WorldWideScience

Sample records for robot behavior control

  1. Fuzzy Behaviors for Control of Mobile Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saleh Zein-Sabatto

    2003-02-01

    Full Text Available In this research work, an RWI B-14 robot has been used as the development platform to embody some basic behaviors that can be combined to build more complex robotics behaviors. Emergency, avoid-obstacle, left wall- following, right wall-following, and move-to-point behaviors have been designed and embodied as basic robot behaviors. The basic behaviors developed in this research are designed based on fuzzy control technique and are integrated and coordinated to from complex robotics system. More behaviors can be added into the system as needed. A robot task can be defined by the user and executed by the intelligent robot control system. Testing results showed that fuzzy behaviors made the robot move intelligently and adapt to changes in its environment.

  2. Distributed behavior-based control architecture for a wall climbing robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nadir Ould Khessal; Shamsudin H.M. Amin . nadir.ok@ieee.org

    1999-01-01

    In the past two decades, Behavior-based AI (Artificial Intelligence) has emerged as a new approach in designing mobile robot control architecture. It stresses on the issues of reactivity, concurrency and real-time control. In this paper we propose a new approach in designing robust intelligent controllers for mobile robot platforms. The Behaviour-based paradigm implemented in a multiprocessing firmware architecture will further enhance parallelism present in the subsumption paradigm itself and increased real-timeness. The paper summarises research done to design a four-legged wall climbing robot. The emphasis will be on the control architecture of the robot based on the Behavior -based paradigm. The robot control architecture is made up of two layers, the locomotion layer and the gait controller layer. The two layers are implemented on a Vesta 68332 processor board running the Behaviour-based kernel, The software is developed using the L programming language, introduced by IS Robotics. The Behaviour-based paradigm is outlined and contrasted with the classical Knowledge-based approach. A description of the distributed architecture is presented followed by a presentation of the Behaviour-based agents for the two layers. (author)

  3. Towards Behavior Control for Evolutionary Robot Based on RL with ENN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jingan Yang

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a behavior-switching control strategy of anevolutionary robotics based on Artificial NeuralNetwork (ANN and Genetic Algorithms (GA. This method is able not only to construct thereinforcement learning models for autonomous robots and evolutionary robot modules thatcontrol behaviors and reinforcement learning environments, and but also to perform thebehavior-switching control and obstacle avoidance of an evolutionary robotics (ER intime-varying environments with static and moving obstacles by combining ANN and GA.The experimental results on thebasic behaviors and behavior-switching control have demonstrated that ourmethod can perform the decision-making strategy and parameters set opimization ofFNN and GA by learning and can escape successfully from the trap of a localminima and avoid \\emph{"motion deadlock" status} of humanoid soccer robotics agents,and reduce the oscillation of the planned trajectory betweenthe multiple obstacles by crossover and mutation. Some results of the proposed algorithmhave been successfully applied to our simulation humanoid robotics soccer team CIT3Dwhich won \\emph{the 1st prize} of RoboCup Championship and ChinaOpen2010 (July 2010 and \\emph{the $2^{nd}$ place}of the official RoboCup World Championship on 5-11 July, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey.As compared with the conventional behavior network and the adaptive behavior method,the genetic encoding complexity of our algorithm is simplified, and the networkperformance and the {\\em convergence rate $\\rho$} have been greatlyimproved.

  4. Behavior coordination of mobile robotics using supervisory control of fuzzy discrete event systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayasiri, Awantha; Mann, George K I; Gosine, Raymond G

    2011-10-01

    In order to incorporate the uncertainty and impreciseness present in real-world event-driven asynchronous systems, fuzzy discrete event systems (DESs) (FDESs) have been proposed as an extension to crisp DESs. In this paper, first, we propose an extension to the supervisory control theory of FDES by redefining fuzzy controllable and uncontrollable events. The proposed supervisor is capable of enabling feasible uncontrollable and controllable events with different possibilities. Then, the extended supervisory control framework of FDES is employed to model and control several navigational tasks of a mobile robot using the behavior-based approach. The robot has limited sensory capabilities, and the navigations have been performed in several unmodeled environments. The reactive and deliberative behaviors of the mobile robotic system are weighted through fuzzy uncontrollable and controllable events, respectively. By employing the proposed supervisory controller, a command-fusion-type behavior coordination is achieved. The observability of fuzzy events is incorporated to represent the sensory imprecision. As a systematic analysis of the system, a fuzzy-state-based controllability measure is introduced. The approach is implemented in both simulation and real time. A performance evaluation is performed to quantitatively estimate the validity of the proposed approach over its counterparts.

  5. Structured control for autonomous robots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simmons, R.G.

    1994-01-01

    To operate in rich, dynamic environments, autonomous robots must be able to effectively utilize and coordinate their limited physical and occupational resources. As complexity increases, it becomes necessary to impose explicit constraints on the control of planning, perception, and action to ensure that unwanted interactions between behaviors do not occur. This paper advocates developing complex robot systems by layering reactive behaviors onto deliberative components. In this structured control approach, the deliberative components handle normal situations and the reactive behaviors, which are explicitly constrained as to when and how they are activated, handle exceptional situations. The Task Control Architecture (TCA) has been developed to support this approach. TCA provides an integrated set of control constructs useful for implementing deliberative and reactive behaviors. The control constructs facilitate modular and evolutionary system development: they are used to integrate and coordinate planning, perception, and execution, and to incrementally improve the efficiency and robustness of the robot systems. To date, TCA has been used in implementing a half-dozen mobile robot systems, including an autonomous six-legged rover and indoor mobile manipulator

  6. A multitasking behavioral control system for the Robotic All-Terrain Lunar Exploration Rover (RATLER)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klarer, Paul

    1993-01-01

    An approach for a robotic control system which implements so called 'behavioral' control within a realtime multitasking architecture is proposed. The proposed system would attempt to ameliorate some of the problems noted by some researchers when implementing subsumptive or behavioral control systems, particularly with regard to multiple processor systems and realtime operations. The architecture is designed to allow synchronous operations between various behavior modules by taking advantage of a realtime multitasking system's intertask communications channels, and by implementing each behavior module and each interconnection node as a stand-alone task. The potential advantages of this approach over those previously described in the field are discussed. An implementation of the architecture is planned for a prototype Robotic All Terrain Lunar Exploration Rover (RATLER) currently under development and is briefly described.

  7. Fuzzy Logic Controller Design for Intelligent Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ching-Han Chen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a fuzzy logic controller by which a robot can imitate biological behaviors such as avoiding obstacles or following walls. The proposed structure is implemented by integrating multiple ultrasonic sensors into a robot to collect data from a real-world environment. The decisions that govern the robot’s behavior and autopilot navigation are driven by a field programmable gate array- (FPGA- based fuzzy logic controller. The validity of the proposed controller was demonstrated by simulating three real-world scenarios to test the bionic behavior of a custom-built robot. The results revealed satisfactorily intelligent performance of the proposed fuzzy logic controller. The controller enabled the robot to demonstrate intelligent behaviors in complex environments. Furthermore, the robot’s bionic functions satisfied its design objectives.

  8. Using Sun’s Java Real-Time System to Manage Behavior-Based Mobile Robot Controllers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew McKenzie

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Implementing a robot controller that can effectively manage limited resources in a deterministic, real-time manner is challenging. Behavior-based architectures that decompose autonomy into levels of intelligence are popular due to their robustness but do not provide real-time features that enforce timing constraints or support determinism. We propose an architecture and approach for using the real-time features of the Real-Time Specification for Java (RTSJ in a behavior-based mobile robot controller to show that timing constraints affect performance. This is accomplished by extending a real-time aware architecture that explicitly enumerates timing requirements for each behavior. It is not enough to reduce latency. The usefulness of this approach is demonstrated via an implementation on Solaris 10 and the Sun Java Real-Time System (Java RTS. Experimental results are obtained using a K-team Koala robot performing path following with four composite behaviors. Experiments were conducted using several task period sets in three cases: real-time threads with the real-time garbage collector, real-time threads with the non- real-time garbage collector, and non-real-time threads with the non-real-time garbage collector. Results show that even if latency and determinism are improved, the timing of each individual behavior significantly affects task performance.

  9. Folk-Psychological Interpretation of Human vs. Humanoid Robot Behavior: Exploring the Intentional Stance toward Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thellman, Sam; Silvervarg, Annika; Ziemke, Tom

    2017-01-01

    People rely on shared folk-psychological theories when judging behavior. These theories guide people's social interactions and therefore need to be taken into consideration in the design of robots and other autonomous systems expected to interact socially with people. It is, however, not yet clear to what degree the mechanisms that underlie people's judgments of robot behavior overlap or differ from the case of human or animal behavior. To explore this issue, participants ( N = 90) were exposed to images and verbal descriptions of eight different behaviors exhibited either by a person or a humanoid robot. Participants were asked to rate the intentionality, controllability and desirability of the behaviors, and to judge the plausibility of seven different types of explanations derived from a recently proposed psychological model of lay causal explanation of human behavior. Results indicate: substantially similar judgments of human and robot behavior, both in terms of (1a) ascriptions of intentionality/controllability/desirability and in terms of (1b) plausibility judgments of behavior explanations; (2a) high level of agreement in judgments of robot behavior - (2b) slightly lower but still largely similar to agreement over human behaviors; (3) systematic differences in judgments concerning the plausibility of goals and dispositions as explanations of human vs. humanoid behavior. Taken together, these results suggest that people's intentional stance toward the robot was in this case very similar to their stance toward the human.

