next task to execute according to a transition probability function. Among other factors, this probability depends on a stimulus (for example the distance between the robot and the task). This classical probabilistic approach presents a lot of disadvantages:the transition function must meet constraints of a probabilistic distribution, the system only convergences to a stationary asymptotically, and so on. In order to overcome these problems, a new theoretical framework based on fuzzy (possibilistic) Markov chains was proposed [2]. As was proved, the possibilistic Markov chains outperform the classical probabilistic when a Max-Min algebra is considered for matrix composition. For example, fuzzy Markov chains convergence to a stable state in a finite number of steps 10 times faster than its probability counter part. Moreover, they improve the predictions of the system under imprecise information. Firstly, this paper will review relevant work in MRTA, from theoretical and experimental point of view. Then it will be summarized the aforementioned recent advances given toward a new possibilistic swarm multi-robot task allocation framework. It will be seen how the possibilistic Markov chains behave when other algebras are considered for matrix composition [1] and how the possibility transition function impacts on the system's performance [3]. Finally, it will be proposed new future works in this field. (Author)

  16. Optimal control of cooperative multi-vehicle systems; Optimalsteuerung kooperierender Mehrfahrzeugsysteme

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reinl, Christian; Stryk, Oskar von [Technische Univ. Darmstadt (Germany). FB Informatik; Glocker, Markus [Trimble Terrasat GmbH, Hoehenkirchen (Germany)

    2009-07-01

    Nonlinear hybrid dynamical systems for modeling optimal cooperative control enable a tight and formal coupling of discrete and continuous state dynamics, i.e. of dynamic role and task assignment with switching dynamics of motions. In the resulting mixed-integer multi-phase optimal control problems constraints on the discrete and continuous state and control variables can be considered, e.g., formation or communication requirements. Two numerical methods are investigated: a decomposition approach using branch-and-bound and direct collocation methods as well as an approximation by large-scale, mixed-integer linear problems. Both methods are applied to example problems: the optimal simultaneous waypoint sequencing and trajectory planning of a team of aerial vehicles and the optimization of role distribution and trajectories in robot soccer. (orig.)

  17. A Spatial Queuing-Based Algorithm for Multi-Robot Task Allocation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William Lenagh

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Multi-robot task allocation (MRTA is an important area of research in autonomous multi-robot systems. The main problem in MRTA is to allocate a set of tasks to a set of robots so that the tasks can be completed by the robots while ensuring that a certain metric, such as the time required to complete all tasks, or the distance traveled, or the energy expended by the robots is reduced. We consider a scenario where tasks can appear dynamically and a task needs to be performed by multiple robots to be completed. We propose a new algorithm called SQ-MRTA (Spatial Queueing-MRTA that uses a spatial queue-based model to allocate tasks between robots in a distributed manner. We have implemented the SQ-MRTA algorithm on accurately simulated models of Corobot robots within the Webots simulator for different numbers of robots and tasks and compared its performance with other state-of-the-art MRTA algorithms. Our results show that the SQ-MRTA algorithm is able to scale up with the number of tasks and robots in the environment, and it either outperforms or performs comparably with respect to other distributed MRTA algorithms.

  18. Heterogeneous Multi-Robot System for Mapping Environmental Variables of Greenhouses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roldán, Juan Jesús; Garcia-Aunon, Pablo; Garzón, Mario; de León, Jorge; Del Cerro, Jaime; Barrientos, Antonio

    2016-07-01

    The productivity of greenhouses highly depends on the environmental conditions of crops, such as temperature and humidity. The control and monitoring might need large sensor networks, and as a consequence, mobile sensory systems might be a more suitable solution. This paper describes the application of a heterogeneous robot team to monitor environmental variables of greenhouses. The multi-robot system includes both ground and aerial vehicles, looking to provide flexibility and improve performance. The multi-robot sensory system measures the temperature, humidity, luminosity and carbon dioxide concentration in the ground and at different heights. Nevertheless, these measurements can be complemented with other ones (e.g., the concentration of various gases or images of crops) without a considerable effort. Additionally, this work addresses some relevant challenges of multi-robot sensory systems, such as the mission planning and task allocation, the guidance, navigation and control of robots in greenhouses and the coordination among ground and aerial vehicles. This work has an eminently practical approach, and therefore, the system has been extensively tested both in simulations and field experiments.

  19. Heterogeneous Multi-Robot System for Mapping Environmental Variables of Greenhouses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Jesús Roldán

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The productivity of greenhouses highly depends on the environmental conditions of crops, such as temperature and humidity. The control and monitoring might need large sensor networks, and as a consequence, mobile sensory systems might be a more suitable solution. This paper describes the application of a heterogeneous robot team to monitor environmental variables of greenhouses. The multi-robot system includes both ground and aerial vehicles, looking to provide flexibility and improve performance. The multi-robot sensory system measures the temperature, humidity, luminosity and carbon dioxide concentration in the ground and at different heights. Nevertheless, these measurements can be complemented with other ones (e.g., the concentration of various gases or images of crops without a considerable effort. Additionally, this work addresses some relevant challenges of multi-robot sensory systems, such as the mission planning and task allocation, the guidance, navigation and control of robots in greenhouses and the coordination among ground and aerial vehicles. This work has an eminently practical approach, and therefore, the system has been extensively tested both in simulations and field experiments.

  20. Towards the Robotic “Avatar”: An Extensive Survey of the Cooperation between and within Networked Mobile Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aydan M. Erkmen

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Cooperation between networked mobile sensors, wearable and sycophant sensor networks with parasitically sticking agents, and also having human beings involved in the loop is the “Avatarization” within the robotic research community, where all networks are connected and where you can connect/disconnect at any time to acquire data from a vast unstructured world. This paper extensively surveys the networked robotic foundations of this robotic biological “Avatar” that awaits us in the future. Cooperation between networked mobile sensors as well as cooperation of nodes within a network are becoming more robust, fault tolerant and enable adaptation of the networks to changing environment conditions. In this paper, we survey and comparatively discuss the current state of networked robotics via their critical application areas and their design characteristics. We conclude by discussing future challenges.

  1. Prototyping a Hybrid Cooperative and Tele-robotic Surgical System for Retinal Microsurgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balicki, Marcin; Xia, Tian; Jung, Min Yang; Deguet, Anton; Vagvolgyi, Balazs; Kazanzides, Peter; Taylor, Russell

    2011-06-01

    This paper presents the design of a tele-robotic microsurgical platform designed for development of cooperative and tele-operative control schemes, sensor based smart instruments, user interfaces and new surgical techniques with eye surgery as the driving application. The system is built using the distributed component-based cisst libraries and the Surgical Assistant Workstation framework. It includes a cooperatively controlled EyeRobot2, a da Vinci Master manipulator, and a remote stereo visualization system. We use constrained optimization based virtual fixture control to provide Virtual Remote-Center-of-Motion (vRCM) and haptic feedback. Such system can be used in a hybrid setup, combining local cooperative control with remote tele-operation, where an experienced surgeon can provide hand-over-hand tutoring to a novice user. In another scheme, the system can provide haptic feedback based on virtual fixtures constructed from real-time force and proximity sensor information.

  2. Dynamical Behavior of Multi-Robot Systems Using Lattice Gas Automata

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cameron, S.M.; Robinett, R.; Stantz, K.M.; Trahan, M.W.; Wagner, J.S.

    1999-03-11

    Recent attention has been given to the deployment of an adaptable sensor array realized by multi-robotic systems. Our group has been studying the collective behavior of autonomous, multi-agent systems and their applications in the area of remote-sensing and emerging threats. To accomplish such tasks, an interdisciplinary research effort at Sandia National Laboratories are conducting tests in the fields of sensor technology, robotics, and multi-robotic and multi-agents architectures. Our goal is to coordinate a constellation of point sensors that optimizes spatial coverage and multivariate signal analysis using unmanned robotic vehicles (e.g., RATLERs, Robotic All-ten-sin Lunar Exploration Rover-class vehicles). Overall design methodology is to evolve complex collective behaviors realized through simple interaction (kinetic) physics and artificial intelligence to enable real-time operational responses to emerging threats. This paper focuses on our recent work understanding the dynamics of many-body systems using the physics-based hydrodynamic model of lattice gas automata. Three design features are investigated. One, for single-speed robots, a hexagonal nearest-neighbor interaction topology is necessary to preserve standard hydrodynamic flow. Two, adaptability, defined by the swarm's deformation rate, can be controlled through the hydrodynamic viscosity term, which, in turn, is defined by the local robotic interaction rules. Three, due to the inherent non-linearity of the dynamical equations describing large ensembles, development of stability criteria ensuring convergence to equilibrium states is developed by scaling information flow rates relative to a swarm's hydrodynamic flow rate. An initial test case simulates a swarm of twenty-five robots that maneuvers past an obstacle while following a moving target. A genetic algorithm optimizes applied nearest-neighbor forces in each of five spatial regions distributed over the simulation domain. Armed with

  3. Multi-robot Task Allocation for Search and Rescue Missions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hussein, Ahmed; Adel, Mohamed; Bakr, Mohamed; Shehata, Omar M; Khamis, Alaa

    2014-01-01

    Many researchers from academia and industry are attracted to investigate how to design and develop robust versatile multi-robot systems by solving a number of challenging and complex problems such as task allocation, group formation, self-organization and much more. In this study, the problem of multi-robot task allocation (MRTA) is tackled. MRTA is the problem of optimally allocating a set of tasks to a group of robots to optimize the overall system performance while being subjected to a set of constraints. A generic market-based approach is proposed in this paper to solve this problem. The efficacy of the proposed approach is quantitatively evaluated through simulation and real experimentation using heterogeneous Khepera-III mobile robots. The results from both simulation and experimentation indicate the high performance of the proposed algorithms and their applicability in search and rescue missions

  4. Octopus-inspired multi-arm robotic swimming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sfakiotakis, M; Kazakidi, A; Tsakiris, D P

    2015-05-13

    The outstanding locomotor and manipulation characteristics of the octopus have recently inspired the development, by our group, of multi-functional robotic swimmers, featuring both manipulation and locomotion capabilities, which could be of significant engineering interest in underwater applications. During its little-studied arm-swimming behavior, as opposed to the better known jetting via the siphon, the animal appears to generate considerable propulsive thrust and rapid acceleration, predominantly employing movements of its arms. In this work, we capture the fundamental characteristics of the corresponding complex pattern of arm motion by a sculling profile, involving a fast power stroke and a slow recovery stroke. We investigate the propulsive capabilities of a multi-arm robotic system under various swimming gaits, namely patterns of arm coordination, which achieve the generation of forward, as well as backward, propulsion and turning. A lumped-element model of the robotic swimmer, which considers arm compliance and the interaction with the aquatic environment, was used to study the characteristics of these gaits, the effect of various kinematic parameters on propulsion, and the generation of complex trajectories. This investigation focuses on relatively high-stiffness arms. Experiments employing a compliant-body robotic prototype swimmer with eight compliant arms, all made of polyurethane, inside a water tank, successfully demonstrated this novel mode of underwater propulsion. Speeds of up to 0.26 body lengths per second (approximately 100 mm s(-1)), and propulsive forces of up to 3.5 N were achieved, with a non-dimensional cost of transport of 1.42 with all eight arms and of 0.9 with only two active arms. The experiments confirmed the computational results and verified the multi-arm maneuverability and simultaneous object grasping capability of such systems.

  5. Kinematics modeling and experimentation of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot for full denture manufacturing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yong-de; Jiang, Jin-gang; Liang, Ting; Hu, Wei-ping

    2011-12-01

    Artificial teeth are very complicated in shape, and not easy to be grasped and manipulated accurately by a single robot. The method of tooth-arrangement by multi-manipulator for complete denture manufacturing proposed in this paper. A novel complete denture manufacturing mechanism is designed based on multi-manipulator and dental arch generator. Kinematics model of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot is built by analytical method based on tooth-arrangement principle for full denture. Preliminary experiments on tooth-arrangement are performed using the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot prototype system. The multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot prototype system can automatically design and manufacture a set of complete denture that is suitable for a patient according to the jaw arch parameters. The experimental results verified the validity of kinematics model of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot and the feasibility of the manufacture strategy of complete denture fulfilled by multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot.

  6. Multi-agent robotic systems and applications for satellite missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nunes, Miguel A.

    A revolution in the space sector is happening. It is expected that in the next decade there will be more satellites launched than in the previous sixty years of space exploration. Major challenges are associated with this growth of space assets such as the autonomy and management of large groups of satellites, in particular with small satellites. There are two main objectives for this work. First, a flexible and distributed software architecture is presented to expand the possibilities of spacecraft autonomy and in particular autonomous motion in attitude and position. The approach taken is based on the concept of distributed software agents, also referred to as multi-agent robotic system. Agents are defined as software programs that are social, reactive and proactive to autonomously maximize the chances of achieving the set goals. Part of the work is to demonstrate that a multi-agent robotic system is a feasible approach for different problems of autonomy such as satellite attitude determination and control and autonomous rendezvous and docking. The second main objective is to develop a method to optimize multi-satellite configurations in space, also known as satellite constellations. This automated method generates new optimal mega-constellations designs for Earth observations and fast revisit times on large ground areas. The optimal satellite constellation can be used by researchers as the baseline for new missions. The first contribution of this work is the development of a new multi-agent robotic system for distributing the attitude determination and control subsystem for HiakaSat. The multi-agent robotic system is implemented and tested on the satellite hardware-in-the-loop testbed that simulates a representative space environment. The results show that the newly proposed system for this particular case achieves an equivalent control performance when compared to the monolithic implementation. In terms on computational efficiency it is found that the multi

  7. Development of a Survivable Cloud Multi-Robot Framework for Heterogeneous Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isaac Osunmakinde

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Cloud robotics is a paradigm that allows for robots to offload computationally intensive and data storage requirements into the cloud by providing a secure and customizable environment. The challenge for cloud robotics is the inherent problem of cloud disconnection. A major assumption made in the development of the current cloud robotics frameworks is that the connection between the cloud and the robot is always available. However, for multi-robots working in heterogeneous environments, the connection between the cloud and the robots cannot always be guaranteed. This work serves to assist with the challenge of disconnection in cloud robotics by proposing a survivable cloud multi-robotics (SCMR framework for heterogeneous environments. The SCMR framework leverages the combination of a virtual ad hoc network formed by robot-to-robot communication and a physical cloud infrastructure formed by robot-to-cloud communications. The quality of service (QoS on the SCMR framework was tested and validated by determining the optimal energy utilization and time of response (ToR on drivability analysis with and without cloud connection. The design trade-off, including the result, is between the computation energy for the robot execution and the offloading energy for the cloud execution.

  8. Man-Robot Symbiosis: A Framework For Cooperative Intelligence And Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, Lynne E.; Pin, Francois G.

    1988-10-01

    The man-robot symbiosis concept has the fundamental objective of bridging the gap between fully human-controlled and fully autonomous systems to achieve true man-robot cooperative control and intelligence. Such a system would allow improved speed, accuracy, and efficiency of task execution, while retaining the man in the loop for innovative reasoning and decision-making. The symbiont would have capabilities for supervised and unsupervised learning, allowing an increase of expertise in a wide task domain. This paper describes a robotic system architecture facilitating the symbiotic integration of teleoperative and automated modes of task execution. The architecture reflects a unique blend of many disciplines of artificial intelligence into a working system, including job or mission planning, dynamic task allocation, man-robot communication, automated monitoring, and machine learning. These disciplines are embodied in five major components of the symbiotic framework: the Job Planner, the Dynamic Task Allocator, the Presenter/Interpreter, the Automated Monitor, and the Learning System.

  9. Quadruped robots for nuclear facilities. Development of cooperative carrying and unloading functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2016-01-01

    As the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (hereafter refers to as 1F) became the high dose environment by the Great East Japan Earthquake, remotely operated robots were required in order to reduce workers' radiation exposure. We developed a quadruped robot to walk the stairs and narrow passages with carrying burdens such as investigation tools. This robot investigated water leakage from vent pipes at underground of 1F unit 2. There are various works towards the decommissioning such as measuring doses of radiation, cutting pipes, connecting wires and more. It is desirable to carry various work tools and to unload them at destinations with remotely operated robots. To this end, we have developed carrying and unloading functions of the robot. In addition, we have developed cooperative carrying functions that two quadruped robots carry and unload a burden which is too long or heavy for individual robot. As a result, it was realized that two robots carried the pipe of 48 kg while getting over a step of 100 mm and unloading it at a destination. (author)

  10. Self-organized control in cooperative robots using a pattern formation principle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Starke, Jens; Ellsaesser, Carmen; Fukuda, Toshio

    2011-01-01

    Self-organized modular approaches proved in nature to be robust and optimal and are a promising strategy to control future concepts of flexible and modular manufacturing processes. We show how this can be applied to a model of flexible manufacturing based on time-dependent robot-target assignment problems where robot teams have to serve manufacturing targets such that an objective function is optimized. Feasibility of the self-organized solutions can be guaranteed even for unpredictable situations like sudden changes in the demands or breakdowns of robots. As example an uncrewed space mission is visualized in a simulation where robots build a space station. - Highlights: → Adapting a pattern formation principle to control cooperative robots in a robust way. → Flexible manufacturing systems are modelled by time-dependent assignment problems. → Coupled selection equations guarantee feasibility of solutions. → Solution structure (permutations) is not destroyed by inhomogeneous growth rates. → Example of an uncrewed space mission shows effectivity and robustness.

  11. Scalable Task Assignment for Heterogeneous Multi-Robot Teams

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paula García

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available This work deals with the development of a dynamic task assignment strategy for heterogeneous multi-robot teams in typical real world scenarios. The strategy must be efficiently scalable to support problems of increasing complexity with minimum designer intervention. To this end, we have selected a very simple auction-based strategy, which has been implemented and analysed in a multi-robot cleaning problem that requires strong coordination and dynamic complex subtask organization. We will show that the selection of a simple auction strategy provides a linear computational cost increase with the number of robots that make up the team and allows the solving of highly complex assignment problems in dynamic conditions by means of a hierarchical sub-auction policy. To coordinate and control the team, a layered behaviour-based architecture has been applied that allows the reusing of the auction-based strategy to achieve different coordination levels.

  12. An Adaptive Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for Multi-Robot Path Planning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nizar Hadi Abbas

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses an optimal path planning algorithm based on an Adaptive Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (AMOPSO for two case studies. First case, single robot wants to reach a goal in the static environment that contain two obstacles and two danger source. The second one, is improving the ability for five robots to reach the shortest way. The proposed algorithm solves the optimization problems for the first case by finding the minimum distance from initial to goal position and also ensuring that the generated path has a maximum distance from the danger zones. And for the second case, finding the shortest path for every robot and without any collision between them with the shortest time. In order to evaluate the proposed algorithm in term of finding the best solution, six benchmark test functions are used to make a comparison between AMOPSO and the standard MOPSO. The results show that the AMOPSO has a better ability to get away from local optimums with a quickest convergence than the MOPSO. The simulation results using Matlab 2014a, indicate that this methodology is extremely valuable for every robot in multi-robot framework to discover its own particular proper pa‌th from the start to the destination position with minimum distance and time.

  13. Human-Agent Teaming for Multi-Robot Control: A Literature Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-01

    advent of the Goggle driverless car , autonomous farm equipment, and unmanned commercial aircraft (Mosher, 2012). The inexorable trend towards...because a robot cannot be automated to navigate in difficult terrain. However, this high ratio will not be sustainable if large numbers of autonomous ...Parasuraman et al., 2007). 3.5 RoboLeader Past research indicates that autonomous cooperation between robots can improve the performance of the human

  14. Evolving controllers for a homogeneous system of physical robots: structured cooperation with minimal sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, Matt; Smith, Lincoln; Mayley, Giles; Husbands, Phil

    2003-10-15

    We report on recent work in which we employed artificial evolution to design neural network controllers for small, homogeneous teams of mobile autonomous robots. The robots were evolved to perform a formation-movement task from random starting positions, equipped only with infrared sensors. The dual constraints of homogeneity and minimal sensors make this a non-trivial task. We describe the behaviour of a successful system in which robots adopt and maintain functionally distinct roles in order to achieve the task. We believe this to be the first example of the use of artificial evolution to design coordinated, cooperative behaviour for real robots.

  15. Artificial emotion triggered stochastic behavior transitions with motivational gain effects for multi-objective robot tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dağlarli, Evren; Temeltaş, Hakan

    2007-04-01

    This paper presents artificial emotional system based autonomous robot control architecture. Hidden Markov model developed as mathematical background for stochastic emotional and behavior transitions. Motivation module of architecture considered as behavioral gain effect generator for achieving multi-objective robot tasks. According to emotional and behavioral state transition probabilities, artificial emotions determine sequences of behaviors. Also motivational gain effects of proposed architecture can be observed on the executing behaviors during simulation.

  16. Fuzzy variable impedance control based on stiffness identification for human-robot cooperation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Dachao; Yang, Wenlong; Du, Zhijiang

    2017-06-01

    This paper presents a dynamic fuzzy variable impedance control algorithm for human-robot cooperation. In order to estimate the intention of human for co-manipulation, a fuzzy inference system is set up to adjust the impedance parameter. Aiming at regulating the output fuzzy universe based on the human arm’s stiffness, an online stiffness identification method is developed. A drag interaction task is conducted on a 5-DOF robot with variable impedance control. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is superior.

  17. Flocking small smart machines: An experiment in cooperative, multi-machine control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klarer, P.R.

    1998-03-01

    The intent and purpose of this work was to investigate and demonstrate cooperative behavior among a group of mobile robot machines. The specific goal of this work was to build a small swarm of identical machines and control them in such a way as to show a coordinated movement of the group in a flocking manner, similar to that observed in nature. Control of the swarm's individual members and its overall configuration is available to the human user via a graphic man-machine interface running on a base station control computer. Any robot may be designated as the nominal leader through the interface tool, which then may be commanded to proceed to a particular geographic destination. The remainder of the flock follows the leader by maintaining their relative positions in formation, as specified by the human controller through the interface. The formation's configuration can be altered manually through an interactive graphic-based tool. An alternative mode of control allows for teleoperation of one robot, with the flock following along as described above

  18. A Multi-Agent Control Architecture for a Robotic Wheelchair

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Galindo

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Assistant robots like robotic wheelchairs can perform an effective and valuable work in our daily lives. However, they eventually may need external help from humans in the robot environment (particularly, the driver in the case of a wheelchair to accomplish safely and efficiently some tricky tasks for the current technology, i.e. opening a locked door, traversing a crowded area, etc. This article proposes a control architecture for assistant robots designed under a multi-agent perspective that facilitates the participation of humans into the robotic system and improves the overall performance of the robot as well as its dependability. Within our design, agents have their own intentions and beliefs, have different abilities (that include algorithmic behaviours and human skills and also learn autonomously the most convenient method to carry out their actions through reinforcement learning. The proposed architecture is illustrated with a real assistant robot: a robotic wheelchair that provides mobility to impaired or elderly people.

  19. Surface Support Systems for Co-Operative and Integrated Human/Robotic Lunar Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mueller, Robert P.

    2006-01-01

    Human and robotic partnerships to realize space goals can enhance space missions and provide increases in human productivity while decreasing the hazards that the humans are exposed to. For lunar exploration, the harsh environment of the moon and the repetitive nature of the tasks involved with lunar outpost construction, maintenance and operation as well as production tasks associated with in-situ resource utilization, make it highly desirable to use robotic systems in co-operation with human activity. A human lunar outpost is functionally examined and concepts for selected human/robotic tasks are discussed in the context of a lunar outpost which will enable the presence of humans on the moon for extended periods of time.

  20. Multi-robots to micro-surgery: Selected robotic applications at Sandia National Laboratories

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bennett, P.C. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States). Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center

    1996-11-01

    The Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center (ISRC) at Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program organization, pursuing research, development and applications in a wide range of field. Activities range from large-scale applications such as nuclear facility dismantlement for the US Department of Energy (DOE), to aircraft inspection and refurbishment, to automated script and program generation for robotic manufacturing and assembly, to miniature robotic devices and sensors for remote sensing and micro-surgery. This paper describes six activities in the large and small scale that are underway and either nearing technology transfer stage or seeking industrial partners to continue application development. The topics of the applications include multiple arm coordination for intuitively maneuvering large, ungainly work pieces; simulation, analysis and graphical training capability for CP-5 research reactor dismantlement; miniature robots with volumes of 16 cubic centimeters and less developed for inspection and sensor deployment; and biomedical sensors to enhance automated prosthetic device production and fill laparoscopic surgery information gap.

  1. Towards Human-Friendly Efficient Control of Multi-Robot Teams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoica, Adrian; Theodoridis, Theodoros; Barrero, David F.; Hu, Huosheng; McDonald-Maiers, Klaus

    2013-01-01

    This paper explores means to increase efficiency in performing tasks with multi-robot teams, in the context of natural Human-Multi-Robot Interfaces (HMRI) for command and control. The motivating scenario is an emergency evacuation by a transport convoy of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) that have to traverse, in shortest time, an unknown terrain. In the experiments the operator commands, in minimal time, a group of rovers through a maze. The efficiency of performing such tasks depends on both, the levels of robots' autonomy, and the ability of the operator to command and control the team. The paper extends the classic framework of levels of autonomy (LOA), to levels/hierarchy of autonomy characteristic of Groups (G-LOA), and uses it to determine new strategies for control. An UGVoriented command language (UGVL) is defined, and a mapping is performed from the human-friendly gesture-based HMRI into the UGVL. The UGVL is used to control a team of 3 robots, exploring the efficiency of different G-LOA; specifically, by (a) controlling each robot individually through the maze, (b) controlling a leader and cloning its controls to followers, and (c) controlling the entire group. Not surprisingly, commands at increased G-LOA lead to a faster traverse, yet a number of aspects are worth discussing in this context.

  2. A Car Transportation System in Cooperation by Multiple Mobile Robots for Each Wheel: iCART II

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kashiwazaki, Koshi; Yonezawa, Naoaki; Kosuge, Kazuhiro; Sugahara, Yusuke; Hirata, Yasuhisa; Endo, Mitsuru; Kanbayashi, Takashi; Shinozuka, Hiroyuki; Suzuki, Koki; Ono, Yuki

    The authors proposed a car transportation system, iCART (intelligent Cooperative Autonomous Robot Transporters), for automation of mechanical parking systems by two mobile robots. However, it was difficult to downsize the mobile robot because the length of it requires at least the wheelbase of a car. This paper proposes a new car transportation system, iCART II (iCART - type II), based on “a-robot-for-a-wheel” concept. A prototype system, MRWheel (a Mobile Robot for a Wheel), is designed and downsized less than half the conventional robot. First, a method for lifting up a wheel by MRWheel is described. In general, it is very difficult for mobile robots such as MRWheel to move to desired positions without motion errors caused by slipping, etc. Therefore, we propose a follower's motion error estimation algorithm based on the internal force applied to each follower by extending a conventional leader-follower type decentralized control algorithm for cooperative object transportation. The proposed algorithm enables followers to estimate their motion errors and enables the robots to transport a car to a desired position. In addition, we analyze and prove the stability and convergence of the resultant system with the proposed algorithm. In order to extract only the internal force from the force applied to each robot, we also propose a model-based external force compensation method. Finally, proposed methods are applied to the car transportation system, the experimental results confirm their validity.

  3. The Emergence of Multi-Cellular Robot Organisms through On-line On-board Evolution

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weel, B.P.M.; Haasdijk, E.W.; Eiben, A.E.

    2012-01-01

    We investigate whether a swarm of robots can evolve controllers that cause aggregation into 'multi-cellular' robot organisms without a specific reward to do so. To this end, we create a world where aggregated robots receive more energy than individual ones and enable robots to evolve their

  4. An intelligent space for mobile robot localization using a multi-camera system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rampinelli, Mariana; Covre, Vitor Buback; de Queiroz, Felippe Mendonça; Vassallo, Raquel Frizera; Bastos-Filho, Teodiano Freire; Mazo, Manuel

    2014-08-15

    This paper describes an intelligent space, whose objective is to localize and control robots or robotic wheelchairs to help people. Such an intelligent space has 11 cameras distributed in two laboratories and a corridor. The cameras are fixed in the environment, and image capturing is done synchronously. The system was programmed as a client/server with TCP/IP connections, and a communication protocol was defined. The client coordinates the activities inside the intelligent space, and the servers provide the information needed for that. Once the cameras are used for localization, they have to be properly calibrated. Therefore, a calibration method for a multi-camera network is also proposed in this paper. A robot is used to move a calibration pattern throughout the field of view of the cameras. Then, the captured images and the robot odometry are used for calibration. As a result, the proposed algorithm provides a solution for multi-camera calibration and robot localization at the same time. The intelligent space and the calibration method were evaluated under different scenarios using computer simulations and real experiments. The results demonstrate the proper functioning of the intelligent space and validate the multi-camera calibration method, which also improves robot localization.

  5. An Intelligent Space for Mobile Robot Localization Using a Multi-Camera System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariana Rampinelli

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes an intelligent space, whose objective is to localize and control robots or robotic wheelchairs to help people. Such an intelligent space has 11 cameras distributed in two laboratories and a corridor. The cameras are fixed in the environment, and image capturing is done synchronously. The system was programmed as a client/server with TCP/IP connections, and a communication protocol was defined. The client coordinates the activities inside the intelligent space, and the servers provide the information needed for that. Once the cameras are used for localization, they have to be properly calibrated. Therefore, a calibration method for a multi-camera network is also proposed in this paper. A robot is used to move a calibration pattern throughout the field of view of the cameras. Then, the captured images and the robot odometry are used for calibration. As a result, the proposed algorithm provides a solution for multi-camera calibration and robot localization at the same time. The intelligent space and the calibration method were evaluated under different scenarios using computer simulations and real experiments. The results demonstrate the proper functioning of the intelligent space and validate the multi-camera calibration method, which also improves robot localization.

  6. Towards Real-Time Distributed Planning in Multi-Robot Systems

    KAUST Repository

    Abdelkader, Mohamed

    2018-04-01

    Recently, there has been an increasing interest in robotics related to multi-robot applications. Such systems can be involved in several tasks such as collaborative search and rescue, aerial transportation, surveillance, and monitoring, to name a few. There are two possible architectures for the autonomous control of multi-robot systems. In the centralized architecture, a master controller communicates with all the robots to collect information. It uses this information to make decisions for the entire system and then sends commands to each robot. In contrast, in the distributed architecture, each robot makes its own decision independent from a central authority. While distributed architecture is a more portable solution, it comes at the expense of extensive information exchange (communication). The extensive communication between robots can result in decision delays because of which distributed architecture is often impractical for systems with strict real-time constraints, e.g. when decisions have to be taken in the order of milliseconds. In this thesis, we propose a distributed framework that strikes a balance between limited communicated information and reasonable system-wide performance while running in real-time. We implement the proposed approach in a game setting of two competing teams of drones, defenders and attackers. Defending drones execute a proposed linear program algorithm (using only onboard computing modules) to obstruct attackers from infiltrating a defense zone while having minimal local message passing. Another main contribution is that we developed a realistic simulation environment as well as lab and outdoor hardware setups of customized drones for testing the system in realistic scenarios. Our software is completely open-source and fully integrated with the well-known Robot Operating System (ROS) in hopes to make our work easily reproducible and for rapid future improvements.

  7. Multi-agent Cooperation in a Planning Framework

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Weerdt, M.M.; Bos, A.; Tonino, J.F.M.; Witteveen, C.

    2000-01-01

    The promise of multi-agent systems is that multiple agents can solve problems more efficiently than single agents can. In this paper we propose a method to implement cooperation between agents in the planning phase, in order to achive more cost-effective solutions than without cooperation. Two

  8. Trajectory generation for two robots cooperating to perform a task

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewis, C.L.

    1995-01-01

    This paper formulates an algorithm for trajectory generation for two robots cooperating to perform an assembly task. Treating the two robots as a single redundant system, this paper derives two Jacobian matrices which relate the joint rates of the entire system to the relative motion of the grippers with respect to one another. The advantage of this formulation over existing methods is that a variety of secondary criteria can be conveniently satisfied using motion in the null-space of the relative Jacobian. This paper presents methods for generating dual-arm joint trajectories which perform assembly tasks while at the same time avoiding obstacles and joint limits, and also maintaining constraints on the absolute position and orientation of the end-effectors

  9. Fiscal 2000 report on result of R and D on robot system cooperating and coexisting with human beings. Development of energy conservation technology; 2000 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Energy shiyo gorika gijutsu kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-06-01

    Introduction of a number of robots and consumption of a large amount of energy are unavoidable if a complicated process operation is to be carried out by robots in an extensive work site. Great energy conservation is contrived by developing robots applicable to manufacturing in performing a variety of operations in place of human beings and thereby reducing the number of robots to work. This paper explains the fiscal 2000 results. For dual-handed cooperative tasks, a function was examined capable of gripping an object without giving a humanoid robot an instruction of an exact gripping position. A method was designed to prepare a command for the other arm through a command for one arm, with torque impedance control employed for the purpose of avoiding damage due to collision. A study was conducted on a three-dimensional shape detecting model using a visual device of a robot. In grasping problems of balance control of a humanoid robot, the behavior of a robot consisting of multi-links was considered as behavior of inverted pendulum, with possibility checked for the stabilization of the balance. For the purpose of putting the virtual robot platform previously developed to practical use, a three-dimensional operation tool of run-time user interface was developed, with research conducted on the sophistication of robot application. (NEDO)

  10. Hierarchical HMM based learning of navigation primitives for cooperative robotic endovascular catheterization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rafii-Tari, Hedyeh; Liu, Jindong; Payne, Christopher J; Bicknell, Colin; Yang, Guang-Zhong

    2014-01-01

    Despite increased use of remote-controlled steerable catheter navigation systems for endovascular intervention, most current designs are based on master configurations which tend to alter natural operator tool interactions. This introduces problems to both ergonomics and shared human-robot control. This paper proposes a novel cooperative robotic catheterization system based on learning-from-demonstration. By encoding the higher-level structure of a catheterization task as a sequence of primitive motions, we demonstrate how to achieve prospective learning for complex tasks whilst incorporating subject-specific variations. A hierarchical Hidden Markov Model is used to model each movement primitive as well as their sequential relationship. This model is applied to generation of motion sequences, recognition of operator input, and prediction of future movements for the robot. The framework is validated by comparing catheter tip motions against the manual approach, showing significant improvements in the quality of catheterization. The results motivate the design of collaborative robotic systems that are intuitive to use, while reducing the cognitive workload of the operator.

  11. Movement Performance of Human-Robot Cooperation Control Based on EMG-Driven Hill-Type and Proportional Models for an Ankle Power-Assist Exoskeleton Robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ao, Di; Song, Rong; Gao, JinWu

    2017-08-01

    Although the merits of electromyography (EMG)-based control of powered assistive systems have been certified, the factors that affect the performance of EMG-based human-robot cooperation, which are very important, have received little attention. This study investigates whether a more physiologically appropriate model could improve the performance of human-robot cooperation control for an ankle power-assist exoskeleton robot. To achieve the goal, an EMG-driven Hill-type neuromusculoskeletal model (HNM) and a linear proportional model (LPM) were developed and calibrated through maximum isometric voluntary dorsiflexion (MIVD). The two control models could estimate the real-time ankle joint torque, and HNM is more accurate and can account for the change of the joint angle and muscle dynamics. Then, eight healthy volunteers were recruited to wear the ankle exoskeleton robot and complete a series of sinusoidal tracking tasks in the vertical plane. With the various levels of assist based on the two calibrated models, the subjects were instructed to track the target displayed on the screen as accurately as possible by performing ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion. Two measurements, the root mean square error (RMSE) and root mean square jerk (RMSJ), were derived from the assistant torque and kinematic signals to characterize the movement performances, whereas the amplitudes of the recorded EMG signals from the tibialis anterior (TA) and the gastrocnemius (GAS) were obtained to reflect the muscular efforts. The results demonstrated that the muscular effort and smoothness of tracking movements decreased with an increase in the assistant ratio. Compared with LPM, subjects made lower physical efforts and generated smoother movements when using HNM, which implied that a more physiologically appropriate model could enable more natural and human-like human-robot cooperation and has potential value for improvement of human-exoskeleton interaction in future applications.

  12. Incremental inverse kinematics based vision servo for autonomous robotic capture of non-cooperative space debris

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Gangqi; Zhu, Z. H.

    2016-04-01

    This paper proposed a new incremental inverse kinematics based vision servo approach for robotic manipulators to capture a non-cooperative target autonomously. The target's pose and motion are estimated by a vision system using integrated photogrammetry and EKF algorithm. Based on the estimated pose and motion of the target, the instantaneous desired position of the end-effector is predicted by inverse kinematics and the robotic manipulator is moved incrementally from its current configuration subject to the joint speed limits. This approach effectively eliminates the multiple solutions in the inverse kinematics and increases the robustness of the control algorithm. The proposed approach is validated by a hardware-in-the-loop simulation, where the pose and motion of the non-cooperative target is estimated by a real vision system. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed estimation approach for the target and the incremental control strategy for the robotic manipulator.

  13. Query Processing for Probabilistic State Diagrams Describing Multiple Robot Navigation in an Indoor Environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Czejdo, Bogdan [ORNL; Bhattacharya, Sambit [North Carolina Fayetteville State University; Ferragut, Erik M [ORNL

    2012-01-01

    This paper describes the syntax and semantics of multi-level state diagrams to support probabilistic behavior of cooperating robots. The techniques are presented to analyze these diagrams by querying combined robots behaviors. It is shown how to use state abstraction and transition abstraction to create, verify and process large probabilistic state diagrams.

  14. Study on a cooperative active sensing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsukune, Hideo; Kita, Nobuyuki; Kuniyoshi, Yasuo; Hara, Isao; Matsui, Toshihiro; Matsushita, Toshio; Nagata, Kazuyuki; Nagakubo, Akihiko

    1997-01-01

    This study was made as a part of the research project ''Study on the evaluation of applicability of information collection·processing system to autonomous plant''. Previously, the basic techniques for 3-dimensional geometric modeling of working environments and for systemizing of information collection and processing have been developed. Thus, this study aimed to establish the techniques for a decentralized and cooperatively intellectualized system which allows to automatically perform patrol for inspection and maintenance in complicated plants. First, developments of cooperative active sensing for functioning in a multi-robot system and real-time active visual sensing were attempted and then the both were integrated to produce a prototype system for cooperative active sensing. The outcomes of the project in this year were as follows; a mobile platform with expanded functions, acoustic information processing, parallel EusLisp, a simulator for moving robot's behaviors, a visual monitoring system for moving objects, etc. All of these were usable for general purpose. (M.N.)

  15. Cooperative Multi-robot Patrolling: A study of distributed approaches based on mathematical models of game theory to protect infrastructures

    OpenAIRE

    Hernandez Serrato, Erik

    2015-01-01

    El principio de Teoría de Juegos permite desarrollar modelos estocásticos de patrullaje multi-robot para proteger infraestructuras criticas. La protección de infraestructuras criticas representa un gran reto para los países al rededor del mundo, principalmente después de los ataques terroristas llevados a cabo la década pasada. En este documento el termino infraestructura hace referencia a aeropuertos, plantas nucleares u otros instalaciones. El problema de patrullaje se define como la activi...

  16. Human-Robot Teaming in a Multi-Agent Space Assembly Task

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rehnmark, Fredrik; Currie, Nancy; Ambrose, Robert O.; Culbert, Christopher

    2004-01-01

    NASA's Human Space Flight program depends heavily on spacewalks performed by pairs of suited human astronauts. These Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs) are severely restricted in both duration and scope by consumables and available manpower. An expanded multi-agent EVA team combining the information-gathering and problem-solving skills of humans with the survivability and physical capabilities of robots is proposed and illustrated by example. Such teams are useful for large-scale, complex missions requiring dispersed manipulation, locomotion and sensing capabilities. To study collaboration modalities within a multi-agent EVA team, a 1-g test is conducted with humans and robots working together in various supporting roles.

  17. Hand-held medical robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Payne, Christopher J; Yang, Guang-Zhong

    2014-08-01

    Medical robots have evolved from autonomous systems to tele-operated platforms and mechanically-grounded, cooperatively-controlled robots. Whilst these approaches have seen both commercial and clinical success, uptake of these robots remains moderate because of their high cost, large physical footprint and long setup times. More recently, researchers have moved toward developing hand-held robots that are completely ungrounded and manipulated by surgeons in free space, in a similar manner to how conventional instruments are handled. These devices provide specific functions that assist the surgeon in accomplishing tasks that are otherwise challenging with manual manipulation. Hand-held robots have the advantages of being compact and easily integrated into the normal surgical workflow since there is typically little or no setup time. Hand-held devices can also have a significantly reduced cost to healthcare providers as they do not necessitate the complex, multi degree-of-freedom linkages that grounded robots require. However, the development of such devices is faced with many technical challenges, including miniaturization, cost and sterility, control stability, inertial and gravity compensation and robust instrument tracking. This review presents the emerging technical trends in hand-held medical robots and future development opportunities for promoting their wider clinical uptake.

  18. Optimum Design of Multi-Function Robot Arm Gripper for Varying Shape Green Product

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Razali Zol Bahri

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The project focuses on thorough experimentally studies of the optimum design of Multi-function Robot Arm Gripper for varying shape green product. The purpose of this project is to design a few of robot arm gripper for multi-functionally grip a green product with varying shape. The main character of the gripper is that it can automated adjust its finger to suit with the shape of the product. An optimum design of multi-function robot arm gripper is verified through experimental study. The expected result is a series of analytical results on the proposal of gripper design and material that will be selected for the gripper. The analysis of the gripper design proposal by using ANSYS and CATIA software is described in detail in this paper.

  19. Cooperative heuristic multi-agent planning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Weerdt, M.M.; Tonino, J.F.M.; Witteveen, C.

    2001-01-01

    In this paper we will use the framework to study cooperative heuristic multi-agent planning. During the construction of their plans, the agents use a heuristic function inspired by the FF planner (l3l). At any time in the process of planning the agents may exchange available resources, or they may

  20. Analysis of Bullying in Cooperative Multi-agent Systems’ Communications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Celia Gutiérrez

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Cooperative Multi-agent Systems frameworks do not include modules to test communications yet. The proposed framework incorporates robust analysis tools using IDKAnalysis2.0 to evaluate bullying effect in communications. The present work is based on ICARO-T. This platform follows the Adaptive Multi-agent Systems paradigm. Experimentation with ICARO-T includes two deployments: the equitative and the authoritative. Results confirm the usefulness of the analysis tools when exporting to Cooperative Multi-agent Systems that use different configurations. Besides, ICARO-T is provided with new functionality by a set of tools for communication analysis.

  1. Multi-sensors multi-baseline mapping system for mobile robot using stereovision camera and laser-range device

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Faisal

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Countless applications today are using mobile robots, including autonomous navigation, security patrolling, housework, search-and-rescue operations, material handling, manufacturing, and automated transportation systems. Regardless of the application, a mobile robot must use a robust autonomous navigation system. Autonomous navigation remains one of the primary challenges in the mobile-robot industry; many control algorithms and techniques have been recently developed that aim to overcome this challenge. Among autonomous navigation methods, vision-based systems have been growing in recent years due to rapid gains in computational power and the reliability of visual sensors. The primary focus of research into vision-based navigation is to allow a mobile robot to navigate in an unstructured environment without collision. In recent years, several researchers have looked at methods for setting up autonomous mobile robots for navigational tasks. Among these methods, stereovision-based navigation is a promising approach for reliable and efficient navigation. In this article, we create and develop a novel mapping system for a robust autonomous navigation system. The main contribution of this article is the fuse of the multi-baseline stereovision (narrow and wide baselines and laser-range reading data to enhance the accuracy of the point cloud, to reduce the ambiguity of correspondence matching, and to extend the field of view of the proposed mapping system to 180°. Another contribution is the pruning the region of interest of the three-dimensional point clouds to reduce the computational burden involved in the stereo process. Therefore, we called the proposed system multi-sensors multi-baseline mapping system. The experimental results illustrate the robustness and accuracy of the proposed system.

  2. Muecas: A Multi-Sensor Robotic Head for Affective Human Robot Interaction and Imitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felipe Cid

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a multi-sensor humanoid robotic head for human robot interaction. The design of the robotic head, Muecas, is based on ongoing research on the mechanisms of perception and imitation of human expressions and emotions. These mechanisms allow direct interaction between the robot and its human companion through the different natural language modalities: speech, body language and facial expressions. The robotic head has 12 degrees of freedom, in a human-like configuration, including eyes, eyebrows, mouth and neck, and has been designed and built entirely by IADeX (Engineering, Automation and Design of Extremadura and RoboLab. A detailed description of its kinematics is provided along with the design of the most complex controllers. Muecas can be directly controlled by FACS (Facial Action Coding System, the de facto standard for facial expression recognition and synthesis. This feature facilitates its use by third party platforms and encourages the development of imitation and of goal-based systems. Imitation systems learn from the user, while goal-based ones use planning techniques to drive the user towards a final desired state. To show the flexibility and reliability of the robotic head, the paper presents a software architecture that is able to detect, recognize, classify and generate facial expressions in real time using FACS. This system has been implemented using the robotics framework, RoboComp, which provides hardware-independent access to the sensors in the head. Finally, the paper presents experimental results showing the real-time functioning of the whole system, including recognition and imitation of human facial expressions.

  3. Control Algorithm Trajectory Planning for Dual Cooperative Manipulators with Experimental Verification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omar Ahmed

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to achieve cooperation of multi-robots simultaneously, this paper presents an approach of Trajectory planning for two decoupled robots with six degrees of freedom (DOF each to execute packing task. The Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H representation is used to model robot links and solve the transformation matrices of each joint. The inverse kinematics solution using for a 6- DOF Robotic arm is presented, for given initial and final configurations of the robots, the robots are placed so that their workspaces overlap. An algorithm successfully finds a set of configurations to ensure, collision free transition from start to end configuration. Simulation and experiments based on 6-dof robot are carried out and the results verified the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

  4. Multi-robot task allocation based on two dimensional artificial fish swarm algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Taixiong; Li, Xueqin; Yang, Liangyi

    2007-12-01

    The problem of task allocation for multiple robots is to allocate more relative-tasks to less relative-robots so as to minimize the processing time of these tasks. In order to get optimal multi-robot task allocation scheme, a twodimensional artificial swarm algorithm based approach is proposed in this paper. In this approach, the normal artificial fish is extended to be two dimension artificial fish. In the two dimension artificial fish, each vector of primary artificial fish is extended to be an m-dimensional vector. Thus, each vector can express a group of tasks. By redefining the distance between artificial fish and the center of artificial fish, the behavior of two dimension fish is designed and the task allocation algorithm based on two dimension artificial swarm algorithm is put forward. At last, the proposed algorithm is applied to the problem of multi-robot task allocation and comparer with GA and SA based algorithm is done. Simulation and compare result shows the proposed algorithm is effective.

  5. Using Multi-Robot Systems for Engineering Education: Teaching and Outreach with Large Numbers of an Advanced, Low-Cost Robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLurkin, J.; Rykowski, J.; John, M.; Kaseman, Q.; Lynch, A. J.