  10. Biologically-Inspired Adaptive Obstacle Negotiation Behavior of Hexapod Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Goldschmidt, Dennis; Wörgötter, Florentin; Manoonpong, Poramate

    2014-01-01

    by these findings, we present an adaptive neural control mechanism for obstacle negotiation behavior in hexapod robots. It combines locomotion control, backbone joint control, local leg reflexes, and neural learning. While the first three components generate locomotion including walking and climbing, the neural...... learning mechanism allows the robot to adapt its behavior for obstacle negotiation with respect to changing conditions, e.g., variable obstacle heights and different walking gaits. By successfully learning the association of an early, predictive signal (conditioned stimulus, CS) and a late, reflex signal...... (unconditioned stimulus, UCS), both provided by ultrasonic sensors at the front of the robot, the robot can autonomously find an appropriate distance from an obstacle to initiate climbing. The adaptive neural control was developed and tested first on a physical robot simulation, and was then successfully...

  11. Autonomous Shepherding Behaviors of Multiple Target Steering Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Wonki; Kim, DaeEun

    2017-11-25

    This paper presents a distributed coordination methodology for multi-robot systems, based on nearest-neighbor interactions. Among many interesting tasks that may be performed using swarm robots, we propose a biologically-inspired control law for a shepherding task, whereby a group of external agents drives another group of agents to a desired location. First, we generated sheep-like robots that act like a flock. We assume that each agent is capable of measuring the relative location and velocity to each of its neighbors within a limited sensing area. Then, we designed a control strategy for shepherd-like robots that have information regarding where to go and a steering ability to control the flock, according to the robots' position relative to the flock. We define several independent behavior rules; each agent calculates to what extent it will move by summarizing each rule. The flocking sheep agents detect the steering agents and try to avoid them; this tendency leads to movement of the flock. Each steering agent only needs to focus on guiding the nearest flocking agent to the desired location. Without centralized coordination, multiple steering agents produce an arc formation to control the flock effectively. In addition, we propose a new rule for collecting behavior, whereby a scattered flock or multiple flocks are consolidated. From simulation results with multiple robots, we show that each robot performs actions for the shepherding behavior, and only a few steering agents are needed to control the whole flock. The results are displayed in maps that trace the paths of the flock and steering robots. Performance is evaluated via time cost and path accuracy to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.

  12. A Study on Bipedal and Mobile Robot Behavior Through Modeling and Simulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nirmala Nirmala

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this work is to study and analyze mobile robot behavior. In performing this, a framework is adopted and developed for mobile and bipedal robot. The robots are design, build, and run as proceed from the development of mechanical structure, electronics and control integration, and control software application. The behavior of those robots are difficult to be observed and analyzed qualitatively. To evaluate the design and behavior quality, modeling and simulation of robot structure and its task capability is performed. The stepwise procedure to robot behavior study is explained. Behavior cases study are experimented to bipedal robots, transporter robot and Autonomous Guided Vehicle (AGV developed at our institution. The experimentation are conducted on those robots by adjusting their dynamic properties and/or surrounding environment. Validation is performed by comparing the simulation result and the real robot execution. The simulation gives a more idealistic behavior execution rather than realistic one. Adjustments are performed to fine tuning simulation's parameters to provide a more realistic performance.

  13. Navigasi Berbasis Behavior dan Fuzzy Logic pada Simulasi Robot Bergerak Otonom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rendyansyah

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Mobile robot is the robotic mechanism that is able to moved automatically. The movement of the robot automatically require a navigation system. Navigation is a method for determining the robot motion. In this study, using a method developed robot navigation behavior with fuzzy logic. The behavior of the robot is divided into several modules, such as walking, avoid obstacles, to follow walls, corridors and conditions of u-shape. In this research designed mobile robot simulation in a visual programming. Robot is equipped with seven distance sensor and divided into several groups to test the behavior that is designed, so that the behavior of the robot generate speed and steering control. Based on experiments that have been conducted shows that mobile robot simulation can run smooth on many conditions. This proves that the implementation of the formation of behavior and fuzzy logic techniques on the robot working well

  14. Autonomous Shepherding Behaviors of Multiple Target Steering Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wonki Lee

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a distributed coordination methodology for multi-robot systems, based on nearest-neighbor interactions. Among many interesting tasks that may be performed using swarm robots, we propose a biologically-inspired control law for a shepherding task, whereby a group of external agents drives another group of agents to a desired location. First, we generated sheep-like robots that act like a flock. We assume that each agent is capable of measuring the relative location and velocity to each of its neighbors within a limited sensing area. Then, we designed a control strategy for shepherd-like robots that have information regarding where to go and a steering ability to control the flock, according to the robots’ position relative to the flock. We define several independent behavior rules; each agent calculates to what extent it will move by summarizing each rule. The flocking sheep agents detect the steering agents and try to avoid them; this tendency leads to movement of the flock. Each steering agent only needs to focus on guiding the nearest flocking agent to the desired location. Without centralized coordination, multiple steering agents produce an arc formation to control the flock effectively. In addition, we propose a new rule for collecting behavior, whereby a scattered flock or multiple flocks are consolidated. From simulation results with multiple robots, we show that each robot performs actions for the shepherding behavior, and only a few steering agents are needed to control the whole flock. The results are displayed in maps that trace the paths of the flock and steering robots. Performance is evaluated via time cost and path accuracy to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.

  15. Hierarchical Motion Control for a Team of Humanoid Soccer Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seung-Joon Yi

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Robot soccer has become an effective benchmarking problem for robotics research as it requires many aspects of robotics including perception, self localization, motion planning and distributed coordination to work in uncertain and adversarial environments. Especially with humanoid robots that lack inherent stability, a capable and robust motion controller is crucial for generating walking and kicking motions without losing balance. In this paper, we describe the details of a motion controller to control a team of humanoid soccer robots, which consists of a hierarchy of controllers with different time frames and abstraction levels. A low level controller governs the real time control of each joint angle, either using target joint angles or target endpoint transforms. A mid-level controller handles bipedal locomotion and balancing of the robot. A high level controller decides the long term behavior of the robot, and finally the team level controller coordinates the behavior of a group of robots by means of asynchronous communication between the robots. The suggested motion system has been successfully used by many humanoid robot teams at the RoboCup international robot soccer competitions, which has awarded us five successful championships in a row.

  16. Robotic Fish to Aid Animal Behavior Studies and Informal Science Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phamduy, Paul

    The application of robotic fish in the fields of animal behavior and informal science learning are new and relatively untapped. In the context of animal behavior studies, robotic fish offers a consistent and customizable stimulus that could contribute to dissect the determinants of social behavior. In the realm of informal science learning, robotic fish are gaining momentum for the possibility of educating the general public simultaneously on fish physiology and underwater robotics. In this dissertation, the design and development of a number of robotic fish platforms and prototypes and their application in animal behavioral studies and informal science learning settings are presented. Robotic platforms for animal behavioral studies focused on the utilization replica or same scale prototypes. A novel robotic fish platform, featuring a three-dimensional swimming multi-linked robotic fish, was developed with three control modes varying in the level of robot autonomy offered. This platform was deployed at numerous science festivals and science centers, to obtain data on visitor engagement and experience.

  17. Control of autonomous robot using neural networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barton, Adam; Volna, Eva

    2017-07-01

    The aim of the article is to design a method of control of an autonomous robot using artificial neural networks. The introductory part describes control issues from the perspective of autonomous robot navigation and the current mobile robots controlled by neural networks. The core of the article is the design of the controlling neural network, and generation and filtration of the training set using ART1 (Adaptive Resonance Theory). The outcome of the practical part is an assembled Lego Mindstorms EV3 robot solving the problem of avoiding obstacles in space. To verify models of an autonomous robot behavior, a set of experiments was created as well as evaluation criteria. The speed of each motor was adjusted by the controlling neural network with respect to the situation in which the robot was found.

  18. Timing of Multimodal Robot Behaviors during Human-Robot Collaboration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Lars Christian; Fischer, Kerstin; Suvei, Stefan-Daniel

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we address issues of timing between robot behaviors in multimodal human-robot interaction. In particular, we study what effects sequential order and simultaneity of robot arm and body movement and verbal behavior have on the fluency of interactions. In a study with the Care-O-bot, ...... output plays a special role because participants carry their expectations from human verbal interaction into the interactions with robots....

  19. Evolving and Controlling Perimeter, Rendezvous, and Foraging Behaviors in a Computation-Free Robot Swarm

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-04-01

    in extreme environments. Categories and Subject Descriptors I.2.11 [ Artificial Intelligence ]: Distributed Artificial In- telligence—multiagent systems...coherence and coordination; I.2.9 [ Artificial Intelligence ]: Robotics— intelligent vehi- cles Keywords swarm robotics, evolutionary algorithms...collective behaviors. Rubenstein et al. [12] studied how to collectively transport items using a simple control signals and behaviors. Others have looked

  20. Biologically-Inspired Adaptive Obstacle Negotiation Behavior of Hexapod Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dennis eGoldschmidt

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Neurobiological studies have shown that insects are able to adapt leg movements and posture for obstacle negotiation in changing environments. Moreover, the distance to an obstacle where an insect begins to climb is found to be a major parameter for successful obstacle negotiation. Inspired by these findings, we present an adaptive neural control mechanism for obstacle negotiation behavior in hexapod robots. It combines locomotion control, backbone joint control, local leg reflexes, and neural learning. While the first three components generate locomotion including walking and climbing, the neural learning mechanism allows the robot to adapt its behavior for obstacle negotiation with respect to changing conditions, e.g., variable obstacle heights and different walking gaits. By successfully learning the association of an early, predictive signal (conditioned stimulus, CS and a late, reflex signal (unconditioned stimulus, UCS, both provided by ultrasonic sensors at the front of the robot, the robot can autonomously find an appropriate distance from an obstacle to initiate climbing. The adaptive neural control was developed and tested first on a physical robot simulation, and was then successfully transferred to a real hexapod robot, called AMOS II. The results show that the robot can efficiently negotiate obstacles with a height up to 85% of the robot's leg length in simulation and 75% in a real environment.

  1. Motion and Emotional Behavior Design for Pet Robot Dog

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Chi-Tai; Yang, Yu-Ting; Miao, Shih-Heng; Wong, Ching-Chang

    A pet robot dog with two ears, one mouth, one facial expression plane, and one vision system is designed and implemented so that it can do some emotional behaviors. Three processors (Inter® Pentium® M 1.0 GHz, an 8-bit processer 8051, and embedded soft-core processer NIOS) are used to control the robot. One camera, one power detector, four touch sensors, and one temperature detector are used to obtain the information of the environment. The designed robot with 20 DOF (degrees of freedom) is able to accomplish the walking motion. A behavior system is built on the implemented pet robot so that it is able to choose a suitable behavior for different environmental situation. From the practical test, we can see that the implemented pet robot dog can do some emotional interaction with the human.

  2. Design and Implementation of a Bionic Mimosa Robot with Delicate Leaf Swing Behavior

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    Chung-Liang Chang

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This study designed and developed a bionic mimosa robot with delicate leaf swing behaviors. For different swing behaviors, this study developed a variety of situations, in which the bionic mimosa robot would display different postures. The core technologies used were Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs, plastic material, and an intelligent control device. The technology particularly focused on the SMAs memory processing bend mode, directional guidance, and the position of SMAs installed inside the plastic material. Performance analysis and evaluation were conducted using two SMAs for mimosa opening/closing behaviors. Finally, by controlling the mimosa behavior with a micro-controller, the optimal strain swing behavior was realized through fuzzy logic control in order to display the different postures of mimosa under different situations. The proposed method is applicable to micro-bionic robot systems, entertainment robots, biomedical engineering, and architectural aesthetics-related fields in the future.

  3. Goal inferences about robot behavior : goal inferences and human response behaviors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Broers, H.A.T.; Ham, J.R.C.; Broeders, R.; De Silva, P.; Okada, M.

    2014-01-01

    This explorative research focused on the goal inferences human observers draw based on a robot's behavior, and the extent to which those inferences predict people's behavior in response to that robot. Results show that different robot behaviors cause different response behavior from people.

  4. 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...

  5. Controlling the autonomy of a reconnaissance robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalgalarrondo, Andre; Dufourd, Delphine; Filliat, David

    2004-09-01

    In this paper, we present our research on the control of a mobile robot for indoor reconnaissance missions. Based on previous work concerning our robot control architecture HARPIC, we have developed a man machine interface and software components that allow a human operator to control a robot at different levels of autonomy. This work aims at studying how a robot could be helpful in indoor reconnaissance and surveillance missions in hostile environment. In such missions, since a soldier faces many threats and must protect himself while looking around and holding his weapon, he cannot devote his attention to the teleoperation of the robot. Moreover, robots are not yet able to conduct complex missions in a fully autonomous mode. Thus, in a pragmatic way, we have built a software that allows dynamic swapping between control modes (manual, safeguarded and behavior-based) while automatically performing map building and localization of the robot. It also includes surveillance functions like movement detection and is designed for multirobot extensions. We first describe the design of our agent-based robot control architecture and discuss the various ways to control and interact with a robot. The main modules and functionalities implementing those ideas in our architecture are detailed. More precisely, we show how we combine manual controls, obstacle avoidance, wall and corridor following, way point and planned travelling. Some experiments on a Pioneer robot equipped with various sensors are presented. Finally, we suggest some promising directions for the development of robots and user interfaces for hostile environment and discuss our planned future improvements.

  6. Behavior-based obstacle avoidance capability for biologically inspired eight-legged walking robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Izzeldin Ibrahim Mohd; Shamsudin M Amin; Adel Ali Syed Al-Jumaily

    1999-01-01

    Behavior-based approach has proven to be useful in making mobile robot working in real world situations. Since the behaviors are responsible for managing the interaction between the robots and its environment, observing their use can be exploited to model these interactions. A real-time obstacle avoidance algorithm has been developed and implemented. This algorithm permits the detection of unknown obstacle simultaneously with the steering of the mobile robot to avoid collisions and advance toward the target. In our approach the robot is initially given a set of behavior-producing modules to choose from, and the algorithm provides a memory-based approach to dynamically adapt the selection of the behaviors according to the history of their use. We developed a set of algorithms, which uses Subsumption Architecture (SA) for controlling an eight-legged walking robot operating in closed vicinity. This paper describes a successful application of these algorithms to Oct-Ib robot and experimental results of the robot navigating in complex environment. (Author)

  7. Fuzzy Logic Based Behavior Fusion for Navigation of an Intelligent Mobile Robot

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    李伟; 陈祖舜; 等

    1996-01-01

    This paper presents a new method for behavior fusion control of a mobile robot in uncertain environments.Using behavior fusion by fuzzy logic,a mobile robot is able to directly execute its motion according to range information about environments,acquired by ultrasonic sensors,without the need for trajectory planning.Based on low-level behavior control,an efficient strategy for integrating high-level global planning for robot motion can be formulated,since,in most applications,some information on environments is prior knowledge.A global planner,therefore,only to generate some subgoal positions rather than exact geometric paths.Because such subgoals can be easily removed from or added into the plannes,this strategy reduces computational time for global planning and is flexible for replanning in dynamic environments.Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed strategy can be applied to robot motion in complex and dynamic environments.

  8. Optimization-Based Controllers for Robotics Applications (OCRA: The Case of iCub’s Whole-Body Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorhabib G. Eljaik

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available OCRA stands for Optimization-based Control for Robotics Applications. It consists of a set of platform-independent libraries which facilitates the development of optimization-based controllers for articulated robots. Hierarchical, weighted, and hybrid control strategies can easily be implemented using these tools. The generic interfaces provided by OCRA allow different robots to use the exact same controllers. OCRA also allows users to specify high-level objectives via tasks. These tasks provide an intuitive way of generating complex behaviors and can be specified in XML format. To illustrate the use of OCRA, an implementation of interest to this research topic for the humanoid robot iCub is presented. OCRA stands for Optimization-based Control for Robotics Applications. It consists of a set of platform-independent libraries which facilitates the development of optimization-based controllers for articulated robots. Hierarchical, weighted, and hybrid control strategies can easily be implemented using these tools. The generic interfaces provided by OCRA allow different robots to use the exact same controllers. OCRA also allows users to specify high-level objectives via tasks. These tasks provide an intuitive way of generating complex behaviors and can be specified in XML format. To illustrate the use of OCRA, an implementation of interest to this research topic for the humanoid robot iCub is presented.

  9. Fuzzy Logic Supervised Teleoperation Control for Mobile Robot

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2008-01-01

    The supervised teleoperation control is presented for a mobile robot to implement the tasks by using fuzzy logic. The teleoperation control system includes joystick based user interaction mechanism, the high level instruction set and fuzzy logic behaviors integrated in a supervised autonomy teleoperation control system for indoor navigation. These behaviors include left wall following, right wall following, turn left, turn right, left obstacle avoidance, right obstacle avoidance and corridor following based on ultrasonic range finders data. The robot compares the instructive high level command from the operator and relays back a suggestive signal back to the operator in case of mismatch between environment and instructive command. This strategy relieves the operator's cognitive burden, handle unforeseen situations and uncertainties of environment autonomously. The effectiveness of the proposed method for navigation in an unstructured environment is verified by experiments conducted on a mobile robot equipped with only ultrasonic range finders for environment sensing.