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes the experiences of using an advanced, low-cost robot in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. It presents three innovations: It is a powerful, cheap, robust, and small advanced personal robot; it forms the foundation of a problem-based learning curriculum; and it enables a novel multi-robot…

  6. A concept of distributed architecture for maintenance robot systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asama, Hajime

    1990-01-01

    Aiming at development of a robot system for maintenance tasks in nuclear power plants, a concept of distributed architecture for autonomous robot systems is discussed. At first, based on investigation of maintenance tasks, requirements for maintenance robots are introduced, and structures to realize multi-functions are discussed. Then, as a new design strategy of maintenance robot system, an autonomous and decentralized robot systems is proposed, which is composed of multiple robots, computers, and equipments, and concept of ACTRESS (ACTor-based Robots and Equipments Synthetic System) including communication framework between robotic components is designed. Finally, as a model of ACTRESS, a experimental system is developed, which deals with object-pushing tasks by two micromice and an environment modeler with communicating with each other. Both of parallel independent motion and cooperative motion based on communication is reconciled, and the efficiency of the distributed architecture is verified. (author)

  7. Multi-agent cooperation rescue algorithm based on influence degree and state prediction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Yanbin; Ma, Guangfu; Wang, Linlin; Xi, Pengxue

    2018-04-01

    Aiming at the multi-agent cooperative rescue in disaster, a multi-agent cooperative rescue algorithm based on impact degree and state prediction is proposed. Firstly, based on the influence of the information in the scene on the collaborative task, the influence degree function is used to filter the information. Secondly, using the selected information to predict the state of the system and Agent behavior. Finally, according to the result of the forecast, the cooperative behavior of Agent is guided and improved the efficiency of individual collaboration. The simulation results show that this algorithm can effectively solve the cooperative rescue problem of multi-agent and ensure the efficient completion of the task.

  8. Distributed Circumnavigation Control with Dynamic Spacings for a Heterogeneous Multi-robot System

    OpenAIRE

    Yao, Weijia; Luo, Sha; Lu, Huimin; Xiao, Junhao

    2018-01-01

    Circumnavigation control is useful in real-world applications such as entrapping a hostile target. In this paper, we consider a heterogeneous multi-robot system where robots have different physical properties, such as maximum movement speeds. Instead of equal-spacings, dynamic spacings according to robots' properties, which are termed utilities in this paper, will be more desirable in a scenario such as target entrapment. A distributed circumnavigation control algorithm based on utilities is ...

  9. Optimization of potential field method parameters through networks for swarm cooperative manipulation tasks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rocco Furferi

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available An interesting current research field related to autonomous robots is mobile manipulation performed by cooperating robots (in terrestrial, aerial and underwater environments. Focusing on the underwater scenario, cooperative manipulation of Intervention-Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (I-AUVs is a complex and difficult application compared with the terrestrial or aerial ones because of many technical issues, such as underwater localization and limited communication. A decentralized approach for cooperative mobile manipulation of I-AUVs based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs is proposed in this article. This strategy exploits the potential field method; a multi-layer control structure is developed to manage the coordination of the swarm, the guidance and navigation of I-AUVs and the manipulation task. In the article, this new strategy has been implemented in the simulation environment, simulating the transportation of an object. This object is moved along a desired trajectory in an unknown environment and it is transported by four underwater mobile robots, each one provided with a seven-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm. The simulation results are optimized thanks to the ANNs used for the potentials tuning.

  10. FRAMEWORK FOR AD HOC NETWORK COMMUNICATION IN MULTI-ROBOT SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khilda Slyusar

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Assume a team of mobile robots operating in environments where no communication infrastructure like routers or access points is available. The robots have to create a mobile ad hoc network, in that case, it provides communication on peer-to-peer basis. The paper gives an overview of existing solutions how to route messages in such ad hoc networks between robots that are not directly connected and introduces a design of a software framework for realization of such communication. Feasibility of the proposed framework is shown on the example of distributed multi-robot exploration of an a priori unknown environment. Testing of developed functionality in an exploration scenario is based on results of several experiments with various input conditions of the exploration process and various sizes of a team and is described herein.

  11. Multi-Robot Interfaces and Operator Situational Awareness: Study of the Impact of Immersion and Prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roldán, Juan Jesús; Peña-Tapia, Elena; Martín-Barrio, Andrés; Olivares-Méndez, Miguel A; Del Cerro, Jaime; Barrientos, Antonio

    2017-07-27

    Multi-robot missions are a challenge for operators in terms of workload and situational awareness. These operators have to receive data from the robots, extract information, understand the situation properly, make decisions, generate the adequate commands, and send them to the robots. The consequences of excessive workload and lack of awareness can vary from inefficiencies to accidents. This work focuses on the study of future operator interfaces of multi-robot systems, taking into account relevant issues such as multimodal interactions, immersive devices, predictive capabilities and adaptive displays. Specifically, four interfaces have been designed and developed: a conventional, a predictive conventional, a virtual reality and a predictive virtual reality interface. The four interfaces have been validated by the performance of twenty-four operators that supervised eight multi-robot missions of fire surveillance and extinguishing. The results of the workload and situational awareness tests show that virtual reality improves the situational awareness without increasing the workload of operators, whereas the effects of predictive components are not significant and depend on their implementation.

  12. Multi-Robot Interfaces and Operator Situational Awareness: Study of the Impact of Immersion and Prediction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peña-Tapia, Elena; Martín-Barrio, Andrés; Olivares-Méndez, Miguel A.

    2017-01-01

    Multi-robot missions are a challenge for operators in terms of workload and situational awareness. These operators have to receive data from the robots, extract information, understand the situation properly, make decisions, generate the adequate commands, and send them to the robots. The consequences of excessive workload and lack of awareness can vary from inefficiencies to accidents. This work focuses on the study of future operator interfaces of multi-robot systems, taking into account relevant issues such as multimodal interactions, immersive devices, predictive capabilities and adaptive displays. Specifically, four interfaces have been designed and developed: a conventional, a predictive conventional, a virtual reality and a predictive virtual reality interface. The four interfaces have been validated by the performance of twenty-four operators that supervised eight multi-robot missions of fire surveillance and extinguishing. The results of the workload and situational awareness tests show that virtual reality improves the situational awareness without increasing the workload of operators, whereas the effects of predictive components are not significant and depend on their implementation. PMID:28749407

  13. Multi-Robot Interfaces and Operator Situational Awareness: Study of the Impact of Immersion and Prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Jesús Roldán

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Multi-robot missions are a challenge for operators in terms of workload and situational awareness. These operators have to receive data from the robots, extract information, understand the situation properly, make decisions, generate the adequate commands, and send them to the robots. The consequences of excessive workload and lack of awareness can vary from inefficiencies to accidents. This work focuses on the study of future operator interfaces of multi-robot systems, taking into account relevant issues such as multimodal interactions, immersive devices, predictive capabilities and adaptive displays. Specifically, four interfaces have been designed and developed: a conventional, a predictive conventional, a virtual reality and a predictive virtual reality interface. The four interfaces have been validated by the performance of twenty-four operators that supervised eight multi-robot missions of fire surveillance and extinguishing. The results of the workload and situational awareness tests show that virtual reality improves the situational awareness without increasing the workload of operators, whereas the effects of predictive components are not significant and depend on their implementation.

  14. A Robotic Coach Architecture for Elder Care (ROCARE) Based on Multi-User Engagement Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Jing; Bian, Dayi; Zheng, Zhi; Beuscher, Linda; Newhouse, Paul A; Mion, Lorraine C; Sarkar, Nilanjan

    2017-08-01

    The aging population with its concomitant medical conditions, physical and cognitive impairments, at a time of strained resources, establishes the urgent need to explore advanced technologies that may enhance function and quality of life. Recently, robotic technology, especially socially assistive robotics has been investigated to address the physical, cognitive, and social needs of older adults. Most system to date have predominantly focused on one-on-one human robot interaction (HRI). In this paper, we present a multi-user engagement-based robotic coach system architecture (ROCARE). ROCARE is capable of administering both one-on-one and multi-user HRI, providing implicit and explicit channels of communication, and individualized activity management for long-term engagement. Two preliminary feasibility studies, a one-on-one interaction and a triadic interaction with two humans and a robot, were conducted and the results indicated potential usefulness and acceptance by older adults, with and without cognitive impairment.

  15. Modelling and Control of the Multi-Stage Cable Pulley-Driven Flexible-Joint Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phongsaen Pitakwatchara

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available This work is concerned with the task space impedance control of a robot driven through a multi-stage nonlinear flexible transmission system. Specifically, a two degrees-of-freedom cable pulley-driven flexible-joint robot is considered. Realistic modelling of the system is developed within the bond graph modelling framework. The model captures the nonlinear compliance behaviour of the multi-stage cable pulley transmission system, the spring effect of the augmented counterbalancing mechanism, the major loss throughout the system elements, and the typical inertial dynamics of the robot. Next, a task space impedance controller based on limited information about the angle and the current of the motors is designed. The motor current is used to infer the transmitted torque, by which the motor inertia may be modulated. The motor angle is employed to estimate the stationary distal robot link angle and the robot joint velocity. They are used in the controller to generate the desired damping force and to shape the potential energy of the flexible joint robot system to the desired configuration. Simulation and experimental results of the controlled system signify the competency of the proposed control law.

  16. Distributed multi-robot sensing and tracking: a behavior-based approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, L.E.

    1995-01-01

    An important issue that arises in the automation of many large-scale surveillance and reconnaissance tasks is that of tracking the movements of (or maintaining passive contact with) objects navigating in a bounded area of interest. Oftentimes in these problems, the area to be monitored will move over time or will not permit fixed sensors, thus requiring a team of mobile sensors -- or robots -- to monitor the area collectively. In these situations, the robots must not only have mechanisms for determining how to track objects and how to fuse information from neighboring robots, but they must also have distributed control strategies for ensuring that the entire area of interest is continually covered to the greatest extent possible. This paper focuses on the distributed control issue by describing a proposed decentralized control mechanism that allows a team of robots to collectively track and monitor objects in an uncluttered area of interest. The approach is based upon an extension to the ALLIANCE behavior-based architecture that generalizes from the domain of loosely-coupled, independent applications to the domain of strongly cooperative applications, in which the action selection of a robot is dependent upon the actions selected by its teammates. We conclude the paper by describing our ongoing implementation of the proposed approach on a team of four mobile robots

  17. Distributed multi-robot sensing and tracking: a behavior-based approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1995-12-31

    An important issue that arises in the automation of many large-scale surveillance and reconnaissance tasks is that of tracking the movements of (or maintaining passive contact with) objects navigating in a bounded area of interest. Oftentimes in these problems, the area to be monitored will move over time or will not permit fixed sensors, thus requiring a team of mobile sensors -- or robots -- to monitor the area collectively. In these situations, the robots must not only have mechanisms for determining how to track objects and how to fuse information from neighboring robots, but they must also have distributed control strategies for ensuring that the entire area of interest is continually covered to the greatest extent possible. This paper focuses on the distributed control issue by describing a proposed decentralized control mechanism that allows a team of robots to collectively track and monitor objects in an uncluttered area of interest. The approach is based upon an extension to the ALLIANCE behavior-based architecture that generalizes from the domain of loosely-coupled, independent applications to the domain of strongly cooperative applications, in which the action selection of a robot is dependent upon the actions selected by its teammates. We conclude the paper by describing our ongoing implementation of the proposed approach on a team of four mobile robots.

  18. Development and human factors analysis of an augmented reality interface for multi-robot tele-operation and control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sam; Lucas, Nathan P.; Ellis, R. Darin; Pandya, Abhilash

    2012-06-01

    This paper presents a seamlessly controlled human multi-robot system comprised of ground and aerial robots of semiautonomous nature for source localization tasks. The system combines augmented reality interfaces capabilities with human supervisor's ability to control multiple robots. The role of this human multi-robot interface is to allow an operator to control groups of heterogeneous robots in real time in a collaborative manner. It used advanced path planning algorithms to ensure obstacles are avoided and that the operators are free for higher-level tasks. Each robot knows the environment and obstacles and can automatically generate a collision-free path to any user-selected target. It displayed sensor information from each individual robot directly on the robot in the video view. In addition, a sensor data fused AR view is displayed which helped the users pin point source information or help the operator with the goals of the mission. The paper studies a preliminary Human Factors evaluation of this system in which several interface conditions are tested for source detection tasks. Results show that the novel Augmented Reality multi-robot control (Point-and-Go and Path Planning) reduced mission completion times compared to the traditional joystick control for target detection missions. Usability tests and operator workload analysis are also investigated.

  19. Accurate multi-robot targeting for keyhole neurosurgery based on external sensor monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Comparetti, Mirko Daniele; Vaccarella, Alberto; Dyagilev, Ilya; Shoham, Moshe; Ferrigno, Giancarlo; De Momi, Elena

    2012-05-01

    Robotics has recently been introduced in surgery to improve intervention accuracy, to reduce invasiveness and to allow new surgical procedures. In this framework, the ROBOCAST system is an optically surveyed multi-robot chain aimed at enhancing the accuracy of surgical probe insertion during keyhole neurosurgery procedures. The system encompasses three robots, connected as a multiple kinematic chain (serial and parallel), totalling 13 degrees of freedom, and it is used to automatically align the probe onto a desired planned trajectory. The probe is then inserted in the brain, towards the planned target, by means of a haptic interface. This paper presents a new iterative targeting approach to be used in surgical robotic navigation, where the multi-robot chain is used to align the surgical probe to the planned pose, and an external sensor is used to decrease the alignment errors. The iterative targeting was tested in an operating room environment using a skull phantom, and the targets were selected on magnetic resonance images. The proposed targeting procedure allows about 0.3 mm to be obtained as the residual median Euclidean distance between the planned and the desired targets, thus satisfying the surgical accuracy requirements (1 mm), due to the resolution of the diffused medical images. The performances proved to be independent of the robot optical sensor calibration accuracy.

  20. Automatic approach to stabilization and control for multi robot teams by multilayer network operator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diveev Askhat

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes a novel methodology for synthesis a high-level control of autonomous multi robot teams. The approach is based on multilayer network operator method that belongs to a symbolic regression class. Synthesis is accomplished in three steps: stabilizing robots about some given position in a state space, finding optimal trajectories of robots’ motion as sets of stabilizing points and then approximating all the points of optimal trajectories by some multi-dimensional function of state variables. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified on simulations of the task of control synthesis for three mobile robots parking in the constrained space.

  1. Multi-objective Design Optimization of a Parallel Schönflies-motion Robot

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wu, Guanglei; Bai, Shaoping; Hjørnet, Preben

    2016-01-01

    . The dynamic performance is concerned mainly the capability of force transmission in the parallel kinematic chain, for which transmission indices are defined. The Pareto-front is obtained to investigate the influence of the design variables to the robot performance. Dynamic characteristics for three Pareto......This paper introduces a parallel Schoenflies-motion robot with rectangular workspace, which is suitable for pick-and-place operations. A multi-objective optimization problem is formulated to optimize the robot's geometric parameters with consideration of kinematic and dynamic performances...

  2. Multi-sensor integration for autonomous robots in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mann, R.C.; Jones, J.P.; Beckerman, M.; Glover, C.W.; Farkas, L.; Bilbro, G.L.; Snyder, W.

    1989-01-01

    As part of a concerted RandD program in advanced robotics for hazardous environments, scientists and engineers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are performing research in the areas of systems integration, range-sensor-based 3-D world modeling, and multi-sensor integration. This program features a unique teaming arrangement that involves the universities of Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas; Odetics Corporation; and ORNL. This paper summarizes work directed at integrating information extracted from data collected with range sensors and CCD cameras on-board a mobile robot, in order to produce reliable descriptions of the robot's environment. Specifically, the paper describes the integration of two-dimensional vision and sonar range information, and an approach to integrate registered luminance and laser range images. All operations are carried out on-board the mobile robot using a 16-processor hypercube computer. 14 refs., 4 figs

  3. Bio-inspired motion planning algorithms for autonomous robots facilitating greater plasticity for security applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Yi; Hohil, Myron; Desai, Sachi V.

    2007-10-01

    Proposed are techniques toward using collaborative robots for infrastructure security applications by utilizing them for mobile sensor suites. A vast number of critical facilities/technologies must be protected against unauthorized intruders. Employing a team of mobile robots working cooperatively can alleviate valuable human resources. Addressed are the technical challenges for multi-robot teams in security applications and the implementation of multi-robot motion planning algorithm based on the patrolling and threat response scenario. A neural network based methodology is exploited to plan a patrolling path with complete coverage. Also described is a proof-of-principle experimental setup with a group of Pioneer 3-AT and Centibot robots. A block diagram of the system integration of sensing and planning will illustrate the robot to robot interaction to operate as a collaborative unit. The proposed approach singular goal is to overcome the limits of previous approaches of robots in security applications and enabling systems to be deployed for autonomous operation in an unaltered environment providing access to an all encompassing sensor suite.

  4. Introduction of symbiotic human-robot-cooperation in the steel sector: an example of social innovation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colla, Valentina; Schroeder, Antonius; Buzzelli, Andrea; Abbà, Dario; Faes, Andrea; Romaniello, Lea

    2018-05-01

    The introduction of new technologies, which can support and empower human capabilities in a number of professional tasks while possibly reducing the need for cumbersome operations and the exposure to risk and professional diseases, is nowadays perceived as a must in any industrial field, process industry included. However, despite their relevant potentials, new technologies are not always easy to introduce in the professional environment. A design procedure which takes into account the workers' acceptance, needing and capabilities as well as a continuing education and training process of the personnel who must exploit the innovation, is as fundamental as the technical reliability for the successful introduction of any new technology in a professional environment. An exemplary case is provided by symbiotic human-robot-cooperation. In the steel sector, the difficulties for the implementation of symbiotic human-robot-cooperation is bigger with respect to the manufacturing sector, due to the environmental conditions, which in some cases are not favorable to robots. On the other hand, the opportunities and potential advantages are also greater, as robots could replace human operators in repetitive, heavy tasks, by improving workers' health and safety. The present paper provides an example of the potential and opportunities of human-robot interaction and discusses how this approach can be included in a social innovation paradigm. Moreover, an example will be provided of an ongoing project funded by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, "ROBOHARSH", which aims at implementing such approach in the steel industry, in order to develop a very sensitive task, i.e. the replacement of the refractory components of the ladle sliding gate.

  5. Experiments on co-operating robot arms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arthaya, B.; De Schutter, J.

    1994-01-01

    When two robots manipulate a common object or perform a single task together, a closed-kinematic chain is formed. If both robots are controlled under position control only, at a certain phase during the manipulation, the interaction forces may become unacceptably high. The interaction forces are caused by the kinematic as well as the dynamic errors in the robot position controller. In order to avoid this problem, a synchronized motion between both robots has to be generated, not only by controlling the position (velocity) of the two end-effectors, but also by controlling the interaction forces between them. In order to generate a synchronized motion, the first robot controller continuously modifies the task frame velocity corresponding to the velocity of the other robot. This implies that the velocity of the other robot is used as feed-forward information in order to anticipate its motion. This approach results in a better tracking behaviour

  6. RoboSmith: Wireless Networked Architecture for Multiagent Robotic System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florin Moldoveanu

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper is presented an architecture for a flexible mini robot for a multiagent robotic system. In a multiagent system the value of an individual agent is negligible since the goal of the system is essential. Thus, the agents (robots need to be small, low cost and cooperative. RoboSmith are designed based on these conditions. The proposed architecture divide a robot into functional modules such as locomotion, control, sensors, communication, and actuation. Any mobile robot can be constructed by combining these functional modules for a specific application. An embedded software with dynamic task uploading and multi-tasking abilities is developed in order to create better interface between robots and the command center and among the robots. The dynamic task uploading allows the robots change their behaviors in runtime. The flexibility of the robots is given by facts that the robots can work in multiagent system, as master-slave, or hybrid mode, can be equipped with different modules and possibly be used in other applications such as mobile sensor networks remote sensing, and plant monitoring.

  7. Navigation control of a multi-functional eye robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, F.A.M.; Hashmi, B.; Younas, A.; Abid, B.

    2016-01-01

    The advancement in robotic field is enhanced rigorously in the past Few decades. Robots are being used in different fields of science as well as warfare. The research shows that in the near future, robots would be able to serve in fighting wars. Different countries and their armies have already deployed several military robots. However, there exist some drawbacks of robots like their inefficiency and inability to work under abnormal conditions. Ascent of artificial intelligence may resolve this issue in the coming future. The main focus of this paper is to provide a low cost and long range most efficient mechanical as well as software design of an Eye Robot. Using a blend of robotics and image processing with an addition of artificial intelligence path navigation techniques, this project is designed and implemented by controlling the robot (including robotic arm and camera) through a 2.4 GHz RF module manually. Autonomous function of the robot includes navigation based on the path assigned to the robot. The path is drawn on a VB based application and then transferred to the robot wirelessly or through serial port. A Wi-Fi based Optical Character Recognition (OCR) implemented video streaming can also be observed at remote devices like laptops. (author)

  8. Multi-Axis Force Sensor for Human-Robot Interaction Sensing in a Rehabilitation Robotic Device.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grosu, Victor; Grosu, Svetlana; Vanderborght, Bram; Lefeber, Dirk; Rodriguez-Guerrero, Carlos

    2017-06-05

    Human-robot interaction sensing is a compulsory feature in modern robotic systems where direct contact or close collaboration is desired. Rehabilitation and assistive robotics are fields where interaction forces are required for both safety and increased control performance of the device with a more comfortable experience for the user. In order to provide an efficient interaction feedback between the user and rehabilitation device, high performance sensing units are demanded. This work introduces a novel design of a multi-axis force sensor dedicated for measuring pelvis interaction forces in a rehabilitation exoskeleton device. The sensor is conceived such that it has different sensitivity characteristics for the three axes of interest having also movable parts in order to allow free rotations and limit crosstalk errors. Integrated sensor electronics make it easy to acquire and process data for a real-time distributed system architecture. Two of the developed sensors are integrated and tested in a complex gait rehabilitation device for safe and compliant control.

  9. Human-robot cooperative movement training: Learning a novel sensory motor transformation during walking with robotic assistance-as-needed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benitez Raul

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A prevailing paradigm of physical rehabilitation following neurologic injury is to "assist-as-needed" in completing desired movements. Several research groups are attempting to automate this principle with robotic movement training devices and patient cooperative algorithms that encourage voluntary participation. These attempts are currently not based on computational models of motor learning. Methods Here we assume that motor recovery from a neurologic injury can be modelled as a process of learning a novel sensory motor transformation, which allows us to study a simplified experimental protocol amenable to mathematical description. Specifically, we use a robotic force field paradigm to impose a virtual impairment on the left leg of unimpaired subjects walking on a treadmill. We then derive an "assist-as-needed" robotic training algorithm to help subjects overcome the virtual impairment and walk normally. The problem is posed as an optimization of performance error and robotic assistance. The optimal robotic movement trainer becomes an error-based controller with a forgetting factor that bounds kinematic errors while systematically reducing its assistance when those errors are small. As humans have a natural range of movement variability, we introduce an error weighting function that causes the robotic trainer to disregard this variability. Results We experimentally validated the controller with ten unimpaired subjects by demonstrating how it helped the subjects learn the novel sensory motor transformation necessary to counteract the virtual impairment, while also preventing them from experiencing large kinematic errors. The addition of the error weighting function allowed the robot assistance to fade to zero even though the subjects' movements were variable. We also show that in order to assist-as-needed, the robot must relax its assistance at a rate faster than that of the learning human. Conclusion The assist

  10. Human-robot cooperative movement training: learning a novel sensory motor transformation during walking with robotic assistance-as-needed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emken, Jeremy L; Benitez, Raul; Reinkensmeyer, David J

    2007-03-28

    A prevailing paradigm of physical rehabilitation following neurologic injury is to "assist-as-needed" in completing desired movements. Several research groups are attempting to automate this principle with robotic movement training devices and patient cooperative algorithms that encourage voluntary participation. These attempts are currently not based on computational models of motor learning. Here we assume that motor recovery from a neurologic injury can be modelled as a process of learning a novel sensory motor transformation, which allows us to study a simplified experimental protocol amenable to mathematical description. Specifically, we use a robotic force field paradigm to impose a virtual impairment on the left leg of unimpaired subjects walking on a treadmill. We then derive an "assist-as-needed" robotic training algorithm to help subjects overcome the virtual impairment and walk normally. The problem is posed as an optimization of performance error and robotic assistance. The optimal robotic movement trainer becomes an error-based controller with a forgetting factor that bounds kinematic errors while systematically reducing its assistance when those errors are small. As humans have a natural range of movement variability, we introduce an error weighting function that causes the robotic trainer to disregard this variability. We experimentally validated the controller with ten unimpaired subjects by demonstrating how it helped the subjects learn the novel sensory motor transformation necessary to counteract the virtual impairment, while also preventing them from experiencing large kinematic errors. The addition of the error weighting function allowed the robot assistance to fade to zero even though the subjects' movements were variable. We also show that in order to assist-as-needed, the robot must relax its assistance at a rate faster than that of the learning human. The assist-as-needed algorithm proposed here can limit error during the learning of a

  11. Olfaction and Hearing Based Mobile Robot Navigation for Odor/Sound Source Search

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Kai; Liu, Qi; Wang, Qi

    2011-01-01

    Bionic technology provides a new elicitation for mobile robot navigation since it explores the way to imitate biological senses. In the present study, the challenging problem was how to fuse different biological senses and guide distributed robots to cooperate with each other for target searching. This paper integrates smell, hearing and touch to design an odor/sound tracking multi-robot system. The olfactory robot tracks the chemical odor plume step by step through information fusion from gas sensors and airflow sensors, while two hearing robots localize the sound source by time delay estimation (TDE) and the geometrical position of microphone array. Furthermore, this paper presents a heading direction based mobile robot navigation algorithm, by which the robot can automatically and stably adjust its velocity and direction according to the deviation between the current heading direction measured by magnetoresistive sensor and the expected heading direction acquired through the odor/sound localization strategies. Simultaneously, one robot can communicate with the other robots via a wireless sensor network (WSN). Experimental results show that the olfactory robot can pinpoint the odor source within the distance of 2 m, while two hearing robots can quickly localize and track the olfactory robot in 2 min. The devised multi-robot system can achieve target search with a considerable success ratio and high stability. PMID:22319401

  12. Olfaction and Hearing Based Mobile Robot Navigation for Odor/Sound Source Search

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qi Wang

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Bionic technology provides a new elicitation for mobile robot navigation since it explores the way to imitate biological senses. In the present study, the challenging problem was how to fuse different biological senses and guide distributed robots to cooperate with each other for target searching. This paper integrates smell, hearing and touch to design an odor/sound tracking multi-robot system. The olfactory robot tracks the chemical odor plume step by step through information fusion from gas sensors and airflow sensors, while two hearing robots localize the sound source by time delay estimation (TDE and the geometrical position of microphone array. Furthermore, this paper presents a heading direction based mobile robot navigation algorithm, by which the robot can automatically and stably adjust its velocity and direction according to the deviation between the current heading direction measured by magnetoresistive sensor and the expected heading direction acquired through the odor/sound localization strategies. Simultaneously, one robot can communicate with the other robots via a wireless sensor network (WSN. Experimental results show that the olfactory robot can pinpoint the odor source within the distance of 2 m, while two hearing robots can quickly localize and track the olfactory robot in 2 min. The devised multi-robot system can achieve target search with a considerable success ratio and high stability.

  13. Concurrent Path Planning with One or More Humanoid Robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Adam M. (Inventor); Reiland, Matthew J. (Inventor)

    2014-01-01

    A robotic system includes a controller and one or more robots each having a plurality of robotic joints. Each of the robotic joints is independently controllable to thereby execute a cooperative work task having at least one task execution fork, leading to multiple independent subtasks. The controller coordinates motion of the robot(s) during execution of the cooperative work task. The controller groups the robotic joints into task-specific robotic subsystems, and synchronizes motion of different subsystems during execution of the various subtasks of the cooperative work task. A method for executing the cooperative work task using the robotic system includes automatically grouping the robotic joints into task-specific subsystems, and assigning subtasks of the cooperative work task to the subsystems upon reaching a task execution fork. The method further includes coordinating execution of the subtasks after reaching the task execution fork.

  14. Towards Sociable Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ngo, Trung Dung

    This thesis studies aspects of self-sufficient energy (energy autonomy) for truly autonomous robots and towards sociable robots. Over sixty years of history of robotics through three developmental ages containing single robot, multi-robot systems, and social (sociable) robots, the main objective...... of roboticists mostly focuses on how to make a robotic system function autonomously and further, socially. However, such approaches mostly emphasize behavioural autonomy, rather than energy autonomy which is the key factor for not only any living machine, but for life on the earth. Consequently, self......-sufficient energy is one of the challenges for not only single robot or multi-robot systems, but also social and sociable robots. This thesis is to deal with energy autonomy for multi-robot systems through energy sharing (trophallaxis) in which each robot is equipped with two capabilities: self-refueling energy...

  15. Multi-Agent Cooperative Target Search

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinwen Hu

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses a vision-based cooperative search for multiple mobile ground targets by a group of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs with limited sensing and communication capabilities. The airborne camera on each UAV has a limited field of view and its target discriminability varies as a function of altitude. First, by dividing the whole surveillance region into cells, a probability map can be formed for each UAV indicating the probability of target existence within each cell. Then, we propose a distributed probability map updating model which includes the fusion of measurement information, information sharing among neighboring agents, information decay and transmission due to environmental changes such as the target movement. Furthermore, we formulate the target search problem as a multi-agent cooperative coverage control problem by optimizing the collective coverage area and the detection performance. The proposed map updating model and the cooperative control scheme are distributed, i.e., assuming that each agent only communicates with its neighbors within its communication range. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms is illustrated by simulation.

  16. Design and characterization of a multi-articulated robotic bat wing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bahlman, Joseph W; Swartz, Sharon M; Breuer, Kenneth S

    2013-01-01

    There are many challenges to measuring power input and force output from a flapping vertebrate. Animals can vary a multitude of kinematic parameters simultaneously, and methods for measuring power and force are either not possible in a flying vertebrate or are very time and equipment intensive. To circumvent these challenges, we constructed a robotic, multi-articulated bat wing that allows us to measure power input and force output simultaneously, across a range of kinematic parameters. The robot is modeled after the lesser dog-faced fruit bat, Cynopterus brachyotis, and contains seven joints powered by three servo motors. Collectively, this joint and motor arrangement allows the robot to vary wingbeat frequency, wingbeat amplitude, stroke plane, downstroke ratio, and wing folding. We describe the design, construction, programing, instrumentation, characterization, and analysis of the robot. We show that the kinematics, inputs, and outputs demonstrate good repeatability both within and among trials. Finally, we describe lessons about the structure of living bats learned from trying to mimic their flight in a robotic wing. (paper)

  17. Regional National Cooperative Observer

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NOAA publication dedicated to issues, news and recognition of observers in the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer program. Issues published regionally...

  18. Cooperative Weather Observations

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Monthly logs include a daily account of temperature extremes and precipitation, along with snow data at some locations. U.S. Cooperative Observer Program (COOP)...

  19. Brain-state dependent robotic reaching movement with a multi-joint arm exoskeleton: combining brain-machine interfacing and robotic rehabilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel eBrauchle

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available While robot-assisted arm and hand training after stroke allows for intensive task-oriented practice, it has provided only limited additional benefit over dose-matched physiotherapy up to now. These rehabilitation devices are possibly too supportive during the exercises. Neurophysiological signals might be one way of avoiding slacking and providing robotic support only when the brain is particularly responsive to peripheral input.We tested the feasibility of three-dimensional robotic assistance for reach-to-grasp movements with a multi-joint exoskeleton during motor imagery-related desynchronization of sensorimotor oscillations in the β-band only. We also registered task-related network changes of cortical functional connectivity by electroencephalography via the imaginary part of the coherence function.Healthy subjects and stroke survivors showed similar patterns – but different aptitudes – of controlling the robotic movement. All participants in this pilot study with nine healthy subjects and two stroke patients achieved their maximum performance during the early stages of the task. Robotic control was significantly higher and less variable when proprioceptive feedback was provided in addition to visual feedback, i.e. when the orthosis was actually attached to the subject’s arm during the task. A distributed cortical network of task-related coherent activity in the θ-band showed significant differences between healthy subjects and stroke patients as well as between early and late periods of the task.Brain-robot interfaces may successfully link three-dimensional robotic training to the participants’ efforts and allow for task-oriented practice of activities of daily living with a physiologically controlled multi-joint exoskeleton. Changes of cortical physiology during the task might also help to make subject-specific adjustments of task difficulty and guide adjunct interventions to facilitate motor learning for functional restoration.

  20. Rendezvous with connectivity preservation for multi-robot systems with an unknown leader

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Yi

    2018-02-01

    This paper studies the leader-following rendezvous problem with connectivity preservation for multi-agent systems composed of uncertain multi-robot systems subject to external disturbances and an unknown leader, both of which are generated by a so-called exosystem with parametric uncertainty. By combining internal model design, potential function technique and adaptive control, two distributed control strategies are proposed to maintain the connectivity of the communication network, to achieve the asymptotic tracking of all the followers to the output of the unknown leader system, as well as to reject unknown external disturbances. It is also worth to mention that the uncertain parameters in the multi-robot systems and exosystem are further allowed to belong to unknown and unbounded sets when applying the second fully distributed control law containing a dynamic gain inspired by high-gain adaptive control or self-tuning regulator.

  1. The Control Based on Internal Average Kinetic Energy in Complex Environment for Multi-robot System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Mao; Tian, Yantao; Yin, Xianghua

    In this paper, reference trajectory is designed according to minimum energy consumed for multi-robot system, which nonlinear programming and cubic spline interpolation are adopted. The control strategy is composed of two levels, which lower-level is simple PD control and the upper-level is based on the internal average kinetic energy for multi-robot system in the complex environment with velocity damping. Simulation tests verify the effectiveness of this control strategy.

  2. Design and Analysis of a Bio-Inspired Wire-Driven Multi-Section Flexible Robot

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Zheng; Du, Ruxu

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a bio-inspired wire-driven multi-section flexible robot. It is inspired by the snake skeleton and octopus arm muscle arrangements. The robot consists of three sections and each section is made up of several identical vertebras, which are articulated by both spherical joints and a flexible backbone. Each section is driven by two groups of wires, controlling the bending motion in X and Y directions. This design integrates the serpentine robots' structure and the continuum ro...

  3. TRUST MODEL FOR INFORMATION SECURITY OF MULTI-AGENT ROBOTIC SYSTEMS WITH A DECENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. A. Zikratov

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with the issues on protection of multi-agent robotic systems against attacks by robots-saboteurs. The operation analysis of such systems with decentralized control is carried out. Concept of harmful information impact (attack from a robot-saboteur to the multi-agent robotic system is given. The class of attacks is considered using interception of messages, formation and transfer of misinformation to group of robots, and also carrying out other actions with vulnerabilities of multiagent algorithms without obviously identified signs of invasion of robots-saboteurs. The model of information security is developed, in which robots-agents work out trust levels to each other analyzing the events occurring in the system. The idea of trust model consists in the analysis of transferred information by each robot and the executed actions of other members in a group, comparison of chosen decision on iteration step k with objective function of the group. Distinctive feature of the trust model in comparison with the closest analogue - Buddy Security Model in which the exchange between the agents security tokens is done — is involvement of the time factor during which agents have to "prove" by their actions the usefulness in achievement of a common goal to members of the group. Variants of this model realization and ways of an assessment of trust levels for agents in view of the security policy accepted in the group are proposed.

  4. COMPARISON OF CLASSICAL AND INTERACTIVE MULTI-ROBOT EXPLORATION STRATEGIES IN POPULATED ENVIRONMENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nassim Kalde

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Multi-robot exploration consists in coordinating robots for mapping an unknown environment. It raises several issues concerning task allocation, robot control, path planning and communication. We study exploration in populated environments, in which pedestrian flows can severely impact performances. However, humans have adaptive skills for taking advantage of these flows while moving. Therefore, in order to exploit these human abilities, we propose a novel exploration strategy that explicitly allows for human-robot interactions. Our model for exploration in populated environments combines the classical frontier-based strategy with our interactive approach. We implement interactions where robots can locally choose a human guide to follow and define a parametric heuristic to balance interaction and frontier assignments. Finally, we evaluate to which extent human presence impacts our exploration model in terms of coverage ratio, travelled distance and elapsed time to completion.

  5. Robust Behavior-Based Control for Distributed Multi-Robot Collection Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-01-01

    for proximity detection, a color sensor in the gripper, a radio transmit- ter/receiver for communication and data gathering, and an ultrasound /radio...infrared or ultrasound sensors) to the algorithmic (the goals of one robot undoing the work of another, competing goals, etc.). Here we fo- cus on physical...Press: Cambridge, Mas- sachusetts. [17] Richard T. Vaughan, Kasper Sty, Gaurav S. Sukhatme, and Maja J Mataric, \\ Whistling in the dark: Cooperative

  6. Obstacle traversal and self-righting of bio-inspired robots reveal the physics of multi-modal locomotion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chen; Fearing, Ronald; Full, Robert

    Most animals move in nature in a variety of locomotor modes. For example, to traverse obstacles like dense vegetation, cockroaches can climb over, push across, reorient their bodies to maneuver through slits, or even transition among these modes forming diverse locomotor pathways; if flipped over, they can also self-right using wings or legs to generate body pitch or roll. By contrast, most locomotion studies have focused on a single mode such as running, walking, or jumping, and robots are still far from capable of life-like, robust, multi-modal locomotion in the real world. Here, we present two recent studies using bio-inspired robots, together with new locomotion energy landscapes derived from locomotor-environment interaction physics, to begin to understand the physics of multi-modal locomotion. (1) Our experiment of a cockroach-inspired legged robot traversing grass-like beam obstacles reveals that, with a terradynamically ``streamlined'' rounded body like that of the insect, robot traversal becomes more probable by accessing locomotor pathways that overcome lower potential energy barriers. (2) Our experiment of a cockroach-inspired self-righting robot further suggests that body vibrations are crucial for exploring locomotion energy landscapes and reaching lower barrier pathways. Finally, we posit that our new framework of locomotion energy landscapes holds promise to better understand and predict multi-modal biological and robotic movement.

  7. Multi-robot caravanning

    KAUST Repository

    Denny, Jory; Giese, Andrew; Mahadevan, Aditya; Marfaing, Arnaud; Glockenmeier, Rachel; Revia, Colton; Rodriguez, Samuel; Amato, Nancy M.

    2013-01-01

    of waypoints. At the heart of our algorithm is the use of leader election to efficiently exploit the unique environmental knowledge available to each robot in order to plan paths for the group, which makes it general enough to work with robots that have

  8. An Orthogonal Multi-Swarm Cooperative PSO Algorithm with a Particle Trajectory Knowledge Base

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Yang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A novel orthogonal multi-swarm cooperative particle swarm optimization (PSO algorithm with a particle trajectory knowledge base is presented in this paper. Different from the traditional PSO algorithms and other variants of PSO, the proposed orthogonal multi-swarm cooperative PSO algorithm not only introduces an orthogonal initialization mechanism and a particle trajectory knowledge base for multi-dimensional optimization problems, but also conceives a new adaptive cooperation mechanism to accomplish the information interaction among swarms and particles. Experiments are conducted on a set of benchmark functions, and the results show its better performance compared with traditional PSO algorithm in aspects of convergence, computational efficiency and avoiding premature convergence.

  9. 75 FR 57502 - Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993-Robotics...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Antitrust Division Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993--Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. Correction In notice document 2010-22215 beginning on page 54914 in the issue of Thursday, July 9, 2010, make the following corrections: 1. On page...

  10. An integrated control scheme for space robot after capturing non-cooperative target

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Mingming; Luo, Jianjun; Yuan, Jianping; Walter, Ulrich

    2018-06-01

    How to identify the mass properties and eliminate the unknown angular momentum of space robotic system after capturing a non-cooperative target is of great challenge. This paper focuses on designing an integrated control framework which includes detumbling strategy, coordination control and parameter identification. Firstly, inverted and forward chain approaches are synthesized for space robot to obtain dynamic equation in operational space. Secondly, a detumbling strategy is introduced using elementary functions with normalized time, while the imposed end-effector constraints are considered. Next, a coordination control scheme for stabilizing both base and end-effector based on impedance control is implemented with the target's parameter uncertainty. With the measurements of the forces and torques exerted on the target, its mass properties are estimated during the detumbling process accordingly. Simulation results are presented using a 7 degree-of-freedom kinematically redundant space manipulator, which verifies the performance and effectiveness of the proposed method.

  11. Non-linear sliding mode control of the lower extremity exoskeleton based on human–robot cooperation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shiqiang Zhu

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This article presents a human–robot cooperation controller towards the lower extremity exoskeleton which aims to improve the tracking performance of the exoskeleton and reduce the human–robot interaction force. Radial basis function neural network is introduced to model the human–machine interaction which can better approximate the non-linear relationship than the general impedance model. A new method to calculate the inverse Jacobian matrix is presented. Compared to traditional damped least squares method, the novel method is proved to be able to avoid the orientation change of the velocity of the human–robot interaction point by the simulation result. This feature is very important in human–robot system. Then, an improved non-linear robust sliding mode controller is designed to promote the tracking performance considering system uncertainties and model errors, where a new non-linear integral sliding surface is given. The stability analysis of the proposed controller is performed using Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, the novel methods are applied to the swing leg control of the lower extremity exoskeleton, its effectiveness is validated by simulation and comparative experiments.

  12. Batangas Heavy Fabrication Yard Multi-Purpose Cooperative: Basis for Business Operation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JENNIFER D. MASICAT

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This research aimed to determine the proposed business initiatives to enhance the operation of Batangas Heavy Fabrication Yard Multi-Purpose Cooperative for the long survival and growth. More specifically, it shall answer the following objectives to describe the profile of the respondents in terms of their age, gender, type of membership and shared capital; to assess the business operation of the cooperative in the aspects of its management, marketing, finances, facilities and technology and their delivery of services; to identify the problems encountered by the cooperative in its business operation; to determine the significant relationship between the profile of the respondents and their assessment to its business operation; and to propose an action plan and to assess the business operation of BHFY Multi-Purpose Cooperative. The researcher used the descriptive correlation design in the study to obtain information concerning the current status of the BHFY-MPC cooperative; to describe what exists with respect to the variables or conditions in a situation. Based on the result, majority of the members are aged 51 to 55 years old, holding the regular type of membership and have a shared capital ranging from 51,001 to 100,000.The finding of the study states that the BHFY Multi-purpose cooperative performs well in terms of its management, marketing, finances, facilities and technology and delivery of services. Also, there are problems seldom encountered in the operation of the cooperative but the cooperative never encountered problems like overinvestment, ineffective leadership of management team and board of directors, inadequate source of fund, income of cooperative affected by negative issues and mismanagement of funds by the officers. Also, the type of membership influences the members’ assessment on the type of delivery of services; moreover, age contributes to the assessment of the business operation in terms of management and delivery of

  13. Design and Analysis of a Bio-Inspired Wire-Driven Multi-Section Flexible Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng Li

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a bio-inspired wire-driven multi-section flexible robot. It is inspired by the snake skeleton and octopus arm muscle arrangements. The robot consists of three sections and each section is made up of several identical vertebras, which are articulated by both spherical joints and a flexible backbone. Each section is driven by two groups of wires, controlling the bending motion in X and Y directions. This design integrates the serpentine robots' structure and the continuum robots' actuation. As a result, it is more compact than traditional serpentine robots and has a higher positioning accuracy than typical continuum soft robots, such as OctArm V. A Kinematics model and a workspace model of the robot are developed based on the piece wise constant curvature assumption. To evaluate the design, a prototype is built and experiments are carried out. The average distal end positioning error is less than 4%. Characteristics of the wire-driven robot are also discussed, including the leverage effect and the manipulability under constraint. These features makes the proposed robot well suited to confined spaces, especially for working in minimally invasive surgery, nuclear reactor pipelines, disaster debris, etc.

  14. Control system for a multi-joint inspection robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asano, K.

    1984-01-01

    Remote systems, in which a human operator in a safe zone determines pertinent circumstances and makes decisions on work procedures, while a robot does direct work in hazardous environments, have been becoming more and more important in accordance with the increase in nuclear facilities. In such remote systems, to perform tasks which are merely ambiguously defined beforehand, it is very important that the systems have the ability to execute desired tasks easily and immediately without any programming or teaching work on the spot. A control system, named Self Approach System (SAS), for a multi-joint inspection robot has been developed as a key component in a remote inspection system for use in physically difficult or dangerous environments. It has 8 joints and 17 degrees-of-freedom and was designed taking many of the above points into account. This paper describes SAS details

  15. Admittance Control of a Multi-Finger Arm Based on Manipulability of Fingers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian Huang

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available In the previous studies, admittance control and impedance control for a finger-arm robot using the manipulability of the finger were studied and methods of realizing the controls have been proposed. In this study, two 3-DOF fingers are attached to the end-effector of a 6-DOF arm to configure a multi-finger arm robot. Based on the previous methods, the authors have proposed an admittance control for a multi-finger arm robot using the manipulability of the fingers in this study. Algorithms of the averaging method and the mini-max method were introduced to establish a manipulability criterion of the two fingers in order to generate a cooperative movement of the arm. Comparison of the admittance controls combined with the top search method and local optimization method for the multi-finger arm robot was made and features of the control methods were also discussed. The stiffness control and damping control were experimentally evaluated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

  16. Neural Network Observer-Based Finite-Time Formation Control of Mobile Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caihong Zhang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses the leader-following formation problem of nonholonomic mobile robots. In the formation, only the pose (i.e., the position and direction angle of the leader robot can be obtained by the follower. First, the leader-following formation is transformed into special trajectory tracking. And then, a neural network (NN finite-time observer of the follower robot is designed to estimate the dynamics of the leader robot. Finally, finite-time formation control laws are developed for the follower robot to track the leader robot in the desired separation and bearing in finite time. The effectiveness of the proposed NN finite-time observer and the formation control laws are illustrated by both qualitative analysis and simulation results.

  17. Multi-robot system using low-cost infrared sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anubhav Kakkar

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a proposed set of the novel technique, methods, and algorithm for simultaneous path planning, area exploration, area retrieval, obstacle avoidance, object detection, and object retrieval   autonomously by a multi-robot system. The proposed methods and algorithms are built considering the use of low cost infrared sensors with the ultimate function of efficiently exploring the given unknown area and simultaneously identifying desired objects by analyzing the physical characteristics of several of the objects that come across during exploration. In this paper, we have explained the scenario by building a coordinative multi-robot system consisting of two autonomously operated robots equipped with low-cost and low-range infrared sensors to perform the assigned task by analyzing some of the sudden changes in their environment. Along with identifying and retrieving the desired object, the proposed methodology also provide an inclusive analysis of the area being explored. The novelties presented in the paper may significantly provide a cost-effective solution to the problem of area exploration and finding a known object in an unknown environment by demonstrating an innovative approach of using the infrared sensors instead of high cost long range sensors and cameras. Additionally, the methodology provides a speedy and uncomplicated method of traversing a complicated arena while performing all the necessary and inter-related tasks of avoiding the obstacles, analyzing the area as well as objects, and reconstructing the area using all these information collected and interpreted for an unknown environment. The methods and algorithms proposed are simulated over a complex arena to depict the operations and manually tested over a physical environment which provided 78% correct results with respect to various complex parameters set randomly.