  10. Evolution of Collective Behaviors for a Real Swarm of Aquatic Surface Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duarte, Miguel; Costa, Vasco; Gomes, Jorge; Rodrigues, Tiago; Silva, Fernando; Oliveira, Sancho Moura; Christensen, Anders Lyhne

    2016-01-01

    Swarm robotics is a promising approach for the coordination of large numbers of robots. While previous studies have shown that evolutionary robotics techniques can be applied to obtain robust and efficient self-organized behaviors for robot swarms, most studies have been conducted in simulation, and the few that have been conducted on real robots have been confined to laboratory environments. In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time a swarm robotics system with evolved control successfully operating in a real and uncontrolled environment. We evolve neural network-based controllers in simulation for canonical swarm robotics tasks, namely homing, dispersion, clustering, and monitoring. We then assess the performance of the controllers on a real swarm of up to ten aquatic surface robots. Our results show that the evolved controllers transfer successfully to real robots and achieve a performance similar to the performance obtained in simulation. We validate that the evolved controllers display key properties of swarm intelligence-based control, namely scalability, flexibility, and robustness on the real swarm. We conclude with a proof-of-concept experiment in which the swarm performs a complete environmental monitoring task by combining multiple evolved controllers.

  11. 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.

  12. Exception detection and handling in mission control for mobile robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Thomas Timm; Andersen, Nils Axel; Ravn, Ole

    2013-01-01

    This paper introduces a method for robust, rule-based mission control for mobile robots in a modular framework. Due to the modularity of the framework, it is possible to use both hierarchical control and reactive behavior seamlessly to find solutions to both planned and unplanned event in the mis......This paper introduces a method for robust, rule-based mission control for mobile robots in a modular framework. Due to the modularity of the framework, it is possible to use both hierarchical control and reactive behavior seamlessly to find solutions to both planned and unplanned event...

  13. Information driven self-organization of complex robotic behaviors.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georg Martius

    Full Text Available Information theory is a powerful tool to express principles to drive autonomous systems because it is domain invariant and allows for an intuitive interpretation. This paper studies the use of the predictive information (PI, also called excess entropy or effective measure complexity, of the sensorimotor process as a driving force to generate behavior. We study nonlinear and nonstationary systems and introduce the time-local predicting information (TiPI which allows us to derive exact results together with explicit update rules for the parameters of the controller in the dynamical systems framework. In this way the information principle, formulated at the level of behavior, is translated to the dynamics of the synapses. We underpin our results with a number of case studies with high-dimensional robotic systems. We show the spontaneous cooperativity in a complex physical system with decentralized control. Moreover, a jointly controlled humanoid robot develops a high behavioral variety depending on its physics and the environment it is dynamically embedded into. The behavior can be decomposed into a succession of low-dimensional modes that increasingly explore the behavior space. This is a promising way to avoid the curse of dimensionality which hinders learning systems to scale well.

  14. 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.

  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. 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

  17. 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.

  18. Neural Behavior Chain Learning of Mobile Robot Actions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lejla Banjanovic-Mehmedovic

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a visual/motor behavior learning approach, based on neural networks. We propose Behavior Chain Model (BCM in order to create a way of behavior learning. Our behavior-based system evolution task is a mobile robot detecting a target and driving/acting towards it. First, the mapping relations between the image feature domain of the object and the robot action domain are derived. Second, a multilayer neural network for offline learning of the mapping relations is used. This learning structure through neural network training process represents a connection between the visual perceptions and motor sequence of actions in order to grip a target. Last, using behavior learning through a noticed action chain, we can predict mobile robot behavior for a variety of similar tasks in similar environment. Prediction results suggest that the methodology is adequate and could be recognized as an idea for designing different mobile robot behaviour assistance.

  19. A low-cost, computer-controlled robotic flower system for behavioral experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuusela, Erno; Lämsä, Juho

    2016-04-01

    Human observations during behavioral studies are expensive, time-consuming, and error prone. For this reason, automatization of experiments is highly desirable, as it reduces the risk of human errors and workload. The robotic system we developed is simple and cheap to build and handles feeding and data collection automatically. The system was built using mostly off-the-shelf components and has a novel feeding mechanism that uses servos to perform refill operations. We used the robotic system in two separate behavioral studies with bumblebees (Bombus terrestris): The system was used both for training of the bees and for the experimental data collection. The robotic system was reliable, with no flight in our studies failing due to a technical malfunction. The data recorded were easy to apply for further analysis. The software and the hardware design are open source. The development of cheap open-source prototyping platforms during the recent years has opened up many possibilities in designing of experiments. Automatization not only reduces workload, but also potentially allows experimental designs never done before, such as dynamic experiments, where the system responds to, for example, learning of the animal. We present a complete system with hardware and software, and it can be used as such in various experiments requiring feeders and collection of visitation data. Use of the system is not limited to any particular experimental setup or even species.

  20. CONTROL PREDICTIVO DE UN ROBOT TIPO SCARA PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF A SCARA ROBOT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oscar Andrés Vivas Albán

    2006-08-01

    Full Text Available Este artículo presenta una aplicación eficiente de un control por modelo de referencia sobre un robot de tipo SCARA. El control estudiado es un control predictivo funcional, el que hace uso de un modelo dinámico simplificado del robot. Los ensayos simulados se realizan sobre un robot de cuatro grados de libertad, tipo SCARA. Con el fin de comparar diferentes estrategias de control, se diseña un controlador clásico tipo PID y dos controladores basados en el modelo de referencia. En este último caso el sistema se linealiza y se desacoplada por realimentación, lo que transforma el sistema a controlar en un simple par de integradores. Al sistema lineal y desacoplado resultante se le aplica el control por par calculado y el control predictivo funcional. Los tres controladores estudiados se simulan sobre el robot SCARA con valores numéricos reales. Las pruebas permiten valorar las respuestas de estos controladores en seguimiento de trayectoria, rechazo de perturbaciones y presencia de errores en el modelado con consignas complejas similares a las utilizadas en procesos de fabricación.This paper describes an efficient approach for model based control, applied on a SCARA robot. The studied control is the predictive functional control which uses a simplified dynamical model of the robot. The simulated tests are made on a SCARA type robot, with four DOF. To compare several control strategies, a classical PID control and two model based controllers are designed. In the last case, the model is first linearized and decoupled by feedback, transforming the system into a double set of integrators. Computed torque control and predictive functional control are applied to the linear and decoupled system. The three studied controllers are simulated on the SCARA robot with real numerical values. Tracking performance, disturbance rejection and model robot mismatch are enlightened, using complex machining tasks trajectories and error presence in the modelling

  1. 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.

  2. Engineering the evolution of self-organizing behaviors in swarm robotics: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trianni, Vito; Nolfi, Stefano

    2011-01-01

    Evolutionary robotics (ER) is a powerful approach for the automatic synthesis of robot controllers, as it requires little a priori knowledge about the problem to be solved in order to obtain good solutions. This is particularly true for collective and swarm robotics, in which the desired behavior of the group is an indirect result of the control and communication rules followed by each individual. However, the experimenter must make several arbitrary choices in setting up the evolutionary process, in order to define the correct selective pressures that can lead to the desired results. In some cases, only a deep understanding of the obtained results can point to the critical aspects that constrain the system, which can be later modified in order to re-engineer the evolutionary process towards better solutions. In this article, we discuss the problem of engineering the evolutionary machinery that can lead to the desired result in the swarm robotics context. We also present a case study about self-organizing synchronization in a swarm of robots, in which some arbitrarily chosen properties of the communication system hinder the scalability of the behavior to large groups. We show that by modifying the communication system, artificial evolution can synthesize behaviors that scale properly with the group size.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

  5. Model predictive Controller for Mobile Robot

    OpenAIRE

    Alireza Rezaee

    2017-01-01

    This paper proposes a Model Predictive Controller (MPC) for control of a P2AT mobile robot. MPC refers to a group of controllers that employ a distinctly identical model of process to predict its future behavior over an extended prediction horizon. The design of a MPC is formulated as an optimal control problem. Then this problem is considered as linear quadratic equation (LQR) and is solved by making use of Ricatti equation. To show the effectiveness of the proposed method this controller is...

  6. Robot Motion and Control 2011

    CERN Document Server

    2012-01-01

    Robot Motion Control 2011 presents very recent results in robot motion and control. Forty short papers have been chosen from those presented at the sixth International Workshop on Robot Motion and Control held in Poland in June 2011. The authors of these papers have been carefully selected and represent leading institutions in this field. The following recent developments are discussed: • Design of trajectory planning schemes for holonomic and nonholonomic systems with optimization of energy, torque limitations and other factors. • New control algorithms for industrial robots, nonholonomic systems and legged robots. • Different applications of robotic systems in industry and everyday life, like medicine, education, entertainment and others. • Multiagent systems consisting of mobile and flying robots with their applications The book is suitable for graduate students of automation and robotics, informatics and management, mechatronics, electronics and production engineering systems as well as scientists...

  7. The psychosocial effects of a companion robot: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Hayley; Macdonald, Bruce; Kerse, Ngaire; Broadbent, Elizabeth

    2013-09-01

    To investigate the psychosocial effects of the companion robot, Paro, in a rest home/hospital setting in comparison to a control group. Randomized controlled trial. Residents were randomized to the robot intervention group or a control group that attended normal activities instead of Paro sessions. Sessions took place twice a week for an hour over 12 weeks. Over the trial period, observations were conducted of residents' social behavior when interacting as a group with the robot. As a comparison, observations were also conducted of all the residents during general activities when the resident dog was or was not present. A residential care facility in Auckland, New Zealand. Forty residents in hospital and rest home care. Residents completed a baseline measure assessing cognitive status, loneliness, depression, and quality of life. At follow-up, residents completed a questionnaire assessing loneliness, depression, and quality of life. During observations, behavior was noted and collated for instances of talking and stroking the dog/robot. In comparison with the control group, residents who interacted with the robot had significant decreases in loneliness over the period of the trial. Both the resident dog and the seal robot made an impact on the social environment in comparison to when neither was present. Residents talked to and touched the robot significantly more than the resident dog. A greater number of residents were involved in discussion about the robot in comparison with the resident dog and conversation about the robot occurred more. Paro is a positive addition to this environment and has benefits for older people in nursing home care. Paro may be able to address some of the unmet needs of older people that a resident animal may not, particularly relating to loneliness. Copyright © 2013 American Medical Directors Association, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. A multitasking behavioral control system for the Robotic All Terrain Lunar Exploration Rover (RATLER)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klarer, P.

    1994-01-01

    An alternative methodology for designing an autonomous navigation and control system is discussed. This generalized hybrid system is based on a less sequential and less anthropomorphic approach than that used in the more traditional artificial intelligence (AI) technique. The architecture is designed to allow both synchronous and asynchronous operations between various behavior modules. This is accomplished by intertask communications channels which implement each behavior module and each interconnection node as a stand-alone task. The proposed design architecture allows for construction of hybrid systems which employ both subsumption and traditional AI techniques as well as providing for a teleoperator's interface. Implementation of the architecture is planned for the prototype Robotic All Terrain Lunar Explorer Rover (RATLER) which is described briefly.

  9. 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

  10. 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.

  11. Teleautonomous Control on Rescue Robot Prototype

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Son Kuswadi

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Robot application in disaster area can help responder team to save victims. In order to finish task, robot must have flexible movement mechanism so it can pass through uncluttered area. Passive linkage can be used on robot chassis so it can give robot flexibility. On physical experiments, robot is succeeded to move through gravels and 5 cm obstacle. Rescue robot also has specialized control needs. Robot must able to be controlled remotely. It also must have ability to move autonomously. Teleautonomous control method is combination between those methods. It can be concluded from experiments that on teleoperation mode, operator must get used to see environment through robot’s camera. While on autonomous mode, robot is succeeded to avoid obstacle and search target based on sensor reading and controller program. On teleautonomous mode, robot can change control mode by using bluetooth communication for data transfer, so robot control will be more flexible.

  12. Analysis, Control and Design of Walking Robots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Oort, Gijs

    2011-01-01

    In this thesis five research questions are discussed that are related to the development of two-legged (bipedal) walking robots. The research questions are categorized in three main topics: analysis, control and actuation and design. The research questions are: - How can we analyze the behavior of a

  13. Developing new behavior strategies of robot soccer team SjF TUKE Robotics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikuláš Hajduk

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available There are too many types of robotic soccer approaches at present. SjF TUKE Robotics, who won robot soccer world tournament for year 2010 in category MiroSot, is a team with multiagent system approach. They have one main agent (master and five agent players, represented by robots. There is a point of view, in the article, for code programmer how to create new behavior strategies by creating a new code for master. There is a methodology how to prepare and create it following some rules.

  14. External force/velocity control for an autonomous rehabilitation robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saekow, Peerayuth; Neranon, Paramin; Smithmaitrie, Pruittikorn

    2018-01-01

    Stroke is a primary cause of death and the leading cause of permanent disability in adults. There are many stroke survivors, who live with a variety of levels of disability and always need rehabilitation activities on daily basis. Several studies have reported that usage of rehabilitation robotic devices shows the better improvement outcomes in upper-limb stroke patients than the conventional therapy-nurses or therapists actively help patients with exercise-based rehabilitation. This research focuses on the development of an autonomous robotic trainer designed to guide a stroke patient through an upper-limb rehabilitation task. The robotic device was designed and developed to automate the reaching exercise as mentioned. The designed robotic system is made up of a four-wheel omni-directional mobile robot, an ATI Gamma multi-axis force/torque sensor used to measure contact force and a microcontroller real-time operating system. Proportional plus Integral control was adapted to control the overall performance and stability of the autonomous assistive robot. External force control was successfully implemented to establish the behavioral control strategy for the robot force and velocity control scheme. In summary, the experimental results indicated satisfactorily stable performance of the robot force and velocity control can be considered acceptable. The gain tuning for proportional integral (PI) velocity control algorithms was suitably estimated using the Ziegler-Nichols method in which the optimized proportional and integral gains are 0.45 and 0.11, respectively. Additionally, the PI external force control gains were experimentally tuned using the trial and error method based on a set of experiments which allow a human participant moves the robot along the constrained circular path whilst attempting to minimize the radial force. The performance was analyzed based on the root mean square error (E_RMS) of the radial forces, in which the lower the variation in radial

  15. Generic robot architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruemmer, David J [Idaho Falls, ID; Few, Douglas A [Idaho Falls, ID

    2010-09-21

    The present invention provides methods, computer readable media, and apparatuses for a generic robot architecture providing a framework that is easily portable to a variety of robot platforms and is configured to provide hardware abstractions, abstractions for generic robot attributes, environment abstractions, and robot behaviors. The generic robot architecture includes a hardware abstraction level and a robot abstraction level. The hardware abstraction level is configured for developing hardware abstractions that define, monitor, and control hardware modules available on a robot platform. The robot abstraction level is configured for defining robot attributes and provides a software framework for building robot behaviors from the robot attributes. Each of the robot attributes includes hardware information from at least one hardware abstraction. In addition, each robot attribute is configured to substantially isolate the robot behaviors from the at least one hardware abstraction.

  16. Optimization in the design and control of robotic manipulators: A survey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, S.S.; Bhatti, P.K.

    1989-01-01

    Robotics is a relatively new and evolving technology being applied to manufacturing automation and is fast replacing the special-purpose machines or hard automation as it is often called. Demands for higher productivity, better and uniform quality products, and better working environments are primary reasons for its development. An industrial robot is a multifunctional and computer-controlled mechanical manipulator exhibiting a complex and highly nonlinear behavior. Even though most current robots have anthropomorphic configurations, they have far inferior manipulating abilities compared to humans. A great deal of research effort is presently being directed toward improving their overall performance by using optimal mechanical structures and control strategies. The optimal design of robot manipulators can include kinematic performance characteristics such as workspace, accuracy, repeatability, and redundancy. The static load capacity as well as dynamic criteria such as generalized inertia ellipsoid, dynamic manipulability, and vibratory response have also been considered in the design stages. The optimal control problems typically involve trajectory planning, time-optimal control, energy-optimal control, and mixed-optimal control. The constraints in a robot manipulator design problem usually involve link stresses, actuator torques, elastic deformation of links, and collision avoidance. This paper presents a review of the literature on the issues of optimum design and control of robotic manipulators and also the various optimization techniques currently available for application to robotics

  17. Toward understanding social cues and signals in human-robot interaction: effects of robot gaze and proxemic behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fiore, Stephen M; Wiltshire, Travis J; Lobato, Emilio J C; Jentsch, Florian G; Huang, Wesley H; Axelrod, Benjamin

    2013-01-01

    As robots are increasingly deployed in settings requiring social interaction, research is needed to examine the social signals perceived by humans when robots display certain social cues. In this paper, we report a study designed to examine how humans interpret social cues exhibited by robots. We first provide a brief overview of perspectives from social cognition in humans and how these processes are applicable to human-robot interaction (HRI). We then discuss the need to examine the relationship between social cues and signals as a function of the degree to which a robot is perceived as a socially present agent. We describe an experiment in which social cues were manipulated on an iRobot Ava(TM) mobile robotics platform in a hallway navigation scenario. Cues associated with the robot's proxemic behavior were found to significantly affect participant perceptions of the robot's social presence and emotional state while cues associated with the robot's gaze behavior were not found to be significant. Further, regardless of the proxemic behavior, participants attributed more social presence and emotional states to the robot over repeated interactions than when they first interacted with it. Generally, these results indicate the importance for HRI research to consider how social cues expressed by a robot can differentially affect perceptions of the robot's mental states and intentions. The discussion focuses on implications for the design of robotic systems and future directions for research on the relationship between social cues and signals.