  18. Control and applications of cooperating disparate robotic manipulators relevant to nuclear waste management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lew, Jae Young; Book, Wayne J.

    1991-01-01

    Remote handling in nuclear waste management requires a robotic system with precise motion as well as a large workspace. The concept of a small arm mounted on the end of a large arm may satisfy such needs. However, the performance of such a serial configuration lacks payload capacity which is a crucial factor for handling a massive object. Also, this configuration induces more flexibility on the structure. To overcome these problems, the topology of bracing the tip of the small arm (not the large arm) and having an end effector in the middle of the chain is proposed in this paper. Also, control of these cooperating disparate manipulators is accomplished in computer simulations. Thus, this robotic system can have the accuracy of the small arm, and at the same time, it can have the payload capacity and large workspace of the large arm.

  19. Reference trajectory tracking for a multi-DOF robot arm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krasňanský Róbert

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the problem of tracking the generated reference trajectory by the simulation model of a multi-DOF robot arm. The kinematic transformation between task space and joint configuration coordinates is nonlinear and configuration dependent. To obtain the solution of the forward kinematics problem, the homogeneous transformation matrix is used. A solution to the inverse kinematics is a vector of joint configuration coordinates calculated using of pseudoinverse Jacobian technique. These coordinates correspond to a set of task space coordinates. The algorithm is presented which uses iterative solution and is simplified by considering stepper motors in robot arm joints. The reference trajectory in Cartesian coordinate system is generated on-line by the signal generator previously developed in MS Excel. Dynamic Data Exchange communication protocol allows sharing data with Matlab-Simulink. These data represent the reference tracking trajectory of the end effector. Matlab-Simulink software is used to calculate the representative joint rotations. The proposed algorithm is demonstrated experimentally on the model of 7-DOF robot arm system.

  20. Building a ROS-Based Testbed for Realistic Multi-Robot Simulation: Taking the Exploration as an Example

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhi Yan

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available While the robotics community agrees that the benchmarking is of high importance to objectively compare different solutions, there are only few and limited tools to support it. To address this issue in the context of multi-robot systems, we have defined a benchmarking process based on experimental designs, which aimed at improving the reproducibility of experiments by making explicit all elements of a benchmark such as parameters, measurements and metrics. We have also developed a ROS (Robot Operating System-based testbed with the goal of making it easy for users to validate, benchmark, and compare different algorithms including coordination strategies. Our testbed uses the MORSE (Modular OpenRobots Simulation Engine simulator for realistic simulation and a computer cluster for decentralized computation. In this paper, we present our testbed in details with the architecture and infrastructure, the issues encountered in implementing the infrastructure, and the automation of the deployment. We also report a series of experiments on multi-robot exploration, in order to demonstrate the capabilities of our testbed.

  1. Models in cooperative game theory crisp, fuzzy, and multi-choice games

    CERN Document Server

    Branzei, Rodica; Tijs, Stef

    2005-01-01

    This book investigates models in cooperative game theory in which the players have the possibility to cooperate partially. In a crisp game the agents are either fully involved or not involved at all in coperation with some other agents, while in a fuzzy game players are allowed to cooperate with infinite many different participation levels, varying from non-cooperation to full cooperation. A multi-choice game describes the intermediate case in which each player may have a fixed number of activity levels. Different set and one-point solution concepts for these games are presented. The propertie

  2. Robot, human and communication; Robotto/ningen/comyunikeshon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suehiro, T.

    1996-04-10

    Recently, some interests on the robots working with human beings under the same environment as the human beings and living with the human beings were promoting. In such robots, more suitability for environment and more robustness of system are required than those in conventional robots. Above all, communication of both the human beings and the robots on their cooperations is becoming a new problem. Hitherto, for the industrial robot, cooperation between human beings and robot was limited on its programming. As this was better for repeated operation of the same motion, its adoptable work was limited to some comparatively simpler one in factory and was difficult to change its content partially or to apply the other work. Furthermore, on the remote-controlled intelligent work robot represented by the critical work robot, its cooperation between the human beings and the robot can be conducted with the operation at remote location. In this paper, the communication of the robots lived with the human beings was examined. 17 refs., 1 fig.

  3. Colias: An Autonomous Micro Robot for Swarm Robotic Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farshad Arvin

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Robotic swarms that take inspiration from nature are becoming a fascinating topic for multi-robot researchers. The aim is to control a large number of simple robots in order to solve common complex tasks. Due to the hardware complexities and cost of robot platforms, current research in swarm robotics is mostly performed by simulation software. The simulation of large numbers of these robots in robotic swarm applications is extremely complex and often inaccurate due to the poor modelling of external conditions. In this paper, we present the design of a low-cost, open-platform, autonomous micro-robot (Colias for robotic swarm applications. Colias employs a circular platform with a diameter of 4 cm. It has a maximum speed of 35 cm/s which enables it to be used in swarm scenarios very quickly over large arenas. Long-range infrared modules with an adjustable output power allow the robot to communicate with its direct neighbours at a range of 0.5 cm to 2 m. Colias has been designed as a complete platform with supporting software development tools for robotics education and research. It has been tested in both individual and swarm scenarios, and the observed results demonstrate its feasibility for use as a micro-sized mobile robot and as a low-cost platform for robot swarm applications.

  4. Robots, multi-user virtual environments and healthcare: synergies for future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moon, Ajung; Grajales, Francisco J; Van der Loos, H F Machiel

    2011-01-01

    The adoption of technology in healthcare over the last twenty years has steadily increased, particularly as it relates to medical robotics and Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) such as Second Life. Both disciplines have been shown to improve the quality of care and have evolved, for the most part, in isolation from each other. In this paper, we present four synergies between medical robotics and MUVEs that have the potential to decrease resource utilization and improve the quality of healthcare delivery. We conclude with some foreseeable barriers and future research directions for researchers in these fields.

  5. MULTI: a shared memory approach to cooperative molecular modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darden, T; Johnson, P; Smith, H

    1991-03-01

    A general purpose molecular modeling system, MULTI, based on the UNIX shared memory and semaphore facilities for interprocess communication is described. In addition to the normal querying or monitoring of geometric data, MULTI also provides processes for manipulating conformations, and for displaying peptide or nucleic acid ribbons, Connolly surfaces, close nonbonded contacts, crystal-symmetry related images, least-squares superpositions, and so forth. This paper outlines the basic techniques used in MULTI to ensure cooperation among these specialized processes, and then describes how they can work together to provide a flexible modeling environment.

  6. Distributed-observer-based cooperative control for synchronization of linear discrete-time multi-agent systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Hongjing; Zhang, Huaguang; Wang, Zhanshan

    2015-11-01

    This paper considers output synchronization of discrete-time multi-agent systems with directed communication topologies. The directed communication graph contains a spanning tree and the exosystem as its root. Distributed observer-based consensus protocols are proposed, based on the relative outputs of neighboring agents. A multi-step algorithm is presented to construct the observer-based protocols. In light of the discrete-time algebraic Riccati equation and internal model principle, synchronization problem is completed. At last, numerical simulation is provided to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical results. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Robotic tool positioning process using a multi-line off-axis laser triangulation sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinto, T. C.; Matos, G.

    2018-03-01

    Proper positioning of a friction stir welding head for pin insertion, driven by a closed chain robot, is important to ensure quality repair of cracks. A multi-line off-axis laser triangulation sensor was designed to be integrated to the robot, allowing relative measurements of the surface to be repaired. This work describes the sensor characteristics, its evaluation and the measurement process for tool positioning to a surface point of interest. The developed process uses a point of interest image and a measured point cloud to define the translation and rotation for tool positioning. Sensor evaluation and tests are described. Keywords: laser triangulation, 3D measurement, tool positioning, robotics.

  8. CRUX: A compliant robotic upper-extremity exosuit for lightweight, portable, multi-joint muscular augmentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lessard, Steven; Pansodtee, Pattawong; Robbins, Ash; Baltaxe-Admony, Leya Breanna; Trombadore, James M; Teodorescu, Mircea; Agogino, Adrian; Kurniawan, Sri

    2017-07-01

    Wearable robots can potentially offer their users enhanced stability and strength. These augmentations are ideally designed to actuate harmoniously with the user's movements and provide extra force as needed. The creation of such robots, however, is particularly challenging due to the underlying complexity of the human body. In this paper, we present a compliant, robotic exosuit for upper extremities called CRUX. This exosuit, inspired by tensegrity models of the human arm, features a lightweight (1.3 kg), flexible multi-joint design for portable augmentation. We also illustrate how CRUX maintains the full range of motion of the upper-extremities for its users while providing multi-DoF strength amplification to the major muscles of the arm, as evident by tracking the heart rate of an individual exercising said arm. Exosuits such as CRUX may be useful in physical therapy and in extreme environments where users are expected to exert their bodies to the fullest extent.

  9. Multi-Vehicle Cooperative Control Research at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, 2000-2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, Curt

    2014-01-01

    A brief introductory overview of multi-vehicle cooperative control research conducted at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center from 2000 - 2014. Both flight research projects and paper studies are included. Since 2000, AFRC has been almost continuously pursuing research in the areas of formation flight for drag reduction and automated cooperative trajectories. An overview of results is given, including flight experiments done on the FA-18 and with the C-17. Other multi-vehicle cooperative research is discussed, including small UAV swarming projects and automated aerial refueling.

  10. Robotic intelligence kernel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruemmer, David J [Idaho Falls, ID

    2009-11-17

    A robot platform includes perceptors, locomotors, and a system controller. The system controller executes a robot intelligence kernel (RIK) that includes a multi-level architecture and a dynamic autonomy structure. The multi-level architecture includes a robot behavior level for defining robot behaviors, that incorporate robot attributes and a cognitive level for defining conduct modules that blend an adaptive interaction between predefined decision functions and the robot behaviors. The dynamic autonomy structure is configured for modifying a transaction capacity between an operator intervention and a robot initiative and may include multiple levels with at least a teleoperation mode configured to maximize the operator intervention and minimize the robot initiative and an autonomous mode configured to minimize the operator intervention and maximize the robot initiative. Within the RIK at least the cognitive level includes the dynamic autonomy structure.

  11. Secure Cooperative Data Access in Multi-Cloud Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, Meixing

    2013-01-01

    In this dissertation, we discuss the problem of enabling cooperative query execution in a multi-cloud environment where the data is owned and managed by multiple enterprises. Each enterprise maintains its own relational database using a private cloud. In order to implement desired business services, parties need to share selected portion of their…

  12. Human - Robot Proximity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nickelsen, Niels Christian Mossfeldt

    The media and political/managerial levels focus on the opportunities to re-perform Denmark through digitization. Feeding assistive robotics is a welfare technology, relevant to citizens with low or no function in their arms. Despite national dissemination strategies, it proves difficult to recruit...... the study that took place as multi-sited ethnography at different locations in Denmark and Sweden. Based on desk research, observation of meals and interviews I examine socio-technological imaginaries and their practical implications. Human - robotics interaction demands engagement and understanding...

  13. A problem of optimal control and observation for distributed homogeneous multi-agent system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruglikov, Sergey V.

    2017-12-01

    The paper considers the implementation of a algorithm for controlling a distributed complex of several mobile multi-robots. The concept of a unified information space of the controlling system is applied. The presented information and mathematical models of participants and obstacles, as real agents, and goals and scenarios, as virtual agents, create the base forming the algorithmic and software background for computer decision support system. The controlling scheme assumes the indirect management of the robotic team on the basis of optimal control and observation problem predicting intellectual behavior in a dynamic, hostile environment. A basic content problem is a compound cargo transportation by a group of participants in the case of a distributed control scheme in the terrain with multiple obstacles.

  14. Polar Cooperative Navigation Algorithm for Multi-Unmanned Underwater Vehicles Considering Communication Delays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheping Yan

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available To solve the navigation accuracy problems of multi-Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (multi-UUVs in the polar region, a polar cooperative navigation algorithm for multi-UUVs considering communication delays is proposed in this paper. UUVs are important pieces of equipment in ocean engineering for marine development. For UUVs to complete missions, precise navigation is necessary. It is difficult for UUVs to establish true headings because of the rapid convergence of Earth meridians and the severe polar environment. Based on the polar grid navigation algorithm, UUV navigation in the polar region can be accomplished with the Strapdown Inertial Navigation System (SINS in the grid frame. To save costs, a leader-follower type of system is introduced in this paper. The leader UUV helps the follower UUVs to achieve high navigation accuracy. Follower UUVs correct their own states based on the information sent by the leader UUV and the relative position measured by ultra-short baseline (USBL acoustic positioning. The underwater acoustic communication delay is quantized by the model. In this paper, considering underwater acoustic communication delay, the conventional adaptive Kalman filter (AKF is modified to adapt to polar cooperative navigation. The results demonstrate that the polar cooperative navigation algorithm for multi-UUVs that considers communication delays can effectively navigate the sailing of multi-UUVs in the polar region.

  15. Collaborative Assembly Operation between Two Modular Robots Based on the Optical Position Feedback

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liying Su

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper studies the cooperation between two master-slave modular robots. A cooperative robot system is set up with two modular robots and a dynamic optical meter-Optotrak. With Optotrak, the positions of the end effectors are measured as the optical position feedback, which is used to adjust the robots' end positions. A tri-layered motion controller is designed for the two cooperative robots. The RMRC control method is adopted to adjust the master robot to the desired position. With the kinematics constraints of the two robots including position and pose, joint velocity, and acceleration constraints, the two robots can cooperate well. A bolt and nut assembly experiment is executed to verify the methods.

  16. Modified bug-1 algorithm based strategy for obstacle avoidance in multi robot system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kandathil Jom J.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the primary ability of an intelligent mobile robot system is obstacle avoidance. BUG algorithms are classic examples of the algorithms used for achieving obstacle avoidance. Unlike many other planning algorithms based on global knowledge, BUG algorithms assume only local knowledge of the environment and a global goal. Among the variations of the BUG algorithms that prevail, BUG-0, BUG-1 and BUG-2 are the more prominent versions. The exhaustive search algorithm present in BUG-1 makes it more reliable and safer for practical applications. Overall, this provides a more predictable and dependable performance. Hence, the essential focus in this paper is on implementing the BUG-1 algorithm across a group of robots to move them from a start location to a target location. The results are compared with the results from BUG-1 algorithm implemented on a single robot. The strategy developed in this work reduces the time involved in moving the robots from starting location to the target location. Further, the paper shows that the total distance covered by each robot in a multi robot-system is always lesser than or equal to that travelled by a single robot executing the same problem.

  17. Minefield Mapping Using Cooperative Multirobot Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alaa Khamis

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a team-theoretic approach to cooperative multirobot systems. The individual actions of the robots are controlled by the Belief-Desire-Intention model to endow the robots with the know-how needed to execute these actions deliberately. The cooperative behaviors between the heterogeneous robots are governed by the Team-Log theory to endow all the robots in the team with the know-how-to-cooperate and determine the team members’ commitments to each other despite their different types, properties, and goals. The proposed approach is tested for validity with the real life problem of minefield mapping. Different minefield sweeping strategies are studied to control the mobility of the mobile sweepers within the minefield in order to maximize the area coverage and improve picture compilation capability of the multirobot system.

  18. Distributed Fault Detection and Isolation for Flocking in a Multi-robot System with Imperfect Communication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shao Shiliang

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we focus on distributed fault detection and isolation (FDI for a multi-robot system where multiple robots execute a flocking task. Firstly, we propose a fault detection method based on the local-information-exchange and sensor-measurement technologies to cover cases of both perfect communication and imperfect communication. The two detection technologies can be adaptively selected according to the packet loss rate (PLR. Secondly, we design a fault isolation method, considering a situation in which faulty robots still influence the behaviours of other robots. Finally, a complete FDI scheme, based on the proposed detection and isolation methods, is simulated in various scenarios. The results demonstrate that our FDI scheme is effective.

  19. Semi-autonomous exploration of multi-floor buildings with a legged robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wenger, Garrett J.; Johnson, Aaron M.; Taylor, Camillo J.; Koditschek, Daniel E.

    2015-05-01

    This paper presents preliminary results of a semi-autonomous building exploration behavior using the hexapedal robot RHex. Stairwells are used in virtually all multi-floor buildings, and so in order for a mobile robot to effectively explore, map, clear, monitor, or patrol such buildings it must be able to ascend and descend stairwells. However most conventional mobile robots based on a wheeled platform are unable to traverse stairwells, motivating use of the more mobile legged machine. This semi-autonomous behavior uses a human driver to provide steering input to the robot, as would be the case in, e.g., a tele-operated building exploration mission. The gait selection and transitions between the walking and stair climbing gaits are entirely autonomous. This implementation uses an RGBD camera for stair acquisition, which offers several advantages over a previously documented detector based on a laser range finder, including significantly reduced acquisition time. The sensor package used here also allows for considerable expansion of this behavior. For example, complete automation of the building exploration task driven by a mapping algorithm and higher level planner is presently under development.

  20. Scheduling with Group Dynamics: a Multi-Robot Task Allocation Algorithm based on Vacancy Chains

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Dahl, Torbjorn S; Mataric, Maja J; Sukhatme, Gaurav S

    2002-01-01

    .... We present a multi-robot task allocation algorithm that is sensitive to group dynamics. Our algorithm is based on vacancy chains, a resource distribution process common in human and animal societies...

  1. Distributed Cooperative Control of Nonlinear and Non-identical Multi-agent Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bidram, Ali; Lewis, Frank; Davoudi, Ali

    2013-01-01

    This paper exploits input-output feedback linearization technique to implement distributed cooperative control of multi-agent systems with nonlinear and non-identical dynamics. Feedback linearization transforms the synchronization problem for a nonlinear and heterogeneous multi-agent system...... for electric power microgrids. The effectiveness of the proposed control is verified by simulating a microgrid test system....

  2. Sistema multi-robot para localización e identificación de vehículos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Sagues

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Resumen: En este trabajo se presenta un sistema multi-robot para localización e identificación de vehículos que están estacionados en un recinto abierto o cerrado. El sistema realiza una planificación a priori y una asignación de tareas a los miembros del equipo optimizando el tiempo de la misión. El equipo de robots está dotado de sensores de visión que permiten la localización de los vehículos y la identificación de su matrícula. El controlador de movimiento de cada robot utiliza un sensor láser para el posicionamiento frente al vehículo a identificar y un sistema de control basado en visión realiza el posicionamiento preciso para la adquisición de la imagen de la matrícula que permita su posterior identificación. El sistema multi-robot dispone de capacidad de comunicaciones entre ellos y con una estación central de mando, con la que se intercambian comandos e incidencias y eventualmente datos, con restricciones de tiempo real. Los sensores utilizados están comercialmente disponibles y los algoritmos han sido desarrollados por el grupo Robótica, Percepción y Tiempo Real de la Universidad de Zaragoza en el marco de proyectos financiados por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Integra diversas tecnologías de planificación, navegación, percepción y comunicaciones, adaptadas en el proyecto a la aplicación concreta. Palabras clave: Sistemas multi-robot, Robótica móvil, Navegación, Planificación y asignación de tareas, Protocolos de comunicación, Visión porcomputador, Tiempo real

  3. Cooperative learning neural network output feedback control of uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems under directed topologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, W.; Wang, D.; Peng, Z. H.

    2017-09-01

    Without assuming that the communication topologies among the neural network (NN) weights are to be undirected and the states of each agent are measurable, the cooperative learning NN output feedback control is addressed for uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems with identical structures in strict-feedback form. By establishing directed communication topologies among NN weights to share their learned knowledge, NNs with cooperative learning laws are employed to identify the uncertainties. By designing NN-based κ-filter observers to estimate the unmeasurable states, a new cooperative learning output feedback control scheme is proposed to guarantee that the system outputs can track nonidentical reference signals with bounded tracking errors. A simulation example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

  4. 基于多智能体协同的角色互换策略的研究应用%Research Application Based on Strategy of Multi-Agent Cooperative Role Exchange

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    章成飞; 程泽凯; 秦锋

    2013-01-01

    Multi-Agent cooperative technology is an important branch in the field of Artificial Intelligence ( AI) . Robot football race pro-vides a test platform for the study of Multi-Agent cooperative technology. The football player named Agent in the robot simulation foot-ball race has both number attribute and role attribute. It makes Agent in the robot simulation football race as the research subject. Model for Agent with online coach mechanism and put forward the tactics to identify the counterparts as well as the strategy of football players'dynamic role exchange. In the underlying 2D of Agent,programming comes into effect. When one robot simulation football team tests with the other one,the winning probability is going to be raised by a big margin,which demonstrates the efficiency of this algorithm. And the algorithm can also improve attack ability of the football team.%多智能体协同技术是人工智能领域的一个重要分支。机器人足球比赛为多智能体协同技术的研究提供了一个测试平台,仿真机器人足球比赛球员Agent具有号码属性与角色属性。文中以仿真机器人足球比赛中的球员Agent为研究对象,利用在线教练机制对球员Agent进行建模,提出了对手角色识别策略以及基于多智能体协同的球员Agent动态角色互换策略。在Agent2D底层中编程实现,与某球队进行测试,胜率大大增加,结果表明了该算法的有效性,该算法可提高球队的进攻能力。

  5. A crawling robot driven by multi-stable origami

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pagano, Alexander; Yan, Tongxi; Chien, Brian; Wissa, A.; Tawfick, S.

    2017-09-01

    Using origami folding to construct and actuate mechanisms and machines offers attractive opportunities from small, scalable, and cheap robots to deployable adaptive structures. This paper presents the design of a bio-inspired origami crawling robot constructed by folding sheets of paper. The origami building block structure is based on the Kresling crease pattern (CP), a chiral tower with a polygonal base, which expands and contracts through coupled longitudinal and rotational motion similar to a screw. We design the origami to have multi-stable structural equilibria which can be tuned by changing the folding CP. Kinematic analysis of these structures based on rigid-plates and hinges at fold lines precludes the shape transformation associated with the bistability of the physical models. To capture the kinematics of the bi-stable origami, the panels’ deformation behavior is modeled utilizing principles of virtual folds. Virtual folds approximate material bending by hinged, rigid panels, which facilitates the development of a kinematic solution via rigid-plate rotation analysis. As such, the kinetics and stability of folded structures are investigated by assigning suitable torsional spring constants to the fold lines. The results presented demonstrate the effect of fold-pattern geometries on the snapping behavior of the bi-stable origami structure based on the Kresling pattern. The crawling robot is presented as a case study for the use of this origami structure to mimic crawling locomotion. The robot is comprised of two origami towers nested inside a paper bellow, and connected by 3D printed end plates. DC motors are used to actuate the expansion and contraction of the internal origami structures to achieve forward locomotion and steering. Beyond locomotion, this simple design can find applications in manipulators, booms, and active structures.

  6. Software protocol design: Communication and control in a multi-task robot machine for ITER vacuum vessel assembly and maintenance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Ming; Wu, Huapeng; Handroos, Heikki; Yang, Guangyou; Wang, Yongbo

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A high-level protocol is proposed for the data inter-transmission. • The protocol design is task-oriented for the robot control in the software system. • The protocol functions as a role of middleware in the software. • The protocol running stand-alone as an independent process in the software provides greater security. • Providing a reference design protocol for the multi-task robot machine in the industry. - Abstract: A specific communication and control protocol for software design of a multi-task robot machine is proposed. In order to fulfill the requirements on the complicated multi machining functions and the high performance motion control, the software design of robot is divided into two main parts accordingly, which consists of the user-oriented HMI part and robot control-oriented real-time control system. The two parts of software are deployed in the different hardware for the consideration of run-time performance, which forms a client–server-control architecture. Therefore a high-level task-oriented protocol is designed for the data inter-communication between the HMI part and the control system part, in which all the transmitting data related to a machining task is divided into three categories: trajectory-oriented data, task control-oriented data and status monitoring-oriented data. The protocol consists of three sub-protocols accordingly – a trajectory protocol, task control protocol and status protocol – which are deployed over the Ethernet and run as independent processes in both the client and server computers. The protocols are able to manage the vast amounts of data streaming due to the multi machining functions in a more efficient way. Since the protocol is functioning in the software as a role of middleware, and providing the data interface standards for the developing groups of two parts of software, it also permits greater focus of both software parts developers on their own requirements-oriented design. By

  7. Software protocol design: Communication and control in a multi-task robot machine for ITER vacuum vessel assembly and maintenance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Ming, E-mail: ming.li@lut.fi [Laboratory of Intelligent Machines, Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland); Wu, Huapeng; Handroos, Heikki [Laboratory of Intelligent Machines, Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland); Yang, Guangyou [School of Mechanical Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan (China); Wang, Yongbo [Laboratory of Intelligent Machines, Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland)

    2015-10-15

    Highlights: • A high-level protocol is proposed for the data inter-transmission. • The protocol design is task-oriented for the robot control in the software system. • The protocol functions as a role of middleware in the software. • The protocol running stand-alone as an independent process in the software provides greater security. • Providing a reference design protocol for the multi-task robot machine in the industry. - Abstract: A specific communication and control protocol for software design of a multi-task robot machine is proposed. In order to fulfill the requirements on the complicated multi machining functions and the high performance motion control, the software design of robot is divided into two main parts accordingly, which consists of the user-oriented HMI part and robot control-oriented real-time control system. The two parts of software are deployed in the different hardware for the consideration of run-time performance, which forms a client–server-control architecture. Therefore a high-level task-oriented protocol is designed for the data inter-communication between the HMI part and the control system part, in which all the transmitting data related to a machining task is divided into three categories: trajectory-oriented data, task control-oriented data and status monitoring-oriented data. The protocol consists of three sub-protocols accordingly – a trajectory protocol, task control protocol and status protocol – which are deployed over the Ethernet and run as independent processes in both the client and server computers. The protocols are able to manage the vast amounts of data streaming due to the multi machining functions in a more efficient way. Since the protocol is functioning in the software as a role of middleware, and providing the data interface standards for the developing groups of two parts of software, it also permits greater focus of both software parts developers on their own requirements-oriented design. By

  8. Consensus seeking, formation keeping, and trajectory tracking in multiple vehicle cooperative control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Wei

    Cooperative control problems for multiple vehicle systems can be categorized as either formation control problems with applications to mobile robots, unmanned air vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles, satellites, aircraft, spacecraft, and automated highway systems, or non-formation control problems such as task assignment, cooperative transport, cooperative role assignment, air traffic control, cooperative timing, and cooperative search. The cooperative control of multiple vehicle systems poses significant theoretical and practical challenges. For cooperative control strategies to be successful, numerous issues must be addressed. We consider three important and correlated issues: consensus seeking, formation keeping, and trajectory tracking. For consensus seeking, we investigate algorithms and protocols so that a team of vehicles can reach consensus on the values of the coordination data in the presence of imperfect sensors, communication dropout, sparse communication topologies, and noisy and unreliable communication links. The main contribution of this dissertation in this area is that we show necessary and/or sufficient conditions for consensus seeking with limited, unidirectional, and unreliable information exchange under fixed and switching interaction topologies (through either communication or sensing). For formation keeping, we apply a so-called "virtual structure" approach to spacecraft formation flying and multi-vehicle formation maneuvers. As a result, single vehicle path planning and trajectory generation techniques can be employed for the virtual structure while trajectory tracking strategies can be employed for each vehicle. The main contribution of this dissertation in this area is that we propose a decentralized architecture for multiple spacecraft formation flying in deep space with formation feedback introduced. This architecture ensures the necessary precision in the presence of actuator saturation, internal and external disturbances, and

  9. Faster-than-real-time robot simulation for plan development and robot safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crane, C.D. III; Dalton, R.; Ogles, J.; Tulenko, J.S.; Zhou, X.

    1990-01-01

    The University of Florida, in cooperation with the Universities of Texas, Tennessee, and Michigan and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is developing an advanced robotic system for the US Department of Energy under the University Program for Robotics for Advanced Reactors. As part of this program, the University of Florida has been pursuing the development of a faster-than-real-time robotic simulation program for planning and control of mobile robotic operations to ensure the efficient and safe operation of mobile robots in nuclear power plants and other hazardous environments

  10. Piezoresistive pressure sensor array for robotic skin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirza, Fahad; Sahasrabuddhe, Ritvij R.; Baptist, Joshua R.; Wijesundara, Muthu B. J.; Lee, Woo H.; Popa, Dan O.

    2016-05-01

    Robots are starting to transition from the confines of the manufacturing floor to homes, schools, hospitals, and highly dynamic environments. As, a result, it is impossible to foresee all the probable operational situations of robots, and preprogram the robot behavior in those situations. Among human-robot interaction technologies, haptic communication is an intuitive physical interaction method that can help define operational behaviors for robots cooperating with humans. Multimodal robotic skin with distributed sensors can help robots increase perception capabilities of their surrounding environments. Electro-Hydro-Dynamic (EHD) printing is a flexible multi-modal sensor fabrication method because of its direct printing capability of a wide range of materials onto substrates with non-uniform topographies. In past work we designed interdigitated comb electrodes as a sensing element and printed piezoresistive strain sensors using customized EHD printable PEDOT:PSS based inks. We formulated a PEDOT:PSS derivative ink, by mixing PEDOT:PSS and DMSO. Bending induced characterization tests of prototyped sensors showed high sensitivity and sufficient stability. In this paper, we describe SkinCells, robot skin sensor arrays integrated with electronic modules. 4x4 EHD-printed arrays of strain sensors was packaged onto Kapton sheets and silicone encapsulant and interconnected to a custom electronic module that consists of a microcontroller, Wheatstone bridge with adjustable digital potentiometer, multiplexer, and serial communication unit. Thus, SkinCell's electronics can be used for signal acquisition, conditioning, and networking between sensor modules. Several SkinCells were loaded with controlled pressure, temperature and humidity testing apparatuses, and testing results are reported in this paper.

  11. Control of free-flying space robot manipulator systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannon, Robert H., Jr.

    1990-01-01

    New control techniques for self contained, autonomous free flying space robots were developed and tested experimentally. Free flying robots are envisioned as a key element of any successful long term presence in space. These robots must be capable of performing the assembly, maintenance, and inspection, and repair tasks that currently require human extravehicular activity (EVA). A set of research projects were developed and carried out using lab models of satellite robots and a flexible manipulator. The second generation space robot models use air cushion vehicle (ACV) technology to simulate in 2-D the drag free, zero g conditions of space. The current work is divided into 5 major projects: Global Navigation and Control of a Free Floating Robot, Cooperative Manipulation from a Free Flying Robot, Multiple Robot Cooperation, Thrusterless Robotic Locomotion, and Dynamic Payload Manipulation. These projects are examined in detail.

  12. Robotic multi-well planar patch-clamp for native and primary mammalian cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milligan, Carol J; Li, Jing; Sukumar, Piruthivi; Majeed, Yasser; Dallas, Mark L; English, Anne; Emery, Paul; Porter, Karen E; Smith, Andrew M; McFadzean, Ian; Beccano-Kelly, Dayne; Bahnasi, Yahya; Cheong, Alex; Naylor, Jacqueline; Zeng, Fanning; Liu, Xing; Gamper, Nikita; Jiang, Lin-Hua; Pearson, Hugh A; Peers, Chris; Robertson, Brian; Beech, David J

    2009-01-01

    Multi-well robotic planar patch-clamp has become common in drug development and safety programmes because it enables efficient and systematic testing of compounds against ion channels during voltage-clamp. It has not, however, been adopted significantly in other important areas of ion channel research, where conventional patch-clamp remains the favoured method. Here we show the wider potential of the multi-well approach with the capability for efficient intracellular solution exchange, describing protocols and success rates for recording from a range of native and primary mammalian cells derived from blood vessels, arthritic joints, and the immune and central nervous systems. The protocol involves preparing a suspension of single cells to be dispensed robotically into 4-8 microfluidic chambers each containing a glass chip with a small aperture. Under automated control, giga-seals and whole-cell access are achieved followed by pre-programmed routines of voltage paradigms and fast extracellular or intracellular solution exchange. Recording from 48 chambers usually takes 1-6 hr depending on the experimental design and yields 16-33 cell recordings. PMID:19197268

  13. A multi-perspective evaluation of a service robot for seniors: the voice of different stakeholders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bedaf, Sandra; Marti, Patrizia; Amirabdollahian, Farshid; de Witte, Luc

    2017-07-31

    The potential of service robots for seniors is given increasing attention as the ageing population in Western countries will continue to grow as well as the demand for home care. In order to capture the experience of living with a robot at home, a multi-perspective evaluation was conducted. Older adults (n = 10) were invited to execute an actual interaction scenario with the Care-O-bot ® robot in a home-like environment and were questioned about their experiences. Additionally, interviews were conducted with the elderly participants, informal carers (n = 7) and professional caregivers (n = 11). Seniors showed to be more keen to accept the robot than their caregivers and relatives. However, the robot in its current form was found to be too limited and participants wished the robot could perform more complex tasks. In order to be acceptable a future robot should execute these complex tasks based on the personal preferences of the user which would require the robot to be flexible and extremely smart, comparable to the care that is delivered by a human carer. Developing the functional features to perform activities is not the only challenge in robot development that deserves the attention of robot developers. The development of social behaviour and skills should be addressed as well. This is possible adopting a person-centred design approach, which relies on validation activities with actual users in realistic environments, similar to those described in this paper. Implications for rehabilitation Attitude of older adults towards service robots Potential of service robots for older adults.

  14. Possibility of Cooper-pair formation controlled by multi-terminal spin injection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohnishi, K.; Sakamoto, M.; Ishitaki, M.; Kimura, T.

    2018-03-01

    A multi-terminal lateral spin valve consisting of three ferromagnetic nanopillars on a Cu/Nb bilayer has been fabricated. We investigated the influence of the spin injection on the superconducting properties at the Cu/Nb interface. The non-local spin valve signal exhibits a clear spin insulation signature due to the superconducting gap of the Nb. The magnitude of the spin signal is found to show the probe configuration dependence. From the careful analysis of the bias current dependence, we found the suppression of the superconductivity due to the exchange interaction between the Cooper pair and accumulated spin plays an important role in the multi-terminal spin injections. We also discuss about the possibility of the Cooper-pair formation due to the spin injection from the two injectors with the anti-parallel alignment.

  15. Design of a Multi Agent Architecture for Robot Soccer. A Case Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Poel, Mannes; Seesink, R.A.; Schoute, Albert L.; Dierssen, W.; Kooij, N.

    A Multi Agent System (MAS) for the FIRA Mirosot League is presented. This MAS allows a general number of players and is used in the 5 against 5 and 7 against 7 competition. In the MAS there is coach agent and n (the number of robots in the team) player agents. There is a one to one correspondence

  16. A study on the observation system for autonomous, distributed and cooperative function in a future type nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuoka, Takeshi; Numano, Masayoshi; Someya, Minoru; Fukuto, Junji; Mitomo, Nobuo; Miyazaki, Keiko; Matsukura, Hiroshi; Niwa, Yasuyuki; Takahashi, Masato

    2000-01-01

    The concept of advanced future plants are discussed by five research institutes; Ship Research Institute, Electrotechnical Laboratory, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, and Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (Cross-over group). And, an autonomous plant is identified as a future type plant. In this future type plant, there are many agents that consist plant sub-systems or plant components and have artificial intelligence. They are distributed in plant and have autonomous functions, and cooperate each other to establish total plant function. Even if the plant has autonomous function, human operators have to always watch the plant state. Therefore, the needs of the observation system for autonomous, distributed, and cooperative functions are strongly required. The present paper has presented a new idea about the observation system, and developed fundamental functions for this observation system, that is, plant function model, auto-classification of plant states, three dimensional graphical display, expression of robot group's activity. Also, autonomous plant simulator has been developed for this research activity. Finally, the effectiveness of this observation system has been evaluated by experiments of operator's reaction to this system. (author)

  17. Control of free-flying space robot manipulator systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannon, Robert H., Jr.

    1989-01-01

    Control techniques for self-contained, autonomous free-flying space robots are being tested and developed. Free-flying space robots are envisioned as a key element of any successful long term presence in space. These robots must be capable of performing the assembly, maintenance, and inspection, and repair tasks that currently require astronaut extra-vehicular activity (EVA). Use of robots will provide economic savings as well as improved astronaut safety by reducing and in many cases, eliminating the need for human EVA. The focus of the work is to develop and carry out a set of research projects using laboratory models of satellite robots. These devices use air-cushion-vehicle (ACV) technology to simulate in two dimensions the drag-free, zero-g conditions of space. Current work is divided into six major projects or research areas. Fixed-base cooperative manipulation work represents our initial entry into multiple arm cooperation and high-level control with a sophisticated user interface. The floating-base cooperative manipulation project strives to transfer some of the technologies developed in the fixed-base work onto a floating base. The global control and navigation experiment seeks to demonstrate simultaneous control of the robot manipulators and the robot base position so that tasks can be accomplished while the base is undergoing a controlled motion. The multiple-vehicle cooperation project's goal is to demonstrate multiple free-floating robots working in teams to carry out tasks too difficult or complex for a single robot to perform. The Location Enhancement Arm Push-off (LEAP) activity's goal is to provide a viable alternative to expendable gas thrusters for vehicle propulsion wherein the robot uses its manipulators to throw itself from place to place. Because the successful execution of the LEAP technique requires an accurate model of the robot and payload mass properties, it was deemed an attractive testbed for adaptive control technology.

  18. Distributed parallel cooperative coevolutionary multi-objective large-scale immune algorithm for deployment of wireless sensor networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cao, Bin; Zhao, Jianwei; Yang, Po

    2018-01-01

    -objective evolutionary algorithms the Cooperative Coevolutionary Generalized Differential Evolution 3, the Cooperative Multi-objective Differential Evolution and the Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm III, the proposed algorithm addresses the deployment optimization problem efficiently and effectively.......Using immune algorithms is generally a time-intensive process especially for problems with a large number of variables. In this paper, we propose a distributed parallel cooperative coevolutionary multi-objective large-scale immune algorithm that is implemented using the message passing interface...... (MPI). The proposed algorithm is composed of three layers: objective, group and individual layers. First, for each objective in the multi-objective problem to be addressed, a subpopulation is used for optimization, and an archive population is used to optimize all the objectives. Second, the large...

  19. Team Cooperation in a Network of Multi-Vehicle Unmanned Systems Synthesis of Consensus Algorithms

    CERN Document Server

    Semsar-Kazerooni, Elham

    2013-01-01

    Team Cooperation in a Network of Multi-Vehicle Unmanned Systems develops a framework for modeling and control of a network of multi-agent unmanned systems in a cooperative manner and with consideration of non-ideal and practical considerations. The main focus of this book is the development of “synthesis-based” algorithms rather than on conventional “analysis-based” approaches to the team cooperation, specifically the team consensus problems. The authors provide a set of modified “design-based” consensus algorithms whose optimality is verified through introduction of performance indices. This book also: Provides synthesis-based methodology for team cooperation Introduces a consensus-protocol optimized performance index  Offers comparisons for use of proper indices in measuring team performance Analyzes and predicts  performance of  previously designed consensus algorithms Analyses and predicts team behavior in the presence of non-ideal considerations such as actuator anomalies and faults as wel...

  20. Robotics for nuclear facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abe, Akira; Nakayama, Ryoichi; Kubo, Katsumi

    1988-01-01

    It is highly desirable that automatic or remotely controlled machines perform inspection and maintenance tasks in nuclear facilities. Toshiba has been working to develop multi-functional robots, with one typical example being a master-slave manipulator for use in reprocessing facilities. At the same time, the company is also working on the development of multi-purpose intelligent robots. One such device, an automatic inspection robot, to be deployed along a monorail, performs inspection by means of image processing technology, while and advanced intelligent maintenance robot is equipped with a special wheel-locomotion mechanism and manipulator and is designed to perform maintenance tasks. (author)

  1. Upper Limb Rehabilitation Robot Powered by PAMs Cooperates with FES Arrays to Realize Reach-to-Grasp Trainings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Chen; Jiang, Xiaobo

    2017-01-01

    The reach-to-grasp activities play an important role in our daily lives. The developed RUPERT for stroke patients with high stiffness in arm flexor muscles is a low-cost lightweight portable exoskeleton rehabilitation robot whose joints are unidirectionally actuated by pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs). In order to expand the useful range of RUPERT especially for patients with flaccid paralysis, functional electrical stimulation (FES) is taken to activate paralyzed arm muscles. As both the exoskeleton robot driven by PAMs and the neuromuscular skeletal system under FES possess the highly nonlinear and time-varying characteristics, iterative learning control (ILC) is studied and is taken to control this newly designed hybrid rehabilitation system for reaching trainings. Hand function rehabilitation refers to grasping. Because of tiny finger muscles, grasping and releasing are realized by FES array electrodes and matrix scan method. By using the surface electromyography (EMG) technique, the subject's active intent is identified. The upper limb rehabilitation robot powered by PAMs cooperates with FES arrays to realize active reach-to-grasp trainings, which was verified through experiments. PMID:29065566

  2. Upper Limb Rehabilitation Robot Powered by PAMs Cooperates with FES Arrays to Realize Reach-to-Grasp Trainings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xikai Tu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The reach-to-grasp activities play an important role in our daily lives. The developed RUPERT for stroke patients with high stiffness in arm flexor muscles is a low-cost lightweight portable exoskeleton rehabilitation robot whose joints are unidirectionally actuated by pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs. In order to expand the useful range of RUPERT especially for patients with flaccid paralysis, functional electrical stimulation (FES is taken to activate paralyzed arm muscles. As both the exoskeleton robot driven by PAMs and the neuromuscular skeletal system under FES possess the highly nonlinear and time-varying characteristics, iterative learning control (ILC is studied and is taken to control this newly designed hybrid rehabilitation system for reaching trainings. Hand function rehabilitation refers to grasping. Because of tiny finger muscles, grasping and releasing are realized by FES array electrodes and matrix scan method. By using the surface electromyography (EMG technique, the subject’s active intent is identified. The upper limb rehabilitation robot powered by PAMs cooperates with FES arrays to realize active reach-to-grasp trainings, which was verified through experiments.

  3. Robotized production systems observed in modern plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saverina, A. N.

    1985-09-01

    Robots, robotized lines and sectors are no longer innovations in shops at automotive plants. The widespread robotization of automobile assembly operations is described in general terms. Robot use for machining operation is also discussed.

  4. HYBRID COMMUNICATION NETWORK OF MOBILE ROBOT AND QUAD-COPTER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moustafa M. Kurdi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces the design and development of QMRS (Quadcopter Mobile Robotic System. QMRS is a real-time obstacle avoidance capability in Belarus-132N mobile robot with the cooperation of quadcopter Phantom-4. The function of QMRS consists of GPS used by Mobile Robot and image vision and image processing system from both robot and quad-copter and by using effective searching algorithm embedded inside the robot. Having the capacity to navigate accurately is one of the major abilities of a mobile robot to effectively execute a variety of jobs including manipulation, docking, and transportation. To achieve the desired navigation accuracy, mobile robots are typically equipped with on-board sensors to observe persistent features in the environment, to estimate their pose from these observations, and to adjust their motion accordingly. Quadcopter takes off from Mobile Robot, surveys the terrain and transmits the processed Image terrestrial robot. The main objective of research paper is to focus on the full coordination between robot and quadcopter by designing an efficient wireless communication using WIFI. In addition, it identify the method involving the use of vision and image processing system from both robot and quadcopter; analyzing path in real-time and avoiding obstacles based-on the computational algorithm embedded inside the robot. QMRS increases the efficiency and reliability of the whole system especially in robot navigation, image processing and obstacle avoidance due to the help and connection among the different parts of the system.

  5. TRUST AND REPUTATION MODEL DESIGN FOR OBJECTS OF MULTI-AGENT ROBOTICS SYSTEMS WITH DECENTRALIZED CONTROL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. A. Zikratov

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The problem of mechanisms design for protection of multi-agent robotics systems from attacks of robots-saboteurs is considered. Functioning analysis of these systems with decentralized control is carried out. The type of the so-called soft attacks using interception of messages, misinformation formation and transmission to group of robots which are also realizing other actions without identified signs of invasion of robots-saboteurs. Analysis of existing information security models of the system based on the trust level computation, calculated in the process of agents’ interaction is carried out. Information security model is offered in which robots-agents produce the trust levels to each other on the basis of situation analysis emerging on a certain step of iterative algorithm with usage of onboard sensor devices. On the basis of calculated trust levels, recognition of “saboteur” objects in the group of legitimate robots-agents is done. For measure of likeness (adjacency increase for objects from the same category (“saboteur” or “legitimate agent”, calculation algorithm for agents reputation is offered as a measure of public opinion about qualities of this or that agent-subject. Implementation alternatives of the algorithms for detection of saboteurs on the example of the basic algorithm for distribution of purposes in the group of robots are considered.

  6. The Role of Multi Purpose Cooperative in Developing Economic Independence or SME’s

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Partono Thomas

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Cooperatives are seen as one of the important instrument to improve economic and social conditions of societies, to arouse the spirit of initiative and improving the general knowledge and technical skills of the society. On the present cooperatives members are business people of small medium scale enterprises (SMEs which need a guidance or development. The purpose of this study is to describe the role of cooperatives in small medium scale enterprises (SMEs development. The method used is descriptive qualitative. Data collection techniques used are observation, documentation and interview.The results of research showed that KSU Padurenan Jaya is a multi-purpose cooperatives that has five business units i.e. save loan, store, embroidery service, marketing, research and development. KSU Padurenan Jaya was instrumental in developing the small medium scale enterprises (SMEs embroidery and convection consists of (1 aspects of the market, by following the events of the exhibition or expo, online marketing, providing material needs in the cooperative store, and create innovative products according to consumer taste. (2 the aspect of technology, by socialization and demonstration of the use technology of embroidery machines, embroidery design with computer programs, internet information technology for promoting and marketing product, And to optimize the use of the machine by provide services embroidery using advanced machine in cooperation so that can improve the productivity and efficiency of the business. (3 the aspect of the capital, by providing save loan service with simple procedures, mentoring to access other sources of financing.

  7. Closing the Gap Between Research and Field Applications for Multi-UAV Cooperative Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-01

    REPORT DATE September 2013 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN RESEARCH AND FIELD...iii Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN RESEARCH AND FIELD APPLICATIONS FOR MULTI-UAV COOPERATIVE...the report is to lay the groundwork for future analysis in multi-UAV analysis to close the gap between existing research and efficient multi-UAV

  8. Marine Robot Autonomy

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    Autonomy for Marine Robots provides a timely and insightful overview of intelligent autonomy in marine robots. A brief history of this emerging field is provided, along with a discussion of the challenges unique to the underwater environment and their impact on the level of intelligent autonomy required.  Topics covered at length examine advanced frameworks, path-planning, fault tolerance, machine learning, and cooperation as relevant to marine robots that need intelligent autonomy.  This book also: Discusses and offers solutions for the unique challenges presented by more complex missions and the dynamic underwater environment when operating autonomous marine robots Includes case studies that demonstrate intelligent autonomy in marine robots to perform underwater simultaneous localization and mapping  Autonomy for Marine Robots is an ideal book for researchers and engineers interested in the field of marine robots.      

  9. Creating spatial awareness in unmanned ground robots using SLAM

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    -SLAM assumes that at each observation, the robot observes atleast two landmarks f1 and .... eight further divisions of its volume, it allows multi-resolution planning. .... The graphical model perspective for probabilistic inference is used. In the ...

  10. Fiscal 2000 report on result of R and D on robot system cooperating and coexisting with human beings. Development for putting new power generating technology to practical use; 2000 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Shinhatsuden gijutsu jitsuyoka kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-06-01

    A highly safe and reliable robot is being developed capable of cooperating and coexisting with human beings to carry out complicated operations in a dangerous site such as a plant, power station maintenance, construction, disaster relief, etc. This paper describes the fiscal 2000 results. In the research for navigated walking functions, the capabilities were extracted for walking straight, turning around and going up and down stairs, with a virtual platform simulated and examined. In the development of remote operation for proxy drive, a method was investigated for instructing change in posture and cooperative movement of the arms and legs. In the evaluation of proxy drive operations for industrial vehicles, a type of operating machine was specified for driving in a standing posture applicable to a robot. In the development of information forming technology supporting remote operations, a basic design was made for the simulator technology of compensating information. Server/client remote control technology was investigated, while a plurality of bi-directional interface means were reviewed for the purpose of efficient information exchange between a robot and an operator. A system for assembling a wall panel was evaluated as an outdoor man-machine cooperative operation. Adaptability to complicated environment such as unprepared ground was also studied, as well as the control of movement of a humanoid robot. (NEDO)

  11. STELLA: 10 years of robotic observations on Tenerife

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Michael; Granzer, Thomas; Strassmeier, Klaus G.

    2016-07-01

    STELLA is a robotic observatory on Tenerife housing two 1.2m robotic telescopes. One telescope is fibre-feeding a high-resolution (R=55,000) échelle spectrograph (SES), while the other telescope is equipped with a visible wide- field (FOV=22' x 22') imaging instrument (WiFSIP). Robotic observations started mid 2006, and the primary scientific driver is monitoring of stellar-activity related phenomena. The STELLA Control System (SCS) software package was originally tailored to the STELLA roll-off style building and high-resolution spectroscopy, but was extended over the years to support the wide-field imager, an off-axis guider for the imager, separate acquisition telescopes, classical domes, and targets-of-opportunity. The SCS allows for unattended, off-line operation of the observatory, targets can be uploaded at any time and are selected based on merit-functions in real-time (dispatch scheduling). We report on the current status of the observatory and the current capabilities of the SCS.

  12. The Creation of a Multi-Human, Multi-Robot Interactive Jam Session

    OpenAIRE

    Weinberg, Gil; Blosser, Brian; Mallikarjuna, Trishul; Raman, Aparna

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents an interactive and improvisational jam session, including human players and two robotic musicians. The project was developed in an effort to create novel and inspiring music through human-robot collaboration. The jam session incorporates Shimon, a newly-developed socially-interactive robotic marimba player, and Haile, a perceptual robotic percussionist developed in previous work. The paper gives an overview of the musical perception modules, adaptive improvisation modes an...

  13. Cooperative Control for A Hybrid Rehabilitation System Combining Functional Electrical Stimulation and Robotic Exoskeleton

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dingguo Zhang

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Functional electrical stimulation (FES and robotic exoskeletons are two important technologies widely used for physical rehabilitation of paraplegic patients. We developed a hybrid rehabilitation system (FEXO Knee that combined FES and an exoskeleton for swinging movement control of human knee joints. This study proposed a novel cooperative control strategy, which could realize arbitrary distribution of torque generated by FES and exoskeleton, and guarantee harmonic movements. The cooperative control adopted feedfoward control for FES and feedback control for exoskeleton. A parameter regulator was designed to update key parameters in real time to coordinate FES controller and exoskeleton controller. Two muscle groups (quadriceps and hamstrings were stimulated to generate active torque for knee joint in synchronization with torque compensation from exoskeleton. The knee joint angle and the interactive torque between exoskeleton and shank were used as feedback signals for the control system. Central pattern generator (CPG was adopted that acted as a phase predictor to deal with phase confliction of motor patterns, and realized synchronization between the two different bodies (shank and exoskeleton. Experimental evaluation of the hybrid FES-exoskeleton system was conducted on five healthy subjects and four paraplegic patients. Experimental results and statistical analysis showed good control performance of the cooperative control on torque distribution, trajectory tracking, and phase synchronization.

  14. Cooperative Control for A Hybrid Rehabilitation System Combining Functional Electrical Stimulation and Robotic Exoskeleton.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Dingguo; Ren, Yong; Gui, Kai; Jia, Jie; Xu, Wendong

    2017-01-01

    Functional electrical stimulation (FES) and robotic exoskeletons are two important technologies widely used for physical rehabilitation of paraplegic patients. We developed a hybrid rehabilitation system (FEXO Knee) that combined FES and an exoskeleton for swinging movement control of human knee joints. This study proposed a novel cooperative control strategy, which could realize arbitrary distribution of torque generated by FES and exoskeleton, and guarantee harmonic movements. The cooperative control adopted feedfoward control for FES and feedback control for exoskeleton. A parameter regulator was designed to update key parameters in real time to coordinate FES controller and exoskeleton controller. Two muscle groups (quadriceps and hamstrings) were stimulated to generate active torque for knee joint in synchronization with torque compensation from exoskeleton. The knee joint angle and the interactive torque between exoskeleton and shank were used as feedback signals for the control system. Central pattern generator (CPG) was adopted that acted as a phase predictor to deal with phase confliction of motor patterns, and realized synchronization between the two different bodies (shank and exoskeleton). Experimental evaluation of the hybrid FES-exoskeleton system was conducted on five healthy subjects and four paraplegic patients. Experimental results and statistical analysis showed good control performance of the cooperative control on torque distribution, trajectory tracking, and phase synchronization.

  15. In vivo kinematics of a robot-assisted uni- and multi-compartmental knee arthroplasty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Toshifumi; Abbasi, Ali Z; Conditt, Michael A; Christopher, Jennifer; Kreuzer, Stefan; Otto, Jason K; Banks, Scott A

    2014-07-01

    There is great interest in providing reliable and durable treatments for one- and two-compartment arthritic degeneration of the cruciate-ligament intact knee. One approach is to resurface only the diseased compartments with discrete unicompartmental components, retaining the undamaged compartment(s). However, placing multiple small implants into the knee presents a greater surgical challenge than total knee arthroplasty, so it is not certain that the natural knee mechanics can be maintained or restored. The goal of this study was to determine whether near-normal knee kinematics can be obtained with a robot-assisted multi-compartmental knee arthroplasty. Thirteen patients with 15 multi-compartmental knee arthroplasties using haptic robotic-assisted bone preparation were involved in this study. Nine subjects received a medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA), three subjects received a medial UKA and patellofemoral (PF) arthroplasty, and three subjects received medial and lateral bi-unicondylar arthroplasty. Knee motions were recorded using video-fluoroscopy an average of 13 months (6-29 months) after surgery during stair and kneeling activities. The three-dimensional position and orientation of the implant components were determined using model-image registration techniques. Knee kinematics during maximum flexion kneeling showed femoral external rotation and posterior lateral condylar translation. All knees showed femoral external rotation and posterior condylar translation with flexion during the step activity. Knees with medial UKA and PF arthroplasty showed the most femoral external rotation and posterior translation, and knees with bicondylar UKA showed the least. Knees with accurately placed uni- or bi-compartmental arthroplasty exhibited stable knee kinematics consistent with intact and functioning cruciate ligaments. The patterns of tibiofemoral motion were more similar to natural knees than commonly has been observed in knees with total knee

  16. Cooperative Monocular-Based SLAM for Multi-UAV Systems in GPS-Denied Environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trujillo, Juan-Carlos; Munguia, Rodrigo; Guerra, Edmundo; Grau, Antoni

    2018-04-26

    This work presents a cooperative monocular-based SLAM approach for multi-UAV systems that can operate in GPS-denied environments. The main contribution of the work is to show that, using visual information obtained from monocular cameras mounted onboard aerial vehicles flying in formation, the observability properties of the whole system are improved. This fact is especially notorious when compared with other related visual SLAM configurations. In order to improve the observability properties, some measurements of the relative distance between the UAVs are included in the system. These relative distances are also obtained from visual information. The proposed approach is theoretically validated by means of a nonlinear observability analysis. Furthermore, an extensive set of computer simulations is presented in order to validate the proposed approach. The numerical simulation results show that the proposed system is able to provide a good position and orientation estimation of the aerial vehicles flying in formation.

  17. Self-Organized Multi-Camera Network for a Fast and Easy Deployment of Ubiquitous Robots in Unknown Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canedo-Rodriguez, Adrián; Iglesias, Roberto; Regueiro, Carlos V.; Alvarez-Santos, Victor; Pardo, Xose Manuel

    2013-01-01

    To bring cutting edge robotics from research centres to social environments, the robotics community must start providing affordable solutions: the costs must be reduced and the quality and usefulness of the robot services must be enhanced. Unfortunately, nowadays the deployment of robots and the adaptation of their services to new environments are tasks that usually require several days of expert work. With this in view, we present a multi-agent system made up of intelligent cameras and autonomous robots, which is easy and fast to deploy in different environments. The cameras will enhance the robot perceptions and allow them to react to situations that require their services. Additionally, the cameras will support the movement of the robots. This will enable our robots to navigate even when there are not maps available. The deployment of our system does not require expertise and can be done in a short period of time, since neither software nor hardware tuning is needed. Every system task is automatic, distributed and based on self-organization processes. Our system is scalable, robust, and flexible to the environment. We carried out several real world experiments, which show the good performance of our proposal. PMID:23271604

  18. Self-organized multi-camera network for a fast and easy deployment of ubiquitous robots in unknown environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canedo-Rodriguez, Adrián; Iglesias, Roberto; Regueiro, Carlos V; Alvarez-Santos, Victor; Pardo, Xose Manuel

    2012-12-27

    To bring cutting edge robotics from research centres to social environments, the robotics community must start providing affordable solutions: the costs must be reduced and the quality and usefulness of the robot services must be enhanced. Unfortunately, nowadays the deployment of robots and the adaptation of their services to new environments are tasks that usually require several days of expert work. With this in view, we present a multi-agent system made up of intelligent cameras and autonomous robots, which is easy and fast to deploy in different environments. The cameras will enhance the robot perceptions and allow them to react to situations that require their services. Additionally, the cameras will support the movement of the robots. This will enable our robots to navigate even when there are not maps available. The deployment of our system does not require expertise and can be done in a short period of time, since neither software nor hardware tuning is needed. Every system task is automatic, distributed and based on self-organization processes. Our system is scalable, robust, and flexible to the environment. We carried out several real world experiments, which show the good performance of our proposal.

  19. Distributed cooperative synchronization strategy for multi-bus microgrids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sun, Yao; Zhong, Chaolu; Hou, Xiaochao

    2017-01-01

    Microgrids can operate in both grid-connected mode and islanded mode. In order to smooth transfer from islanded mode to grid-connected mode, it is necessary to synchronize the point of common coupling (PCC) with main utility grid (UG) in voltage frequency, phase and amplitude. Conventional...... synchronization methods based on centralized communication are very costly and not suitable for multi-bus microgrids that have a large number of distributed generators (DGs). To address this concern, this study presents an active synchronization control strategy based on distributed cooperation technology...... for multi-bus microgrids. The proposed method can reconnect the microgrid in island to UG seamlessly with sparse communication channels. Synchronization correction signals are generated by a voltage controller, which are only transmitted to the leader DGs. Meanwhile, each DG exchanges information with its...

  20. Multi-hop amplify-and-forward relaying cooperation in the presence of I/Q imbalance

    KAUST Repository

    Qi, Jian; Aï ssa, Sonia; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, multi-hop cooperative networks implementing channel state information (CSI)-assisted amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying in the presence of in-phase and quadrature-phase (I/Q) imbalance are investigated. We propose a compensation algorithm for the I/Q imbalance. The performance of the multi-hop CSI-assisted AF cooperative networks with and without compensation for I/Q imbalance in Nakagami-m fading environment is evaluated in terms of average symbol error probability. Numerical results are provided and show that the proposed compensation method can effectively mitigate the impact of I/Q imbalance. © 2013 IEEE.

  1. Multi-hop amplify-and-forward relaying cooperation in the presence of I/Q imbalance

    KAUST Repository

    Qi, Jian

    2013-06-01

    In this paper, multi-hop cooperative networks implementing channel state information (CSI)-assisted amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying in the presence of in-phase and quadrature-phase (I/Q) imbalance are investigated. We propose a compensation algorithm for the I/Q imbalance. The performance of the multi-hop CSI-assisted AF cooperative networks with and without compensation for I/Q imbalance in Nakagami-m fading environment is evaluated in terms of average symbol error probability. Numerical results are provided and show that the proposed compensation method can effectively mitigate the impact of I/Q imbalance. © 2013 IEEE.

  2. Development and anti-swing control of an automated measurement robot system for multi-stud tensioning machine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Haoyuan; Li Meng; Duan Xingguang; Gao Liang; Cui Tengfei; Guo Yanjun

    2017-01-01

    During nuclear power plant maintenance, the multi-stud tensioning machine is used to perform opening/sealing the cap of the reactor pressure vessel. This process incorporates elongations of 58 studs, whose extension values are monitored in real time by measurement meters. Conventionally, the placements of the meters are performed by human labor, which is time consuming and radioactively hazardous. In this paper, we introduce an automated measurement robot system, consisting of 58 node robots and multiple field bus based distributed control devices, to complete meter placement and data acquisition tasks without human involvement in the hazardous working site. In order to eliminate the swing phenomenon of the wire-driven meter adaptor on the robot distal end, extra-insensitive input shaper is employed for robot motion control, thus saving the overall operation time from traditionally over 10 minutes to less than 22 s. (author)

  3. The Dynamics and Sliding Mode Control of Multiple Cooperative Welding Robot Manipulators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Zi

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the design, dynamic modelling and sliding mode control of multiple cooperative welding robot manipulators (MWRMs. The MWRMs can handle complex tasks that are difficult or even impossible for a single manipulator. The kinematics and dynamics of the MWRMs are studied on the basis of the Denavit-Hartenberg and Lagrange method. Following that, considering the MWRM system with nonlinear and unknown disturbances, a non-singular terminal sliding mode control strategy is designed. By means of the Lyapunov function, the stability of the controller is proved. Simulation results indicate that the good control performance of the MWRMs is achieved by the non-singular terminal sliding mode controller, which also illustrates the correctness of the dynamic modelling and effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

  4. Velocity-curvature patterns limit human-robot physical interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maurice, Pauline; Huber, Meghan E; Hogan, Neville; Sternad, Dagmar

    2018-01-01

    Physical human-robot collaboration is becoming more common, both in industrial and service robotics. Cooperative execution of a task requires intuitive and efficient interaction between both actors. For humans, this means being able to predict and adapt to robot movements. Given that natural human movement exhibits several robust features, we examined whether human-robot physical interaction is facilitated when these features are considered in robot control. The present study investigated how humans adapt to biological and non-biological velocity patterns in robot movements. Participants held the end-effector of a robot that traced an elliptic path with either biological (two-thirds power law) or non-biological velocity profiles. Participants were instructed to minimize the force applied on the robot end-effector. Results showed that the applied force was significantly lower when the robot moved with a biological velocity pattern. With extensive practice and enhanced feedback, participants were able to decrease their force when following a non-biological velocity pattern, but never reached forces below those obtained with the 2/3 power law profile. These results suggest that some robust features observed in natural human movements are also a strong preference in guided movements. Therefore, such features should be considered in human-robot physical collaboration.

  5. The Snackbot: Documenting the Design of a Robot for Long-term Human-Robot Interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-03-01

    distributed robots. Proceedings of the Computer Supported Cooperative Work Conference’02. NY: ACM Press. [18] Kanda, T., Takayuki , H., Eaton, D., and...humanoid robots. Proceedings of HRI’06. New York, NY: ACM Press, 351-352. [23] Nabe, S., Kanda, T., Hiraki , K., Ishiguro, H., Kogure, K., and Hagita

  6. Study on control schemes of flexible steering system of a multi-axle all-wheel-steering robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pingxia Zhang

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available It is well known that a multi-axle wheeled robot possesses larger load capability and also higher drive performance. However, its steering flexibility is degraded due to the large number of wheels. In order to solve this problem, in this article, we proposed three control schemes based on the center of rotation or the steering angles of both the first- and last-axle wheels. To release these control schemes, steering mode selection and also the left wheel’s steering angle in a specific axle are added approaching a practical application. Thereafter, the remaining wheels’ steering angles can be calculated with the Ackerman steering theorem. In order to verify the control effects, a five-axle all-wheel-steering wheeled robot has been developed with the Bluetooth wireless monitor system. Based on the newly designed robot, validation experiments are carried out, such as lateral movement, situ rotation, and multi-mode steering within a narrow space. The results indicate that the proposed design in this article can ensure a more flexible and faster movement within a narrow space. It shows large potential in obstacle avoidance compared with the conventional partial-wheel steering mode.

  7. Multi-cooperation of Cultural Heritage Conservation: The Cangdong Project of Guangdong Province

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, J.

    2015-09-01

    In recent years, some workshops and research cases have arisen in China to seek for suitable ways for heritage conservation and development of historic villages. However, the issue of multi-cooperation has not been much mentioned in research works. The case of Cangdong Project in Guangdong Province is a social enterprise. It is a center focusing on heritage education. It organizes tailor-made workshops for interested people from all over China and Hong Kong, Macao and overseas, including university courses for credits, summer/winter camps for primary and middle school students, as well as common people who are interested in heritage conservation. The purpose of the education center is to enhance heritage/cultural interest of the younger generations and common people, and try to work with local villagers to build a wealthy community. Nowadays, more and more villagers moved out for work and the countryside population in China is decreasing, this project also aims to create work opportunities for villagers through heritage conservation projects, so that the villagers can be willing to stay. The project focuses more in a sustainable way for community development. It has been five years since the project was set up in Cangdong Village. The project team worked with villagers, city people, students, scholars, different levels of local governments, investors, Medias, charitable organizations, as well as the market of tourism. As such, a platform of multi-cooperation for the above parties has formed during the past five years. This paper takes the Project experience from 2010-2015 as the case to study multi-cooperation in the field of heritage conservation in China, as well as to discuss how to co-operate the subjective initiatives of different stokeholds.

  8. Cooperative Spatial Reuse with Transmit Beamforming in Multi-rate Wireless Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lu, Chenguang; Fitzek, Frank; Eggers, Patrick Claus F.

    2009-01-01

    We present a cooperative spatial reuse (CSR) scheme as a cooperative extension of the current TDMA-based MAC to enable spatial reuse in multi-rate wireless networks. We model spatial reuse as a cooperation problem on utilizing the time slots obtained from the TDMA-based MAC. In CSR, there are two...... operation modes. One is TDMA mode while the other is spatial reuse mode in which links transmit simultaneously. Links contribute their own time slots to form a cooperative group to do spatial reuse. Each link joins the group only if it can benefit in capacity or energy efficiency. Otherwise, the link...... will leave spatial reuse mode and switch back to TDMA. In this work, we focus on the transmit beamforming techniques to enable CSR by interference cancellation on MISO (Multiple Input Single Output) links. We compare the CSR scheme using zero-forcing (ZF) transmit beamforming, namely ZF-CSR, to the TDMA...

  9. Special Issue on Intelligent Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Genci Capi

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available The research on intelligent robots will produce robots that are able to operate in everyday life environments, to adapt their program according to environment changes, and to cooperate with other team members and humans. Operating in human environments, robots need to process, in real time, a large amount of sensory data—such as vision, laser, microphone—in order to determine the best action. Intelligent algorithms have been successfully applied to link complex sensory data to robot action. This editorial briefly summarizes recent findings in the field of intelligent robots as described in the articles published in this special issue.

  10. Multi-fingered robotic hand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruoff, Carl F. (Inventor); Salisbury, Kenneth, Jr. (Inventor)

    1990-01-01

    A robotic hand is presented having a plurality of fingers, each having a plurality of joints pivotally connected one to the other. Actuators are connected at one end to an actuating and control mechanism mounted remotely from the hand and at the other end to the joints of the fingers for manipulating the fingers and passing externally of the robot manipulating arm in between the hand and the actuating and control mechanism. The fingers include pulleys to route the actuators within the fingers. Cable tension sensing structure mounted on a portion of the hand are disclosed, as is covering of the tip of each finger with a resilient and pliable friction enhancing surface.

  11. MÓDULO CONDUCTUAL INMERSO EN UNA ARQUITECTURA DE CONTROL PARA SISTEMAS MULTI-ROBOTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ángel Eduardo Gil Pérez

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available El presente trabajo describe el diseño de un módulo conductual para robots de propósito general, implementado en el marco de una arquitectura de control para sistemas multi-robots.El mismo está estructurado en cuatro capas: reactiva, cognitiva, social, y una capa transversal que gestiona un conjunto de emociones básicas, que afectan de forma directael comportamiento del robot y su disposición hacia la ejecución de las tareas y hacia la interrelación con los otros individuos del sistema (es decir, a las otras capas. El objetivo de la arquitectura es brindar una plataforma que facilite los procesos de auto-organización y emergencia del sistema.Se propone un modelo emocional, que toma en consideración cuatro emociones básicas y un estado neutro; esto con el fin de dotar a los robots de un factor adicional que influya en su funcionamiento, que puede ser determinante cuando estos enfrentan situaciones donde la incertidumbre se hace presente. De esta forma, se busca mejorar su proceso de toma de decisión y su adaptación a las dinámicas presentes en el entorno, en particular analizando la influencia de las emociones en sistemas de este tipo.

  12. Anthropomorphism in Human-Robot Co-evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damiano, Luisa; Dumouchel, Paul

    2018-01-01

    Social robotics entertains a particular relationship with anthropomorphism, which it neither sees as a cognitive error, nor as a sign of immaturity. Rather it considers that this common human tendency, which is hypothesized to have evolved because it favored cooperation among early humans, can be used today to facilitate social interactions between humans and a new type of cooperative and interactive agents - social robots. This approach leads social robotics to focus research on the engineering of robots that activate anthropomorphic projections in users. The objective is to give robots "social presence" and "social behaviors" that are sufficiently credible for human users to engage in comfortable and potentially long-lasting relations with these machines. This choice of 'applied anthropomorphism' as a research methodology exposes the artifacts produced by social robotics to ethical condemnation: social robots are judged to be a "cheating" technology, as they generate in users the illusion of reciprocal social and affective relations. This article takes position in this debate, not only developing a series of arguments relevant to philosophy of mind, cognitive sciences, and robotic AI, but also asking what social robotics can teach us about anthropomorphism. On this basis, we propose a theoretical perspective that characterizes anthropomorphism as a basic mechanism of interaction, and rebuts the ethical reflections that a priori condemns "anthropomorphism-based" social robots. To address the relevant ethical issues, we promote a critical experimentally based ethical approach to social robotics, "synthetic ethics," which aims at allowing humans to use social robots for two main goals: self-knowledge and moral growth.

  13. Nurses' Needs for Care Robots in Integrated Nursing Care Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jai-Yon; Song, Young Ae; Jung, Ji Young; Kim, Hyun Jeong; Kim, Bo Ram; Do, Hyun-Kyung; Lim, Jae-Young

    2018-05-13

    To determine the need for care robots among nurses and to suggest how robotic care should be prioritized in an integrated nursing care services. Korea is expected to be a super-aged society by 2030. To solve care issues with elderly inpatient caused by informal caregivers, the government introduced 'integrated nursing care services'; these are comprehensive care systems staffed by professionally trained nurses. To assist them, a care robot development project has been launched. The study applied a cross-sectional survey. In 2016, we conducted a multi-center survey involving 302 registered nurses in five hospitals including three tertiary and two secondary hospitals in Korea. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics of nurses and their views on and extents of agreement about issues associated with robotic care. Trial center nurses and those with ≥10 years of experience reported positively on the prospects for robotic care. The top three desired primary roles for care robots were 'measuring/monitoring', 'mobility/activity' and 'safety care'. 'Reduction in workload', especially in terms of 'other nursing services' which were categorized as non-value-added nursing activities, was the most valued feature. The nurses approved of the aid by care robots but were concerned about device malfunction and interruption of rapport with patients. Care robots are expected to be effective in integrated nursing care services, particularly in 'measuring/monitoring'. Such robots should decrease nurses' workload and minimize non-value-added nursing activities efficiently. No matter how excellent care robots are, they must co-operate with and be controlled by nurses. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  14. Introduction to humanoid robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Kajita, Shuuji; Harada, Kensuke; Yokoi, Kazuhito

    2014-01-01

    This book is for researchers, engineers, and students who are willing to understand how humanoid robots move and be controlled. The book starts with an overview of the humanoid robotics research history and state of the art. Then it explains the required mathematics and physics such as kinematics of multi-body system, Zero-Moment Point (ZMP) and its relationship with body motion. Biped walking control is discussed in depth, since it is one of the main interests of humanoid robotics. Various topics of the whole body motion generation are also discussed. Finally multi-body dynamics is presented to simulate the complete dynamic behavior of a humanoid robot. Throughout the book, Matlab codes are shown to test the algorithms and to help the reader´s understanding.

  15. Laws on Robots, Laws by Robots, Laws in Robots : Regulating Robot Behaviour by Design

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leenes, R.E.; Lucivero, F.

    2015-01-01

    Speculation about robot morality is almost as old as the concept of a robot itself. Asimov’s three laws of robotics provide an early and well-discussed example of moral rules robots should observe. Despite the widespread influence of the three laws of robotics and their role in shaping visions of

  16. A Method for Improving the Pose Accuracy of a Robot Manipulator Based on Multi-Sensor Combined Measurement and Data Fusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Bailing; Zhang, Fumin; Qu, Xinghua

    2015-01-01

    An improvement method for the pose accuracy of a robot manipulator by using a multiple-sensor combination measuring system (MCMS) is presented. It is composed of a visual sensor, an angle sensor and a series robot. The visual sensor is utilized to measure the position of the manipulator in real time, and the angle sensor is rigidly attached to the manipulator to obtain its orientation. Due to the higher accuracy of the multi-sensor, two efficient data fusion approaches, the Kalman filter (KF) and multi-sensor optimal information fusion algorithm (MOIFA), are used to fuse the position and orientation of the manipulator. The simulation and experimental results show that the pose accuracy of the robot manipulator is improved dramatically by 38%∼78% with the multi-sensor data fusion. Comparing with reported pose accuracy improvement methods, the primary advantage of this method is that it does not require the complex solution of the kinematics parameter equations, increase of the motion constraints and the complicated procedures of the traditional vision-based methods. It makes the robot processing more autonomous and accurate. To improve the reliability and accuracy of the pose measurements of MCMS, the visual sensor repeatability is experimentally studied. An optimal range of 1 × 0.8 × 1 ∼ 2 × 0.8 × 1 m in the field of view (FOV) is indicated by the experimental results. PMID:25850067

  17. Control of multiple robots using vision sensors

    CERN Document Server

    Aranda, Miguel; Sagüés, Carlos

    2017-01-01

    This monograph introduces novel methods for the control and navigation of mobile robots using multiple-1-d-view models obtained from omni-directional cameras. This approach overcomes field-of-view and robustness limitations, simultaneously enhancing accuracy and simplifying application on real platforms. The authors also address coordinated motion tasks for multiple robots, exploring different system architectures, particularly the use of multiple aerial cameras in driving robot formations on the ground. Again, this has benefits of simplicity, scalability and flexibility. Coverage includes details of: a method for visual robot homing based on a memory of omni-directional images a novel vision-based pose stabilization methodology for non-holonomic ground robots based on sinusoidal-varying control inputs an algorithm to recover a generic motion between two 1-d views and which does not require a third view a novel multi-robot setup where multiple camera-carrying unmanned aerial vehicles are used to observe and c...

  18. Stepwise multi-criteria optimization for robotic radiosurgery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlaefer, A.; Schweikard, A.

    2008-01-01

    Achieving good conformality and a steep dose gradient around the target volume remains a key aspect of radiosurgery. Clearly, this involves a trade-off between target coverage, conformality of the dose distribution, and sparing of critical structures. Yet, image guidance and robotic beam placement have extended highly conformal dose delivery to extracranial and moving targets. Therefore, the multi-criteria nature of the optimization problem becomes even more apparent, as multiple conflicting clinical goals need to be considered coordinate to obtain an optimal treatment plan. Typically, planning for robotic radiosurgery is based on constrained optimization, namely linear programming. An extension of that approach is presented, such that each of the clinical goals can be addressed separately and in any sequential order. For a set of common clinical goals the mapping to a mathematical objective and a corresponding constraint is defined. The trade-off among the clinical goals is explored by modifying the constraints and optimizing a simple objective, while retaining feasibility of the solution. Moreover, it becomes immediately obvious whether a desired goal can be achieved and where a trade-off is possible. No importance factors or predefined prioritizations of clinical goals are necessary. The presented framework forms the basis for interactive and automated planning procedures. It is demonstrated for a sample case that the linear programming formulation is suitable to search for a clinically optimal treatment, and that the optimization steps can be performed quickly to establish that a Pareto-efficient solution has been found. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how the stepwise approach is preferable compared to modifying importance factors

  19. R and D on robots for nuclear power plants in 'advanced robot technology' project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ando, Hiroaki

    1987-01-01

    The project aims at developing a safe man-robot system of high mobility and workability, highly adaptable to the working environment, and readily and reliably remote-controlled. The plan is to develop 'multi-purpose robots' that can do monitoring, inspection and light work quickly and correctly in areas where access of humans is difficult (e.g. hot spots and the inner space of the primary containment vessel), and 'robots used exclusively for valves, pumps, and other equipment, multi-functional to be used only for specific purposes'. This can be expected to be completed on the basis of results in research and development for the multi-purpose robots. R and D on the total system means manufacturing an optimum system with sufficient functions and performance required for the robot by combining existing technologies most adequately on the basis of the results of research and development on the project. After conceptual drawing and conceptual design, the system will be manufactured and demonstration tests will be completed by fiscal 1987 or 1988. This report describes the total image of the robots concerning the shape, locomotion, manipulation, perception, communication, control management, reliability and environmental durability, and then outlines the research and development activities regarding locomotion, manipulator, tectile sensor, actuator, single-eye three-dimensional measurement, visual data processing, optical spacial transmission, failure repair controller, functional reduction, robot health care and radiation resistance. (Nogami, K.)

  20. Hand-held multi-DOF robotic forceps for neurosurgery designed for dexterous manipulation in deep and narrow space.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okubo, Takuro; Harada, Kanako; Fujii, Masahiro; Tanaka, Shinichi; Ishimaru, Tetsuya; Iwanaka, Tadashi; Nakatomi, Hirohumi; Sora, Sigeo; Morita, Akio; Sugita, Naohiko; Mitsuishi, Mamoru

    2014-01-01

    Neurosurgical procedures require precise and dexterous manipulation of a surgical suture in narrow and deep spaces in the brain. This is necessary for surgical tasks such as the anastomosis of microscopic blood vessels and dura mater suturing. A hand-held multi-degree of freedom (DOF) robotic forceps was developed to aid the performance of such difficult tasks. The diameter of the developed robotic forceps is 3.5 mm, and its tip has three DOFs, namely, bending, rotation, and grip. Experimental results showed that the robotic forceps had an average needle insertion force of 1.7 N. Therefore, an increase in the needle insertion force is necessary for practical application of the developed device.

  1. Multidirectional Image Sensing for Microscopy Based on a Rotatable Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yajing Shen

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Image sensing at a small scale is essentially important in many fields, including microsample observation, defect inspection, material characterization and so on. However, nowadays, multi-directional micro object imaging is still very challenging due to the limited field of view (FOV of microscopes. This paper reports a novel approach for multi-directional image sensing in microscopes by developing a rotatable robot. First, a robot with endless rotation ability is designed and integrated with the microscope. Then, the micro object is aligned to the rotation axis of the robot automatically based on the proposed forward-backward alignment strategy. After that, multi-directional images of the sample can be obtained by rotating the robot within one revolution under the microscope. To demonstrate the versatility of this approach, we view various types of micro samples from multiple directions in both optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and panoramic images of the samples are processed as well. The proposed method paves a new way for the microscopy image sensing, and we believe it could have significant impact in many fields, especially for sample detection, manipulation and characterization at a small scale.

  2. 4th International Conference on Advanced Robotics

    CERN Document Server

    1989-01-01

    The Fourth International Conference on Advanced Robotics was held in Columbus, Ohio, U. S. A. on June 13th to 15th, 1989. The first two conferences in this series were held in Tokyo. The third was held in Versailles, France in October 1987. The International Conference on Advanced Robotics is affiliated with the International Federation of Robotics. This conference was sponsored by The Ohio State University. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers was a cooperating co-sponsor. The objective of the International Conference on Advanced Robotics is to provide an international exchange of information on the topic of advanced robotics. This was adopted as one of the themes for international research cooperation at a meeting of representatives of seven industrialized countries held in Williamsburg, U. S. A. in May 1983. The present conference is truly international in character with contributions from authors of twelve countries. (Bulgaria, Canada, France, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Peoples Republic o...

  3. ESTIMATION OF GRASPING TORQUE USING ROBUST REACTION TORQUE OBSERVER FOR ROBOTIC FORCEPS

    OpenAIRE

    塚本, 祐介

    2015-01-01

    Abstract— In this paper, the estimation of the grasping torque of robotic forceps without the use of a force/torque sensor is discussed. To estimate the grasping torque when the robotic forceps driven by a rotary motor with a reduction gear grasps an object, a novel robust reaction torque observer is proposed. In the case where a conventional reaction force/torque observer is applied, the estimated torque includes not only the grasping torque, namely the reaction torque, but also t...

  4. Communicating with Teams of Cooperative Robots

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Perzanowski, D; Schultz, A. C; Adams, W; Bugajska, M; Marsh, E; Trafton, G; Brock, D; Skubic, M; Abramson, M

    2002-01-01

    .... For this interface, they have elected to use natural language and gesture. Gestures can be either natural gestures perceived by a vision system installed on the robot, or they can be made by using a stylus on a Personal Digital Assistant...

  5. 1st Iberian Robotics Conference

    CERN Document Server

    Sanfeliu, Alberto; Ferre, Manuel; ROBOT2013; Advances in robotics

    2014-01-01

    This book contains the proceedings of the ROBOT 2013: FIRST IBERIAN ROBOTICS CONFERENCE and it can be said that included both state of the art and more practical presentations dealing with implementation problems, support technologies and future applications. A growing interest in Assistive Robotics, Agricultural Robotics, Field Robotics, Grasping and Dexterous Manipulation, Humanoid Robots, Intelligent Systems and Robotics, Marine Robotics, has been demonstrated by the very relevant number of contributions. Moreover, ROBOT2013 incorporates a special session on Legal and Ethical Aspects in Robotics that is becoming a topic of key relevance. This Conference was held in Madrid (28-29 November 2013), organised by the Sociedad Española para la Investigación y Desarrollo en Robótica (SEIDROB) and by the Centre for Automation and Robotics - CAR (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)), along with the co-operation of Grupo Temático de Robótica CEA-GT...

  6. Design of an Action Selection Mechanism for Cooperative Soccer Robots Based on Fuzzy Decision Making Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Alireza Mohades Kasaei

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Robocup is an international competition for multi agent research and related subject like: Artificial intelligence, Image processing, machine learning, robot path planning, control, and
    obstacle avoidance. In a soccer robot game, the environment is highly competitive and dynamic. In order to work in the dynamically changing environment, the decision-making system of a soccer robot system should have the features of flexibility and real-time adaptation. In this paper we will
    focus on the Middle Size Soccer Robot league (MSL and new hierarchical hybrid fuzzy methods for decision making and action selection of a robot in Middle Size Soccer Robot league (MSL are presented. First, the behaviors of an agent are introduced, implemented and classified in two layers,
    the Low_Level_Behaviors and the High_Level_Behaviors. In the second layer, a two phase mechanism for decision making is introduced. In phase one, some useful methods are implemented which check the robot’s situation for performing required behaviors. In the next phase, the team strategy, team formation, robot’s role and the robot’s positioning system are introduced. A fuzzy logical approach is employed to recognize the team strategy and further more to tell the player the
    best position to move. We believe that a Dynamic role engine is necessary for a successful team. Dynamic role engine and formation control during offensive or defensive play, help us to prevent collision avoidance among own players when attacking the ball and obstacle avoidance of the opponents. At last, we comprised our implemented algorithm in the Robocup 2007 and 2008 and results showed the efficiency of the introduced methodology. The results are satisfactory which has already been successfully implemented in ADRO RoboCup team. This project is still in progress and some new interesting methods are described in the current report.

  7. A QUANTITATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR EARLY PREDICTION OF COOPERATION IN MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Ajitha

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available A Multi-Agent System (MAS is a system composed of multiple interacting intelligent agents. MAS can be used to solve problems that are difficult or impossible for an individual agent to solve. The different characteristics of MAS help in solving highly complex distributed problems. One of the important characteristics of MAS is its cooperative nature. This character helps different agents to interact with each other by exchanging messages. One of the major challenges in MAS is quantifying the cooperation between agents. This paper presents a framework for the quantification of cooperation between agents in MAS. We propose a methodology which helps to quantify the cooperation in the early stages of software development using a UML sequence diagram and a mathematical model. The proposed techniques are illustrated with the help of a case study. The numerical results we got were quite satisfactory.

  8. Anthropomorphism in Human–Robot Co-evolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luisa Damiano

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Social robotics entertains a particular relationship with anthropomorphism, which it neither sees as a cognitive error, nor as a sign of immaturity. Rather it considers that this common human tendency, which is hypothesized to have evolved because it favored cooperation among early humans, can be used today to facilitate social interactions between humans and a new type of cooperative and interactive agents – social robots. This approach leads social robotics to focus research on the engineering of robots that activate anthropomorphic projections in users. The objective is to give robots “social presence” and “social behaviors” that are sufficiently credible for human users to engage in comfortable and potentially long-lasting relations with these machines. This choice of ‘applied anthropomorphism’ as a research methodology exposes the artifacts produced by social robotics to ethical condemnation: social robots are judged to be a “cheating” technology, as they generate in users the illusion of reciprocal social and affective relations. This article takes position in this debate, not only developing a series of arguments relevant to philosophy of mind, cognitive sciences, and robotic AI, but also asking what social robotics can teach us about anthropomorphism. On this basis, we propose a theoretical perspective that characterizes anthropomorphism as a basic mechanism of interaction, and rebuts the ethical reflections that a priori condemns “anthropomorphism-based” social robots. To address the relevant ethical issues, we promote a critical experimentally based ethical approach to social robotics, “synthetic ethics,” which aims at allowing humans to use social robots for two main goals: self-knowledge and moral growth.

  9. Anthropomorphism in Human–Robot Co-evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damiano, Luisa; Dumouchel, Paul

    2018-01-01

    Social robotics entertains a particular relationship with anthropomorphism, which it neither sees as a cognitive error, nor as a sign of immaturity. Rather it considers that this common human tendency, which is hypothesized to have evolved because it favored cooperation among early humans, can be used today to facilitate social interactions between humans and a new type of cooperative and interactive agents – social robots. This approach leads social robotics to focus research on the engineering of robots that activate anthropomorphic projections in users. The objective is to give robots “social presence” and “social behaviors” that are sufficiently credible for human users to engage in comfortable and potentially long-lasting relations with these machines. This choice of ‘applied anthropomorphism’ as a research methodology exposes the artifacts produced by social robotics to ethical condemnation: social robots are judged to be a “cheating” technology, as they generate in users the illusion of reciprocal social and affective relations. This article takes position in this debate, not only developing a series of arguments relevant to philosophy of mind, cognitive sciences, and robotic AI, but also asking what social robotics can teach us about anthropomorphism. On this basis, we propose a theoretical perspective that characterizes anthropomorphism as a basic mechanism of interaction, and rebuts the ethical reflections that a priori condemns “anthropomorphism-based” social robots. To address the relevant ethical issues, we promote a critical experimentally based ethical approach to social robotics, “synthetic ethics,” which aims at allowing humans to use social robots for two main goals: self-knowledge and moral growth. PMID:29632507

  10. Promotion of cooperation induced by discriminators in the spatial multi-player donor-recipient game

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Guang-Hai; Wang, Zhen; Ren, Jian-Kang; Lu, Kun; Li, Ming-Chu

    2016-11-01

    Although the two-player donor-recipient game has been used extensively in studying cooperation in social dilemmas, the scenario in which a donor can simultaneously donate resources to multiple recipients is also common in human societies, economic systems, and social networks. This paper formulates a model of the multi-player donor-recipient game considering a multi-recipient scenario. The promotion of cooperation is also studied by introducing a discriminative cooperation strategy into the game, which donates resources to recipients in proportion to their previous donations with a cost for the collection of information. The evolutionary dynamics of individual strategies are explored in homogeneous and heterogeneous scenarios by leveraging spatial evolutionary game theory. The results show that in a homogeneous scenario, defectors can dominate the network at the equilibrium state only when the cost-to-benefit ratio (R) of donated resources is large. In a heterogeneous scenario, three strategies can coexist all the time within the range of R that was studied, and the promotion of cooperation is more effective when the values of R are smaller. Results from a single node evolution and the formation of local patterns of interaction are provided, and it is analytically shown that discriminators can maintain fairness in resource donation and guarantee long-term cooperation when R is not too large.

  11. Robots and humans: synergy in planetary exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landis, Geoffrey A.

    2004-01-01

    How will humans and robots cooperate in future planetary exploration? Are humans and robots fundamentally separate modes of exploration, or can humans and robots work together to synergistically explore the solar system? It is proposed that humans and robots can work together in exploring the planets by use of telerobotic operation to expand the function and usefulness of human explorers, and to extend the range of human exploration to hostile environments. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  12. Robotic and artificial intelligence for keyhole neurosurgery: the ROBOCAST project, a multi-modal autonomous path planner.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Momi, E; Ferrigno, G

    2010-01-01

    The robot and sensors integration for computer-assisted surgery and therapy (ROBOCAST) project (FP7-ICT-2007-215190) is co-funded by the European Union within the Seventh Framework Programme in the field of information and communication technologies. The ROBOCAST project focuses on robot- and artificial-intelligence-assisted keyhole neurosurgery (tumour biopsy and local drug delivery along straight or turning paths). The goal of this project is to assist surgeons with a robotic system controlled by an intelligent high-level controller (HLC) able to gather and integrate information from the surgeon, from diagnostic images, and from an array of on-field sensors. The HLC integrates pre-operative and intra-operative diagnostics data and measurements, intelligence augmentation, multiple-robot dexterity, and multiple sensory inputs in a closed-loop cooperating scheme including a smart interface for improved haptic immersion and integration. This paper, after the overall architecture description, focuses on the intelligent trajectory planner based on risk estimation and human criticism. The current status of development is reported, and first tests on the planner are shown by using a real image stack and risk descriptor phantom. The advantages of using a fuzzy risk description are given by the possibility of upgrading the knowledge on-field without the intervention of a knowledge engineer.

  13. Mapping planetary caves with an autonomous, heterogeneous robot team

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husain, Ammar; Jones, Heather; Kannan, Balajee; Wong, Uland; Pimentel, Tiago; Tang, Sarah; Daftry, Shreyansh; Huber, Steven; Whittaker, William L.

    Caves on other planetary bodies offer sheltered habitat for future human explorers and numerous clues to a planet's past for scientists. While recent orbital imagery provides exciting new details about cave entrances on the Moon and Mars, the interiors of these caves are still unknown and not observable from orbit. Multi-robot teams offer unique solutions for exploration and modeling subsurface voids during precursor missions. Robot teams that are diverse in terms of size, mobility, sensing, and capability can provide great advantages, but this diversity, coupled with inherently distinct low-level behavior architectures, makes coordination a challenge. This paper presents a framework that consists of an autonomous frontier and capability-based task generator, a distributed market-based strategy for coordinating and allocating tasks to the different team members, and a communication paradigm for seamless interaction between the different robots in the system. Robots have different sensors, (in the representative robot team used for testing: 2D mapping sensors, 3D modeling sensors, or no exteroceptive sensors), and varying levels of mobility. Tasks are generated to explore, model, and take science samples. Based on an individual robot's capability and associated cost for executing a generated task, a robot is autonomously selected for task execution. The robots create coarse online maps and store collected data for high resolution offline modeling. The coordination approach has been field tested at a mock cave site with highly-unstructured natural terrain, as well as an outdoor patio area. Initial results are promising for applicability of the proposed multi-robot framework to exploration and modeling of planetary caves.

  14. R3D3 in the Wild: Using A Robot for Turn Management in Multi-Party Interaction with a Virtual Human

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Theune, Mariet; Wiltenburg, Daan; Bode, Max; Linssen, Jeroen

    R3D3 is a combination of a virtual human with a non-speaking robot capable of head gestures and emotive gaze behaviour. We use the robot to implement various turn management functions for use in multi-party interaction with R3D3, and present the results of a field study investigating their effects

  15. Mobile robot multi-sensor unit for unsupervised gas discrimination in uncontrolled environments

    OpenAIRE

    Xing, Yuxin; Vincent, Timothy A.; Cole, Marina; Gardner, Julian W.; Fan, Han; Hernandez Bennetts, Victor; Schaffernicht, Erik; Lilienthal, Achim

    2017-01-01

    In this work we present a novel multi-sensor unit to detect and discriminate unknown gases in uncontrolled environments. The unit includes three metal oxide (MOX) sensors with CMOS micro heaters, a plasmonic enhanced non-dispersive infra-red (NDIR) sensor, a commercial temperature humidity sensor, and a flow sensor. The proposed sensing unit was evaluated with plumes of gases (propanol, ethanol and acetone) in both, a laboratory setup on a gas testing bench and on-board a mobile robot operati...

  16. The Maiden Voyage of a Kinematics Robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenwolfe, Matthew L.

    2015-04-01

    In a Montessori preschool classroom, students work independently on tasks that absorb their attention in part because the apparatus are carefully designed to make mistakes directly observable and limit exploration to one aspect or dimension. Control of error inheres in the apparatus itself, so that teacher intervention can be minimal.1 Inspired by this example, I created a robotic kinematics apparatus that also shapes the inquiry experience. Students program the robot by drawing kinematic graphs on a computer and then observe its motion. Exploration is at once limited to constant velocity and constant acceleration motion, yet open to complex multi-segment examples difficult to achieve in the lab in other ways. The robot precisely and reliably produces the motion described by the students' graphs, so that the apparatus itself provides immediate visual feedback about whether their understanding is correct as they are free to explore within the hard-coded limits. In particular, the kinematic robot enables hands-on study of multi-segment constant velocity situations, which lays a far stronger foundation for the study of accelerated motion. When correction is anonymous—just between one group of lab partners and their robot—students using the kinematic robot tend to flow right back to work because they view the correction as an integral part of the inquiry learning process. By contrast, when correction occurs by the teacher and/or in public (e.g., returning a graded assignment or pointing out student misconceptions during class), students all too often treat the event as the endpoint to inquiry. Furthermore, quantitative evidence shows a large gain from pre-test to post-test scores using the Test of Understanding Graphs in Kinematics (TUG-K).