  18. Model identification and controller design of a fish-like robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariyanto, Irfan; Kang, Taesam; Chan, Wai Leung; Lee, Youngjae

    2007-04-01

    Robotic fish is an interesting and prospective subject to develop. The simplest fish swimming mode to be mimicked for fish robots is the ostraciiform mode which only requires caudal fin flapping. An almost submerged ostraciiform fish robot was constructed to study its swimming characteristics. The swimming direction can be controlled by changing the mean angle of caudal fin oscillation. Experiments were conducted to study the behavior of the fish robot and in particular, the transfer function between swimming path angular rate and mean angle of the caudal fin oscillation were identified. Error to signal ratio quantity was used to determine how well the model fits with the experimental data. This identification model was used to design a 2-degree-of-freedom PID controller that meets some specific requirements to improve the steering performance.

  19. A new approach of active compliance control via fuzzy logic control for multifingered robot hand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jamil, M. F. A.; Jalani, J.; Ahmad, A.

    2016-07-01

    Safety is a vital issue in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). In order to guarantee safety in HRI, a model reference impedance control can be a very useful approach introducing a compliant control. In particular, this paper establishes a fuzzy logic compliance control (i.e. active compliance control) to reduce impact and forces during physical interaction between humans/objects and robots. Exploiting a virtual mass-spring-damper system allows us to determine a desired compliant level by understanding the behavior of the model reference impedance control. The performance of fuzzy logic compliant control is tested in simulation for a robotic hand known as the RED Hand. The results show that the fuzzy logic is a feasible control approach, particularly to control position and to provide compliant control. In addition, the fuzzy logic control allows us to simplify the controller design process (i.e. avoid complex computation) when dealing with nonlinearities and uncertainties.

  20. Electroencephalography(EEG)-based instinctive brain-control of a quadruped locomotion robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Wenchuan; Huang, Dandan; Luo, Xin; Pu, Huayan; Chen, Xuedong; Bai, Ou

    2012-01-01

    Artificial intelligence and bionic control have been applied in electroencephalography (EEG)-based robot system, to execute complex brain-control task. Nevertheless, due to technical limitations of the EEG decoding, the brain-computer interface (BCI) protocol is often complex, and the mapping between the EEG signal and the practical instructions lack of logic associated, which restrict the user's actual use. This paper presents a strategy that can be used to control a quadruped locomotion robot by user's instinctive action, based on five kinds of movement related neurophysiological signal. In actual use, the user drives or imagines the limbs/wrists action to generate EEG signal to adjust the real movement of the robot according to his/her own motor reflex of the robot locomotion. This method is easy for real use, as the user generates the brain-control signal through the instinctive reaction. By adopting the behavioral control of learning and evolution based on the proposed strategy, complex movement task may be realized by instinctive brain-control.

  1. Implementation of Admittance Control on a Construction Robot using Load Cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bekker, Misha; Pedersen, Rasmus; Bak, Thomas

    2018-01-01

    Physical human-robot interactions (pHRI) must be safe and should feel natural to the human operator. To this end impedance or admittance control is often employed to relate the force applied by the human to the dynamic behavior of the robot. The robot under consideration in this work uses a load...... cell to sense the externally applied force. This paper presents a practical modeling procedure and implementation of admittance control that specifically deal with the undesired non-linearities caused by the use of a load cell. Experiments are performed on a 1-DoF testbed to validate the work done...

  2. Multibody system dynamics, robotics and control

    CERN Document Server

    Gerstmayr, Johannes

    2013-01-01

    The volume contains 19 contributions by international experts in the field of multibody system dynamics, robotics and control. The book aims to bridge the gap between the modeling of mechanical systems by means of multibody dynamics formulations and robotics. In the classical approach, a multibody dynamics model contains a very high level of detail, however, the application of such models to robotics or control is usually limited. The papers aim to connect the different scientific communities in multibody dynamics, robotics and control. Main topics are flexible multibody systems, humanoid robots, elastic robots, nonlinear control, optimal path planning, and identification.

  3. Controller Design Of Unicycle Mobile Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohd Zamzuri Abd Rashid

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT: The ability of unicycle mobile robot to stand and move around using one wheel has attracted a lot of researchers to conduct studies about the system, particularly in the design of the system mechanisms and the control strategies. This paper reports the investigation done on the design of the controller of the unicycle mobile robot system to maintain its stability in both longitudinal and lateral directions. The controller proposed is a Linear Quadratic Controller (LQR type which is based on the linearized model of the system. A thorough simulation studies have been carried out to find out the performance of the LQR controller. The best controller gain, K acquired through the simulation is selected to be implemented and tested in the experimental hardware. Finally, the results obtained from the experimental study are compared to the simulation results to study the controller efficacy. The analysis reveals that the proposed controller design is able to stabilize the unicycle mobile robot.ABSTRAK: Kemampuan robot satu roda untuk berdiri dan bergerak di sekitar telah menarik minat ramai penyelidik untuk mengkaji sistem robot terutamanya didalam bidang rangka mekanikal dan strategi kawalan robot. Kertas kajian ini melaporkan hasil penyelidikan ke atas strategi kawalan robot bagi memastikan sistem robot satu roda dapat distabilkan dari arah sisi dan hadapan. Strategi kawalan yang dicadang, menggunakan teknik kawalan kuadratik sejajar (Linear Quadratic Control yang berdasarkan model robot yang telah dipermudahkan. Kajian simulasi secara terperinci telah dijalankan bagi mengkaji prestasi strategi kawalan yang dicadangkan. Dari kajian simulasi sistem robot, pemilihan faktor konstan, K yang sesuai di dalam strategi kawalan telah dibuat, agar dapat dilaksanakan ke atas sistem robot yang dibangunkan. Keputusan dari kajian simulasi dan tindak balas oleh sistem robot yang dibangunkan akhirnya dibandingkan bagi melihat kesesuaian faktor kostan, K

  4. Modeling and Simulation of Elementary Robot Behaviors using Associative Memories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claude F. Touzet

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Today, there are several drawbacks that impede the necessary and much needed use of robot learning techniques in real applications. First, the time needed to achieve the synthesis of any behavior is prohibitive. Second, the robot behavior during the learning phase is – by definition – bad, it may even be dangerous. Third, except within the lazy learning approach, a new behavior implies a new learning phase. We propose in this paper to use associative memories (self-organizing maps to encode the non explicit model of the robot-world interaction sampled by the lazy memory, and then generate a robot behavior by means of situations to be achieved, i.e., points on the self-organizing maps. Any behavior can instantaneously be synthesized by the definition of a goal situation. Its performance will be minimal (not necessarily bad and will improve by the mere repetition of the behavior.

  5. 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)

  6. Vision-Based Robot Following Using PID Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chandra Sekhar Pati

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Applications like robots which are employed for shopping, porter services, assistive robotics, etc., require a robot to continuously follow a human or another robot. This paper presents a mobile robot following another tele-operated mobile robot based on a PID (Proportional–Integral-Differential controller. Here, we use two differential wheel drive robots; one is a master robot and the other is a follower robot. The master robot is manually controlled and the follower robot is programmed to follow the master robot. For the master robot, a Bluetooth module receives the user’s command from an android application which is processed by the master robot’s controller, which is used to move the robot. The follower robot receives the image from the Kinect sensor mounted on it and recognizes the master robot. The follower robot identifies the x, y positions by employing the camera and the depth by using the Kinect depth sensor. By identifying the x, y, and z locations of the master robot, the follower robot finds the angle and distance between the master and follower robot, which is given as the error term of a PID controller. Using this, the follower robot follows the master robot. A PID controller is based on feedback and tries to minimize the error. Experiments are conducted for two indigenously developed robots; one depicting a humanoid and the other a small mobile robot. It was observed that the follower robot was easily able to follow the master robot using well-tuned PID parameters.

  7. A biologically inspired meta-control navigation system for the Psikharpax rat robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caluwaerts, K; Staffa, M; N’Guyen, S; Grand, C; Dollé, L; Favre-Félix, A; Girard, B; Khamassi, M

    2012-01-01

    A biologically inspired navigation system for the mobile rat-like robot named Psikharpax is presented, allowing for self-localization and autonomous navigation in an initially unknown environment. The ability of parts of the model (e.g. the strategy selection mechanism) to reproduce rat behavioral data in various maze tasks has been validated before in simulations. But the capacity of the model to work on a real robot platform had not been tested. This paper presents our work on the implementation on the Psikharpax robot of two independent navigation strategies (a place-based planning strategy and a cue-guided taxon strategy) and a strategy selection meta-controller. We show how our robot can memorize which was the optimal strategy in each situation, by means of a reinforcement learning algorithm. Moreover, a context detector enables the controller to quickly adapt to changes in the environment—recognized as new contexts—and to restore previously acquired strategy preferences when a previously experienced context is recognized. This produces adaptivity closer to rat behavioral performance and constitutes a computational proposition of the role of the rat prefrontal cortex in strategy shifting. Moreover, such a brain-inspired meta-controller may provide an advancement for learning architectures in robotics. (paper)

  8. 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

  9. Vision-Based Robot Following Using PID Control

    OpenAIRE

    Chandra Sekhar Pati; Rahul Kala

    2017-01-01

    Applications like robots which are employed for shopping, porter services, assistive robotics, etc., require a robot to continuously follow a human or another robot. This paper presents a mobile robot following another tele-operated mobile robot based on a PID (Proportional–Integral-Differential) controller. Here, we use two differential wheel drive robots; one is a master robot and the other is a follower robot. The master robot is manually controlled and the follower robot is programmed to ...

  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. Distributed formation control for autonomous robots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Garcia de Marina Peinado, Hector Jesús

    2016-01-01

    This thesis addresses several theoretical and practical problems related to formation-control of autonomous robots. Formation-control aims to simultaneously accomplish the tasks of forming a desired shape by the robots and controlling their coordinated collective motion. This kind of robot

  12. Friendly network robotics; Friendly network robotics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-03-01

    This paper summarizes the research results on the friendly network robotics in fiscal 1996. This research assumes an android robot as an ultimate robot and the future robot system utilizing computer network technology. The robot aiming at human daily work activities in factories or under extreme environments is required to work under usual human work environments. The human robot with similar size, shape and functions to human being is desirable. Such robot having a head with two eyes, two ears and mouth can hold a conversation with human being, can walk with two legs by autonomous adaptive control, and has a behavior intelligence. Remote operation of such robot is also possible through high-speed computer network. As a key technology to use this robot under coexistence with human being, establishment of human coexistent robotics was studied. As network based robotics, use of robots connected with computer networks was also studied. In addition, the R-cube (R{sup 3}) plan (realtime remote control robot technology) was proposed. 82 refs., 86 figs., 12 tabs.

  13. Toward understanding social cues and signals in human–robot interaction: effects of robot gaze and proxemic behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fiore, Stephen M.; Wiltshire, Travis J.; Lobato, Emilio J. C.; Jentsch, Florian G.; Huang, Wesley H.; Axelrod, Benjamin

    2013-01-01

    As robots are increasingly deployed in settings requiring social interaction, research is needed to examine the social signals perceived by humans when robots display certain social cues. In this paper, we report a study designed to examine how humans interpret social cues exhibited by robots. We first provide a brief overview of perspectives from social cognition in humans and how these processes are applicable to human–robot interaction (HRI). We then discuss the need to examine the relationship between social cues and signals as a function of the degree to which a robot is perceived as a socially present agent. We describe an experiment in which social cues were manipulated on an iRobot AvaTM mobile robotics platform in a hallway navigation scenario. Cues associated with the robot’s proxemic behavior were found to significantly affect participant perceptions of the robot’s social presence and emotional state while cues associated with the robot’s gaze behavior were not found to be significant. Further, regardless of the proxemic behavior, participants attributed more social presence and emotional states to the robot over repeated interactions than when they first interacted with it. Generally, these results indicate the importance for HRI research to consider how social cues expressed by a robot can differentially affect perceptions of the robot’s mental states and intentions. The discussion focuses on implications for the design of robotic systems and future directions for research on the relationship between social cues and signals. PMID:24348434

  14. Towards understanding social cues and signals in human-robot interaction: Effects of robot gaze and proxemic behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen M. Fiore

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available As robots are increasingly deployed in settings requiring social interaction, research is needed to examine the social signals perceived by humans when robots display certain social cues. In this paper, we report a study designed to examine how humans interpret social cues exhibited by robots. We first provide a brief overview of perspectives from social cognition in humans and how these processes are applicable to human-robot interaction (HRI. We then discuss the need to examine the relationship between social cues and signals as a function of the degree to which a robot is perceived as a socially present agent. We describe an experiment in which social cues were manipulated on an iRobot Ava™ Mobile Robotics Platform in a hallway navigation scenario. Cues associated with the robot’s proxemic behavior were found to significantly affect participant perceptions of the robot’s social presence and emotional state while cues associated with the robot’s gaze behavior were not found to be significant. Further, regardless of the proxemic behavior, participants attributed more social presence and emotional states to the robot over repeated interactions than when they first interacted with it. Generally, these results indicate the importance for HRI research to consider how social cues expressed by a robot can differentially affect perceptions of the robot’s mental states and intentions. The discussion focuses on implications for the design of robotic systems and future directions for research on the relationship between social cues and signals.

  15. The embodiment of cockroach aggregation behavior in a group of micro-robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garnier, Simon; Jost, Christian; Gautrais, Jacques; Asadpour, Masoud; Caprari, Gilles; Jeanson, Raphaël; Grimal, Anne; Theraulaz, Guy

    2008-01-01

    We report the faithful reproduction of the self-organized aggregation behavior of the German cockroach Blattella germanica with a group of robots. We describe the implementation of the biological model provided by Jeanson et al. in Alice robots, and we compare the behaviors of the cockroaches and the robots using the same experimental and analytical methodology. We show that the aggregation behavior of the German cockroach was successfully transferred to the Alice robot despite strong differences between robots and animals at the perceptual, actuatorial, and computational levels. This article highlights some of the major constraints one may encounter during such a work and proposes general principles to ensure that the behavioral model is accurately transferred to the artificial agents.

  16. 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.

  17. The Impact of Robot Tutor Nonverbal Social Behavior on Child Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Kennedy

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Several studies have indicated that interacting with social robots in educational contexts may lead to a greater learning than interactions with computers or virtual agents. As such, an increasing amount of social human–robot interaction research is being conducted in the learning domain, particularly with children. However, it is unclear precisely what social behavior a robot should employ in such interactions. Inspiration can be taken from human–human studies; this often leads to an assumption that the more social behavior an agent utilizes, the better the learning outcome will be. We apply a nonverbal behavior metric to a series of studies in which children are taught how to identify prime numbers by a robot with various behavioral manipulations. We find a trend, which generally agrees with the pedagogy literature, but also that overt nonverbal behavior does not account for all learning differences. We discuss the impact of novelty, child expectations, and responses to social cues to further the understanding of the relationship between robot social behavior and learning. We suggest that the combination of nonverbal behavior and social cue congruency is necessary to facilitate learning.

  18. A Hybrid Robotic Control System Using Neuroblastoma Cultures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrández, J. M.; Lorente, V.; Cuadra, J. M.; Delapaz, F.; Álvarez-Sánchez, José Ramón; Fernández, E.

    The main objective of this work is to analyze the computing capabilities of human neuroblastoma cultured cells and to define connection schemes for controlling a robot behavior. Multielectrode Array (MEA) setups have been designed for direct culturing neural cells over silicon or glass substrates, providing the capability to stimulate and record simultaneously populations of neural cells. This paper describes the process of growing human neuroblastoma cells over MEA substrates and tries to modulate the natural physiologic responses of these cells by tetanic stimulation of the culture. We show that the large neuroblastoma networks developed in cultured MEAs are capable of learning: establishing numerous and dynamic connections, with modifiability induced by external stimuli and we propose an hybrid system for controlling a robot to avoid obstacles.

  19. An Intelligent Agent-Controlled and Robot-Based Disassembly Assistant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jungbluth, Jan; Gerke, Wolfgang; Plapper, Peter

    2017-09-01

    One key for successful and fluent human-robot-collaboration in disassembly processes is equipping the robot system with higher autonomy and intelligence. In this paper, we present an informed software agent that controls the robot behavior to form an intelligent robot assistant for disassembly purposes. While the disassembly process first depends on the product structure, we inform the agent using a generic approach through product models. The product model is then transformed to a directed graph and used to build, share and define a coarse disassembly plan. To refine the workflow, we formulate “the problem of loosening a connection and the distribution of the work” as a search problem. The created detailed plan consists of a sequence of actions that are used to call, parametrize and execute robot programs for the fulfillment of the assistance. The aim of this research is to equip robot systems with knowledge and skills to allow them to be autonomous in the performance of their assistance to finally improve the ergonomics of disassembly workstations.

  20. Control desacoplado de un actuador de rigidez variable para robots asistenciales

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Medina

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Resumen: Los actuadores de rigidez variable son dispositivos que permiten cambiar la posición y rigidez articular de un robot en forma simultánea. En los últimos años se han diseñado y desarrollado muchos dispositivos de este tipo, con la esperanza de favorecer la seguridad en la interacción humano-robot y mejorar el rendimiento dinámico de los robots. En este artículo se presenta el desarrollo de un controlador para un actuador de rigidez variable de configuración serie. La estrategia de control se basa en la linealización por realimentación y el ajuste de dos controladores lineales. Esta estrategia permite el seguimiento de referencias de posición y rigidez articular de forma simultánea y desacoplada. Además, se realizan simulaciones en las que se incorpora este dispositivo dentro del robot asistencial ASIBOT, a fin de evaluar el desempeño del controlador, los cambios en la dinámica del robot y las posibles ventajas que tendrá la inclusión del mismo a nivel de seguridad en la interacción física humano-robot. Abstract: The variable stiffness actuators are devices that change the position and stiffness of a robot simultaneously. In recent years have been designed and developed many devices of this type, hoping to ensure safety in human-robot interaction and improve the dynamic performance of robots. In this article, we present the control of a variable stiffness actuator with serial configuration. The control strategy is based on feedback linearization and adjustment of two linear controllers. This allows the control, independently, of the stiffness and the equilibrium position of the joint. Finally, the behavior of this device within the assistive robot ASIBOT, is simulated in order to assess: the controller performance, changes in the dynamics of the robot and possible advantages of a level of safety during physical interaction human-robot. Palabras clave: control de robot

  1. Personalizing a Service Robot by Learning Human Habits from Behavioral Footprints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kun Li

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available For a domestic personal robot, personalized services are as important as predesigned tasks, because the robot needs to adjust the home state based on the operator's habits. An operator's habits are composed of cues, behaviors, and rewards. This article introduces behavioral footprints to describe the operator's behaviors in a house, and applies the inverse reinforcement learning technique to extract the operator's habits, represented by a reward function. We implemented the proposed approach with a mobile robot on indoor temperature adjustment, and compared this approach with a baseline method that recorded all the cues and behaviors of the operator. The result shows that the proposed approach allows the robot to reveal the operator's habits accurately and adjust the environment state accordingly.