  17. Cooperative Exploration for USAR Robots with Indirect Communication

    OpenAIRE

    Ziparo, V. A.; Kleiner, Alexander; Farinelli, A.; Marchetti, L.; Nardi, D.

    2007-01-01

    To coordinate a team of robots for exploration is a challenging problem, particularly in unstructured areas, as for example post-disaster scenarios where direct communication is severely constrained. Furthermore, conventional methods of SLAM, e.g. those performing data association based on visual features, are doomed to fail due to bad visibility caused by smoke and fire. We use indirect communication (based on RFIDs), to share knowledge and use a gradient-like local search to direct robots t...

  18. Study on cooperative active sensing system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsukune, Hideo; Kita, Nobuyuki; Hirai, Shigeoki; Kuniyoshi, Yasuo; Hara, Isao; Matsui, Toshihiro

    1999-01-01

    In order to realize autonomous type nuclear plant, three-dimensional geometrical modelling method, and a basic technology on information collection and processing system preparation in some nuclear basic technology developments such as 'study on system evaluation of nuclear facility furnished with artificial intelligence for nuclear power' and 'study on adaptability evaluation of information collection and processing system into autonomous type plant' had already been developed. In this study, a study on sensing system required for constructing robot groups capable of conducting autonomously traveling inspection and maintenance in large scale, complicated and diverse plant has been processed by aiming at establishment of dispersed cooperative intelligent system technology. In 1997 fiscal year, integration of cooperative visual sensing technique was attempted. And, at the same time, upgrading of individual element technology and transportation method essential to the integrated system were investigated. As a result, an operative active sensing prototype system due to transportation robot groups furnished with real time processing capacity on diverse informations by integration of cooperative active sensing technique and real time active sensing technique developed independently plural transportation robot. (G.K.)

  19. Cooperation between humans and robots in fine assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jalba, C. K.; Konold, P.; Rapp, I.; Mann, C.; Muminovic, A.

    2017-01-01

    The development of ever smaller components in manufacturing processes require handling, assembling and testing of miniature similar components. The human eye meets its optical limits with ongoing miniaturization of parts, due to the fact that it is not able to detect particles with a size smaller than 0.11 mm or register distances below 0.07 mm - like separating gaps. After several hours of labour, workers cannot accurately differentiate colour nuances as well as constant quality of work cannot be guaranteed. Assembly is usually done with tools, such as microscopes, magnifiers or digital measuring devices. Due to the enormous mental concentration, quickly a fatigue process sets in. This requires breaks or change of task and reduces productivity. Dealing with handling devices such as grippers, guide units and actuators for component assembling, requires a time consuming training process. Often productivity increase is first achieved after years of daily training. Miniaturizations are ubiquitously needed, for instance in the surgery. Very small add-on instruments must be provided. In measurement, e.g. it is a technological must and a competitive advantage, to determine required data with a small-as-possible, highest-possible-resolution sensor. Solution: The realization of a flexible universal workstation, using standard robotic systems and image processing devices in cooperation with humans, where workers are largely freed up from highly strenuous physical and fine motoric work, so that they can do productive work monitoring and adjusting the machine assisted production process.

  20. Method of Grasping Control by Computing Internal and External Impedances for Two Robot Fingers, and Its Application to Admittance Control of a Robot Hand-Arm System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian Huang

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Impedance control is an important technology used in the grasping control of a robot hand. Numerous studies related to grasping algorithms have been reported in recent years, with the contact force between robot fingers and the object to be grasped being primarily discussed in most cases. Generally, a coupling effect occurs between the internal loop of the grasping operation and the external loop of the interaction with the environment when a multi-fingered robot hand is used to complete a contact task. Therefore, a robot hand cannot hold an object using a large external force to complete a wide range of tasks by applying the conventional method. In this paper, the coupling of the internal/external forces occurring in grasping operations using multiple fingers is analysed. Then, improved impedance control based on the previous method is proposed as an effective tool to solve the problem of grasping failure caused by single-finger contact. Furthermore, a method for applying the improved grasping algorithm to the admittance control of a robot hand-arm system is also proposed. The proposed method divides the impedance effect into the grasping control of the hand and the cooperative control of the arm, so that expanding the task space and increasing the flexibility of impedance adjustment can be achieved. Experiments were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  1. Multi-Robot FastSLAM for Large Domains

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Koperski, Choyong G

    2007-01-01

    For a robot to build a map of its surrounding area, it must have accurate position information within the area, and to obtain accurate position information within the area, the robot needs to have an...

  2. Multi-Source Cooperative Data Collection with a Mobile Sink for the Wireless Sensor Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Changcai; Yang, Jinsheng

    2017-10-30

    The multi-source cooperation integrating distributed low-density parity-check codes is investigated to jointly collect data from multiple sensor nodes to the mobile sink in the wireless sensor network. The one-round and two-round cooperative data collection schemes are proposed according to the moving trajectories of the sink node. Specifically, two sparse cooperation models are firstly formed based on geographical locations of sensor source nodes, the impairment of inter-node wireless channels and moving trajectories of the mobile sink. Then, distributed low-density parity-check codes are devised to match the directed graphs and cooperation matrices related with the cooperation models. In the proposed schemes, each source node has quite low complexity attributed to the sparse cooperation and the distributed processing. Simulation results reveal that the proposed cooperative data collection schemes obtain significant bit error rate performance and the two-round cooperation exhibits better performance compared with the one-round scheme. The performance can be further improved when more source nodes participate in the sparse cooperation. For the two-round data collection schemes, the performance is evaluated for the wireless sensor networks with different moving trajectories and the variant data sizes.

  3. Desarrollo de algoritmo para detección y comando de robots humanoides en tareas de recolección

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Germán Andrés Vargas Torres

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This article presents an algorithm which commands a group of Bioloid humanoid robots in order to organize them around an object of interest, previously detected by an external vision system. The robots form a Multi-Agent System (MAS oriented towards cooperative gathering tasks. Development of the MAS, as well as each of the organization algorithm’s components and simulation inside a virtual environment are all detailed. The algorithm is subdivided in two dedicated threads: one of which handles machine vision (filtering, contour detection and classification achieved through EmguCV libraries and operational space calculations, and another which operates ZigBee wireless communication with the robots. Furthermore, the robots possess their own embedded code which enables them to translate a sequence of received instructions into gait patterns which allow them to move towards the object of interest. Total execution time for the gathering task is chosen as the global performance measure to evaluate.

  4. Intelligent robotics can boost America's economic growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erickson, Jon D.

    1994-01-01

    A case is made for strategic investment in intelligent robotics as a part of the solution to the problem of improved global competitiveness for U.S. manufacturing, a critical industrial sector. Similar cases are made for strategic investments in intelligent robotics for field applications, construction, and service industries such as health care. The scope of the country's problems and needs is beyond the capability of the private sector alone, government alone, or academia alone to solve independently of the others. National cooperative programs in intelligent robotics are needed with the private sector supplying leadership direction and aerospace and non-aerospace industries conducting the development. Some necessary elements of such programs are outlined. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) can be key players in such national cooperative programs in intelligent robotics for several reasons: (1) human space exploration missions require supervised intelligent robotics as enabling tools and, hence must develop supervised intelligent robotic systems; (2) intelligent robotic technology is being developed for space applications at JSC (but has a strong crosscutting or generic flavor) that is advancing the state of the art and is producing both skilled personnel and adaptable developmental infrastructure such as integrated testbeds; and (3) a NASA JSC Technology Investment Program in Robotics has been proposed based on commercial partnerships and collaborations for precompetitive, dual-use developments.

  5. Integrated multi-sensory control of space robot hand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bejczy, A. K.; Kan, E. P.; Killion, R. R.

    1985-01-01

    Dexterous manipulation of a robot hand requires the use of multiple sensors integrated into the mechanical hand under distributed microcomputer control. Where space applications such as construction, assembly, servicing and repair tasks are desired of smart robot arms and robot hands, several critical drives influence the design, engineering and integration of such an electromechanical hand. This paper describes a smart robot hand developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for experimental use and evaluation with the Protoflight Manipulator Arm (PFMA) at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

  6. Multi-Sensor SLAM Approach for Robot Navigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sid Ahmed BERRABAH

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available o be able to operate and act successfully, the robot needs to know at any time where it is. This means the robot has to find out its location relative to the environment. This contribution introduces the increase of accuracy of mobile robot positioning in large outdoor environments based on data fusion from different sensors: camera, GPS, inertial navigation system (INS, and wheel encoders. The fusion is done in a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM approach. The paper gives an overview on the proposed algorithm and discusses the obtained results.

  7. A new method for face detection in colour images for emotional bio-robots

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    HAPESHI; Kevin

    2010-01-01

    Emotional bio-robots have become a hot research topic in last two decades. Though there have been some progress in research, design and development of various emotional bio-robots, few of them can be used in practical applications. The study of emotional bio-robots demands multi-disciplinary co-operation. It involves computer science, artificial intelligence, 3D computation, engineering system modelling, analysis and simulation, bionics engineering, automatic control, image processing and pattern recognition etc. Among them, face detection belongs to image processing and pattern recognition. An emotional robot must have the ability to recognize various objects, particularly, it is very important for a bio-robot to be able to recognize human faces from an image. In this paper, a face detection method is proposed for identifying any human faces in colour images using human skin model and eye detection method. Firstly, this method can be used to detect skin regions from the input colour image after normalizing its luminance. Then, all face candidates are identified using an eye detection method. Comparing with existing algorithms, this method only relies on the colour and geometrical data of human face rather than using training datasets. From experimental results, it is shown that this method is effective and fast and it can be applied to the development of an emotional bio-robot with further improvements of its speed and accuracy.

  8. Integration of Fiber-Optic Sensor Arrays into a Multi-Modal Tactile Sensor Processing System for Robotic End-Effectors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Kampmann

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available With the increasing complexity of robotic missions and the development towards long-term autonomous systems, the need for multi-modal sensing of the environment increases. Until now, the use of tactile sensor systems has been mostly based on sensing one modality of forces in the robotic end-effector. The use of a multi-modal tactile sensory system is motivated, which combines static and dynamic force sensor arrays together with an absolute force measurement system. This publication is focused on the development of a compact sensor interface for a fiber-optic sensor array, as optic measurement principles tend to have a bulky interface. Mechanical, electrical and software approaches are combined to realize an integrated structure that provides decentralized data pre-processing of the tactile measurements. Local behaviors are implemented using this setup to show the effectiveness of this approach.

  9. Interactive robots in experimental biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krause, Jens; Winfield, Alan F T; Deneubourg, Jean-Louis

    2011-07-01

    Interactive robots have the potential to revolutionise the study of social behaviour because they provide several methodological advances. In interactions with live animals, the behaviour of robots can be standardised, morphology and behaviour can be decoupled (so that different morphologies and behavioural strategies can be combined), behaviour can be manipulated in complex interaction sequences and models of behaviour can be embodied by the robot and thereby be tested. Furthermore, robots can be used as demonstrators in experiments on social learning. As we discuss here, the opportunities that robots create for new experimental approaches have far-reaching consequences for research in fields such as mate choice, cooperation, social learning, personality studies and collective behaviour. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Diseño de modelo de patrullaje multi-robot basado en Teoría de Juegos para la protección de grandes infraestructuras

    OpenAIRE

    Alberte Rey, Marta

    2015-01-01

    Los sistemas multi-robot han sido objeto de numerosos estudios en los últimos años debido, entre otras razones, a su potencial aplicación en diferentes escenarios o misiones. Una de estas misiones, donde el uso de los sistemas multi-robot es de especial interés, es el desarrollo de tareas de seguridad y vigilancia en las denominadas “grandes infraestructuras críticas exteriores” que, entre otras necesidades, precisan tener bajo vigilancia áreas o puntos sensibles (accesos, zonas de mando, aco...

  11. Fault-tolerant cooperative output regulation for multi-vehicle systems with sensor faults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Liguo; He, Xiao; Zhou, D. H.

    2017-10-01

    This paper presents a unified framework of fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant cooperative output regulation (FTCOR) for a linear discrete-time multi-vehicle system with sensor faults. The FTCOR control law is designed through three steps. A cooperative output regulation (COR) controller is designed based on the internal mode principle when there are no sensor faults. A sufficient condition on the existence of the COR controller is given based on the discrete-time algebraic Riccati equation (DARE). Then, a decentralised fault diagnosis scheme is designed to cope with sensor faults occurring in followers. A residual generator is developed to detect sensor faults of each follower, and a bank of fault-matching estimators are proposed to isolate and estimate sensor faults of each follower. Unlike the current distributed fault diagnosis for multi-vehicle systems, the presented decentralised fault diagnosis scheme in each vehicle reduces the communication and computation load by only using the information of the vehicle. By combing the sensor fault estimation and the COR control law, an FTCOR controller is proposed. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the FTCOR controller.

  12. Early GRB optical and infrared afterglow observations with the 2-m robotic Liverpool Telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gomboc, A.; Ljubljana Univ., Ljubljana; Mundell, C.G.; Guidorzi, C.

    2005-01-01

    We present the first optical observations of a Gamma Ray Burst IGRB) afterglow using the 2-m robotic Liverpool Telescope (LT), which is owned and operated by Liverpool John Moores University and situated on La Palma. We briefly discuss the capabilities of LT and its suitability for rapid follow-up observations of early optical and infrared GRB light curves. In particular, the combination of aperture, site, instrumentation and rapid response (robotic over-ride mode aided by telescope's rapid slew and fully-opening enclosure) makes the LT ideal for investigating the nature of short bursts, optically-dark bursts, and GRB blast-wave physics in general. We briefly describe the LT's key position in the RoboNet-1.0 network of robotic telescopes. We present the LT observations of GRB041006 and use its gamma-ray properties to predict the time of the break in optical light curve, a prediction consistent with the observations

  13. Intelligent manipulation technique for multi-branch robotic systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Alexander Y. K.; Chen, Eugene Y. S.

    1990-01-01

    New analytical development in kinematics planning is reported. The INtelligent KInematics Planner (INKIP) consists of the kinematics spline theory and the adaptive logic annealing process. Also, a novel framework of robot learning mechanism is introduced. The FUzzy LOgic Self Organized Neural Networks (FULOSONN) integrates fuzzy logic in commands, control, searching, and reasoning, the embedded expert system for nominal robotics knowledge implementation, and the self organized neural networks for the dynamic knowledge evolutionary process. Progress on the mechanical construction of SRA Advanced Robotic System (SRAARS) and the real time robot vision system is also reported. A decision was made to incorporate the Local Area Network (LAN) technology in the overall communication system.

  14. Surgical outcomes of robot-assisted rectal cancer surgery using the da Vinci Surgical System: a multi-center pilot Phase II study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsukamoto, Shunsuke; Nishizawa, Yuji; Ochiai, Hiroki; Tsukada, Yuichiro; Sasaki, Takeshi; Shida, Dai; Ito, Masaaki; Kanemitsu, Yukihide

    2017-12-01

    We conducted a multi-center pilot Phase II study to examine the safety of robotic rectal cancer surgery performed using the da Vinci Surgical System during the introduction period of robotic rectal surgery at two institutes based on surgical outcomes. This study was conducted with a prospective, multi-center, single-arm, open-label design to assess the safety and feasibility of robotic surgery for rectal cancer (da Vinci Surgical System). The primary endpoint was the rate of adverse events during and after robotic surgery. The secondary endpoint was the completion rate of robotic surgery. Between April 2014 and July 2016, 50 patients were enrolled in this study. Of these, 10 (20%) had rectosigmoid cancer, 17 (34%) had upper rectal cancer, and 23 (46%) had lower rectal cancer; six underwent high anterior resection, 32 underwent low anterior resection, 11 underwent intersphincteric resection, and one underwent abdominoperineal resection. Pathological stages were Stage 0 in 1 patient, Stage I in 28 patients, Stage II in 7 patients and Stage III in 14 patients. Pathologically complete resection was achieved in all patients. There was no intraoperative organ damage or postoperative mortality. Eight (16%) patients developed complications of all grades, of which 2 (4%) were Grade 3 or higher, including anastomotic leakage (2%) and conversion to open surgery (2%). The present study demonstrates the feasibility and safety of robotic rectal cancer surgery, as reflected by low morbidity and low conversion rates, during the introduction period. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  15. Embodied Computation: An Active-Learning Approach to Mobile Robotics Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riek, L. D.

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes a newly designed upper-level undergraduate and graduate course, Autonomous Mobile Robots. The course employs active, cooperative, problem-based learning and is grounded in the fundamental computational problems in mobile robotics defined by Dudek and Jenkin. Students receive a broad survey of robotics through lectures, weekly…

  16. Decentralized Cooperative Localization Approach for Autonomous Multirobot Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thumeera R. Wanasinghe

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This study proposes the use of a split covariance intersection algorithm (Split-CI for decentralized multirobot cooperative localization. In the proposed method, each robot maintains a local cubature Kalman filter to estimate its own pose in a predefined coordinate frame. When a robot receives pose information from neighbouring robots, it employs a Split-CI based approach to fuse this received measurement with its local belief. The computational and communicative complexities of the proposed algorithm increase linearly with the number of robots in the multirobot systems (MRS. The proposed method does not require fully connected synchronous communication channels between robots; in fact, it is applicable for MRS with asynchronous and partially connected communication networks. The pose estimation error of the proposed method is bounded. As the proposed method is capable of handling independent and interdependent information of the estimations separately, it does not generate overconfidence state estimations. The performance of the proposed method is compared with several multirobot localization approaches. The simulation and experiment results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the single-robot localization algorithms and achieves approximately the same estimation accuracy as the centralized cooperative localization approach, but with reduced computational and communicative cost.

  17. A Robotic Guide for Blind People. Part 1. A Multi-National Survey of the Attitudes, Requirements and Preferences of Potential End-Users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marion A. Hersh

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports the results of a multi-national survey in several different countries on the attitudes, requirements and preferences of blind and visually impaired people for a robotic guide. The survey is introduced by a brief overview of existing work on robotic travel aids and other mobile robotic devices. The questionnaire comprises three sections on personal information about respondents, existing use of mobility and navigation devices and the functions and other features of a robotic guide. The survey found that respondents were very interested in the robotic guide having a number of different functions and being useful in a wide range of circumstances. They considered the robot's appearance to be very important but did not like any of the proposed designs. From their comments, respondents wanted the robot to be discreet and inconspicuous, small, light weight and portable, easy to use, robust to damage, require minimal maintenance, have a long life and a long battery life.

  18. Integral sliding mode-based formation control of multiple unertain robots via nonlinear disturbane observer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dianwei Qian

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This article proposes a control scheme for formation of maneuvers of a team of mobile robots. The control scheme integrates the integral sliding mode control method with the nonlinear disturbance observer technique. The leader–follower formation dynamics suffer from uncertainties originated from the individual robots. The uncertainties challenge the formation control of such robots. Assuming that the uncertainties are unknown but bounded, an nonlinear disturbance observer-based observer is utilized to approximate them. The observer outputs feed on an integral sliding mode control-based controller. The controller and observer are integrated into the control scheme to realize formation maneuvers despite uncertainties. The formation stability is analyzed by means of the Lyapunov’s theorem. In the sense of Lyapunov, not only the convergence of the approximation errors is guaranteed but also such a control scheme can asymptotically stabilize the formation system. Compared to the results by the sole integral sliding mode control, some simulations are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the control scheme.

  19. The Malaysian Robotic Solar Observatory (P29)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Othman, M.; Asillam, M. F.; Ismail, M. K. H.

    2006-11-01

    Robotic observatory with small telescopes can make significant contributions to astronomy observation. They provide an encouraging environment for astronomers to focus on data analysis and research while at the same time reducing time and cost for observation. The observatory will house the primary 50cm robotic telescope in the main dome which will be used for photometry, spectroscopy and astrometry observation activities. The secondary telescope is a robotic multi-apochromatic refractor (maximum diameter: 15 cm) which will be housed in the smaller dome. This telescope set will be used for solar observation mainly in three different wavelengths simultaneously: the Continuum, H-Alpha and Calcium K-line. The observatory is also equipped with an automated weather station, cloud & rain sensor and all-sky camera to monitor the climatic condition, sense the clouds (before raining) as well as to view real time sky view above the observatory. In conjunction with the Langkawi All-Sky Camera, the observatory website will also display images from the Malaysia - Antarctica All-Sky Camera used to monitor the sky at Scott Base Antarctica. Both all-sky images can be displayed simultaneously to show the difference between the equatorial and Antarctica skies. This paper will describe the Malaysian Robotic Observatory including the systems available and method of access by other astronomers. We will also suggest possible collaboration with other observatories in this region.

  20. A New Cancer Radiotherapy System Using Multi Robotic Manipulators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Seung Ho; Lee, Nam Ho; Lee, Byung Chul; Jeung, Kyung Min; Lee, Seong Uk; Bae, Yeong Geol; Na, Hyun Seok

    2013-01-01

    The CyberKnife system is state-of-the-art cancer treatment equipment that combines an image tracking technique, artificial intelligence software, robot technology, accelerator technology, and treatment simulation technology. The current CyberKnife System has significant shortcomings. The biggest problem is that it takes a longer time to treat a tumor. A long treatment time gives stress to patients. Furthermore it makes the patients uncomfortable with radiation and thus it is difficult to measure the exact radiation dose rate to the tumor in the processing. Linear accelerators for radiation treatment are dependent on imports, and demand high maintenance cost. This also makes the treatment cost higher and prevents the popularization of radiation. To solve the disadvantages of the existing CyberKnife, a radiation treatment robot system applied to several articulated robots is suggested. Essential element techniques for new radiotherapy robot system are investigated and some problems of similar existing systems are analyzed. This paper presents a general configuration of a new radiation robot treatment system including with a quantitative goal of the requirement techniques. This paper described a new radiotherapy robot system to track the tumor using multiple articulated robots in real time. The existing CyberKnife system using a single robot arm has disadvantages of a long radiotherapy time, high medical fee, and inaccurate measurement of the radiotherapy dose. So a new radiotherapy robot system for tumors has been proposed to solve the above problems of conventional CyberKnife systems. Necessary technologies to configure new the radiotherapy robot system have been identified. Quantitative targets of each technology have been established. Multiple robot arms are adopted to decrease the radiotherapy time. The results of this research are provided as a requisite technology for a domestic radiotherapy system and are expected to be the foundation of new technology. The

  1. A New Cancer Radiotherapy System Using Multi Robotic Manipulators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Seung Ho; Lee, Nam Ho; Lee, Byung Chul; Jeung, Kyung Min; Lee, Seong Uk; Bae, Yeong Geol; Na, Hyun Seok [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-10-15

    The CyberKnife system is state-of-the-art cancer treatment equipment that combines an image tracking technique, artificial intelligence software, robot technology, accelerator technology, and treatment simulation technology. The current CyberKnife System has significant shortcomings. The biggest problem is that it takes a longer time to treat a tumor. A long treatment time gives stress to patients. Furthermore it makes the patients uncomfortable with radiation and thus it is difficult to measure the exact radiation dose rate to the tumor in the processing. Linear accelerators for radiation treatment are dependent on imports, and demand high maintenance cost. This also makes the treatment cost higher and prevents the popularization of radiation. To solve the disadvantages of the existing CyberKnife, a radiation treatment robot system applied to several articulated robots is suggested. Essential element techniques for new radiotherapy robot system are investigated and some problems of similar existing systems are analyzed. This paper presents a general configuration of a new radiation robot treatment system including with a quantitative goal of the requirement techniques. This paper described a new radiotherapy robot system to track the tumor using multiple articulated robots in real time. The existing CyberKnife system using a single robot arm has disadvantages of a long radiotherapy time, high medical fee, and inaccurate measurement of the radiotherapy dose. So a new radiotherapy robot system for tumors has been proposed to solve the above problems of conventional CyberKnife systems. Necessary technologies to configure new the radiotherapy robot system have been identified. Quantitative targets of each technology have been established. Multiple robot arms are adopted to decrease the radiotherapy time. The results of this research are provided as a requisite technology for a domestic radiotherapy system and are expected to be the foundation of new technology. The

  2. Laser-based pedestrian tracking in outdoor environments by multiple mobile robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozaki, Masataka; Kakimuma, Kei; Hashimoto, Masafumi; Takahashi, Kazuhiko

    2012-10-29

    This paper presents an outdoors laser-based pedestrian tracking system using a group of mobile robots located near each other. Each robot detects pedestrians from its own laser scan image using an occupancy-grid-based method, and the robot tracks the detected pedestrians via Kalman filtering and global-nearest-neighbor (GNN)-based data association. The tracking data is broadcast to multiple robots through intercommunication and is combined using the covariance intersection (CI) method. For pedestrian tracking, each robot identifies its own posture using real-time-kinematic GPS (RTK-GPS) and laser scan matching. Using our cooperative tracking method, all the robots share the tracking data with each other; hence, individual robots can always recognize pedestrians that are invisible to any other robot. The simulation and experimental results show that cooperating tracking provides the tracking performance better than conventional individual tracking does. Our tracking system functions in a decentralized manner without any central server, and therefore, this provides a degree of scalability and robustness that cannot be achieved by conventional centralized architectures.

  3. Educational Robotics: Open Questions and New Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alimisis, Dimitris

    2013-01-01

    This paper investigates the current situation in the field of educational robotics and identifies new challenges and trends focusing on the use of robotic technologies as a tool that will support creativity and other 21st-century learning skills. Finally, conclusions and proposals are presented for promoting cooperation and networking of…

  4. Cooperative Behaviours with Swarm Intelligence in Multirobot Systems for Safety Inspections in Underground Terrains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chika Yinka-Banjo

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Underground mining operations are carried out in hazardous environments. To prevent disasters from occurring, as often as they do in underground mines, and to prevent safety routine checkers from disasters during safety inspection checks, multirobots are suggested to do the job of safety inspection rather than human beings and single robots. Multirobots are preferred because the inspection task will be done in the minimum amount of time. This paper proposes a cooperative behaviour for a multirobot system (MRS to achieve a preentry safety inspection in underground terrains. A hybrid QLACS swarm intelligent model based on Q-Learning (QL and the Ant Colony System (ACS was proposed to achieve this cooperative behaviour in MRS. The intelligent model was developed by harnessing the strengths of both QL and ACS algorithms. The ACS optimizes the routes used for each robot while the QL algorithm enhances the cooperation between the autonomous robots. A description of a communicating variation within the QLACS model for cooperative behavioural purposes is presented. The performance of the algorithms in terms of without communication, with communication, computation time, path costs, and the number of robots used was evaluated by using a simulation approach. Simulation results show achieved cooperative behaviour between robots.

  5. Hierarchical coordination control of mobile robots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Adinandra, S.

    2012-01-01

    In the last decade, robotic systems have penetrated human life more than human can imagine. In particular, the multi-mobile robotic systems have faced a fast growing due to the fact that by deploying a large collection of mobile robots the overall system has a high redundancy and offers the

  6. Teamwork in Multi-Agent Systems A Formal Approach

    CERN Document Server

    Dunin-Keplicz, Barbara Maria

    2010-01-01

    What makes teamwork tick?. Cooperation matters, in daily life and in complex applications. After all, many tasks need more than a single agent to be effectively performed. Therefore, teamwork rules!. Teams are social groups of agents dedicated to the fulfilment of particular persistent tasks. In modern multiagent environments, heterogeneous teams often consist of autonomous software agents, various types of robots and human beings. Teamwork in Multi-agent Systems: A Formal Approach explains teamwork rules in terms of agents' attitudes and their complex interplay. It provides the first comprehe

  7. Observation and imitation of actions performed by humans, androids, and robots: an EMG study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofree, Galit; Urgen, Burcu A.; Winkielman, Piotr; Saygin, Ayse P.

    2015-01-01

    Understanding others’ actions is essential for functioning in the physical and social world. In the past two decades research has shown that action perception involves the motor system, supporting theories that we understand others’ behavior via embodied motor simulation. Recently, empirical approach to action perception has been facilitated by using well-controlled artificial stimuli, such as robots. One broad question this approach can address is what aspects of similarity between the observer and the observed agent facilitate motor simulation. Since humans have evolved among other humans and animals, using artificial stimuli such as robots allows us to probe whether our social perceptual systems are specifically tuned to process other biological entities. In this study, we used humanoid robots with different degrees of human-likeness in appearance and motion along with electromyography (EMG) to measure muscle activity in participants’ arms while they either observed or imitated videos of three agents produce actions with their right arm. The agents were a Human (biological appearance and motion), a Robot (mechanical appearance and motion), and an Android (biological appearance and mechanical motion). Right arm muscle activity increased when participants imitated all agents. Increased muscle activation was found also in the stationary arm both during imitation and observation. Furthermore, muscle activity was sensitive to motion dynamics: activity was significantly stronger for imitation of the human than both mechanical agents. There was also a relationship between the dynamics of the muscle activity and motion dynamics in stimuli. Overall our data indicate that motor simulation is not limited to observation and imitation of agents with a biological appearance, but is also found for robots. However we also found sensitivity to human motion in the EMG responses. Combining data from multiple methods allows us to obtain a more complete picture of action

  8. Observation and Imitation of Actions Performed by Humans, Androids and Robots: An EMG study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Galit eHofree

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Understanding others’ actions is essential for functioning in the physical and social world. In the past two decades research has shown that action perception involves the motor system, supporting theories that we understand others’ behavior via embodied motor simulation. Recently, action perception has been facilitated by using well-controlled artificial stimuli, such as robots. One key question this approach enables is what aspects of similarity between the observer and the observed agent facilitate motor simulation? Since humans have evolved among other humans and animals, using artificial stimuli such as robots allows us to probe whether our social perceptual systems are tuned to process other biological entities. In this study, we used humanoid robots with different degrees of humanlikeness in appearance and motion along with electromyography (EMG to measure muscle activity in participants’ arms while they either observed or imitated videos of three agents produce actions with their right arm. The agents were a Human (biological appearance and motion, a Robot (mechanical appearance and motion and an Android (biological appearance, mechanical motion. Right arm muscle activity increased when participants imitated all agents. Increased muscle activation was found also in the stationary arm both during imitation and observation. Furthermore, muscle activity was sensitive to motion dynamics: activity was significantly stronger for imitation of the human than both mechanical agents. There was also a relationship between the dynamics of the muscle activity and motion dynamics in stimuli. Overall our data indicate that motor simulation is not limited to observation and imitation of agents with a biological appearance, but is also found for robots. However we also found sensitivity to human motion in the EMG responses. Combining data from multiple methods allows us to obtain a more complete picture of action understanding and the underlying

  9. Low Cost Multi-Sensor Robot Laser Scanning System and its Accuracy Investigations for Indoor Mapping Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, C.; Zou, X.; Tian, M.; Li, J.; Wu, W.; Song, Y.; Dai, W.; Yang, B.

    2017-11-01

    In order to solve the automation of 3D indoor mapping task, a low cost multi-sensor robot laser scanning system is proposed in this paper. The multiple-sensor robot laser scanning system includes a panorama camera, a laser scanner, and an inertial measurement unit and etc., which are calibrated and synchronized together to achieve simultaneously collection of 3D indoor data. Experiments are undertaken in a typical indoor scene and the data generated by the proposed system are compared with ground truth data collected by a TLS scanner showing an accuracy of 99.2% below 0.25 meter, which explains the applicability and precision of the system in indoor mapping applications.

  10. Research on multirobot pursuit task allocation algorithm based on emotional cooperation factor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Baofu; Chen, Lu; Wang, Hao; Dai, Shuanglu; Zhong, Qiubo

    2014-01-01

    Multirobot task allocation is a hot issue in the field of robot research. A new emotional model is used with the self-interested robot, which gives a new way to measure self-interested robots' individual cooperative willingness in the problem of multirobot task allocation. Emotional cooperation factor is introduced into self-interested robot; it is updated based on emotional attenuation and external stimuli. Then a multirobot pursuit task allocation algorithm is proposed, which is based on emotional cooperation factor. Combined with the two-step auction algorithm recruiting team leaders and team collaborators, set up pursuit teams, and finally use certain strategies to complete the pursuit task. In order to verify the effectiveness of this algorithm, some comparing experiments have been done with the instantaneous greedy optimal auction algorithm; the results of experiments show that the total pursuit time and total team revenue can be optimized by using this algorithm.

  11. Multi-Robot Motion Planning: A Timed Automata Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Quottrup, Michael Melholt; Bak, Thomas; Izadi-Zamanabadi, Roozbeh

    2004-01-01

    This paper describes how a network of interacting timed automata can be used to model, analyze, and verify motion planning problems in a scenario with multiple robotic vehicles. The method presupposes an infra-structure of robots with feed-back controllers obeying simple restriction on a planar grid. The automata formalism merely presents a high-level model of environment, robots and control, but allows composition and formal symbolic reasoning about coordinated solutions. Composition is achi...

  12. Intelligent computational control of multi-fingered dexterous robotic hand

    OpenAIRE

    Chen, Disi; Li, Gongfa; Jiang, Guozhang; Fang, Yinfeng; Ju, Zhaojie; Liu, Honghai

    2015-01-01

    We discuss the intelligent computational control theory and introduce the hardware structure of HIT/DLR II dexterous robotic hand, which is the typical dexterous robotic hand. We show that how DSP or FPGA controller can be used in the dexterous robotic hand. A popular intelligent dexterous robotic hand control system, which named Electromyography (EMG) control is investigated. We introduced some mathematical algorithms in EMG controlling, such as Gauss mixture model (GMM), artificial neural n...

  13. Underwater Multi-Vehicle Trajectory Alignment and Mapping Using Acoustic and Optical Constraints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ricard Campos

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Multi-robot formations are an important advance in recent robotic developments, as they allow a group of robots to merge their capacities and perform surveys in a more convenient way. With the aim of keeping the costs and acoustic communications to a minimum, cooperative navigation of multiple underwater vehicles is usually performed at the control level. In order to maintain the desired formation, individual robots just react to simple control directives extracted from range measurements or ultra-short baseline (USBL systems. Thus, the robots are unaware of their global positioning, which presents a problem for the further processing of the collected data. The aim of this paper is two-fold. First, we present a global alignment method to correct the dead reckoning trajectories of multiple vehicles to resemble the paths followed during the mission using the acoustic messages passed between vehicles. Second, we focus on the optical mapping application of these types of formations and extend the optimization framework to allow for multi-vehicle geo-referenced optical 3D mapping using monocular cameras. The inclusion of optical constraints is not performed using the common bundle adjustment techniques, but in a form improving the computational efficiency of the resulting optimization problem and presenting a generic process to fuse optical reconstructions with navigation data. We show the performance of the proposed method on real datasets collected within the Morph EU-FP7 project.

  14. Multi-Robot Motion Planning: A Timed Automata Approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Quottrup, Michael Melholt; Bak, Thomas; Izadi-Zamanabadi, Roozbeh

    2004-01-01

    This paper describes how a network of interacting timed automata can be used to model, analyze, and verify motion planning problems in a scenario with multiple robotic vehicles. The method presupposes an infra-structure of robots with feed-back controllers obeying simple restriction on a planar...... grid. The automata formalism merely presents a high-level model of environment, robots and control, but allows composition and formal symbolic reasoning about coordinated solutions. Composition is achieved through synchronization, and the verification software UPPAAL is used for a symbolic verification...... then subsequently be used as a high-level motion plan for the robots. This paper reports on the timed automata framework, results of two verification experiments, promise of the approach, and gives a perspective for future research....

  15. Multi-Robot Motion Planning: A Timed Automata Approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Quottrup, Michael Melholt; Bak, Thomas; Izadi-Zamanabadi, Roozbeh

    This paper describes how a network of interacting timed automata can be used to model, analyze, and verify motion planning problems in a scenario with multiple robotic vehicles. The method presupposes an infra-structure of robots with feed-back controllers obeying simple restriction on a planar...... grid. The automata formalism merely presents a high-level model of environment, robots and control, but allows composition and formal symbolic reasoning about coordinated solutions. Composition is achieved through synchronization, and the verification software UPPAAL is used for a symbolic verification...... then subsequently be used as a high-level motion plan for the robots. This paper reports on the timed automata framework, results of two verification experiments, promise of the approach, and gives a perspective for future research....

  16. A Human-Robot Co-Manipulation Approach Based on Human Sensorimotor Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peternel, Luka; Tsagarakis, Nikos; Ajoudani, Arash

    2017-07-01

    This paper aims to improve the interaction and coordination between the human and the robot in cooperative execution of complex, powerful, and dynamic tasks. We propose a novel approach that integrates online information about the human motor function and manipulability properties into the hybrid controller of the assistive robot. Through this human-in-the-loop framework, the robot can adapt to the human motor behavior and provide the appropriate assistive response in different phases of the cooperative task. We experimentally evaluate the proposed approach in two human-robot co-manipulation tasks that require specific complementary behavior from the two agents. Results suggest that the proposed technique, which relies on a minimum degree of task-level pre-programming, can achieve an enhanced physical human-robot interaction performance and deliver appropriate level of assistance to the human operator.

  17. Service orientation in holonic and multi agent manufacturing and robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Thomas, Andre; Trentesaux, Damien

    2013-01-01

    The book covers four research domains representing a trend for modern manufacturing control: Holonic and Multi-agent technologies for industrial systems; Intelligent Product and Product-driven Automation; Service Orientation of Enterprise’s strategic and technical processes; and Distributed Intelligent Automation Systems. These evolution lines have in common concepts related to service orientation derived from the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm.     The service-oriented multi-agent systems approach discussed in the book is characterized by the use of a set of distributed autonomous and cooperative agents, embedded in smart components that use the SOA principles, being oriented by offer and request of services, in order to fulfil production systems and value chain goals.   A new integrated vision combining emergent technologies is offered, to create control structures with distributed intelligence supporting the vertical and horizontal enterprise integration and running in truly distributed ...

  18. SITUATION ASSESSMENT THROUGH MULTI-MODAL SENSING OF DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS TO SUPPORT COGNITIVE ROBOT CONTROL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Atta Badii

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Awareness of emerging situations in a dynamic operational environment of a robotic assistive device is an essential capability of such a cognitive system, based on its effective and efficient assessment of the prevailing situation. This allows the system to interact with the environment in a sensible (semiautonomous / pro-active manner without the need for frequent interventions from a supervisor.  In this paper, we report a novel generic Situation Assessment Architecture for robotic systems directly assisting humans as developed in the CORBYS project. This paper presents the overall architecture for situation assessment and its application in proof-of-concept Demonstrators as developed and validated within the CORBYS project. These include a robotic human follower and a mobile gait rehabilitation robotic system. We present an overview of the structure and functionality of the Situation Assessment Architecture for robotic systems with results and observations as collected from initial validation on the two CORBYS Demonstrators.

  19. Nonlinear disturbance observer based sliding mode control of a cable-driven rehabilitation robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niu, Jie; Yang, Qianqian; Chen, Guangtao; Song, Rong

    2017-07-01

    This paper introduces a cable-driven robot for upper-limb rehabilitation. Kinematic and dynamic of this rehabilitation robot is analyzed. A sliding mode controller combined with a nonlinear disturbance observer is proposed to control this robot in the presence of disturbances. Simulation is carried out to prove the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme, and the results of the proposed controller is compared with a PID controller and a traditional sliding mode controller. Results show that the proposed controller can effectively improve the tracking performance as compared with the other two controllers and cause lower chattering as compared with a traditional sliding mode controller.

  20. The Effectiveness of Simulated Robots for Supporting the Learning of Introductory Programming: A Multi-Case Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Major, Louis; Kyriacou, Theocharis; Brereton, Pearl

    2014-01-01

    This work investigates the effectiveness of simulated robots as tools to support the learning of programming. After the completion of a systematic review and exploratory research, a multi-case case study was undertaken. A simulator, named Kebot, was developed and used to run four 10-hour programming workshops. Twenty-three student participants…

  1. Multi-Robot FastSLAM for Large Domains

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-03-01

    Derr, D. Fox, A.B. Cremers , Integrating global position estimation and position tracking for mobile robots: The dynamic markov localization approach...Intelligence (AAAI), 2000. 53. Andrew J. Davison and David W. Murray. Simultaneous Localization and Map- Building Using Active Vision. IEEE...Wyeth, Michael Milford and David Prasser. A Modified Particle Filter for Simultaneous Robot Localization and Landmark Tracking in an Indoor

  2. International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 2011

    CERN Document Server

    Rosen, Jacob; Redundancy in Robot Manipulators and Multi-Robot Systems

    2013-01-01

    The trend in the evolution of robotic systems is that the number of degrees of freedom increases. This is visible both in robot manipulator design and in the shift of focus from single to multi-robot systems. Following the principles of evolution in nature, one may infer that adding degrees of freedom to robot systems design is beneficial. However, since nature did not select snake-like bodies for all creatures, it is reasonable to expect the presence of a certain selection pressure on the number of degrees of freedom. Thus, understanding costs and benefits of multiple degrees of freedom, especially those that create redundancy, is a fundamental problem in the field of robotics. This volume is mostly based on the works presented at the workshop on Redundancy in Robot Manipulators and Multi-Robot Systems at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 2011. The workshopwas envisioned as a dialog between researchers from two separate, but obviously relatedfields of robotics: on...

  3. Cooperative Antibiotic Resistance in a Multi-Drug Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yurtsev, Eugene; Dai, Lei; Gore, Jeff

    2013-03-01

    The emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a significant health concern. A frequent mechanism of antibiotic resistance involves the production of an enzyme which inactivates the antibiotic. By inactivating the antibiotic, resistant cells can ``share'' their resistance with other cells in the bacterial population, suggesting that it may be possible to observe cooperation between strains that inactivate different antibiotics. Here, we experimentally track the population dynamics of two E. coli strains in the presence of two different antibiotics. We find that together the strains are able to grow in antibiotic concentrations that inhibit growth of either of the strains individually. We observe that even when there is stable coexistence between the two strains, the population size of each strain can undergo large oscillations. We expect that our results will provide insight into the evolution of antibiotic resistance and the evolutionary origin of phenotypic diversity and cooperative behaviors.

  4. Soft computing in advanced robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Kobayashi, Ichiro; Kim, Euntai

    2014-01-01

    Intelligent system and robotics are inevitably bound up; intelligent robots makes embodiment of system integration by using the intelligent systems. We can figure out that intelligent systems are to cell units, while intelligent robots are to body components. The two technologies have been synchronized in progress. Making leverage of the robotics and intelligent systems, applications cover boundlessly the range from our daily life to space station; manufacturing, healthcare, environment, energy, education, personal assistance, logistics. This book aims at presenting the research results in relevance with intelligent robotics technology. We propose to researchers and practitioners some methods to advance the intelligent systems and apply them to advanced robotics technology. This book consists of 10 contributions that feature mobile robots, robot emotion, electric power steering, multi-agent, fuzzy visual navigation, adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system, swarm EKF localization and inspection robot. Th...

  5. The generation and re-generation of social capital and enterprises in multi-stakeholders social cooperative enterprises: a system dynamic approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudio Travaglini

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Theories on social capital and on social entrepreneurship have mainly highlighted the attitude of social capital to generate enterprises and to foster good relations between third sector organizations and the public sector. This paper considers the social capital in a specific third sector enterprise; here, multi-stakeholder social cooperatives are seen, at the same time, as social capital results, creators and incubators. In the particular enterprises that identify themselves as community social enterprises, social capital, both as organizational and relational capital, is fundamental: SCEs arise from but also produce and disseminate social capital. This paper aims to improve the building of relational social capital and the refining of helpful relations drawn from other arenas, where they were created and from where they are sometimes transferred to other realities, where their role is carried on further (often working in non-profit, horizontally and vertically arranged groups, where they share resources and relations. To represent this perspective, we use a qualitative system dynamic approach in which social capital is measured using proxies. Cooperation of volunteers, customers, community leaders and third sector local organizations is fundamental to establish trust relations between public local authorities and cooperatives. These relations help the latter to maintain long-term contracts with local authorities as providers of social services and enable them to add innovation to their services, by developing experiences and management models and maintaining an interchange with civil servants regarding these matters. The long-term relations and the organizational relations linking SCEs and public organizations help to create and to renovate social capital. Thus, multi-stakeholder cooperatives originated via social capital developed in third sector organizations produce new social capital within the cooperatives themselves and between

  6. Modelling Engagement in Multi-Party Conversations : Data-Driven Approaches to Understanding Human-Human Communication Patterns for Use in Human-Robot Interactions

    OpenAIRE

    Oertel, Catharine

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this thesis is to study human-human interaction in order to provide virtual agents and robots with the capability to engage into multi-party-conversations in a human-like-manner. The focus lies with the modelling of conversational dynamics and the appropriate realization of multi-modal feedback behaviour. For such an undertaking, it is important to understand how human-human communication unfolds in varying contexts and constellations over time. To this end, multi-modal human-human...

  7. A guidance and control algorithm for scent tracking micro-robotic vehicle swarms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dohner, J.L.

    1998-03-01

    Cooperative micro-robotic scent tracking vehicles are designed to collectively sniff out locations of high scent concentrations in unknown, geometrically complex environments. These vehicles are programmed with guidance and control algorithms that allow inter cooperation among vehicles. In this paper a cooperative guidance and control algorithm for scent tracking micro-robotic vehicles is presented. This algorithm is comprised of a sensory compensation sub-algorithm using point source cancellation, a guidance sub-algorithm using gradient descent tracking, and a control sub-algorithm using proportional feedback. The concepts of social rank and point source cancellation are new concepts introduced within. Simulation results for cooperative vehicles swarms are given. Limitations are discussed

  8. A guidance and control algorithm for scent tracking micro-robotic vehicle swarms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dohner, J.L. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States). Structural Dynamics Dept.

    1998-03-01

    Cooperative micro-robotic scent tracking vehicles are designed to collectively sniff out locations of high scent concentrations in unknown, geometrically complex environments. These vehicles are programmed with guidance and control algorithms that allow inter cooperation among vehicles. In this paper a cooperative guidance and control algorithm for scent tracking micro-robotic vehicles is presented. This algorithm is comprised of a sensory compensation sub-algorithm using point source cancellation, a guidance sub-algorithm using gradient descent tracking, and a control sub-algorithm using proportional feedback. The concepts of social rank and point source cancellation are new concepts introduced within. Simulation results for cooperative vehicles swarms are given. Limitations are discussed.

  9. Robotics for nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakayama, Ryoichi; Kimura, Motohiko; Abe, Akira

    1993-01-01

    A continuing need exists for automatic or remote-controlled machines or robots which can perform inspection and maintenance tasks in nuclear power plants. Toshiba has developed several types of monofunctional and multi- functional robots for such purposes over the past 20 years, some of which have already been used in actual plants. This paper describes new multifunctional robots for inspection and maintenance. An inspection robot has been applied in an actual plant for two years for performance testing. Maintenance robots for grinding tasks have also been developed, which can be easily teleoperated by the operator using automatic control. These new robots are expected to be applied to actual inspection and maintenance work in nuclear power plants. (author)

  10. Structural brain changes after traditional and robot-assisted multi-domain cognitive training in community-dwelling healthy elderly.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geon Ha Kim

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate if multi-domain cognitive training, especially robot-assisted training, alters cortical thickness in the brains of elderly participants. A controlled trial was conducted with 85 volunteers without cognitive impairment who were 60 years old or older. Participants were first randomized into two groups. One group consisted of 48 participants who would receive cognitive training and 37 who would not receive training. The cognitive training group was randomly divided into two groups, 24 who received traditional cognitive training and 24 who received robot-assisted cognitive training. The training for both groups consisted of daily 90-min-session, five days a week for a total of 12 weeks. The primary outcome was the changes in cortical thickness. When compared to the control group, both groups who underwent cognitive training demonstrated attenuation of age related cortical thinning in the frontotemporal association cortices. When the robot and the traditional interventions were directly compared, the robot group showed less cortical thinning in the anterior cingulate cortices. Our results suggest that cognitive training can mitigate age-associated structural brain changes in the elderly.ClnicalTrials.gov NCT01596205.

  11. Achievement report for fiscal 2000 on research and development of human cooperating and coexisting robot system. Research and development of rationalization in oil refining system; 2000 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Sekiyu seisei system gorika kenkyu kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-06-01

    It is intended to develop a human cooperating and coexisting robot system that can move around freely during operation and shutdown of a oil refining plant to perform different works. This paper describes the achievements in fiscal 2000. With regard to the navigation and maintenance work functions, design was made on the robot induction system and its conception to perform the works after the robot has reached a place of the work. The specifications required for the robot supporting agent were made clear, and the constituting modules were designed to exchange information with the robot. Specifications were compiled for a portable remote operation device intended of operating different vehicles. Investigations were carried out on such protection technologies as interference check and shock absorbing materials to protect the robot platform. A method was developed to acquire posture and motion patterns of a human demonstrator, using only the upper half of the body, from the images captured by a head-mounted camera. Discussions were given on the specifications, systems and image processing algorithms required for vision-navigated autonomous walking, whose practicability was verified. Autonomous walking by means of map-based guidance, and hand operating technologies were also discussed. (NEDO)

  12. Developing a multi-joint upper limb exoskeleton robot for diagnosis, therapy, and outcome evaluation in neurorehabilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Yupeng; Kang, Sang Hoon; Park, Hyung-Soon; Wu, Yi-Ning; Zhang, Li-Qun

    2013-05-01

    Arm impairments in patients post stroke involve the shoulder, elbow and wrist simultaneously. It is not very clear how patients develop spasticity and reduced range of motion (ROM) at the multiple joints and the abnormal couplings among the multiple joints and the multiple degrees-of-freedom (DOF) during passive movement. It is also not clear how they lose independent control of individual joints/DOFs and coordination among the joints/DOFs during voluntary movement. An upper limb exoskeleton robot, the IntelliArm, which can control the shoulder, elbow, and wrist, was developed, aiming to support clinicians and patients with the following integrated capabilities: 1) quantitative, objective, and comprehensive multi-joint neuromechanical pre-evaluation capabilities aiding multi-joint/DOF diagnosis for individual patients; 2) strenuous and safe passive stretching of hypertonic/deformed arm for loosening up muscles/joints based on the robot-aided diagnosis; 3) (assistive/resistive) active reaching training after passive stretching for regaining/improving motor control ability; and 4) quantitative, objective, and comprehensive neuromechanical outcome evaluation at the level of individual joints/DOFs, multiple joints, and whole arm. Feasibility of the integrated capabilities was demonstrated through experiments with stroke survivors and healthy subjects.

  13. Joint Conditional Random Field Filter for Multi-Object Tracking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luo Ronghua

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Object tracking can improve the performance of mobile robot especially in populated dynamic environments. A novel joint conditional random field Filter (JCRFF based on conditional random field with hierarchical structure is proposed for multi-object tracking by abstracting the data associations between objects and measurements to be a sequence of labels. Since the conditional random field makes no assumptions about the dependency structure between the observations and it allows non-local dependencies between the state and the observations, the proposed method can not only fuse multiple cues including shape information and motion information to improve the stability of tracking, but also integrate moving object detection and object tracking quite well. At the same time, implementation of multi-object tracking based on JCRFF with measurements from the laser range finder on a mobile robot is studied. Experimental results with the mobile robot developed in our lab show that the proposed method has higher precision and better stability than joint probabilities data association filter (JPDAF.

  14. Autonomous Motion Learning for Intra-Vehicular Activity Space Robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Yutaka; Yairi, Takehisa; Machida, Kazuo

    Space robots will be needed in the future space missions. So far, many types of space robots have been developed, but in particular, Intra-Vehicular Activity (IVA) space robots that support human activities should be developed to reduce human-risks in space. In this paper, we study the motion learning method of an IVA space robot with the multi-link mechanism. The advantage point is that this space robot moves using reaction force of the multi-link mechanism and contact forces from the wall as space walking of an astronaut, not to use a propulsion. The control approach is determined based on a reinforcement learning with the actor-critic algorithm. We demonstrate to clear effectiveness of this approach using a 5-link space robot model by simulation. First, we simulate that a space robot learn the motion control including contact phase in two dimensional case. Next, we simulate that a space robot learn the motion control changing base attitude in three dimensional case.

  15. HyPro: A Multi-DoF Hybrid-Powered Transradial Robotic Prosthesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. L. Semasinghe

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a multi-DoF hybrid-powered transradial robotic prosthesis, named HyPro. The HyPro consists of two prosthetic units: hand and wrist that can achieve five grasping patterns such as power grasp, tip grasp, lateral grasp, hook grasp, and index point. It is an underactuated device with 15 degrees of freedom. A hybrid powering concept is proposed and implemented on hand unit of HyPro where the key focus is on restoration of grasp functions of biological hand. A novel underactuated mechanism is introduced to achieve the required hand preshaping for a given grasping pattern using electric power in the pregrasp stage and body power is used in grasp stage to execute the final grasping action with the selected fingers. Unlike existing hybrid prostheses where each of the joints is separately controlled by either electric or body power, the proposed prosthesis is capable of delivering grasping power in combination. The wrist unit of HyPro is designed and developed to achieve flexion-extension and supination-pronation using electric power. Experiments were carried out to evaluate the functionality and performance of the proposed hybrid-powered robotic prosthesis. The results verified the potential of HyPro to perform intended grasping patterns effectively and efficiently.

  16. 3D YAG laser cutting robot. 3 jigen YAG laser setsudan robot

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mukai, Y. (Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., Osaka (Japan))

    1991-11-01

    The present status was introduced of three-dimensional processing by the YAG laser multi-articulation robot to introduce the focusing system. The lowering in locus accuracy of multi-articulation robot is caused by the accuracy and time of computation to interpolate the locus, response characteristics of servo system, and calibration problem of mechanical/structural system. Also as low in output power of laser, it has problem in focusing the energy in the radiating optical system. A focusing system, high in response velocity, is necessary in the processor to use the optical fiber in the optical transfer system. As processing and measuring at an identical spot, the present system can integrate the detection use electrode and nozzle so as to use an electrostatic capacity type sensor, high in response frequency. To avoid the interference with jig, etc., the nozzle of radiating unit was integrated with the detection use electrode so that development was made of height sensor, capable of executing the three-dimensional processing. The present robot is characterized by a standardized equipment of control system with a sliding shaft, independent of the operational shaft properly of robot in order to be exclusively used for the focusing. 9 figs.

  17. Selection of industrial robots using the Polygons area method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mortaza Honarmande Azimi

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Selection of robots from the several proposed alternatives is a very important and tedious task. Decision makers are not limited to one method and several methods have been proposed for solving this problem. This study presents Polygons Area Method (PAM as a multi attribute decision making method for robot selection problem. In this method, the maximum polygons area obtained from the attributes of an alternative robot on the radar chart is introduced as a decision-making criterion. The results of this method are compared with other typical multiple attribute decision-making methods (SAW, WPM, TOPSIS, and VIKOR by giving two examples. To find similarity in ranking given by different methods, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients are obtained for different pairs of MADM methods. It was observed that the introduced method is in good agreement with other well-known MADM methods in the robot selection problem.

  18. Socio-Economic Development of the Members of Two Multi-Purpose Cooperatives in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian Anthony C. Agutaya

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The study determined the members’ socio-economic development of the two multipurpose cooperatives in Calapan City namely Calapan Labor Service Development Cooperative (CALSEDECO and Calapan Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CVMPC. The descriptive research design analysis was used by the researcher. The open-ended questionnaires were administered to purposively selected 30 members in each group of fiscal year 2016. Method of data analysis was thru qualitative analysis. The study found that the operations of CALSEDECO and CVMPC were very satisfactory in terms of commitment, financial aspect, and business development program. The services rendered by CALSEDECO and CVMPC were extensive in terms of providential services, benefits from business operations, availability of credit facility and overall member satisfaction. The CALSEDECO and CVMPC contributed to the socio-economic development of their members in terms of social and economic development. The study lead to the favorable assessment of the direct socio-economic needs of the communities in terms of multi-purpose cooperative operation, services rendered and members’ socioeconomic development and consider a timely and appropriate technology to advancing cooperative industry usefulness, economic sustainability, capacity building program for the entire city to construe with the various national programs of the government. The study recommended the policy innovation and creativity by delivering a viable program proposal to the LGU to create an impact for the betterment of these underdeveloped communities in the Philippines

  19. Decentralized Control of Unmanned Aerial Robots for Wireless Airborne Communication Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deok-Jin Lee

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a cooperative control strategy for a team of aerial robotic vehicles to establish wireless airborne communication networks between distributed heterogeneous vehicles. Each aerial robot serves as a flying mobile sensor performing a reconfigurable communication relay node which enabls communication networks with static or slow-moving nodes on gorund or ocean. For distributed optimal deployment of the aerial vehicles for communication networks, an adaptive hill-climbing type decentralized control algorithm is developed to seek out local extremum for optimal localization of the vehicles. The sensor networks estabilished by the decentralized cooperative control approach can adopt its configuraiton in response to signal strength as the function of the relative distance between the autonomous aerial robots and distributed sensor nodes in the sensed environment. Simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed decentralized cooperative control technique for robust communication networks.

  20. Influence of facial feedback during a cooperative human-robot task in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Laura; Khoramshahi, Mahdi; Salesse, Robin N; Bortolon, Catherine; Słowiński, Piotr; Zhai, Chao; Tsaneva-Atanasova, Krasimira; Di Bernardo, Mario; Capdevielle, Delphine; Marin, Ludovic; Schmidt, Richard C; Bardy, Benoit G; Billard, Aude; Raffard, Stéphane

    2017-11-03

    Rapid progress in the area of humanoid robots offers tremendous possibilities for investigating and improving social competences in people with social deficits, but remains yet unexplored in schizophrenia. In this study, we examined the influence of social feedbacks elicited by a humanoid robot on motor coordination during a human-robot interaction. Twenty-two schizophrenia patients and twenty-two matched healthy controls underwent a collaborative motor synchrony task with the iCub humanoid robot. Results revealed that positive social feedback had a facilitatory effect on motor coordination in the control participants compared to non-social positive feedback. This facilitatory effect was not present in schizophrenia patients, whose social-motor coordination was similarly impaired in social and non-social feedback conditions. Furthermore, patients' cognitive flexibility impairment and antipsychotic dosing were negatively correlated with patients' ability to synchronize hand movements with iCub. Overall, our findings reveal that patients have marked difficulties to exploit facial social cues elicited by a humanoid robot to modulate their motor coordination during human-robot interaction, partly accounted for by cognitive deficits and medication. This study opens new perspectives for comprehension of social deficits in this mental disorder.

  1. Self-organized control in cooperative robots using a pattern formation principle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Starke, Jens; Ellsaesser, Carmen; Fukuda, Toshio

    2011-01-01

    problems where robot teams have to serve manufacturing targets such that an objective function is optimized. Feasibility of the self-organized solutions can be guaranteed even for unpredictable situations like sudden changes in the demands or breakdowns of robots. As example an uncrewed space mission...

  2. Advanced real-time multi-display educational system (ARMES): An innovative real-time audiovisual mentoring tool for complex robotic surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Joong Ho; Tanaka, Eiji; Woo, Yanghee; Ali, Güner; Son, Taeil; Kim, Hyoung-Il; Hyung, Woo Jin

    2017-12-01

    The recent scientific and technologic advances have profoundly affected the training of surgeons worldwide. We describe a novel intraoperative real-time training module, the Advanced Robotic Multi-display Educational System (ARMES). We created a real-time training module, which can provide a standardized step by step guidance to robotic distal subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy procedures, ARMES. The short video clips of 20 key steps in the standardized procedure for robotic gastrectomy were created and integrated with TilePro™ software to delivery on da Vinci Surgical Systems (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA). We successfully performed the robotic distal subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy for patient with gastric cancer employing this new teaching method without any transfer errors or system failures. Using this technique, the total operative time was 197 min and blood loss was 50 mL and there were no intra- or post-operative complications. Our innovative real-time mentoring module, ARMES, enables standardized, systematic guidance during surgical procedures. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Robots and Humans in Planetary Exploration: Working Together?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landis, Geoffrey A.; Lyons, Valerie (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Today's approach to human-robotic cooperation in planetary exploration focuses on using robotic probes as precursors to human exploration. A large portion of current NASA planetary surface exploration is focussed on Mars, and robotic probes are seen as precursors to human exploration in: Learning about operation and mobility on Mars; Learning about the environment of Mars; Mapping the planet and selecting landing sites for human mission; Demonstration of critical technology; Manufacture fuel before human presence, and emplace elements of human-support infrastructure

  4. Intelligent robot trends for 1998

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Ernest L.

    1998-10-01

    An intelligent robot is a remarkably useful combination of a manipulator, sensors and controls. The use of these machines in factory automation can improve productivity, increase product quality and improve competitiveness. This paper presents a discussion of recent technical and economic trends. Technically, the machines are faster, cheaper, more repeatable, more reliable and safer. The knowledge base of inverse kinematic and dynamic solutions and intelligent controls is increasing. More attention is being given by industry to robots, vision and motion controls. New areas of usage are emerging for service robots, remote manipulators and automated guided vehicles. Economically, the robotics industry now has a 1.1 billion-dollar market in the U.S. and is growing. Feasibility studies results are presented which also show decreasing costs for robots and unaudited healthy rates of return for a variety of robotic applications. However, the road from inspiration to successful application can be long and difficult, often taking decades to achieve a new product. A greater emphasis on mechatronics is needed in our universities. Certainly, more cooperation between government, industry and universities is needed to speed the development of intelligent robots that will benefit industry and society.

  5. Analysis on the Load Carrying Mechanism Integrated as Heterogeneous Co-operative Manipulator in a Walking Wheelchair

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajay Vedaraj, I. S.; Jain, Ritika; Rao, B. V. A.

    2014-07-01

    After industrial robots came into existence during 1960, the technology of robotics with the design and analysis of robots in various forms in industries as well as in domestic applications were developed. Nowadays, along with the automotive sector the robots are producing a great impact in the form of quality and production rate to register their existence reliable in various other sectors also. Robotic technology has undergone various phase translations from being tortured as humanoids to the present day manipulators. Depending upon the various forms of its existence, robot manipulators are designed as serial manipulators and parallel manipulators. Individually both types can be proved effective though both have various drawbacks in design and the kinematic analysis. The versatility of robots can be increased by making them work in an environment where the same work volume is shared by more than one manipulator. This work volume can be identified as co-operative work volume of those manipulators. Here the interference of manipulators in the work volume of other manipulators is possible and is made obstacle free. The main advantage of co-operative manipulators is that when a number of independent manipulators are put together in a cooperative work envelope the efficiency and ability to perform tasks is greatly enhanced. The main disadvantage of the co-operative manipulators lies in the complication of its design even for a simple application, in almost all fields. In this paper, a cooperative design of robot manipulators to work in co-operative work environment is done and analysed for its efficacy. In the industrial applications when robotic manipulators are put together in more numbers, the trajectory planning becomes the tough task in the work cell. Proper design can remove the design defects of the cooperative manipulators and can be utilized in a more efficient way. In the proposed research paper an analysis is made on such a type of cooperative manipulator

  6. Analysis on the Load Carrying Mechanism Integrated as Heterogeneous Co-operative Manipulator in a Walking Wheelchair

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vedaraj, I S Rajay; Jain, Ritika; Rao, B V A

    2014-01-01

    After industrial robots came into existence during 1960, the technology of robotics with the design and analysis of robots in various forms in industries as well as in domestic applications were developed. Nowadays, along with the automotive sector the robots are producing a great impact in the form of quality and production rate to register their existence reliable in various other sectors also. Robotic technology has undergone various phase translations from being tortured as humanoids to the present day manipulators. Depending upon the various forms of its existence, robot manipulators are designed as serial manipulators and parallel manipulators. Individually both types can be proved effective though both have various drawbacks in design and the kinematic analysis. The versatility of robots can be increased by making them work in an environment where the same work volume is shared by more than one manipulator. This work volume can be identified as co-operative work volume of those manipulators. Here the interference of manipulators in the work volume of other manipulators is possible and is made obstacle free. The main advantage of co-operative manipulators is that when a number of independent manipulators are put together in a cooperative work envelope the efficiency and ability to perform tasks is greatly enhanced. The main disadvantage of the co-operative manipulators lies in the complication of its design even for a simple application, in almost all fields. In this paper, a cooperative design of robot manipulators to work in co-operative work environment is done and analysed for its efficacy. In the industrial applications when robotic manipulators are put together in more numbers, the trajectory planning becomes the tough task in the work cell. Proper design can remove the design defects of the cooperative manipulators and can be utilized in a more efficient way. In the proposed research paper an analysis is made on such a type of cooperative manipulator

  7. FY 1999 achievement report on the R and D of a human cooperation/coexistence robot system. New development for the commercialization for the electric power generation technology; 1999 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Shinhatsuden gijutsu jitsuyoka kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-03-01

    The paper described the FY 1999 results of the development of a human cooperation/coexistence robot system and the development for commercialization for power plants. The support robot platform for maintenance, etc. was fabricated, connected with the remote operation system and verified of the integrated function. The operator controls the robot from the remote operation cockpit by HMD (head mounted display) which can present image following the head movement of the operator, extended virtual reality technology, and stereo-sound system. Hand/arm movement and instruction for movement were given to the robot, and at the same time, the robot was made a device which can present inner force sense and bodily sensation to the operator. The remote hand operating software was developed. A method was developed by which the information on visual sense, touch sense and somatic sense is presented in realtime to the operator so that he can obtain a feeling of attendance. A model for sensor simulator verification was also developed so that the developer of software can also make a verification experiment in the actual environment. Interface was developed so that library of basic movements can be used in the network environment. An investigational research on the promotion of robot was made. (NEDO)

  8. Multi-optimization Criteria-based Robot Behavioral Adaptability and Motion Planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pin, Francois G.

    2002-01-01

    Robotic tasks are typically defined in Task Space (e.g., the 3-D World), whereas robots are controlled in Joint Space (motors). The transformation from Task Space to Joint Space must consider the task objectives (e.g., high precision, strength optimization, torque optimization), the task constraints (e.g., obstacles, joint limits, non-holonomic constraints, contact or tool task constraints), and the robot kinematics configuration (e.g., tools, type of joints, mobile platform, manipulator, modular additions, locked joints). Commercially available robots are optimized for a specific set of tasks, objectives and constraints and, therefore, their control codes are extremely specific to a particular set of conditions. Thus, there exist a multiplicity of codes, each handling a particular set of conditions, but none suitable for use on robots with widely varying tasks, objectives, constraints, or environments. On the other hand, most DOE missions and tasks are typically ''batches of one''. Attempting to use commercial codes for such work requires significant personnel and schedule costs for re-programming or adding code to the robots whenever a change in task objective, robot configuration, number and type of constraint, etc. occurs. The objective of our project is to develop a ''generic code'' to implement this Task-space to Joint-Space transformation that would allow robot behavior adaptation, in real time (at loop rate), to changes in task objectives, number and type of constraints, modes of controls, kinematics configuration (e.g., new tools, added module). Our specific goal is to develop a single code for the general solution of under-specified systems of algebraic equations that is suitable for solving the inverse kinematics of robots, is useable for all types of robots (mobile robots, manipulators, mobile manipulators, etc.) with no limitation on the number of joints and the number of controlled Task-Space variables, can adapt to real time changes in number and

  9. Sliding Mode Tracking Control of a Wire-Driven Upper-Limb Rehabilitation Robot with Nonlinear Disturbance Observer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Niu

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Robot-aided rehabilitation has become an important technology to restore and reinforce motor functions of patients with extremity impairment, whereas it can be extremely challenging to achieve satisfactory tracking performance due to uncertainties and disturbances during rehabilitation training. In this paper, a wire-driven rehabilitation robot that can work over a three-dimensional space is designed for upper-limb rehabilitation, and sliding mode control with nonlinear disturbance observer is designed for the robot to deal with the problem of unpredictable disturbances during robot-assisted training. Then, simulation and experiments of trajectory tracking are carried out to evaluate the performance of the system, the position errors, and the output forces of the designed control scheme are compared with those of the traditional sliding mode control (SMC scheme. The results show that the designed control scheme can effectively reduce the tracking errors and chattering of the output forces as compared with the traditional SMC scheme, which indicates that the nonlinear disturbance observer can reduce the effect of unpredictable disturbances. The designed control scheme for the wire-driven rehabilitation robot has potential to assist patients with stroke in performing repetitive rehabilitation training.

  10. Multiprocessor development for robot control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jong Min; Kim, Seung Ho; Hwang, Suk Yeoung; Sohn, Surg Won; Kim, Byung Soo; Kim, Chang Hoi; Lee, Yong Bum; Kim, Woong Ki

    1988-12-01

    The object of this project is to develop a multiprocessor system which is essential to robot technology. A multiprocessor system interconnecting many single board computer is much faster and flexible than a single processor. The developed multiprocessor will be used to control nuclear mobile robot, so a loosely coupled system is adopted as a robot controller. A total configuration of controller is divided into three main parts in related with its function. It is consisted of supervisory control part, functional control part, remote control part. The designed control system is to be expanded easily for further use with a modular architecture, so the functional independency within sub-systems can be obtained throughout the system structure. Electromagnetic interference affecting to the control system is minimized by using optical fiber as communication media between robot and control system. System performances is enhanced not only by using distributed architecture in hardware, but by adopting real-time, multi-tasking operating system in software. The iRMX86 OS is used and reconfigured for real-time, multi-tasking operation. RS-485 serial communication protocol is used between functional control part and remote control part. Since the developed multiprocessor control system is an essential and fundamental technology for artificial intelligent robot, the result of this project can be applied directly to nuclear mobile robot. (Author)

  11. Multi-physics modelling of a compliant humanoid robot

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zobova, Alexandra A., E-mail: azobova@mech.math.msu.su [Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics (Russian Federation); Habra, Timothée, E-mail: timothee.habra@uclouvain.be [Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Center for Research in Mechatronics, Institute of Mechanics, Materials, and Civil Engineering (Belgium); Van der Noot, Nicolas, E-mail: nicolas.vandernoot@uclouvain.be, E-mail: nicolas.vandernoot@epfl.ch [EPFL STI IBI BIOROB, Biorobotics Laboratory, Institute of Bioengineering, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland); Dallali, Houman, E-mail: houman.dallali@iit.it; Tsagarakis, Nikolaos G., E-mail: nikos.tsagarakis@iit.it [Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Department of Advanced Robotics (Italy); Fisette, Paul, E-mail: paul.fisette@uclouvain.be; Ronsse, Renaud, E-mail: renaud.ronsse@uclouvain.be [Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Center for Research in Mechatronics, Institute of Mechanics, Materials, and Civil Engineering (Belgium)

    2017-01-15

    We present a multibody simulator being used for compliant humanoid robot modelling and report our reasoning for choosing the settings of the simulator’s key features. First, we provide a study on how the numerical integration speed and accuracy depend on the coordinate representation of the multibody system. This choice is particularly critical for mechanisms with long serial chains (e.g. legs and arms). Our second contribution is a full electromechanical model of the inner dynamics of the compliant actuators embedded in the COMAN robot, since joints’ compliance is needed for the robot safety and energy efficiency. Third, we discuss the different approaches for modelling contacts and selecting an appropriate contact library. The recommended solution is to couple our simulator with an open-source contact library offering both accurate and fast contact modelling. The simulator performances are assessed by two different tasks involving contacts: a bimanual manipulation task and a squatting tasks. The former shows reliability of the simulator. For the latter, we report a comparison between the robot behaviour as predicted by our simulation environment, and the real one.

  12. Multi-physics modelling of a compliant humanoid robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zobova, Alexandra A.; Habra, Timothée; Van der Noot, Nicolas; Dallali, Houman; Tsagarakis, Nikolaos G.; Fisette, Paul; Ronsse, Renaud

    2017-01-01

    We present a multibody simulator being used for compliant humanoid robot modelling and report our reasoning for choosing the settings of the simulator’s key features. First, we provide a study on how the numerical integration speed and accuracy depend on the coordinate representation of the multibody system. This choice is particularly critical for mechanisms with long serial chains (e.g. legs and arms). Our second contribution is a full electromechanical model of the inner dynamics of the compliant actuators embedded in the COMAN robot, since joints’ compliance is needed for the robot safety and energy efficiency. Third, we discuss the different approaches for modelling contacts and selecting an appropriate contact library. The recommended solution is to couple our simulator with an open-source contact library offering both accurate and fast contact modelling. The simulator performances are assessed by two different tasks involving contacts: a bimanual manipulation task and a squatting tasks. The former shows reliability of the simulator. For the latter, we report a comparison between the robot behaviour as predicted by our simulation environment, and the real one.

  13. Design of an Embedded Multi-Camera Vision System—A Case Study in Mobile Robotics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valter Costa

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this work is to explore the design principles for a Real-Time Robotic Multi Camera Vision System, in a case study involving a real world competition of autonomous driving. Design practices from vision and real-time research areas are applied into a Real-Time Robotic Vision application, thus exemplifying good algorithm design practices, the advantages of employing the “zero copy one pass” methodology and associated trade-offs leading to the selection of a controller platform. The vision tasks under study are: (i recognition of a “flat” signal; and (ii track following, requiring 3D reconstruction. This research firstly improves the used algorithms for the mentioned tasks and finally selects the controller hardware. Optimization for the shown algorithms yielded from 1.5 times to 190 times improvements, always with acceptable quality for the target application, with algorithm optimization being more important on lower computing power platforms. Results also include a 3-cm and five-degree accuracy for lane tracking and 100% accuracy for signalling panel recognition, which are better than most results found in the literature for this application. Clear results comparing different PC platforms for the mentioned Robotic Vision tasks are also shown, demonstrating trade-offs between accuracy and computing power, leading to the proper choice of control platform. The presented design principles are portable to other applications, where Real-Time constraints exist.

  14. Discrete Cosserat Approach for Multi-Section Soft Robots Dynamics

    OpenAIRE

    Renda, Federico; Boyer, Frederic; Dias, Jorge; Seneviratne, Lakmal

    2017-01-01

    In spite of recent progress, soft robotics still suffers from a lack of unified modeling framework. Nowadays, the most adopted model for the design and control of soft robots is the piece-wise constant curvature model, with its consolidated benefits and drawbacks. In this work, an alternative model for multisection soft robots dynamics is presented based on a discrete Cosserat approach, which, not only takes into account shear and torsional deformations, essentials to cope with out-of-plane e...

  15. Selection of rendezvous points for multi-robot exploration in dynamic environments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Hoog, J.; Cameron, S.; Visser, A.; Visser, U.; Asadi, S.; Laue, T.; Mayer, N.M.

    2010-01-01

    For many robotics applications (such as robotic search and rescue), information about the environment must be gathered by a team of robots and returned to a single, specific location. Coordination of robots and sharing of information is vital, and when environments have severe communication

  16. An inspection of pipe by snake robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    František Trebuňa

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with development and application of snake robot for inspection pipes. The first step involves the introduction of a design of mechanical and electrical parts of the snake robot. Next, the analysis of the robot locomotion is introduced. For the curved pipe, potential field method is used. By this method, the system is able to generate path for the head and rear robot, linking the environment with obstacles, which are represented by the walls of the pipe. Subsequently, the solution of potential field method is used in inverse kinematic model, which respects tasks as obstacle avoidance, joint limit avoidance, and singularity avoidance. Mentioned approach is then tested on snake robot in provisional pipe with rectangular cross section. For this research, software Matlab (2013b is used as the control system in cooperation with the control system of robot, which is based on microcontrollers. By experiments, it is shown that designed robot is able to pass through straight and also curved pipe.

  17. Localization of Wheeled Mobile Robot Based on Extended Kalman Filtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Guangxu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A mobile robot localization method which combines relative positioning with absolute orientation is presented. The code salver and gyroscope are used for relative positioning, and the laser radar is used to detect absolute orientation. In this paper, we established environmental map, multi-sensor information fusion model, sensors and robot motion model. The Extended Kalman Filtering (EKF is adopted as multi-sensor data fusion technology to realize the precise localization of wheeled mobile robot.

  18. College of Engineering team to build battlefield robots for 2010 competition

    OpenAIRE

    Mackay, Steven D.

    2010-01-01

    The roving, walking robotic soldiers of the "Terminator" films are becoming less sci-fi, and more certain future every day. Now, a team of robotics researchers from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering will build a team of fully autonomous cooperative battle-ready robots as part of a 2010 international war games challenge that could spur real-life battle bots.

  19. Report on the achievements in fiscal 1999 on research and development of a human cooperating and coexisting type robot system (Development of energy use rationalization technology); 1999 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Energy shiyo gorika gijutsu kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-03-01

    Research and development has been performed on a system technology for the human cooperating and coexisting type robot that can perform various types of works substituting human hands. This paper summarizes the achievements in fiscal 1999. In developing a high-function hand, development and fabrication were executed on a device to teach four finger holding actions that correspond to the enhancement in action stability and control responsiveness of the four finger hand and to positions and attitudes of objects. In fabricating the robot platforms, single platform tests and remotely controlled platform connection tests were performed, which demonstrated the functions as an integrated system. In developing libraries for topography adaptive three-dimensional basic walking actions, development was carried out on libraries that correspond to menus for direct advance on a flat land, slewing, and walking on staircases and irregular land. It was found that control closer to that for actually usable robot is possible by considering time delay in articulate control when simulation was performed using the testing robot body. In the study and survey of robot proliferation, development plans were presented that take into consideration the social influence, technological factors, and cost need adaptability. (NEDO)

  20. Sociable Robots Through Self-Maintained Energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trung Dung Ngo

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Research of autonomous mobile robots has mostly emphasized interaction and coordination that are natually inspired from biological behavior of birds, insects, and fish: flocking, foraging, collecting, and sharing. However, most research has been only focused on autonomous behaviors in order to perform robots like animals, whereas it is lacked of determinant to those behaviours: energy. Approaching to clusted amimal and the higher, collective and sharing food among individuals are major activity to keep society being. This paper issues an approach to sociable robots using self-maintained energy in cooperative mobile robots, which is dominantly inspired from swarm behavior of collecting and sharing food of honey-bee and ant. Autonomous mobile robots are usually equipped with a finite energy, thus they can operate in a finite time. To overcome the finitude, we describe practical deployment of mobile robots that are capable of carrying and exchanging fuel to other robots. Mechanism implementation including modular hardware and control architecture to demonstrate the capabicities of the approach is presented. Subsequently, the battery exchange algorithm basically based on probabilistic modeling of total energy on each robot located in its local vicinity is described. The paper is concluded with challenging works of chain of mobile robots, rescue, repair, and relation of heterogeneous robots.

  1. Sociable Robots through Self-maintained Energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henrik Schioler

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Research of autonomous mobile robots has mostly emphasized interaction and coordination that are natually inspired from biological behavior of birds, insects, and fish: flocking, foraging, collecting, and sharing. However, most research has been only focused on autonomous behaviors in order to perform robots like animals, whereas it is lacked of determinant to those behaviours: energy. Approaching to clusted amimal and the higher, collective and sharing food among individuals are major activity to keep society being. This paper issues an approach to sociable robots using self-maintained energy in cooperative mobile robots, which is dominantly inspired from swarm behavior of collecting and sharing food of honey-bee and ant. Autonomous mobile robots are usually equipped with a finite energy, thus they can operate in a finite time. To overcome the finitude, we describe practical deployment of mobile robots that are capable of carrying and exchanging fuel to other robots. Mechanism implementation including modular hardware and control architecture to demonstrate the capabicities of the approach is presented. Subsequently, the battery exchange algorithm basically based on probabilistic modeling of total energy on each robot located in its local vicinity is described. The paper is concluded with challenging works of chain of mobile robots, rescue, repair, and relation of heterogeneous robots.

  2. Hybrid System Design for the Coordination of Multi-Modal Aerial Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Koo, T. John; Quottrup, Michael Melholt; Clifton, C. A.

    2006-01-01

    In this paper we provide a framework for the coordination of a network of heterogeneous aerial robots by using temporal logic to formulate mission speci¯cations for the network of robots. The full dynamics of the aerial robots are considered, and multiple controllers that can cope with various......¯ed. These robots are coordinated by communicating through a single occupancy table. By using the model checker Uppaal, a discrete plan that satis¯es a given temporal logic formula, speci¯ed in CTL, is generated for the robot to execute. Finally, the discrete plan for each robot is re¯ned into a discrete control...... constraints are designed to ensure that desired reachability properties can be preserved by properly switching among the controllers. A timed automaton is then constructed for preserving the temporal properties of a given robot. For di®erent types of robots, unique temporal properties can be speci...

  3. Motion Planning in Multi-robot Systems using Timed Automata

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Michael. S.; Jensen, Rune S.; Bak, Thomas

    This paper dscribes how interacting timed automata can be used to model, analyze, and verify motion planning problems for systems with multiple mobile robots. The method assumes an infra-structure of simple unicycle type robots, moving om a planar grid. The motion of the robots, including simple...... kinematics, is captured in an automata formalism that allows formal composition and symbolic reasoning. The verification software UppAal is used to verify specification requirements formulated in computational tree logic (CTL), generating all feasible trajectories that satisfy specifications. The results...... of the planning are demonstrateted in a testbed that allows execution of the planned paths and motion primitives by synchronizing the planning results from UppAal with actual robotic vehicles. The planning problem may be modified online by moving obstacles in the physical environment, which causes a re...

  4. First Application of Robot Teaching in an Existing Industry 4.0 Environment: Does It Really Work?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Astrid Weiss

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This article reports three case studies on the usability and acceptance of an industrial robotic prototype in the context of human-robot cooperation. The three case studies were conducted in the framework of a two-year project named AssistMe, which aims at developing different means of interaction for programming and using collaborative robots in a user-centered manner. Together with two industrial partners and a technological partner, two different application scenarios were implemented and studied with an off-the-shelf robotic system. The operators worked with the robotic prototype in laboratory conditions (two days, in a factory context (one day and in an automotive assembly line (three weeks. In the article, the project and procedures are described in detail, including the quantitative and qualitative methodology. Our results show that close human-robot cooperation in the industrial context needs adaptive pacing mechanisms in order to avoid a change of working routines for the operators and that an off-the-shelf robotic system is still limited in terms of usability and acceptance. The touch panel, which is needed for controlling the robot, had a negative impact on the overall user experience. It creates a further intermediate layer between the user, the robot and the work piece and potentially leads to a decrease in productivity. Finally, the fear of the worker of being replaced by an improved robotic system was regularly expressed and adds an additional anthropocentric dimension to the discussion of human-robot cooperation, smart factories and the upcoming Industry 4.0.

  5. Pre-Service Teachers’ Experiences during Off-Campus Observation: Basis for Improving the Roles of Teacher Education Institutions and Cooperating Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maripaz C. Abas

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Observing experienced teachers is an indispensable part of practicum studies in teacher education.  This paper examined the perceptions of pre-service teachers from five major fields of teacher education program on their experiences during off-campus observation in selected secondary schools. This used qualitative content analysis method in order to “subjectively interpret the content of text data through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns” (Hsieh & Shanon, 2005 p. 1278 . Data were taken from 136 pre-service teachers  through open-ended questions and two high school principals, 10 cooperating teachers, six student supervisors and 12 pre-service teachers through Focus Group Interview (FGI and Key Informant Interview (KII. Codes and emerging themes were derived using content analysis.  Results showed 18 themes for desirable experiences and 24 themes for undesirable experiences. Pre-service teachers’ experiences mostly focused on students’ attitudes and behaviors. Suggestions to improve off-campus observation from multi-level participants of the study concentrated on preparedness,  orientation programs, supervision and monitoring,  personal attributes and roles, values, attitudes and behaviors, deployment, post conferences,  supervisory plan, observation policies and guidelines,  required documents, seminars, time management, evaluation, coordination, and cultural diversity. To sustain the desirable experiences, both cooperating teachers and student supervisors believed that their roles were to serve as model, guide, leader, monitor, planner, and motivator. The varied experiences of pre-service teachers imply that Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs and cooperating schools should provide opportunities, develop competencies, take responsibilities and strengthen partnership to enhance off-campus observation.

  6. Generic Automated Multi-function Finger Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honarpardaz, M.; Tarkian, M.; Sirkett, D.; Ölvander, J.; Feng, X.; Elf, J.; Sjögren, R.

    2016-11-01

    Multi-function fingers that are able to handle multiple workpieces are crucial in improvement of a robot workcell. Design automation of multi-function fingers is highly demanded by robot industries to overcome the current iterative, time consuming and complex manual design process. However, the existing approaches for the multi-function finger design automation are unable to entirely meet the robot industries’ need. This paper proposes a generic approach for design automation of multi-function fingers. The proposed approach completely automates the design process and requires no expert skill. In addition, this approach executes the design process much faster than the current manual process. To validate the approach, multi-function fingers are successfully designed for two case studies. Further, the results are discussed and benchmarked with existing approaches.

  7. Novel trends in the assembly process as the results of human – the industrial robot collaboration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Holubek Radovan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The contribution is focused on the creation of an idea proposal and simulation of the assembly system in cooperation of the human and the industrial robot. The aim of the research is to verify the feasibility of this cooperation between the human and the industrial robot on the basis of the created simulation in the assembly process. The important step of the design this collaboration is the determination of rules and safety of this cooperation. The paper also presents the method of working with the selected software and its functionalities and sequence of steps at the simulation creation. The objective of the research is the evaluation of the idea proposal of the collaborative assembly system on the basis of the created simulation. The analysis and evaluation of the simulation confirm the feasibility and safety of the cooperation of the man and robot and also verified the possibility of assembly made by man and robot from the disposition and dimension on point of view of the proposed workplace.

  8. Cooperative Localization for Multi-AUVs Based on GM-PHD Filters and Information Entropy Theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lichuan Zhang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Cooperative localization (CL is considered a promising method for underwater localization with respect to multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (multi-AUVs. In this paper, we proposed a CL algorithm based on information entropy theory and the probability hypothesis density (PHD filter, aiming to enhance the global localization accuracy of the follower. In the proposed framework, the follower carries lower cost navigation systems, whereas the leaders carry better ones. Meanwhile, the leaders acquire the followers’ observations, including both measurements and clutter. Then, the PHD filters are utilized on the leaders and the results are communicated to the followers. The followers then perform weighted summation based on all received messages and obtain a final positioning result. Based on the information entropy theory and the PHD filter, the follower is able to acquire a precise knowledge of its position.

  9. Coordinating robots in water polo matches using modified snowdrift games

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, Chen; Wu, Bin; Cao, Ming; Xie, Guangming

    2012-01-01

    One key research topic in the study of coordinating multiple robots is to understand under what conditions the synergy effect emerges. While most of the previous work on cooperative robots confirms the existence of synergy effects, less is known about how to quantify them and more importantly, how

  10. Mechanical design for a hydraulically actuated quadruped robot

    OpenAIRE

    Erkekli, Koray

    2017-01-01

    Considerable amount of research efforts are spent on the field of legged robotics in the past 60 years. Studies in this area extend from running on one leg to humanoid robots, from four legged robots (quadruped) to multi-legged bug-inspired robots. The advantage of four legged structure is that it is more balanced compared structures with less legs. This feature makes four legged robots candidates rough terrain conditions and for dangerous tasks. Because of the high power-to-weight ratio and ...

  11. Developing robotic behavior using a genetic programming model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pryor, R.J.

    1998-01-01

    This report describes the methodology for using a genetic programming model to develop tracking behaviors for autonomous, microscale robotic vehicles. The use of such vehicles for surveillance and detection operations has become increasingly important in defense and humanitarian applications. Through an evolutionary process similar to that found in nature, the genetic programming model generates a computer program that when downloaded onto a robotic vehicle's on-board computer will guide the robot to successfully accomplish its task. Simulations of multiple robots engaged in problem-solving tasks have demonstrated cooperative behaviors. This report also discusses the behavior model produced by genetic programming and presents some results achieved during the study

  12. Iconic Gestures for Robot Avatars, Recognition and Integration with Speech

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bremner, Paul; Leonards, Ute

    2016-01-01

    Co-verbal gestures are an important part of human communication, improving its efficiency and efficacy for information conveyance. One possible means by which such multi-modal communication might be realized remotely is through the use of a tele-operated humanoid robot avatar. Such avatars have been previously shown to enhance social presence and operator salience. We present a motion tracking based tele-operation system for the NAO robot platform that allows direct transmission of speech and gestures produced by the operator. To assess the capabilities of this system for transmitting multi-modal communication, we have conducted a user study that investigated if robot-produced iconic gestures are comprehensible, and are integrated with speech. Robot performed gesture outcomes were compared directly to those for gestures produced by a human actor, using a within participant experimental design. We show that iconic gestures produced by a tele-operated robot are understood by participants when presented alone, almost as well as when produced by a human. More importantly, we show that gestures are integrated with speech when presented as part of a multi-modal communication equally well for human and robot performances. PMID:26925010

  13. Iconic Gestures for Robot Avatars, Recognition and Integration with Speech

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Adam Bremner

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Co-verbal gestures are an important part of human communication, improving its efficiency and efficacy for information conveyance. One possible means by which such multi-modal communication might be realised remotely is through the use of a tele-operated humanoid robot avatar. Such avatars have been previously shown to enhance social presence and operator salience. We present a motion tracking based tele-operation system for the NAO robot platform that allows direct transmission of speech and gestures produced by the operator. To assess the capabilities of this system for transmitting multi-modal communication, we have conducted a user study that investigated if robot-produced iconic gestures are comprehensible, and are integrated with speech. Robot performed gesture outcomes were compared directly to those for gestures produced by a human actor, using a within participant experimental design. We show that iconic gestures produced by a tele-operated robot are understood by participants when presented alone, almost as well as when produced by a human. More importantly, we show that gestures are integrated with speech when presented as part of a multi-modal communication equally well for human and robot performances.

  14. Integrating Multi-Purpose Natural Language Understanding, Robot's Memory, and Symbolic Planning for Task Execution in Humanoid Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wächter, Mirko; Ovchinnikova, Ekaterina; Wittenbeck, Valerij

    2017-01-01

    We propose an approach for instructing a robot using natural language to solve complex tasks in a dynamic environment. In this study, we elaborate on a framework that allows a humanoid robot to understand natural language, derive symbolic representations of its sensorimotor experience, generate....... The framework is implemented within the robot development environment ArmarX. We evaluate the framework on the humanoid robot ARMAR-III in the context of two experiments: a demonstration of the real execution of a complex task in the kitchen environment on ARMAR-III and an experiment with untrained users...

  15. Multi-focal Vision and Gaze Control Improve Navigation Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kolja Kuehnlenz

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Multi-focal vision systems comprise cameras with various fields of view and measurement accuracies. This article presents a multi-focal approach to localization and mapping of mobile robots with active vision. An implementation of the novel concept is done considering a humanoid robot navigation scenario where the robot is visually guided through a structured environment with several landmarks. Various embodiments of multi-focal vision systems are investigated and the impact on navigation performance is evaluated in comparison to a conventional mono-focal stereo set-up. The comparative studies clearly show the benefits of multi-focal vision for mobile robot navigation: flexibility to assign the different available sensors optimally in each situation, enhancement of the visible field, higher localization accuracy, and, thus, better task performance, i.e. path following behavior of the mobile robot. It is shown that multi-focal vision may strongly improve navigation performance.

  16. Cooperative path planning for multi-USV based on improved artificial bee colony algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Lu; Chen, Qiwei

    2018-03-01

    Due to the complex constraints, more uncertain factors and critical real-time demand of path planning for multiple unmanned surface vehicle (multi-USV), an improved artificial bee colony (I-ABC) algorithm were proposed to solve the model of cooperative path planning for multi-USV. First the Voronoi diagram of battle field space is conceived to generate the optimal area of USVs paths. Then the chaotic searching algorithm is used to initialize the collection of paths, which is regard as foods of the ABC algorithm. With the limited data, the initial collection can search the optimal area of paths perfectly. Finally simulations of the multi-USV path planning under various threats have been carried out. Simulation results verify that the I-ABC algorithm can improve the diversity of nectar source and the convergence rate of algorithm. It can increase the adaptability of dynamic battlefield and unexpected threats for USV.

  17. Grasp Algorithms For Optotactile Robotic Sample Acquisition, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Robotic sample acquisition is basically grasping. Multi-finger robot sample grasping devices are controlled to securely pick up samples. While optimal grasps for...

  18. From self-observation to imitation: visuomotor association on a robotic hand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaminade, Thierry; Oztop, Erhan; Cheng, Gordon; Kawato, Mitsuo

    2008-04-15

    Being at the crux of human cognition and behaviour, imitation has become the target of investigations ranging from experimental psychology and neurophysiology to computational sciences and robotics. It is often assumed that the imitation is innate, but it has more recently been argued, both theoretically and experimentally, that basic forms of imitation could emerge as a result of self-observation. Here, we tested this proposal on a realistic experimental platform, comprising an associative network linking a 16 degrees of freedom robotic hand and a simple visual system. We report that this minimal visuomotor association is sufficient to bootstrap basic imitation. Our results indicate that crucial features of human imitation, such as generalization to new actions, may emerge from a connectionist associative network. Therefore, we suggest that a behaviour as complex as imitation could be, at the neuronal level, founded on basic mechanisms of associative learning, a notion supported by a recent proposal on the developmental origin of mirror neurons. Our approach can be applied to the development of realistic cognitive architectures for humanoid robots as well as to shed new light on the cognitive processes at play in early human cognitive development.

  19. Systems and Algorithms for Automated Collaborative Observation Using Networked Robotic Cameras

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yiliang

    2011-01-01

    The development of telerobotic systems has evolved from Single Operator Single Robot (SOSR) systems to Multiple Operator Multiple Robot (MOMR) systems. The relationship between human operators and robots follows the master-slave control architecture and the requests for controlling robot actuation are completely generated by human operators. …

  20. Research on Multirobot Pursuit Task Allocation Algorithm Based on Emotional Cooperation Factor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baofu Fang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Multirobot task allocation is a hot issue in the field of robot research. A new emotional model is used with the self-interested robot, which gives a new way to measure self-interested robots’ individual cooperative willingness in the problem of multirobot task allocation. Emotional cooperation factor is introduced into self-interested robot; it is updated based on emotional attenuation and external stimuli. Then a multirobot pursuit task allocation algorithm is proposed, which is based on emotional cooperation factor. Combined with the two-step auction algorithm recruiting team leaders and team collaborators, set up pursuit teams, and finally use certain strategies to complete the pursuit task. In order to verify the effectiveness of this algorithm, some comparing experiments have been done with the instantaneous greedy optimal auction algorithm; the results of experiments show that the total pursuit time and total team revenue can be optimized by using this algorithm.

  1. Multi-staged robotic stereotactic radiosurgery for large cerebral arteriovenous malformations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding, Chuxiong; Solberg, Timothy D.; Hrycushko, Brian; Medin, Paul; Whitworth, Louis; Timmerman, Robert D.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate a multi-staged robotic stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) delivery technique for the treatment of large cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). The treatment planning process and strategies to optimize both individual and composite dosimetry are discussed. Methods: Eleven patients with large (30.7 ± 19.2 cm 3 ) AVMs were selected for this study. A fiducial system was designed for fusion of targets between planar angiograms and simulation CT scans. AVMs were contoured based on single contrast CT, MRI and orthogonal angiogram images. AVMs were divided into 3–8 sub-target volumes (3–7 cm 3 ) for sequential treatment at 1–4 week intervals to a prescription dose of 16–20 Gy. Forward and inversely developed treatment plans were optimized for 95% coverage of the total AVM volume by dose summation from each sub-volume, while minimizing dose to surrounding tissues. Dose-volume analysis was used to evaluate the PTV coverage, dose conformality (CI), and R 50 and V 12Gy parameters. Results: The treatment workflow was commissioned and able to localize within 1 mm. Inverse optimization outperformed forward planning for most patients for each index considered. Dose conformality was shown comparable to staged Gamma Knife treatments. Conclusion: The CyberKnife system is shown to be a practical delivery platform for multi-staged treatments of large AVMs using forward or inverse planning techniques

  2. Action observation and robotic agents: learning and anthropomorphism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Press, Clare

    2011-05-01

    The 'action observation network' (AON), which is thought to translate observed actions into motor codes required for their execution, is biologically tuned: it responds more to observation of human, than non-human, movement. This biological specificity has been taken to support the hypothesis that the AON underlies various social functions, such as theory of mind and action understanding, and that, when it is active during observation of non-human agents like humanoid robots, it is a sign of ascription of human mental states to these agents. This review will outline evidence for biological tuning in the AON, examining the features which generate it, and concluding that there is evidence for tuning to both the form and kinematic profile of observed movements, and little evidence for tuning to belief about stimulus identity. It will propose that a likely reason for biological tuning is that human actions, relative to non-biological movements, have been observed more frequently while executing corresponding actions. If the associative hypothesis of the AON is correct, and the network indeed supports social functioning, sensorimotor experience with non-human agents may help us to predict, and therefore interpret, their movements. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Feasibility study of partial observability in H∞ filtering for robot localization and mapping problem

    OpenAIRE

    Ahmad, Hamzah; Namerikawa, Toru

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents H∞ Filter SLAM, which is also known as the minimax filter to estimate the robot and landmarks location with the analysis on partial observability. Some convergence conditions are also presented to aid the analysis. Due to SLAM is a controllable but unobservable problem, it's difficult to estimate the position of robot and landmarks even though the control inputs are given to the system. As a result, Covariance Inflation which is a method of adding a pseudo positive semidef...

  4. Multi-function robots with speech interaction and emotion feedback

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hongyu; Lou, Guanting; Ma, Mengchao

    2018-03-01

    Nowadays, the service robots have been applied in many public circumstances; however, most of them still don’t have the function of speech interaction, especially the function of speech-emotion interaction feedback. To make the robot more humanoid, Arduino microcontroller was used in this study for the speech recognition module and servo motor control module to achieve the functions of the robot’s speech interaction and emotion feedback. In addition, W5100 was adopted for network connection to achieve information transmission via Internet, providing broad application prospects for the robot in the area of Internet of Things (IoT).

  5. A bio-inspired swarm robot coordination algorithm for multiple target searching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Yan; Gan, Jing; Desai, Sachi

    2008-04-01

    The coordination of a multi-robot system searching for multi targets is challenging under dynamic environment since the multi-robot system demands group coherence (agents need to have the incentive to work together faithfully) and group competence (agents need to know how to work together well). In our previous proposed bio-inspired coordination method, Local Interaction through Virtual Stigmergy (LIVS), one problem is the considerable randomness of the robot movement during coordination, which may lead to more power consumption and longer searching time. To address these issues, an adaptive LIVS (ALIVS) method is proposed in this paper, which not only considers the travel cost and target weight, but also predicting the target/robot ratio and potential robot redundancy with respect to the detected targets. Furthermore, a dynamic weight adjustment is also applied to improve the searching performance. This new method a truly distributed method where each robot makes its own decision based on its local sensing information and the information from its neighbors. Basically, each robot only communicates with its neighbors through a virtual stigmergy mechanism and makes its local movement decision based on a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The proposed ALIVS algorithm has been implemented on the embodied robot simulator, Player/Stage, in a searching target. The simulation results demonstrate the efficiency and robustness in a power-efficient manner with the real-world constraints.

  6. Decentralized Sensor Fusion for Ubiquitous Networking Robotics in Urban Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanfeliu, Alberto; Andrade-Cetto, Juan; Barbosa, Marco; Bowden, Richard; Capitán, Jesús; Corominas, Andreu; Gilbert, Andrew; Illingworth, John; Merino, Luis; Mirats, Josep M.; Moreno, Plínio; Ollero, Aníbal; Sequeira, João; Spaan, Matthijs T.J.

    2010-01-01

    In this article we explain the architecture for the environment and sensors that has been built for the European project URUS (Ubiquitous Networking Robotics in Urban Sites), a project whose objective is to develop an adaptable network robot architecture for cooperation between network robots and human beings and/or the environment in urban areas. The project goal is to deploy a team of robots in an urban area to give a set of services to a user community. This paper addresses the sensor architecture devised for URUS and the type of robots and sensors used, including environment sensors and sensors onboard the robots. Furthermore, we also explain how sensor fusion takes place to achieve urban outdoor execution of robotic services. Finally some results of the project related to the sensor network are highlighted. PMID:22294927

  7. Distance-Based Behaviors for Low-Complexity Control in Multiagent Robotics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierpaoli, Pietro

    Several biological examples show that living organisms cooperate to collectively accomplish tasks impossible for single individuals. More importantly, this coordination is often achieved with a very limited set of information. Inspired by these observations, research on autonomous systems has focused on the development of distributed control techniques for control and guidance of groups of autonomous mobile agents, or robots. From an engineering perspective, when coordination and cooperation is sought in large ensembles of robotic vehicles, a reduction in hardware and algorithms' complexity becomes mandatory from the very early stages of the project design. The research for solutions capable of lowering power consumption, cost and increasing reliability are thus worth investigating. In this work, we studied low-complexity techniques to achieve cohesion and control on swarms of autonomous robots. Starting from an inspiring example with two-agents, we introduced effects of neighbors' relative positions on control of an autonomous agent. The extension of this intuition addressed the control of large ensembles of autonomous vehicles, and was applied in the form of a herding-like technique. To this end, a low-complexity distance-based aggregation protocol was defined. We first showed that our protocol produced a cohesion aggregation among the agent while avoiding inter-agent collisions. Then, a feedback leader-follower architecture was introduced for the control of the swarm. We also described how proximity measures and probability of collisions with neighbors can also be used as source of information in highly populated environments.

  8. Robotic assisted andrological surgery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parekattil, Sijo J; Gudeloglu, Ahmet

    2013-01-01

    The introduction of the operative microscope for andrological surgery in the 1970s provided enhanced magnification and accuracy, unparalleled to any previous visual loop or magnification techniques. This technology revolutionized techniques for microsurgery in andrology. Today, we may be on the verge of a second such revolution by the incorporation of robotic assisted platforms for microsurgery in andrology. Robotic assisted microsurgery is being utilized to a greater degree in andrology and a number of other microsurgical fields, such as ophthalmology, hand surgery, plastics and reconstructive surgery. The potential advantages of robotic assisted platforms include elimination of tremor, improved stability, surgeon ergonomics, scalability of motion, multi-input visual interphases with up to three simultaneous visual views, enhanced magnification, and the ability to manipulate three surgical instruments and cameras simultaneously. This review paper begins with the historical development of robotic microsurgery. It then provides an in-depth presentation of the technique and outcomes of common robotic microsurgical andrological procedures, such as vasectomy reversal, subinguinal varicocelectomy, targeted spermatic cord denervation (for chronic orchialgia) and robotic assisted microsurgical testicular sperm extraction (microTESE). PMID:23241637

  9. Monitored retrievable storage and multi-purpose canister robotic applications: Feasibility, dose savings and cost analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bennett, P.C.

    1995-01-01

    Robotic automation is examined as a possible alternative to manual spent nuclear fuel, transport cask and Multi-Purpose Canister (MPC) handling at a Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility, and as an alternative to current MPC closure and welding methods at commercial nuclear reactor sites. Automation of key operational aspects is analyzed to determine equipment requirements, through-put times and equipment costs. The economic analysis approach is described, and economic and radiation dose impacts resulting from this automation are compared to manual handling methods. (author). 5 refs, 5 figs, 3 tabs

  10. Regenerative patterning in Swarm Robots: mutual benefits of research in robotics and stem cell biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    RUBENSTEIN, MICHAEL; SAI, YING; CHUONG, CHENG-MING; SHEN, WEI-MIN

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents a novel perspective of Robotic Stem Cells (RSCs), defined as the basic non-biological elements with stem cell like properties that can self-reorganize to repair damage to their swarming organization. “Self” here means that the elements can autonomously decide and execute their actions without requiring any preset triggers, commands, or help from external sources. We develop this concept for two purposes. One is to develop a new theory for self-organization and self-assembly of multi-robots systems that can detect and recover from unforeseen errors or attacks. This self-healing and self-regeneration is used to minimize the compromise of overall function for the robot team. The other is to decipher the basic algorithms of regenerative behaviors in multi-cellular animal models, so that we can understand the fundamental principles used in the regeneration of biological systems. RSCs are envisioned to be basic building elements for future systems that are capable of self-organization, self-assembly, self-healing and self-regeneration. We first discuss the essential features of biological stem cells for such a purpose, and then propose the functional requirements of robotic stem cells with properties equivalent to gene controller, program selector and executor. We show that RSCs are a novel robotic model for scalable self-organization and self-healing in computer simulations and physical implementation. As our understanding of stem cells advances, we expect that future robots will be more versatile, resilient and complex, and such new robotic systems may also demand and inspire new knowledge from stem cell biology and related fields, such as artificial intelligence and tissue engineering. PMID:19557691

  11. Regenerative patterning in Swarm Robots: mutual benefits of research in robotics and stem cell biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubenstein, Michael; Sai, Ying; Chuong, Cheng-Ming; Shen, Wei-Min

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents a novel perspective of Robotic Stem Cells (RSCs), defined as the basic non-biological elements with stem cell like properties that can self-reorganize to repair damage to their swarming organization. Self here means that the elements can autonomously decide and execute their actions without requiring any preset triggers, commands, or help from external sources. We develop this concept for two purposes. One is to develop a new theory for self-organization and self-assembly of multi-robots systems that can detect and recover from unforeseen errors or attacks. This self-healing and self-regeneration is used to minimize the compromise of overall function for the robot team. The other is to decipher the basic algorithms of regenerative behaviors in multi-cellular animal models, so that we can understand the fundamental principles used in the regeneration of biological systems. RSCs are envisioned to be basic building elements for future systems that are capable of self-organization, self-assembly, self-healing and self-regeneration. We first discuss the essential features of biological stem cells for such a purpose, and then propose the functional requirements of robotic stem cells with properties equivalent to gene controller, program selector and executor. We show that RSCs are a novel robotic model for scalable self-organization and self-healing in computer simulations and physical implementation. As our understanding of stem cells advances, we expect that future robots will be more versatile, resilient and complex, and such new robotic systems may also demand and inspire new knowledge from stem cell biology and related fields, such as artificial intelligence and tissue engineering.

  12. A Multi-Agent Approach to the Simulation of Robotized Manufacturing Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foit, K.; Gwiazda, A.; Banaś, W.

    2016-08-01

    The recent years of eventful industry development, brought many competing products, addressed to the same market segment. The shortening of a development cycle became a necessity if the company would like to be competitive. Because of switching to the Intelligent Manufacturing model the industry search for new scheduling algorithms, while the traditional ones do not meet the current requirements. The agent-based approach has been considered by many researchers as an important way of evolution of modern manufacturing systems. Due to the properties of the multi-agent systems, this methodology is very helpful during creation of the model of production system, allowing depicting both processing and informational part. The complexity of such approach makes the analysis impossible without the computer assistance. Computer simulation still uses a mathematical model to recreate a real situation, but nowadays the 2D or 3D virtual environments or even virtual reality have been used for realistic illustration of the considered systems. This paper will focus on robotized manufacturing system and will present the one of possible approaches to the simulation of such systems. The selection of multi-agent approach is motivated by the flexibility of this solution that offers the modularity, robustness and autonomy.

  13. Towards safe robots approaching Asimov’s 1st law

    CERN Document Server

    Haddadin, Sami

    2014-01-01

    The vision of seamless human-robot interaction in our everyday life that allows for tight cooperation between human and robot has not become reality yet. However, the recent increase in technology maturity finally made it possible to realize systems of high integration, advanced sensorial capabilities and enhanced power to cross this barrier and merge living spaces of humans and robot workspaces to at least a certain extent. Together with the increasing industrial effort to realize first commercial service robotics products this makes it necessary to properly address one of the most fundamental questions of Human-Robot Interaction: How to ensure safety in human-robot coexistence? In this authoritative monograph, the essential question about the necessary requirements for a safe robot is addressed in depth and from various perspectives. The approach taken in this book focuses on the biomechanical level of injury assessment, addresses the physical evaluation of robot-human impacts, and isolates the major factor...

  14. Robust, fast and accurate vision-based localization of a cooperative target used for space robotic arm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Zhuoman; Wang, Yanjie; Luo, Jun; Kuijper, Arjan; Di, Nan; Jin, Minghe

    2017-07-01

    When a space robotic arm deploys a payload, usually the pose between the cooperative target fixed on the payload and the hand-eye camera installed on the arm is calculated in real-time. A high-precision robust visual cooperative target localization method is proposed. Combing a circle, a line and dots as markers, a target that guarantees high detection rates is designed. Given an image, single-pixel-width smooth edges are drawn by a novel linking method. Circles are then quickly extracted using isophotes curvature. Around each circle, a square boundary in a pre-calculated proportion to the circle radius is set. In the boundary, the target is identified if certain numbers of lines exist. Based on the circle, the lines, and the target foreground and background intensities, markers are localized. Finally, the target pose is calculated by the Point-3-Perspective algorithm. The algorithm processes 8 frames per second with the target distance ranging from 0.3m to 1.5 m. It generated high-precision poses of above 97.5% on over 100,000 images regardless of camera background, target pose, illumination and motion blur. At 0.3 m, the rotation and translation errors were less than 0.015° and 0.2 mm. The proposed algorithm is very suitable for real-time visual measurement that requires high precision in aerospace.

  15. Robotic fabrication in architecture, art, and design

    CERN Document Server

    Braumann, Johannes

    2013-01-01

    Architects, artists, and designers have been fascinated by robots for many decades, from Villemard’s utopian vision of an architect building a house with robotic labor in 1910, to the design of buildings that are robots themselves, such as Archigram’s Walking City. Today, they are again approaching the topic of robotic fabrication but this time employing a different strategy: instead of utopian proposals like Archigram’s or the highly specialized robots that were used by Japan’s construction industry in the 1990s, the current focus of architectural robotics is on industrial robots. These robotic arms have six degrees of freedom and are widely used in industry, especially for automotive production lines. What makes robotic arms so interesting for the creative industry is their multi-functionality: instead of having to develop specialized machines, a multifunctional robot arm can be equipped with a wide range of end-effectors, similar to a human hand using various tools. Therefore, architectural researc...

  16. Method for Collision Avoidance Motion Coordination of Multiple Mobile Robots Using Central Observation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ko, N.Y.; Seo, D.J. [Chosun University, Kwangju (Korea)

    2003-04-01

    This paper presents a new method driving multiple robots to their goal position without collision. Each robot adjusts its motion based on the information on the goal locations, velocity, and position of the robot and the velocity and position of the other robots. To consider the movement of the robots in a work area, we adopt the concept of avoidability measure. The avoidability measure figures the degree of how easily a robot can avoid other robots considering the following factors: the distance from the robot to the other robots, velocity of the robot and the other robots. To implement the concept in moving robot avoidance, relative distance between the robots is derived. Our method combines the relative distance with an artificial potential field method. The proposed method is simulated for several cases. The results show that the proposed method steers robots to open space anticipating the approach of other robots. In contrast, the usual potential field method sometimes fails preventing collision or causes hasty motion, because it initiates avoidance motion later than the proposed method. The proposed method can be used to move robots in a robot soccer team to their appropriate position without collision as fast as possible. (author). 21 refs., 10 figs., 13 tabs.

  17. Robot Control Overview: An Industrial Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Brogårdh

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available One key competence for robot manufacturers is robot control, defined as all the technologies needed to control the electromechanical system of an industrial robot. By means of modeling, identification, optimization, and model-based control it is possible to reduce robot cost, increase robot performance, and solve requirements from new automation concepts and new application processes. Model-based control, including kinematics error compensation, optimal servo reference- and feed-forward generation, and servo design, tuning, and scheduling, has meant a breakthrough for the use of robots in industry. Relying on this breakthrough, new automation concepts such as high performance multi robot collaboration and human robot collaboration can be introduced. Robot manufacturers can build robots with more compliant components and mechanical structures without loosing performance and robots can be used also in applications with very high performance requirements, e.g., in assembly, machining, and laser cutting. In the future it is expected that the importance of sensor control will increase, both with respect to sensors in the robot structure to increase the control performance of the robot itself and sensors outside the robot related to the applications and the automation systems. In this connection sensor fusion and learning functionalities will be needed together with the robot control for easy and intuitive installation, programming, and maintenance of industrial robots.

  18. Classification of robotic battery service systems for unmanned aerial vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ngo Tien

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Existing examples of prototypes of ground-based robotic platforms used as a landing site for unmanned aerial vehicles are considered. In some cases, they are equipped with a maintenance mechanism for the power supply module. The main requirements for robotic multi-copter battery maintenance systems depending on operating conditions, required processing speed, operator experience and other parameters are analyzed. The key issues remain questions of the autonomous landing of the unmanned aerial vehicles on the platform and approach to servicing battery. The existing prototypes of service robotic platforms are differed in the complexity of internal mechanisms, speed of service, algorithms of joint work of the platform and unmanned aerial vehicles during the landing and maintenance of the battery. The classification of robotic systems for servicing the power supply of multi-copter batteries criteria is presented using the following: the type of basing, the method of navigation during landing, the shape of the landing pad, the method of restoring the power supply module. The proposed algorithmic model of the operation of battery power maintenance system of the multi-copter on ground-based robotic platform during solving the target agrarian problem is described. Wireless methods of battery recovery are most promising, so further development and prototyping of a wireless charging station for multi-copter batteries will be developed.

  19. Scheduling a Single Mobile Robot Incorporated into Production Environment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dang, Vinh Quang; Nielsen, Izabela Ewa; Steger-Jensen, Kenn

    2013-01-01

    to the challenges of issues such as energy conservation and pollution preventions. Facing the central tension between manufacturing and environmental drivers is difficult, but critical to develop new technologies, particularly mobile robots, that can be incorporated into production to achieve holistic solutions....... This chapter deals with the problem of finding optimal operating sequence in a manufacturing cell of a mobile robot with manipulation arm that feeds materials to feeders. The “Bartender Concept” is discussed to show the cooperation between the mobile robot and industrial environment. The performance criterion...

  20. The development of robotic system for inspecting and repairing NPP primary coolant system of high-level radioactive environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Seung Ho; Kim, Ki Ho; Jung, Seung Ho; Kim, Byung Soo; Hwang, Suk Yeoung; Kim, Chang Hoi; Seo, Yong Chil; Lee, Young Kwang; Lee, Yong Bum; Cho, Jai Wan; Lee, Jae Kyung; Lee, Yong Deok

    1997-07-01

    This project aims at developing a robotic system to automatically handle inspection and maintenance of NPP safety-related facilities in high-level radioactive environment. This robotic system under development comprises two robots depending on application fields - a mobile robot and multi-functional robot. The mobile robot is designed to be used in the area of primary coolant system during the operation of NPP. This robot enables to overcome obstacles and perform specified tasks in unstructured environment. The multi-functional robot is designed for performing inspection and maintenance tasks of steam generator and nuclear reactor vessel during the overhaul periods of NPP. Nuclear facilities can be inspected and repaired all the time by use of both the mobile robot and the multi-functional robot. Human operator, by teleoperation, monitors the movements of such robots located at remote task environment via video cameras and controls those remotely generating desired commands via master manipulator. We summarize the technology relating to the application of the mobile robot to primary coolant system environment, the applicability of the mobile robot through 3D graphic simulation, the design of the mobile robot, the design of its radiation-hardened controller. We also describe the mechanical design, modeling, and control system of the multi-functional robot. Finally, we present the design of the force-reflecting master and the modeling of virtual task environment for a training simulator. (author). 47 refs., 16 tabs., 43 figs.

  1. The development of robotic system for inspecting and repairing NPP primary coolant system of high-level radioactive environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Seung Ho; Kim, Ki Ho; Jung, Seung Ho; Kim, Byung Soo; Hwang, Suk Yeoung; Kim, Chang Hoi; Seo, Yong Chil; Lee, Young Kwang; Lee, Yong Bum; Cho, Jai Wan; Lee, Jae Kyung; Lee, Yong Deok.

    1997-07-01

    This project aims at developing a robotic system to automatically handle inspection and maintenance of NPP safety-related facilities in high-level radioactive environment. This robotic system under development comprises two robots depending on application fields - a mobile robot and multi-functional robot. The mobile robot is designed to be used in the area of primary coolant system during the operation of NPP. This robot enables to overcome obstacles and perform specified tasks in unstructured environment. The multi-functional robot is designed for performing inspection and maintenance tasks of steam generator and nuclear reactor vessel during the overhaul periods of NPP. Nuclear facilities can be inspected and repaired all the time by use of both the mobile robot and the multi-functional robot. Human operator, by teleoperation, monitors the movements of such robots located at remote task environment via video cameras and controls those remotely generating desired commands via master manipulator. We summarize the technology relating to the application of the mobile robot to primary coolant system environment, the applicability of the mobile robot through 3D graphic simulation, the design of the mobile robot, the design of its radiation-hardened controller. We also describe the mechanical design, modeling, and control system of the multi-functional robot. Finally, we present the design of the force-reflecting master and the modeling of virtual task environment for a training simulator. (author). 47 refs., 16 tabs., 43 figs

  2. Algorithms of walking and stability for an anthropomorphic robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirazetdinov, R. T.; Devaev, V. M.; Nikitina, D. V.; Fadeev, A. Y.; Kamalov, A. R.

    2017-09-01

    Autonomous movement of an anthropomorphic robot is considered as a superposition of a set of typical elements of movement - so-called patterns, each of which can be considered as an agent of some multi-agent system [ 1 ]. To control the AP-601 robot, an information and communication infrastructure has been created that represents some multi-agent system that allows the development of algorithms for individual patterns of moving and run them in the system as a set of independently executed and interacting agents. The algorithms of lateral movement of the anthropomorphic robot AP-601 series with active stability due to the stability pattern are presented.

  3. Distributed optimization-based control of multi-agent networks in complex environments

    CERN Document Server

    Zhu, Minghui

    2015-01-01

    This book offers a concise and in-depth exposition of specific algorithmic solutions for distributed optimization based control of multi-agent networks and their performance analysis. It synthesizes and analyzes distributed strategies for three collaborative tasks: distributed cooperative optimization, mobile sensor deployment and multi-vehicle formation control. The book integrates miscellaneous ideas and tools from dynamic systems, control theory, graph theory, optimization, game theory and Markov chains to address the particular challenges introduced by such complexities in the environment as topological dynamics, environmental uncertainties, and potential cyber-attack by human adversaries. The book is written for first- or second-year graduate students in a variety of engineering disciplines, including control, robotics, decision-making, optimization and algorithms and with backgrounds in aerospace engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and operations research. Resea...

  4. Decentralized Sensor Fusion for Ubiquitous Networking Robotics in Urban Areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aníbal Ollero

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available In this article we explain the architecture for the environment and sensors that has been built for the European project URUS (Ubiquitous Networking Robotics in Urban Sites, a project whose objective is to develop an adaptable network robot architecture for cooperation between network robots and human beings and/or the environment in urban areas. The project goal is to deploy a team of robots in an urban area to give a set of services to a user community. This paper addresses the sensor architecture devised for URUS and the type of robots and sensors used, including environment sensors and sensors onboard the robots. Furthermore, we also explain how sensor fusion takes place to achieve urban outdoor execution of robotic services. Finally some results of the project related to the sensor network are highlighted.

  5. A Modular Approach for a Family of Ground Mobile Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Quaglia

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with Epi.q, a family of mobile robots whose main characteristic is a wheel-legged hybrid locomotion. These multi-purpose robots can be successfully exploited for security and surveillance tasks. The document presents state of the art security robotics, the Epi.q mechanical architecture, the concept behind the robot driving unit, three prototypes and the design of a new one.

  6. Rail-Guided Multi-Robot System for 3D Cellular Hydrogel Assembly with Coordinated Nanomanipulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huaping Wang

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The 3D assembly of micro-/nano-building blocks with multi-nanomanipulator coordinated manipulation is one of the central elements of nanomanipulation. A novel rail-guided nanomanipulation system was proposed for the assembly of a cellular vascular-like hydrogel microchannel. The system was equipped with three nanomanipulators and was restricted on the rail in order to realize the arbitrary change of the end-effectors during the assembly. It was set up with hybrid motors to achieve both a large operating space and a 30 nm positional resolution. The 2D components such as the assembly units were fabricated through the encapsulation of cells in the hydrogel. The coordinated manipulation strategies among the multi-nanomanipulators were designed with vision feedback and were demonstrated through the bottom-up assembly of the vascular-like microtube. As a result, the multi-layered microchannel was assembled through the cooperation of the nanomanipulation system.

  7. Towards Bio-Inspired Chromatic Behaviours in Surveillance Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sampath Kumar Karutaa Gnaniar

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The field of Robotics is ever growing at the same time as posing enormous challenges. Numerous works has been done in biologically inspired robotics emulating models, systems and elements of nature for the purpose of solving traditional robotics problems. Chromatic behaviours are abundant in nature across a variety of living species to achieve camouflage, signaling, and temperature regulation. The ability of these creatures to successfully blend in with their environment and communicate by changing their colour is the fundamental inspiration for our research work. In this paper, we present dwarf chameleon inspired chromatic behaviour in the context of an autonomous surveillance robot, “PACHONDHI”. In our experiments, we successfully validated the ability of the robot to autonomously change its colour in relation to the terrain that it is traversing for maximizing detectability to friendly security agents and minimizing exposure to hostile agents, as well as to communicate with fellow cooperating robots.

  8. MARS: An Educational Environment for Multiagent Robot Simulations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Casini

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Undergraduate robotics students often find it difficult to design and validate control algorithms for teams of mobile robots. This is mainly due to two reasons. First, very rarely, educational laboratories are equipped with large teams of robots, which are usually expensive, bulky, and difficult to manage and maintain. Second, robotics simulators often require students to spend much time to learn their use and functionalities. For this purpose, a simulator of multiagent mobile robots named MARS has been developed within the Matlab environment, with the aim of helping students to simulate a wide variety of control algorithms in an easy way and without spending time for understanding a new language. Through this facility, the user is able to simulate multirobot teams performing different tasks, from cooperative to competitive ones, by using both centralized and distributed controllers. Virtual sensors are provided to simulate real devices. A graphical user interface allows students to monitor the robots behaviour through an online animation.

  9. A CASE STUDY OF LUNTIAN MULTI-PURPOSE COOPERATIVE IN BARANGAY LALAIG, TIAONG, QUEZON, PHILIPPINES: A VERTICAL INTEGRATION APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.V. Perilla

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The Luntian Multi-Purpose Cooperative located in Tiaong, Quezon, Philippines. The Luntian MultiPurposecooperative focuses more on feed production as well as hog fattening. The LMC applied thevertical integration to develop the cooperative. They have their members as their primary costumers of theirfeeds. The cooperative’s business activity includes also meat shop, granting of production loan, microfinance,mobilization of saving deposits, aside from feed milling and hog fattening. Different agencies, industryorganizations and private institutions provide trainings, seminars, assistance, as well as credit for thecooperative.The aims of the study was to determine the present and discuss a noteworthy business issue (sof Luntian Multipurpose Cooperative, evaluate the business environment prevailing at a particular time ofthis case , assess the cooperative’s performance in terms of the four business functions , define the problemrelevant to the business issue(s being studied. The study used primary and secondary data. Primary datawere gathered through interviews with the key personnel, managers, and other informants of the LuntianMultipurpose Cooperative in order to obtain responses regarding the overall status of the cooperative includingits problem and plans. Secondary data were taken from files and documents, especially the history, backgroundinformation and financial statements. Other data were taken through research materials such as book,unpublished special problems and from some government institutions. The recommendation of this researchshowed that Luntian MPC should engage in establishing a communal farm as to become the primary sourceof hybrid piglets that their members would raised. The alternatives solution was establishing a breeding farmthat would ask for initial investment.

  10. SETIBURST: A Robotic, Commensal, Realtime Multi-science Backend for the Arecibo Telescope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chennamangalam, Jayanth; Karastergiou, Aris; Williams, Christopher [Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); MacMahon, David; Cobb, Jeff; Siemion, Andrew P. V.; Gajjar, Vishal; Werthimer, Dan [Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Rajwade, Kaustubh; Lorimer, Duncan R.; McLaughlin, Maura A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, P.O. Box 6315, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States); Armour, Wes, E-mail: jayanth@astro.ox.ac.uk [Oxford e-Research Centre, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3QG (United Kingdom)

    2017-02-01

    Radio astronomy has traditionally depended on observatories allocating time to observers for exclusive use of their telescopes. The disadvantage of this scheme is that the data thus collected is rarely used for other astronomy applications, and in many cases, is unsuitable. For example, properly calibrated pulsar search data can, with some reduction, be used for spectral line surveys. A backend that supports plugging in multiple applications to a telescope to perform commensal data analysis will vastly increase the science throughput of the facility. In this paper, we present “SETIBURST,” a robotic, commensal, realtime multi-science backend for the 305 m Arecibo Telescope. The system uses the 1.4 GHz, seven-beam Arecibo L -band Feed Array (ALFA) receiver whenever it is operated. SETIBURST currently supports two applications: SERENDIP VI, a SETI spectrometer that is conducting a search for signs of technological life, and ALFABURST, a fast transient search system that is conducting a survey of fast radio bursts (FRBs). Based on the FRB event rate and the expected usage of ALFA, we expect 0–5 FRB detections over the coming year. SETIBURST also provides the option of plugging in more applications. We outline the motivation for our instrumentation scheme and the scientific motivation of the two surveys, along with their descriptions and related discussions.

  11. SETIBURST: A Robotic, Commensal, Realtime Multi-science Backend for the Arecibo Telescope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chennamangalam, Jayanth; Karastergiou, Aris; Williams, Christopher; MacMahon, David; Cobb, Jeff; Siemion, Andrew P. V.; Gajjar, Vishal; Werthimer, Dan; Rajwade, Kaustubh; Lorimer, Duncan R.; McLaughlin, Maura A.; Armour, Wes

    2017-01-01

    Radio astronomy has traditionally depended on observatories allocating time to observers for exclusive use of their telescopes. The disadvantage of this scheme is that the data thus collected is rarely used for other astronomy applications, and in many cases, is unsuitable. For example, properly calibrated pulsar search data can, with some reduction, be used for spectral line surveys. A backend that supports plugging in multiple applications to a telescope to perform commensal data analysis will vastly increase the science throughput of the facility. In this paper, we present “SETIBURST,” a robotic, commensal, realtime multi-science backend for the 305 m Arecibo Telescope. The system uses the 1.4 GHz, seven-beam Arecibo L -band Feed Array (ALFA) receiver whenever it is operated. SETIBURST currently supports two applications: SERENDIP VI, a SETI spectrometer that is conducting a search for signs of technological life, and ALFABURST, a fast transient search system that is conducting a survey of fast radio bursts (FRBs). Based on the FRB event rate and the expected usage of ALFA, we expect 0–5 FRB detections over the coming year. SETIBURST also provides the option of plugging in more applications. We outline the motivation for our instrumentation scheme and the scientific motivation of the two surveys, along with their descriptions and related discussions.

  12. SETIBURST: A Robotic, Commensal, Realtime Multi-science Backend for the Arecibo Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chennamangalam, Jayanth; MacMahon, David; Cobb, Jeff; Karastergiou, Aris; Siemion, Andrew P. V.; Rajwade, Kaustubh; Armour, Wes; Gajjar, Vishal; Lorimer, Duncan R.; McLaughlin, Maura A.; Werthimer, Dan; Williams, Christopher

    2017-02-01

    Radio astronomy has traditionally depended on observatories allocating time to observers for exclusive use of their telescopes. The disadvantage of this scheme is that the data thus collected is rarely used for other astronomy applications, and in many cases, is unsuitable. For example, properly calibrated pulsar search data can, with some reduction, be used for spectral line surveys. A backend that supports plugging in multiple applications to a telescope to perform commensal data analysis will vastly increase the science throughput of the facility. In this paper, we present “SETIBURST,” a robotic, commensal, realtime multi-science backend for the 305 m Arecibo Telescope. The system uses the 1.4 GHz, seven-beam Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA) receiver whenever it is operated. SETIBURST currently supports two applications: SERENDIP VI, a SETI spectrometer that is conducting a search for signs of technological life, and ALFABURST, a fast transient search system that is conducting a survey of fast radio bursts (FRBs). Based on the FRB event rate and the expected usage of ALFA, we expect 0-5 FRB detections over the coming year. SETIBURST also provides the option of plugging in more applications. We outline the motivation for our instrumentation scheme and the scientific motivation of the two surveys, along with their descriptions and related discussions.

  13. Models in cooperative game theory

    CERN Document Server

    Branzei, Rodica; Tijs, Stef

    2008-01-01

    This book investigates models in cooperative game theory in which the players have the possibility to cooperate partially. In a crisp game the agents are either fully involved or not involved at all in cooperation with some other agents, while in a fuzzy game players are allowed to cooperate with infinite many different participation levels, varying from non-cooperation to full cooperation. A multi-choice game describes the intermediate case in which each player may have a fixed number of activity levels. Different set and one-point solution concepts for these games are presented. The properties of these solution concepts and their interrelations on several classes of crisp, fuzzy, and multi-choice games are studied. Applications of the investigated models to many economic situations are indicated as well. The second edition is highly enlarged and contains new results and additional sections in the different chapters as well as one new chapter.

  14. Cooperative fusion for multi-obstacles detection with use of stereovision and laser scanner

    OpenAIRE

    LABAYRADE, R; ROYERE, C; GRUYER, D; AUBERT, D

    2003-01-01

    The authors propose in this paper a new cooperative fusion approach between stereovision and laser scanner in order to take advantage of the best features of these two sensors to perform robust, accurate and real-time detection of multi-obstacles in the automotive context. The proposed system is able to estimate the position and the height, width and depth of generic obstacles at video frame rate (25 frames per second). The vehicle pitch, estimated by stereovision, is used to filter laser sca...

  15. Cooperative fusion for multi-obstacles detection with use of stereovision and laser scanner

    OpenAIRE

    LABAYRADE, R; ROYERE, C; GRUYER, D; AUBERT, D

    2005-01-01

    We propose a new cooperative fusion approach between stereovision and laser scanner in order to take advantage of the best features and cope with the drawbacks of these two sensors to perform robust, accurate and real time-detection of multi-obstacles in the automotive context. The proposed system is able to estimate the position and the height, width and depth of generic obstacles at video frame rate (25 frames per second). The vehicle pitch, estimated by stereovision, is used to filter lase...

  16. Accuracy and efficacy of percutaneous biopsy and ablation using robotic assistance under computed tomography guidance: a phantom study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koethe, Yilun; Xu, Sheng; Velusamy, Gnanasekar; Wood, Bradford J.; Venkatesan, Aradhana M.

    2014-01-01

    To compare the accuracy of a robotic interventional radiologist (IR) assistance platform with a standard freehand technique for computed-tomography (CT)-guided biopsy and simulated radiofrequency ablation (RFA). The accuracy of freehand single-pass needle insertions into abdominal phantoms was compared with insertions facilitated with the use of a robotic assistance platform (n = 20 each). Post-procedural CTs were analysed for needle placement error. Percutaneous RFA was simulated by sequentially placing five 17-gauge needle introducers into 5-cm diameter masses (n = 5) embedded within an abdominal phantom. Simulated ablations were planned based on pre-procedural CT, before multi-probe placement was executed freehand. Multi-probe placement was then performed on the same 5-cm mass using the ablation planning software and robotic assistance. Post-procedural CTs were analysed to determine the percentage of untreated residual target. Mean needle tip-to-target errors were reduced with use of the IR assistance platform (both P < 0.0001). Reduced percentage residual tumour was observed with treatment planning (P = 0.02). Improved needle accuracy and optimised probe geometry are observed during simulated CT-guided biopsy and percutaneous ablation with use of a robotic IR assistance platform. This technology may be useful for clinical CT-guided biopsy and RFA, when accuracy may have an impact on outcome. (orig.)

  17. Accuracy and efficacy of percutaneous biopsy and ablation using robotic assistance under computed tomography guidance: a phantom study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koethe, Yilun [National Institutes of Health, Center for Interventional Oncology, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD (United States); National Institutes of Health, Radiology and Imaging Sciences, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD (United States); Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC (United States); Xu, Sheng [National Institutes of Health, Center for Interventional Oncology, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD (United States); Velusamy, Gnanasekar [Perfint Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Chennai (India); Wood, Bradford J. [National Institutes of Health, Center for Interventional Oncology, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD (United States); National Institutes of Health, Radiology and Imaging Sciences, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD (United States); Venkatesan, Aradhana M. [National Institutes of Health, Center for Interventional Oncology, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD (United States); National Institutes of Health, Radiology and Imaging Sciences, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD (United States); National Institutes of Health, Center for Interventional Oncology, Radiology and Imaging Sciences, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD (United States)

    2014-03-15

    To compare the accuracy of a robotic interventional radiologist (IR) assistance platform with a standard freehand technique for computed-tomography (CT)-guided biopsy and simulated radiofrequency ablation (RFA). The accuracy of freehand single-pass needle insertions into abdominal phantoms was compared with insertions facilitated with the use of a robotic assistance platform (n = 20 each). Post-procedural CTs were analysed for needle placement error. Percutaneous RFA was simulated by sequentially placing five 17-gauge needle introducers into 5-cm diameter masses (n = 5) embedded within an abdominal phantom. Simulated ablations were planned based on pre-procedural CT, before multi-probe placement was executed freehand. Multi-probe placement was then performed on the same 5-cm mass using the ablation planning software and robotic assistance. Post-procedural CTs were analysed to determine the percentage of untreated residual target. Mean needle tip-to-target errors were reduced with use of the IR assistance platform (both P < 0.0001). Reduced percentage residual tumour was observed with treatment planning (P = 0.02). Improved needle accuracy and optimised probe geometry are observed during simulated CT-guided biopsy and percutaneous ablation with use of a robotic IR assistance platform. This technology may be useful for clinical CT-guided biopsy and RFA, when accuracy may have an impact on outcome. (orig.)

  18. Ubiquitous Robotic Technology for Smart Manufacturing System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wenshan; Zhu, Xiaoxiao; Wang, Liyu; Qiu, Qiang; Cao, Qixin

    2016-01-01

    As the manufacturing tasks become more individualized and more flexible, the machines in smart factory are required to do variable tasks collaboratively without reprogramming. This paper for the first time discusses the similarity between smart manufacturing systems and the ubiquitous robotic systems and makes an effort on deploying ubiquitous robotic technology to the smart factory. Specifically, a component based framework is proposed in order to enable the communication and cooperation of the heterogeneous robotic devices. Further, compared to the service robotic domain, the smart manufacturing systems are often in larger size. So a hierarchical planning method was implemented to improve the planning efficiency. A test bed of smart factory is developed. It demonstrates that the proposed framework is suitable for industrial domain, and the hierarchical planning method is able to solve large problems intractable with flat methods.

  19. Store-Carry and Forward-Type M2M Communication Protocol Enabling Guide Robots to Work together and the Method of Identifying Malfunctioning Robots Using the Byzantine Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoshio Suga

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper concerns a service in which multiple guide robots in an area display arrows to guide individual users to their destinations. It proposes a method of identifying malfunctioning robots and robots that give wrong directions to users. In this method, users’ mobile terminals and robots form a store-carry and forward-type M2M communication network, and a distributed cooperative protocol is used to enable robots to share information and identify malfunctioning robots using the Byzantine algorithm. The robots do not directly communicate with each other, but through users’ mobile terminals. We have introduced the concept of the quasi-synchronous number, so whether a certain robot is malfunctioning can be determined even when items of information held by all of the robots are not synchronized. Using simulation, we have evaluated the proposed method in terms of the rate of identifying malfunctioning robots, the rate of reaching the destination and the average length of time to reach the destination.

  20. Application requirements for Robotic Nursing Assistants in hospital environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cremer, Sven; Doelling, Kris; Lundberg, Cody L.; McNair, Mike; Shin, Jeongsik; Popa, Dan

    2016-05-01

    In this paper we report on analysis toward identifying design requirements for an Adaptive Robotic Nursing Assistant (ARNA). Specifically, the paper focuses on application requirements for ARNA, envisioned as a mobile assistive robot that can navigate hospital environments to perform chores in roles such as patient sitter and patient walker. The role of a sitter is primarily related to patient observation from a distance, and fetching objects at the patient's request, while a walker provides physical assistance for ambulation and rehabilitation. The robot will be expected to not only understand nurse and patient intent but also close the decision loop by automating several routine tasks. As a result, the robot will be equipped with sensors such as distributed pressure sensitive skins, 3D range sensors, and so on. Modular sensor and actuator hardware configured in the form of several multi-degree-of-freedom manipulators, and a mobile base are expected to be deployed in reconfigurable platforms for physical assistance tasks. Furthermore, adaptive human-machine interfaces are expected to play a key role, as they directly impact the ability of robots to assist nurses in a dynamic and unstructured environment. This paper discusses required tasks for the ARNA robot, as well as sensors and software infrastructure to carry out those tasks in the aspects of technical resource availability, gaps, and needed experimental studies.

  1. Distributed Control in Multi-Vehicle Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul A. Avery

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI Mobile Autonomous Robotics Technology Initiative (MARTI program has enabled the development of fully-autonomous passenger-sized commercial vehicles and military tactical vehicles, as well as the development of cooperative vehicle behaviors, such as cooperative sensor sharing and cooperative convoy operations. The program has also developed behaviors to interface intelligent vehicles with intelligent road-side devices. The development of intelligent vehicle behaviors cannot be approached as stand-alone phenomena; rather, they must be understood within a context of the broader traffic system dynamics. The study of other complex systems has shown that system-level behaviors emerge as a result of the spatio-temporal dynamics within a system's constituent parts. The design of such systems must therefore account for both the system-level emergent behavior, as well as behaviors of individuals within the system. It has also become clear over the past several years, for both of these domains, that human trust in the behavior of individual vehicles is paramount to broader technology adoption. This paper examines the interplay between individual vehicle capabilities, vehicle connectivity, and emergent system behaviors, and presents some considerations for a distributed control paradigm in a multi-vehicle system.

  2. Modeling and Control of Collaborative Robot System using Haptic Feedback

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vivekananda Shanmuganatha

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available When two robot systems can share understanding using any agreed knowledge, within the constraints of the system’s communication protocol, the approach may lead to a common improvement. This has persuaded numerous new research inquiries in human-robot collaboration. We have built up a framework prepared to do independent following and performing table-best protest object manipulation with humans and we have actualized two different activity models to trigger robot activities. The idea here is to explore collaborative systems and to build up a plan for them to work in a collaborative environment which has many benefits to a single more complex system. In the paper, two robots that cooperate among themselves are constructed. The participation linking the two robotic arms, the torque required and parameters are analyzed. Thus the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a modular robot system which can serve as a base on aspects of robotics in collaborative robots using haptics.

  3. Interference Information Based Power Control for Cognitive Radio with Multi-Hop Cooperative Sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Youngjin; Murata, Hidekazu; Yamamoto, Koji; Yoshida, Susumu

    Reliable detection of other radio systems is crucial for systems that share the same frequency band. In wireless communication channels, there is uncertainty in the received signal level due to multipath fading and shadowing. Cooperative sensing techniques in which radio stations share their sensing information can improve the detection probability of other systems. In this paper, a new cooperative sensing scheme that reduces the false detection probability while maintaining the outage probability of other systems is investigated. In the proposed system, sensing information is collected using multi-hop transmission from all sensing stations that detect other systems, and transmission decisions are based on the received sensing information. The proposed system also controls the transmit power based on the received CINRs from the sensing stations. Simulation results reveal that the proposed system can reduce the outage probability of other systems, or improve its link success probability.

  4. Autonomous parsing of behavior in a multi-agent setting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vanderelst, D.; Barakova, E.I.; Rutkowski, L.; Tadeusiewicz, R.

    2008-01-01

    Imitation learning is a promising route to instruct robotic multi-agent systems. However, imitating agents should be able to decide autonomously what behavior, observed in others, is interesting to copy. Here we investigate whether a simple recurrent network (Elman Net) can be used to extract

  5. Robot-Beacon Distributed Range-Only SLAM for Resource-Constrained Operation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres-González, Arturo; Martínez-de Dios, Jose Ramiro; Ollero, Anibal

    2017-04-20

    This work deals with robot-sensor network cooperation where sensor nodes (beacons) are used as landmarks for Range-Only (RO) Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). Most existing RO-SLAM techniques consider beacons as passive devices disregarding the sensing, computational and communication capabilities with which they are actually endowed. SLAM is a resource-demanding task. Besides the technological constraints of the robot and beacons, many applications impose further resource consumption limitations. This paper presents a scalable distributed RO-SLAM scheme for resource-constrained operation. It is capable of exploiting robot-beacon cooperation in order to improve SLAM accuracy while meeting a given resource consumption bound expressed as the maximum number of measurements that are integrated in SLAM per iteration. The proposed scheme combines a Sparse Extended Information Filter (SEIF) SLAM method, in which each beacon gathers and integrates robot-beacon and inter-beacon measurements, and a distributed information-driven measurement allocation tool that dynamically selects the measurements that are integrated in SLAM, balancing uncertainty improvement and resource consumption. The scheme adopts a robot-beacon distributed approach in which each beacon participates in the selection, gathering and integration in SLAM of robot-beacon and inter-beacon measurements, resulting in significant estimation accuracies, resource-consumption efficiency and scalability. It has been integrated in an octorotor Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and evaluated in 3D SLAM outdoor experiments. The experimental results obtained show its performance and robustness and evidence its advantages over existing methods.

  6. Handling uncertainty and networked structure in robot control

    CERN Document Server

    Tamás, Levente

    2015-01-01

    This book focuses on two challenges posed in robot control by the increasing adoption of robots in the everyday human environment: uncertainty and networked communication. Part I of the book describes learning control to address environmental uncertainty. Part II discusses state estimation, active sensing, and complex scenario perception to tackle sensing uncertainty. Part III completes the book with control of networked robots and multi-robot teams. Each chapter features in-depth technical coverage and case studies highlighting the applicability of the techniques, with real robots or in simulation. Platforms include mobile ground, aerial, and underwater robots, as well as humanoid robots and robot arms. Source code and experimental data are available at http://extras.springer.com. The text gathers contributions from academic and industry experts, and offers a valuable resource for researchers or graduate students in robot control and perception. It also benefits researchers in related areas, such as computer...

  7. The multi-criteria optimization for the formation of the multiple-valued logic model of a robotic agent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bykovsky, A Yu; Sherbakov, A A

    2016-01-01

    The C-valued Allen-Givone algebra is the attractive tool for modeling of a robotic agent, but it requires the consensus method of minimization for the simplification of logic expressions. This procedure substitutes some undefined states of the function for the maximal truth value, thus extending the initially given truth table. This further creates the problem of different formal representations for the same initially given function. The multi-criteria optimization is proposed for the deliberate choice of undefined states and model formation. (paper)

  8. ROBOSIM, a simulator for robotic systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinman, Elaine M.; Fernandez, Ken; Cook, George E.

    1991-01-01

    ROBOSIM, a simulator for robotic systems, was developed by NASA to aid in the rapid prototyping of automation. ROBOSIM has allowed the development of improved robotic systems concepts for both earth-based and proposed on-orbit applications while significantly reducing development costs. In a cooperative effort with an area university, ROBOSIM was further developed for use in the classroom as a safe and cost-effective way of allowing students to study robotic systems. Students have used ROBOSIM to study existing robotic systems and systems which they have designed in the classroom. Since an advanced simulator/trainer of this type is beneficial not only to NASA projects and programs but industry and academia as well, NASA is in the process of developing this technology for wider public use. An update on the simulators's new application areas, the improvements made to the simulator's design, and current efforts to ensure the timely transfer of this technology are presented.

  9. Markerless human motion tracking using hierarchical multi-swarm cooperative particle swarm optimization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saini, Sanjay; Zakaria, Nordin; Rambli, Dayang Rohaya Awang; Sulaiman, Suziah

    2015-01-01

    The high-dimensional search space involved in markerless full-body articulated human motion tracking from multiple-views video sequences has led to a number of solutions based on metaheuristics, the most recent form of which is Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). However, the classical PSO suffers from premature convergence and it is trapped easily into local optima, significantly affecting the tracking accuracy. To overcome these drawbacks, we have developed a method for the problem based on Hierarchical Multi-Swarm Cooperative Particle Swarm Optimization (H-MCPSO). The tracking problem is formulated as a non-linear 34-dimensional function optimization problem where the fitness function quantifies the difference between the observed image and a projection of the model configuration. Both the silhouette and edge likelihoods are used in the fitness function. Experiments using Brown and HumanEva-II dataset demonstrated that H-MCPSO performance is better than two leading alternative approaches-Annealed Particle Filter (APF) and Hierarchical Particle Swarm Optimization (HPSO). Further, the proposed tracking method is capable of automatic initialization and self-recovery from temporary tracking failures. Comprehensive experimental results are presented to support the claims.

  10. Development of Multiple Capsule Robots in Pipe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuxiang Guo

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Swallowable capsule robots which travel in body cavities to implement drug delivery, minimally invasive surgery, and diagnosis have provided great potential for medical applications. However, the space constraints of the internal environment and the size limitations of the robots are great challenges to practical application. To address the fundamental challenges of narrow body cavities, a different-frequency driven approach for multiple capsule robots with screw structure manipulated by external electromagnetic field is proposed in this paper. The multiple capsule robots are composed of driven permanent magnets, joint permanent magnets, and a screw body. The screw body generates a propulsive force in a fluidic environment. Moreover, robots can form new constructions via mutual docking and release. To provide manipulation guidelines for active locomotion, a dynamic model of axial propulsion and circumferential torque is established. The multiple start and step-out frequencies for multiple robots are defined theoretically. Moreover, the different-frequency driven approach based on geometrical parameters of screw structure and the overlap angles of magnetic polarities is proposed to drive multiple robots in an identical electromagnetic field. Finally, two capsule robots were prototyped and experiments in a narrow pipe were conducted to verify the different motions such as docking, release, and cooperative locomotion. The experimental results demonstrated the validity of the driven approach for multiple capsule robots in narrow body cavities.

  11. Assistance dogs provide a useful behavioral model to enrich communicative skills of assistance robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gácsi, Márta; Szakadát, Sára; Miklósi, Adám

    2013-01-01

    These studies are part of a project aiming to reveal relevant aspects of human-dog interactions, which could serve as a model to design successful human-robot interactions. Presently there are no successfully commercialized assistance robots, however, assistance dogs work efficiently as partners for persons with disabilities. In Study 1, we analyzed the cooperation of 32 assistance dog-owner dyads performing a carrying task. We revealed typical behavior sequences and also differences depending on the dyads' experiences and on whether the owner was a wheelchair user. In Study 2, we investigated dogs' responses to unforeseen difficulties during a retrieving task in two contexts. Dogs displayed specific communicative and displacement behaviors, and a strong commitment to execute the insoluble task. Questionnaire data from Study 3 confirmed that these behaviors could successfully attenuate owners' disappointment. Although owners anticipated the technical competence of future assistance robots to be moderate/high, they could not imagine robots as emotional companions, which negatively affected their acceptance ratings of future robotic assistants. We propose that assistance dogs' cooperative behaviors and problem solving strategies should inspire the development of the relevant functions and social behaviors of assistance robots with limited manual and verbal skills.

  12. Development of an observation robot `Flying Fish` for comprehensive measurements of ocean environment; Kaiyo kankyo sogo kansoku robot `flying fish` no kaihatsu kenkyu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koterayama, W.; Yamaguchi, S.; Nakamura, M. [Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Research Inst. for Applied Mechanics; Akamatsu, T. [Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

    1996-06-01

    A high speed towed type physical and chemical observation marine robot named as `Flying Fish` has been developed since 1992, which can measure chemical substances in the sea as well as physical data, such as flow velocity of the ocean and water temperature. This paper describes its formation, designing, control system, and results of ocean tests. For the space continuous observation of physical, chemical, and biological quantities, it is essential to control the depth, pitch, and roll. The wing control method was employed for this robot. As a result of the ocean tests, the following conclusions were obtained. The accuracy under the steady state was {plus_minus}0.05 m in the depth, {plus_minus}1 degree in the pitch, and {plus_minus}0.5 degree in the roll. This was stable enough to operate chemical analysis, such as dissolved oxygen analysis. Even under the unsteady state during the change of depth, the pitch and roll were controlled in {plus_minus}3 degree and {plus_minus}0.5 degree, respectively. Results of the field tests and the numerical simulations for the performance of this robot were agreed well mutually in the practically sufficient accuracy. 10 refs., 15 figs., 2 tabs.

  13. Ontological Reasoning for Human-Robot Teaming in Search and Rescue Missions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bagosi, T.; Hindriks, k.V.; Neerincx, M.A.

    2016-01-01

    In search and rescue missions robots are used to help rescue workers in exploring the disaster site. Our research focuses on how multiple robots and rescuers act as a team, and build up situation awareness. We propose a multi-agent system where each agent supports one member, either human or robot.

  14. An experimental program on advanced robotics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuan, J.S.C.; Stovman, J.; MacDonald, R.; Norgate, G.

    1987-01-01

    Remote handling in hostile environments, including space, nuclear facilities, and mines, requires hybrid systems which permit close cooperation between state of the art teleoperation and advanced robotics. Teleoperation using hand controller commands and television feedback can be enhanced by providing force-feel feedback and simulation graphics enhancement of the display. By integrating robotics features such as computer vision and force/tactile feedback with advanced local control systems, the overall effectiveness of the system can be improved and the operator workload reduced. This has been demonstrated in the laboratory. Applications such as a grappling drifting satellite or transferring material at sea are envisaged

  15. D2 Delta Robot Structural Design and Kinematics Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xudong; wang, Song; Dong, Yu; Yang, Hai

    2017-12-01

    In this paper, a new type of Delta robot with only two degrees of freedom is proposed on the basis of multi - degree - of - freedom delta robot. In order to meet our application requirements, we have carried out structural design and analysis of the robot. Through SolidWorks modeling, combined with 3D printing technology to determine the final robot structure. In order to achieve the precise control of the robot, the kinematics analysis of the robot was carried out. The SimMechanics toolbox of MATLAB is used to establish the mechanism model, and the kinematics mathematical model is used to simulate the robot motion control in Matlab environment. Finally, according to the design mechanism, the working space of the robot is drawn by the graphic method, which lays the foundation for the motion control of the subsequent robot.

  16. Achievement report for fiscal 2000 on operational research of human cooperative and coexisting (humanoid) robot system. Development for practical application of new power generation technology; 2000 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system un'yo kenkyu seika hokokusho. Shinhatsuden gijutsu jitsuyoka kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    This paper reports the achievements in fiscal 2000 in the development for practical application of a new power generation technology for the human cooperative and coexisting (humanoid) robot system. Carrying out the development smoothly and efficiently requires accumulation of the system operational know-how, as well as the periodical check and maintenance to maintain the functions and performances of the robot platform having been developed in the previous fiscal year. Checks were given on the robot platform hardware, and no anomalies were verified in all operation. For the remote operation platform, normal operations were identified in the visual and audio information presenting and communication systems, including such components as the PCI, noise removing card, three-dimensional microphone, and SGI320. Operations were confirmed on the movement and operation sensing and presenting system, whereas no change has been found in the operation for the period of one year, and sufficient performance was maintained. For the virtual robot platform, the operation was made open to public on the basic operation library network interface. No operational defects, damages, wear, and electrical failures were found in the master hand for the remote control by hands, force sense presentation, finger and wrist position detection, and contact angle presentation. (NEDO)

  17. A remote integrated testbed for cooperating objects

    CERN Document Server

    Dios, Jose Ramiro Martinez-de; Bernabe, Alberto de San; Ollero, Anibal

    2013-01-01

    Testbeds are gaining increasing relevance in research domains and also in industrial applications. However, very few books devoted to testbeds have been published. To the best of my knowledge no book on this topic has been published. This book is particularly interesting for the growing community of testbed developers. I believe the book is also very interesting for researchers in robot-WSN cooperation.This book provides detailed description of a system that can be considered the first testbed that allows full peer-to-peer interoperability between heterogeneous robots and ubiquitous systems su

  18. Multi-objective Mobile Robot Scheduling Problem with Dynamic Time Windows

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dang, Vinh Quang; Nielsen, Izabela Ewa; Steger-Jensen, Kenn

    2012-01-01

    This paper deals with the problem of scheduling feeding tasks of a single mobile robot which has capability of supplying parts to feeders on pro-duction lines. The performance criterion is to minimize the total traveling time of the robot and the total tardiness of the feeding tasks being scheduled...

  19. Market-Based Coordination and Auditing Mechanisms for Self-Interested Multi-Robot Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ham, MyungJoo

    2009-01-01

    We propose market-based coordinated task allocation mechanisms, which allocate complex tasks that require synchronized and collaborated services of multiple robot agents to robot agents, and an auditing mechanism, which ensures proper behaviors of robot agents by verifying inter-agent activities, for self-interested, fully-distributed, and…

  20. Multi-spacecraft observations of solar hard X-ray bursts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kane, S.R.

    1981-01-01

    The role of multi-spacecraft observations in solar flare research is examined from the point of view of solar hard X-ray bursts and their implications with respect to models of the impulsive phase. Multi-spacecraft measurements provide a stereoscopic view of the flare region, and hence represent the only direct method of measuring directivity of X-rays. In absence of hard X-ray imaging instruments with high spatial and temporal resolution, multi-spacecraft measurements provide the only means of determining the radial (vertical) structure of the hard X-ray source. This potential of the multi-spacecraft observations is illustrated with an analysis of the presently available observations of solar hard X-ray bursts made simultaneously by two or more of the following spacecraft: International Sun Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3), Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO), Helios-B and High Energy Astrophysical Observatory-A (HEAO-A). In particular, some conclusions have been drawn about the spatial structure and directivity of 50-100 keV X-rays from impulsive flares. Desirable features of future multi-spacecraft missions are briefly discussed followed by a short description of the hard X-ray experiment on the International Solar Polar Mission which has been planned specifically for multi-spacecraft observations of the Sun. (orig.)

  1. Sensor Fusion for Autonomous Mobile Robot Navigation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Plascencia, Alfredo

    Multi-sensor data fusion is a broad area of constant research which is applied to a wide variety of fields such as the field of mobile robots. Mobile robots are complex systems where the design and implementation of sensor fusion is a complex task. But research applications are explored constantl....... The scope of the thesis is limited to building a map for a laboratory robot by fusing range readings from a sonar array with landmarks extracted from stereo vision images using the (Scale Invariant Feature Transform) SIFT algorithm....

  2. New trends in medical and service robots challenges and solutions

    CERN Document Server

    Pisla, Doina; Bleuler, Hannes

    2014-01-01

    This volume describes new frontiers in medical and service robotics in the light of recent developments in technology to advance robot design and implementation. In particular, the work looks at advances in design, development and implementation of contemporary surgical, rehabilitation and biorobots. Surgical robots allow surgeons greater access to areas under operation using more precise and less invasive methods. Rehabilitation robots facilitate and support the lives of the infirm, elderly people, or those with dysfunction of body parts affecting movement. These robots are also used for rehabilitation and related procedures, such as training and therapy. Biorobots are designed to imitate the cognition of humans and animals. The need to substitute humans working on delicate, tiresome and monotonous tasks, or working with potentially health-damaging toxic materials, requires intelligent, high-performance service robots with the ability to cooperate, advanced communication and sophisticated perception and cogn...

  3. Physics-based approach to chemical source localization using mobile robotic swarms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zarzhitsky, Dimitri

    2008-07-01

    Recently, distributed computation has assumed a dominant role in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics. To improve system performance, engineers are combining multiple cooperating robots into cohesive collectives called swarms. This thesis illustrates the application of basic principles of physicomimetics, or physics-based design, to swarm robotic systems. Such principles include decentralized control, short-range sensing and low power consumption. We show how the application of these principles to robotic swarms results in highly scalable, robust, and adaptive multi-robot systems. The emergence of these valuable properties can be predicted with the help of well-developed theoretical methods. In this research effort, we have designed and constructed a distributed physicomimetics system for locating sources of airborne chemical plumes. This task, called chemical plume tracing (CPT), is receiving a great deal of attention due to persistent homeland security threats. For this thesis, we have created a novel CPT algorithm called fluxotaxis that is based on theoretical principles of fluid dynamics. Analytically, we show that fluxotaxis combines the essence, as well as the strengths, of the two most popular biologically-inspired CPT methods-- chemotaxis and anemotaxis. The chemotaxis strategy consists of navigating in the direction of the chemical density gradient within the plume, while the anemotaxis approach is based on an upwind traversal of the chemical cloud. Rigorous and extensive experimental evaluations have been performed in simulated chemical plume environments. Using a suite of performance metrics that capture the salient aspects of swarm-specific behavior, we have been able to evaluate and compare the three CPT algorithms. We demonstrate the improved performance of our fluxotaxis approach over both chemotaxis and anemotaxis in these realistic simulation environments, which include obstacles. To test our understanding of CPT on actual hardware

  4. Development of a novel soft parallel robot equipped with polymeric artificial muscles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moghadam, Amir Ali Amiri; Kouzani, Abbas; Kaynak, Akif; Torabi, Keivan; Shahinpoor, Mohsen

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents the design, analysis and fabrication of a novel low-cost soft parallel robot for biomedical applications, including bio-micromanipulation devices. The robot consists of two active flexible polymer actuator-based links, which are connected to two rigid links by means of flexible joints. A mathematical model is established between the input voltage to the polymer actuators and the robot’s end effector position. The robot has two degrees-of-freedom, making it suitable for handling planar micromanipulation tasks. Moreover, a number of robots can be configured to operate in a cooperative manner for increasing micromanipulation dexterity. Finally, the experimental results demonstrate two main motion modes of the robot. (paper)

  5. 7th International Robotic Sailing Conference

    CERN Document Server

    Tynan, Dermot

    2015-01-01

    An autonomous sailboat robot is a boat that only uses the wind on its sail as the propelling force, without remote control or human assistance to achieve its mission. Robotic sailing offers the potential of long range and long term autonomous wind propelled, solar or wave-powered carbon neutral devices. Robotic sailing devices could contribute to monitoring of environmental, ecological, meteorological, hydrographic and oceanographic data. These devices can also be used in traffic monitoring, border surveillance, security, assistance and rescue. The dependency on changing winds and sea conditions presents a considerable challenge for short and long term route and stability planning, collision avoidance and boat control. Building a robust and seaworthy sailing robot presents a truly complex and multi-disciplinary challenge for boat designers, naval architects, systems/electrical engineers and computer scientists. Over the last decade, several events such as Sailbot, World Robotic Sailing Championship and the In...

  6. Achievement report for fiscal 2000 on operational research of human cooperative and coexisting (humanoid) robot system. Development of energy usage rationalizing technology; 2000 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system un'yo kenkyu seika hokokusho. Energy shiyo gorika gijutsu kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    This paper reports the achievements in fiscal 2000 in the operational research on the human cooperative and coexisting (humanoid) robot system to rationalize energy usage. Operational method and maintenance were studied on the platform hardware that has been developed in the previous fiscal year. Checks were given periodically on the robot platform hardware, and no anomalies were verified in all operation. Verifications were made on the fasteners, additional tightening, fitting of the connectors, battery checks, zero position and step response checks, and output checks on the force component sensor, gyro sensor and G sensor. For the virtual robot platform, discussions were given on the basic movement library for the geography complying three-dimensional walking. Such configurations were constituted that integrated use is possible with the simulator system by connecting the networks, and the user can instruct the CORBA server with the generation of walking movements according to the GUI by using the general purpose WWW browser to connect it to the HTTP server, whose result can be verified by three-dimensional graphics. A method to stabilize the all-axis movement servo model was made open to public. (NEDO)

  7. FY 1998 result report on the R and D of human cooperation/coexistence type robot system. (Development of commercialization of new power generation technology); 1998 nendo ningen kyocho kyozongata robot system no kenkyu kaihatsu (shinhatsuden gijutsu jitsuyoka kaihatsu) seika hokokusho

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1999-03-01

    The R and D were conducted to realize a robot system which can work cooperating and coexisting with humans at working places for maintenance, construction, rescue, etc. of plants and power plants. In the fabrication of a robot platform supporting maintenance, etc., the interface specifications were studied for command/data communication with the remote control platform. In the development of an audio-visual display system and a communication system, they were designed based on the required specifications of audio-visual display/communication systems for the remote control cockpit. In the development of a human-friendly display system for sense of operation, the basic design was carried out of a manipulation device, gripping operation, a force display device, a traveling operation device, and a body sense display device which make it possible to command standard operations required for walking with two legs and going up/down stairs and for lifting up and carrying an object with two arms with ease and presence. Further R and D were conducted of a method for displaying reality, sensor simulator, a network interface for the basic robot motion library, etc. (NEDO)

  8. Robotic technology results in faster and more robust surgical skill acquisition than traditional laparoscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Lee J; Wilson, Mark R; Waine, Elizabeth; Masters, Rich S W; McGrath, John S; Vine, Samuel J

    2015-03-01

    Technical surgical skills are said to be acquired quicker on a robotic rather than laparoscopic platform. However, research examining this proposition is scarce. Thus, this study aimed to compare the performance and learning curves of novices acquiring skills using a robotic or laparoscopic system, and to examine if any learning advantages were maintained over time and transferred to more difficult and stressful tasks. Forty novice participants were randomly assigned to either a robotic- or laparoscopic-trained group. Following one baseline trial on a ball pick-and-drop task, participants performed 50 learning trials. Participants then completed an immediate retention trial and a transfer trial on a two-instrument rope-threading task. One month later, participants performed a delayed retention trial and a stressful multi-tasking trial. The results revealed that the robotic-trained group completed the ball pick-and-drop task more quickly and accurately than the laparoscopic-trained group across baseline, immediate retention, and delayed retention trials. Furthermore, the robotic-trained group displayed a shorter learning curve for accuracy. The robotic-trained group also performed the more complex rope-threading and stressful multi-tasking transfer trials better. Finally, in the multi-tasking trial, the robotic-trained group made fewer tone counting errors. The results highlight the benefits of using robotic technology for the acquisition of technical surgical skills.

  9. On the role of emotion in biological and robotic autonomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziemke, Tom

    2008-02-01

    This paper reviews some of the differences between notions of biological and robotic autonomy, and how these differences have been reflected in discussions of embodiment, grounding and other concepts in AI and autonomous robotics. Furthermore, the relations between homeostasis, emotion and embodied cognition are discussed as well as recent proposals to model their interplay in robots, which reflects a commitment to a multi-tiered affectively/emotionally embodied view of mind that takes organismic embodiment more serious than usually done in biologically inspired robotics.

  10. Manifold traversing as a model for learning control of autonomous robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szakaly, Zoltan F.; Schenker, Paul S.

    1992-01-01

    This paper describes a recipe for the construction of control systems that support complex machines such as multi-limbed/multi-fingered robots. The robot has to execute a task under varying environmental conditions and it has to react reasonably when previously unknown conditions are encountered. Its behavior should be learned and/or trained as opposed to being programmed. The paper describes one possible method for organizing the data that the robot has learned by various means. This framework can accept useful operator input even if it does not fully specify what to do, and can combine knowledge from autonomous, operator assisted and programmed experiences.

  11. Development of a Self-Stabilizing Robotic Chassis for Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryadchikov Igor

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Presented the description of the bipedal robotic chassis with the unique kinematic scheme which has the possibility to locomote in complicated multi-level environment. AnyWalker is equipped with the system of compensation of external impacts with motor-wheels which can self-stabilize the robotic system in 3 dimensions. Presented chassis suggests to have open software and hardware architecture in order to become the universal walking platform for service and industry robots.

  12. Multi-agent cooperation for particle accelerator control

    CERN Document Server

    Skarek, Paul

    1996-01-01

    We present practical investigations in a real industrial controls environment for justifying theoretical DAI (Distributed Artificial Intelligence) results, and we discuss theoretical aspects of practical investigations for accelerator control and operation. A generalized hypothesis is introduced based on a unified view of control, monitoring, diagnosis, maintenance and repair tasks leading to a general method of cooperation for expert systems by exchanging hypotheses. This has been tested for task and result sharing cooperation scenarios. Generalized hypotheses also allow us to treat the repetitive diagnosis-recovery cycle as task sharing cooperation. Problems with such a loop or even recursive calls between the different agents are discussed.

  13. Motion and operation planning of robotic systems background and practical approaches

    CERN Document Server

    Gomez-Barvo, Fernando

    2015-01-01

    This book addresses the broad multi-disciplinary topic of robotics, and presents the basic techniques for motion and operation planning in robotics systems. Gathering contributions from experts in diverse and wide ranging fields, it offers an overview of the most recent and cutting-edge practical applications of these methodologies. It covers both theoretical and practical approaches, and elucidates the transition from theory to implementation. An extensive analysis is provided, including humanoids, manipulators, aerial robots and ground mobile robots. ‘Motion and Operation Planning of Robotic Systems’ addresses the following topics: *The theoretical background of robotics. *Application of motion planning techniques to manipulators, such as serial and parallel manipulators. *Mobile robots planning, including robotic applications related to aerial robots, large scale robots and traditional wheeled robots. *Motion planning for humanoid robots. An invaluable reference text for graduate students and researche...

  14. Computer-controlled wall servicing robot

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lefkowitz, S. [Pentek, Inc., Corapolis, PA (United States)

    1995-03-01

    After four years of cooperative research, Pentek has unveiled a new robot with the capability to automatically deliver a variety of cleaning, painting, inspection, and surveillance devices to large vertical surfaces. The completely computer-controlled robot can position a working tool on a 50-foot tall by 50-foot wide vertical surface with a repeatability of 1/16 inch. The working end can literally {open_quotes}fly{close_quotes} across the face of a wall at speed of 60 per minute, and can handle working loads of 350 pounds. The robot was originally developed to decontaminate the walls of reactor fueling cavities at commercial nuclear power plants during fuel outages. If these cavities are left to dry after reactor refueling, contamination present in the residue could later become airborne and move throughout the containment building. Decontaminating the cavity during the refueling outage reduces the need for restrictive personal protective equipment during plant operations to limit the dose rates.

  15. Cooperation of return-to-work professionals: the challenges of multi-actor work disability management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liukko, Jyri; Kuuva, Niina

    2017-07-01

    This article explores which concrete factors hinder or facilitate the cooperation of return-to-work (RTW) professionals in a complex system of multiple stakeholders. The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews with 24 RTW professionals from various organizations involved in work disability management in Finland. The interviews were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The study revealed several kinds of challenges in the cooperation of the professionals. These were related to two partly interrelated themes: communication and distribution of responsibility. The most difficult problems were connected to the cooperation between public employment offices and other stakeholders. However, the study distinguished notable regional differences depending primarily on the scale of the local network. The main areas of improvement proposed by the interviewees were related to better networking of case managers and expansion of expertise. The article argues for the importance of systematic networking and stresses the role of public employment services in the multi-actor management of work disabilities. The article contributes to existing work disability case management models by suggesting the employment administration system as an important component in addition to health care, workplace and insurance systems. The study also highlights the need for expansion of expertise in the field. Implications for Rehabilitation Cooperation between RTW professionals in public employment offices and other organizations involved in work disability management was considered inadequate. In order to improve the cooperation of RTW professionals, the stakeholders need to create more systematic ways of communication and networking with professionals in other organizations. There is a need to expand the expertise in work disability management and rehabilitation, partly by increasing the role of other professionals than physicians.

  16. Active robotic training improves locomotor function in a stroke survivor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krishnan Chandramouli

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Clinical outcomes after robotic training are often not superior to conventional therapy. One key factor responsible for this is the use of control strategies that provide substantial guidance. This strategy not only leads to a reduction in volitional physical effort, but also interferes with motor relearning. Methods We tested the feasibility of a novel training approach (active robotic training using a powered gait orthosis (Lokomat in mitigating post-stroke gait impairments of a 52-year-old male stroke survivor. This gait training paradigm combined patient-cooperative robot-aided walking with a target-tracking task. The training lasted for 4-weeks (12 visits, 3 × per week. The subject’s neuromotor performance and recovery were evaluated using biomechanical, neuromuscular and clinical measures recorded at various time-points (pre-training, post-training, and 6-weeks after training. Results Active robotic training resulted in considerable increase in target-tracking accuracy and reduction in the kinematic variability of ankle trajectory during robot-aided treadmill walking. These improvements also transferred to overground walking as characterized by larger propulsive forces and more symmetric ground reaction forces (GRFs. Training also resulted in improvements in muscle coordination, which resembled patterns observed in healthy controls. These changes were accompanied by a reduction in motor cortical excitability (MCE of the vastus medialis, medial hamstrings, and gluteus medius muscles during treadmill walking. Importantly, active robotic training resulted in substantial improvements in several standard clinical and functional parameters. These improvements persisted during the follow-up evaluation at 6 weeks. Conclusions The results indicate that active robotic training appears to be a promising way of facilitating gait and physical function in moderately impaired stroke survivors.

  17. An Application-oriented Open Software Platform for Multi-purpose Field Robotics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Kjeld

    that solve simple tasks such as mowing, and automatic tractor steering that navigates through a planned route under the supervision of an operator. The outdoor environment in which the robot operates is often very complex. This places great demands on the robot's ability to perceive the environment and based...... on this behave in a way that is appropriate and productive with respect to the given task while being safe for nearby people, animals and objects. Researchers are challenged by the considerable resources required to develop robot software capable of supporting experiments in such a complex perception...... and behavior. The lack of collaboration between research groups contributes to the problem, the scientific publications describe methods and results from the work, but little software for field robots are released and documented for use by others. The hypothesis of this work is that an application oriented...

  18. 76 FR 59160 - Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993-Robotics...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-23

    ... Production Act of 1993--Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. Notice is hereby given that, on July 27, 2011... seq. (``the Act''), the Robotics Technology Consortium (``RTC'') has filed written notifications... Machining, Longmont, CA; Carnegie Robotics LLC, Pittsburgh, PA; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University...

  19. Potential Applications of Light Robotics in Nanomedicine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Glückstad, Jesper

    We have recently pioneered a new generation of 3D micro-printed light robotic structures with multi-functional biophotonics capabilities. The uniqueness of this light robotic approach is that even if a micro-biologist aims at exploring e.g. cell biology at nanoscopic scales, the main support...... of each micro-robotic structure can be 3D printed to have a size and shape that allows convenient laser manipulation in full 3D – even using relatively modest numerical aperture optics. An optical robot is typically equipped with a number of 3D printed "track-balls" that allow for real-time 3D light...... manipulation with six-degrees-of-freedom. This creates a drone-like functionality where each light-driven robot can be e.g. joystick-controlled and provide the user a feeling of stretching his/her hands directly into and interacting with the biologic micro-environment. The light-guided robots can thus act...

  20. 5th International Robotic Sailing Conference

    CERN Document Server

    Finnis, James

    2013-01-01

    Robotic sailing offers the potential of wind propelled vehicles which are sufficiently autonomous to remain at sea for months at a time. These could replace or augment existing oceanographic sampling systems, be used in border surveillance and security or offer a means of carbon neutral transportation. To achieve this represents a complex, multi-disciplinary challenge to boat designers and naval architects, systems/electrical engineers and computer scientists.  Since 2004 a series of competitions in the form of the Sailbot, World Robotic Sailing Championship and Microtransat competitions have sparked an explosion in the number of groups working on autonomous sailing robots. Despite this interest the longest distance sailed autonomously remains only a few hundred miles. Many of the challenges in building truly autonomous sailing robots still remain unsolved. These proceedings present the cutting edge of work in a variety of fields related to robotic sailing. They will be presented during the 5th International...

  1. Nano-biophotonics explored by Light Robotics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Glückstad, Jesper; Villangca, Mark Jayson; Palima, Darwin

    for harnessing most of the functionalities required to develop the fascinating concept of true so-­‐called Light Robotics. We foresee that it will soon become possible to equip 3D laser-printed robotic micro-­‐structures with multi functional biophotonics nanoprobes or nanotips fabricated with true nanoscopic...... resolution. The uniqueness of such an approach is that even if a micro biologist aims at exploring e.g. cell biology at nanoscopic scales, the main support of each laser-­‐robotic structure can be 3D printed to have a size and shape that allows convenient laser manipulation in full 3D– even using relatively...... modest numerical aperture optics. An optical robot is typically equipped with a number of 3D printed "trackballs" that allow for real-­‐time 3D light manipulation with six-­‐degrees-­‐of-­‐freedom. This creates a drone-­‐like functionality where each light-­‐driven robot can be e.g. joystick...

  2. 78 FR 13896 - Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993-Robotics...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-01

    ... Production Act of 1993--Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. Notice is hereby given that, on February 5, 2013... seq. (``the Act''), Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. (``RTC'') has filed written notifications... Institute LLC, Monticello, FL; Humanistic Robotics, Inc., Philadelphia, PA; Polaris Sales, Inc., Medina, MN...

  3. 77 FR 34067 - Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993-Robotics...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-08

    ... Production Act of 1993--Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. Notice is hereby given that, on April 30, 2012... seq. (``the Act''), Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. (``RTC'') has filed written notifications... Inc., Huntsville, AL; John H. Northrop & Associates, Inc., Burke, VA; Lithos Robotics Corporation...

  4. Multi-modal locomotion: from animal to application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lock, R J; Burgess, S C; Vaidyanathan, R

    2014-01-01

    The majority of robotic vehicles that can be found today are bound to operations within a single media (i.e. land, air or water). This is very rarely the case when considering locomotive capabilities in natural systems. Utility for small robots often reflects the exact same problem domain as small animals, hence providing numerous avenues for biological inspiration. This paper begins to investigate the various modes of locomotion adopted by different genus groups in multiple media as an initial attempt to determine the compromise in ability adopted by the animals when achieving multi-modal locomotion. A review of current biologically inspired multi-modal robots is also presented. The primary aim of this research is to lay the foundation for a generation of vehicles capable of multi-modal locomotion, allowing ambulatory abilities in more than one media, surpassing current capabilities. By identifying and understanding when natural systems use specific locomotion mechanisms, when they opt for disparate mechanisms for each mode of locomotion rather than using a synergized singular mechanism, and how this affects their capability in each medium, similar combinations can be used as inspiration for future multi-modal biologically inspired robotic platforms. (topical review)

  5. Mesofluidic controlled robotic or prosthetic finger

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lind, Randall F; Jansen, John F; Love, Lonnie J

    2013-11-19

    A mesofluidic powered robotic and/or prosthetic finger joint includes a first finger section having at least one mesofluidic actuator in fluid communication with a first actuator, a second mesofluidic actuator in fluid communication with a second actuator and a second prosthetic finger section pivotally connected to the first finger section by a joint pivot, wherein the first actuator pivotally cooperates with the second finger to provide a first mechanical advantage relative to the joint point and wherein the second actuator pivotally cooperates with the second finger section to provide a second mechanical advantage relative to the joint point.

  6. Human-Inspired Eigenmovement Concept Provides Coupling-Free Sensorimotor Control in Humanoid Robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexandrov, Alexei V; Lippi, Vittorio; Mergner, Thomas; Frolov, Alexander A; Hettich, Georg; Husek, Dusan

    2017-01-01

    Control of a multi-body system in both robots and humans may face the problem of destabilizing dynamic coupling effects arising between linked body segments. The state of the art solutions in robotics are full state feedback controllers. For human hip-ankle coordination, a more parsimonious and theoretically stable alternative to the robotics solution has been suggested in terms of the Eigenmovement (EM) control. Eigenmovements are kinematic synergies designed to describe the multi DoF system, and its control, with a set of independent, and hence coupling-free , scalar equations. This paper investigates whether the EM alternative shows "real-world robustness" against noisy and inaccurate sensors, mechanical non-linearities such as dead zones, and human-like feedback time delays when controlling hip-ankle movements of a balancing humanoid robot. The EM concept and the EM controller are introduced, the robot's dynamics are identified using a biomechanical approach, and robot tests are performed in a human posture control laboratory. The tests show that the EM controller provides stable control of the robot with proactive ("voluntary") movements and reactive balancing of stance during support surface tilts and translations. Although a preliminary robot-human comparison reveals similarities and differences, we conclude (i) the Eigenmovement concept is a valid candidate when different concepts of human sensorimotor control are considered, and (ii) that human-inspired robot experiments may help to decide in future the choice among the candidates and to improve the design of humanoid robots and robotic rehabilitation devices.

  7. Magnetic fish-robot based on multi-motion control of a flexible magnetic actuator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Sung Hoon; Shin, Kyoosik; Hashi, Shuichiro; Ishiyama, Kazushi

    2012-09-01

    This paper presents a biologically inspired fish-robot driven by a single flexible magnetic actuator with a rotating magnetic field in a three-axis Helmholtz coil. Generally, magnetic fish-robots are powered by alternating and gradient magnetic fields, which provide a single motion such as bending the fish-robot's fins. On the other hand, a flexible magnetic actuator driven by an external rotating magnetic field can create several gaits such as the bending vibration, the twisting vibration, and their combination. Most magnetic fish-like micro-robots do not have pectoral fins on the side and are simply propelled by the tail fin. The proposed robot can swim and perform a variety of maneuvers with the addition of pectoral fins and control of the magnetic torque direction. In this paper, we find that the robot's dynamic actuation correlates with the magnetic actuator and the rotating magnetic field. The proposed robot is also equipped with new features, such as a total of six degrees of freedom, a new control method that stabilizes posture, three-dimensional swimming, a new velocity control, and new turning abilities.

  8. Magnetic fish-robot based on multi-motion control of a flexible magnetic actuator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Sung Hoon; Hashi, Shuichiro; Ishiyama, Kazushi; Shin, Kyoosik

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents a biologically inspired fish-robot driven by a single flexible magnetic actuator with a rotating magnetic field in a three-axis Helmholtz coil. Generally, magnetic fish-robots are powered by alternating and gradient magnetic fields, which provide a single motion such as bending the fish-robot's fins. On the other hand, a flexible magnetic actuator driven by an external rotating magnetic field can create several gaits such as the bending vibration, the twisting vibration, and their combination. Most magnetic fish-like micro-robots do not have pectoral fins on the side and are simply propelled by the tail fin. The proposed robot can swim and perform a variety of maneuvers with the addition of pectoral fins and control of the magnetic torque direction. In this paper, we find that the robot's dynamic actuation correlates with the magnetic actuator and the rotating magnetic field. The proposed robot is also equipped with new features, such as a total of six degrees of freedom, a new control method that stabilizes posture, three-dimensional swimming, a new velocity control, and new turning abilities. (paper)

  9. Flow Behavior Around a Fast-Starting Robotic Fish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Ganzhong; Currier, Todd; Modarres-Sadeghi, Yahya

    2017-11-01

    A robotic fish is used to study the flow behavior around the body of a fast-starting fish as it experiences a fast-start. The robotic fish is designed and built emulating a Northern Pike, Esox Lucius, which can accelerate at up to 245 m/s2. In previous studies, we had focused on the flow around the tail during the fast-start, by using a tail which acted flexibly in the preparatory stage and rigidly in the propulsive stage. We have extended that study by including the fish body in the experimental setup, where the body can bend into a C-shape, so that the influence of the body motion on the resulting flow around the structure can be understood as well. In the tests, the fish can rotate about a vertical axis, where a multi-axis force sensor measures flow forces acting on the body. Synchronized with the force measurement, flow visualizations using bubble image velocimetry are conducted, and the observed shed vortices are related to the peak forces observed during the maneuver.

  10. 76 FR 79218 - Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993-Robotics...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-21

    ... Production Act of 1993--Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. Notice is hereby given that, on November 22....C. 4301 et seq. (``the Act''), Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. (``RTC'') has filed written...., Arlington, VA; Jaybridge Robotics, Cambridge, MA; Klett Consulting Group, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA; and Next...

  11. Toward Speech and Nonverbal Behaviors Integration for Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Wang

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available It is essential to integrate speeches and nonverbal behaviors for a humanoid robot in human-robot interaction. This paper presents an approach using multi-object genetic algorithm to match the speeches and behaviors automatically. Firstly, with humanoid robot's emotion status, we construct a hierarchical structure to link voice characteristics and nonverbal behaviors. Secondly, these behaviors corresponding to speeches are matched and integrated into an action sequence based on genetic algorithm, so the robot can consistently speak and perform emotional behaviors. Our approach takes advantage of relevant knowledge described by psychologists and nonverbal communication. And from experiment results, our ultimate goal, implementing an affective robot to act and speak with partners vividly and fluently, could be achieved.

  12. Task-space sensory feedback control of robot manipulators

    CERN Document Server

    Cheah, Chien Chern

    2015-01-01

    This book presents recent advances in robot control theory on task space sensory feedback control of robot manipulators. By using sensory feedback information, the robot control systems are robust to various uncertainties in modelling and calibration errors of the sensors. Several sensory task space control methods that do not require exact knowledge of either kinematics or dynamics of robots, are presented. Some useful methods such as approximate Jacobian control, adaptive Jacobian control, region control and multiple task space regional feedback are included. These formulations and methods give robots a high degree of flexibility in dealing with unforeseen changes and uncertainties in its kinematics and dynamics, which is similar to human reaching movements and tool manipulation. It also leads to the solution of several long-standing problems and open issues in robot control, such as force control with constraint uncertainty, control of multi-fingered robot hand with uncertain contact points, singularity i...

  13. Novel Mobile Robot Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Using Rao-Blackwellised Particle Filter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong Bingrong

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the novel method of mobile robot simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM, which is implemented by using the Rao-Blackwellised particle filter (RBPF for monocular vision-based autonomous robot in unknown indoor environment. The particle filter is combined with unscented Kalman filter (UKF to extending the path posterior by sampling new poses that integrate the current observation. The landmark position estimation and update is implemented through the unscented transform (UT. Furthermore, the number of resampling steps is determined adaptively, which seriously reduces the particle depletion problem. Monocular CCD camera mounted on the robot tracks the 3D natural point landmarks, which are structured with matching image feature pairs extracted through Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT. The matching for multi-dimension SIFT features which are highly distinctive due to a special descriptor is implemented with a KDTree in the time cost of O(log2N. Experiments on the robot Pioneer3 in our real indoor environment show that our method is of high precision and stability.

  14. Novel Mobile Robot Simultaneous Loclization and Mapping Using Rao-Blackwellised Particle Filter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Maohai

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the novel method of mobile robot simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM, which is implemented by using the Rao-Blackwellised particle filter (RBPF for monocular vision-based autonomous robot in unknown indoor environment. The particle filter is combined with unscented Kalman filter (UKF to extending the path posterior by sampling new poses that integrate the current observation. The landmark position estimation and update is implemented through the unscented transform (UT. Furthermore, the number of resampling steps is determined adaptively, which seriously reduces the particle depletion problem. Monocular CCD camera mounted on the robot tracks the 3D natural point landmarks, which are structured with matching image feature pairs extracted through Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT. The matching for multi-dimension SIFT features which are highly distinctive due to a special descriptor is implemented with a KD-Tree in the time cost of O(log2N. Experiments on the robot Pioneer3 in our real indoor environment show that our method is of high precision and stability.

  15. Industrial dual arm robot manipulator for precise assembly of mechanical parts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Chanhun; Kim, Doohyung; Park, Kyoungtaik; Choi, Youngjin

    2007-12-01

    A new structure of dual arm robot manipulator which consists of two industrial 6-DOF arms and one 2-DOF Torso is introduced. Each industrial 6-DOF arm is able to be used as a stand-alone industrial 6-DOF robot manipulator and as a part of dual arm manipulator at the same time. These structures help the robot maker which is willing to succeed in the emerging dual arm robot market in order to have high competition for the current industrial robot market at same time. Self-collision detection algorithm for multi-arm robot and kinematics algorithms for the developed dual arm robot manipulator which are implemented in our controller are introduced.

  16. Multi-Objective Clustering Optimization for Multi-Channel Cooperative Spectrum Sensing in Heterogeneous Green CRNs

    KAUST Repository

    Celik, Abdulkadir

    2016-06-27

    In this paper, we address energy efficient (EE) cooperative spectrum sensing policies for large scale heterogeneous cognitive radio networks (CRNs) which consist of multiple primary channels and large number of secondary users (SUs) with heterogeneous sensing and reporting channel qualities. We approach this issue from macro and micro perspectives. Macro perspective groups SUs into clusters with the objectives: 1) total energy consumption minimization; 2) total throughput maximization; and 3) inter-cluster energy and throughput fairness. We adopt and demonstrate how to solve these using the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II. The micro perspective, on the other hand, operates as a sub-procedure on cluster formations decided by the macro perspective. For the micro perspectives, we first propose a procedure to select the cluster head (CH) which yields: 1) the best CH which gives the minimum total multi-hop error rate and 2) the optimal routing paths from SUs to the CH. Exploiting Poisson-Binomial distribution, a novel and generalized K-out-of-N voting rule is developed for heterogeneous CRNs to allow SUs to have different local detection performances. Then, a convex optimization framework is established to minimize the intra-cluster energy cost by jointly obtaining the optimal sensing durations and thresholds of feature detectors for the proposed voting rule. Likewise, instead of a common fixed sample size test, we developed a weighted sample size test for quantized soft decision fusion to obtain a more EE regime under heterogeneity. We have shown that the combination of proposed CH selection and cooperation schemes gives a superior performance in terms of energy efficiency and robustness against reporting error wall.

  17. Controlling the transmitted information of a multi-photon interacting with a single-Cooper pair box

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kadry, Heba; Abdel-Aty, Abdel-Haleem; Zakaria, Nordin; Cheong, Lee Yen

    2014-01-01

    We study a model of a multi-photon interaction of a single Cooper pair box with a cavity field. The exchange of the information using this system is studied. We quantify the fidelity of the transmitted information. The effect of the system parameters (detuning parameter, field photons, state density and mean photon number) in the fidelity of the transmitted information is investigated. We found that the fidelity of the transmitted information can be controlled using the system parameters

  18. Controlling the transmitted information of a multi-photon interacting with a single-Cooper pair box

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kadry, Heba, E-mail: hkadry1@yahoo.com; Abdel-Aty, Abdel-Haleem, E-mail: hkadry1@yahoo.com; Zakaria, Nordin, E-mail: hkadry1@yahoo.com [Computer and Information Science Department, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Seri Iskandar, 31750 Tronoh, Perak (Malaysia); Cheong, Lee Yen [Fundamental and Applied Science Department, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Seri Iskandar, 31750 Tronoh, Perak (Malaysia)

    2014-10-24

    We study a model of a multi-photon interaction of a single Cooper pair box with a cavity field. The exchange of the information using this system is studied. We quantify the fidelity of the transmitted information. The effect of the system parameters (detuning parameter, field photons, state density and mean photon number) in the fidelity of the transmitted information is investigated. We found that the fidelity of the transmitted information can be controlled using the system parameters.

  19. A multi-stage oil-water-separating process design for the sea oil spill recovery robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Min-ge; Wu, Jian-guo; Lin, Xinhua; Wang, Xiao-ming

    2018-03-01

    Oil spill have the most common pollution to the marine ecological environment. In the late stage of physical method recovery, because of the thin oil and the strong sea breeze, the recovery vessels has low efficiency and high energy consumption. This paper develops a multi-stage oil-water-separating process carried by the sea oil spill recovery robot in severe conditions. This design consists of three separation process, among which both the first and third process adopt corrugated sheets horizontal oil-water separator, while the second is hydraulic rotary breaker. This design also equiptment with rectifier and cyclone separator and other important components. This process has high flexibility and high recovery efficiency. The implement effect is significant.

  20. Evaluation of modular robot system for maintenance tasks in hot cell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pagala, Prithvi Sekhar, E-mail: ps.pagala@upm.es [Centre for Automation and Robotics UPM-CSIC (Spain); Ferre, Manuel, E-mail: m.ferre@upm.es [Centre for Automation and Robotics UPM-CSIC (Spain); Orona, Luis, E-mail: l.orona@gsi.de [GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung (Germany)

    2014-10-15

    Highlights: •Modular robot deployment inside hot cell for remote manipulation evaluated. •Flexible and adaptable system for variety of tasks presented. •Uses in large workspaces and evolving requirements shown. -- Abstract: This work assesses the use of a modular robot system to perform maintenance and inspection tasks such as, remote flexible inspection, manipulation and cooperation with deployed systems inside the hot cell. A flexible modular solution for the inclusion in maintenance operations is presented. The proposed heterogeneous modular robotic system is evaluated using simulations of the prototype across selected robot configuration to perform tasks. Results obtained show the advantages and ability of the modular robot to perform the necessary tasks as well as its ability to adapt and evolve depending on the need. The simulation test case inside hot cell shows modular robot configuration, a two modular arm to perform tele-operation tasks in the workspace and a wheeled platform for inspection collaborating to perform tasks. The advantage of using re-configurable modular robot over conventional robot platforms is shown.