  2. Model and Behavior-Based Robotic Goalkeeper

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lausen, H.; Nielsen, J.; Nielsen, M.

    2003-01-01

    This paper describes the design, implementation and test of a goalkeeper robot for the Middle-Size League of RoboCub. The goalkeeper task is implemented by a set of primitive tasks and behaviours coordinated by a 2-level hierarchical state machine. The primitive tasks concerning complex motion...... control are implemented by a non-linear control algorithm, adapted to the different task goals (e.g., follow the ball or the robot posture from local features extracted from images acquired by a catadioptric omni-directional vision system. Most robot parameters were designed based on simulations carried...

  3. Apparatus for multiprocessor-based control of a multiagent robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, II, Richard Alan (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    An architecture for robot intelligence enables a robot to learn new behaviors and create new behavior sequences autonomously and interact with a dynamically changing environment. Sensory information is mapped onto a Sensory Ego-Sphere (SES) that rapidly identifies important changes in the environment and functions much like short term memory. Behaviors are stored in a DBAM that creates an active map from the robot's current state to a goal state and functions much like long term memory. A dream state converts recent activities stored in the SES and creates or modifies behaviors in the DBAM.

  4. Multiprocessor development for robot control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, John Min; Kim, Seung Ho; Kim, Chang Hoi; Kim, Byung Soo; Hwang, Suk Yeong; Lee, Young Bum; Sohn, Suk Won; Kim, Woon Gi

    1990-01-01

    The project of this study is to develop a real time controller applying autonomous robotic systems operated in hostile environment. Developed control system is designed with a multiprocessor to get independency and reliability as well as to extend the system easily. The control system is designed in three distinct subsystems (supervisory control part, functional control part, and remote control part). To review the functional performance of developed controller, a prototype mobile robot, which was installed 4 DOF mainpulator, was designed and manufactured. Initial tests showed that the robot could turn with a radius of 38 cm and a maximum speed of 1.26 km/hr and go over obstacle of 18 cm in height. (author)

  5. Collective Behaviors of Mobile Robots Beyond the Nearest Neighbor Rules With Switching Topology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ning, Boda; Han, Qing-Long; Zuo, Zongyu; Jin, Jiong; Zheng, Jinchuan

    2018-05-01

    This paper is concerned with the collective behaviors of robots beyond the nearest neighbor rules, i.e., dispersion and flocking, when robots interact with others by applying an acute angle test (AAT)-based interaction rule. Different from a conventional nearest neighbor rule or its variations, the AAT-based interaction rule allows interactions with some far-neighbors and excludes unnecessary nearest neighbors. The resulting dispersion and flocking hold the advantages of scalability, connectivity, robustness, and effective area coverage. For the dispersion, a spring-like controller is proposed to achieve collision-free coordination. With switching topology, a new fixed-time consensus-based energy function is developed to guarantee the system stability. An upper bound of settling time for energy consensus is obtained, and a uniform time interval is accordingly set so that energy distribution is conducted in a fair manner. For the flocking, based on a class of generalized potential functions taking nonsmooth switching into account, a new controller is proposed to ensure that the same velocity for all robots is eventually reached. A co-optimizing problem is further investigated to accomplish additional tasks, such as enhancing communication performance, while maintaining the collective behaviors of mobile robots. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

  6. Controlling Tensegrity Robots Through Evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iscen, Atil; Agogino, Adrian; SunSpiral, Vytas; Tumer, Kagan

    2013-01-01

    Tensegrity structures (built from interconnected rods and cables) have the potential to offer a revolutionary new robotic design that is light-weight, energy-efficient, robust to failures, capable of unique modes of locomotion, impact tolerant, and compliant (reducing damage between the robot and its environment). Unfortunately robots built from tensegrity structures are difficult to control with traditional methods due to their oscillatory nature, nonlinear coupling between components and overall complexity. Fortunately this formidable control challenge can be overcome through the use of evolutionary algorithms. In this paper we show that evolutionary algorithms can be used to efficiently control a ball-shaped tensegrity robot. Experimental results performed with a variety of evolutionary algorithms in a detailed soft-body physics simulator show that a centralized evolutionary algorithm performs 400 percent better than a hand-coded solution, while the multi-agent evolution performs 800 percent better. In addition, evolution is able to discover diverse control solutions (both crawling and rolling) that are robust against structural failures and can be adapted to a wide range of energy and actuation constraints. These successful controls will form the basis for building high-performance tensegrity robots in the near future.

  7. Adding memory processing behaviors to the fuzzy behaviorist-based navigation of mobile robots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pin, F.G.; Bender, S.R.

    1996-05-01

    Most fuzzy logic-based reasoning schemes developed for robot control are fully reactive, i.e., the reasoning modules consist of fuzzy rule bases that represent direct mappings from the stimuli provided by the perception systems to the responses implemented by the motion controllers. Due to their totally reactive nature, such reasoning systems can encounter problems such as infinite loops and limit cycles. In this paper, we proposed an approach to remedy these problems by adding a memory and memory-related behaviors to basic reactive systems. Three major types of memory behaviors are addressed: memory creation, memory management, and memory utilization. These are first presented, and examples of their implementation for the recognition of limit cycles during the navigation of an autonomous robot in a priori unknown environments are then discussed.

  8. Design and Implementation an Autonomous Humanoid Robot Based on Fuzzy Rule-Based Motion Controller

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Taheri

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Research on humanoid robotics in Mechatronics and Automation Laboratory, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Islamic Azad University Khorasgan branch (Isfahan of Iran was started at
    the beginning of this decade. Various research prototypes for humanoid robots have been designed and are going through evolution over these years. This paper describes the hardware and software design of the kid size humanoid robot systems of the PERSIA Team in 2009. The robot has 20 actuated degrees of freedom based on Hitec HSR898. In this paper we have tried to focus on areas such as mechanical structure, Image processing unit, robot controller, Robot AI and behavior
    learning. In 2009, our developments for the Kid size humanoid robot include: (1 the design and construction of our new humanoid robots (2 the design and construction of a new hardware and software controller to be used in our robots. The project is described in two main parts: Hardware and Software. The software is developed a robot application which consists walking controller, autonomous motion robot, self localization base on vision and Particle Filter, local AI, Trajectory Planning, Motion Controller and Network. The hardware consists of the mechanical structure and the driver circuit board. Each robot is able to walk, fast walk, pass, kick and dribble when it catches
    the ball. These humanoids have been successfully participating in various robotic soccer competitions. This project is still in progress and some new interesting methods are described in the current report.

  9. Fish and robots swimming together in a water tunnel: robot color and tail-beat frequency influence fish behavior.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giovanni Polverino

    Full Text Available The possibility of integrating bioinspired robots in groups of live social animals may constitute a valuable tool to study the basis of social behavior and uncover the fundamental determinants of animal functions and dysfunctions. In this study, we investigate the interactions between individual golden shiners (Notemigonus crysoleucas and robotic fish swimming together in a water tunnel at constant flow velocity. The robotic fish is designed to mimic its live counterpart in the aspect ratio, body shape, dimension, and locomotory pattern. Fish positional preference with respect to the robot is experimentally analyzed as the robot's color pattern and tail-beat frequency are varied. Behavioral observations are corroborated by particle image velocimetry studies aimed at investigating the flow structure behind the robotic fish. Experimental results show that the time spent by golden shiners in the vicinity of the bioinspired robotic fish is the highest when the robot mimics their natural color pattern and beats its tail at the same frequency. In these conditions, fish tend to swim at the same depth of the robotic fish, where the wake from the robotic fish is stronger and hydrodynamic return is most likely to be effective.

  10. Fish and robots swimming together in a water tunnel: robot color and tail-beat frequency influence fish behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polverino, Giovanni; Phamduy, Paul; Porfiri, Maurizio

    2013-01-01

    The possibility of integrating bioinspired robots in groups of live social animals may constitute a valuable tool to study the basis of social behavior and uncover the fundamental determinants of animal functions and dysfunctions. In this study, we investigate the interactions between individual golden shiners (Notemigonus crysoleucas) and robotic fish swimming together in a water tunnel at constant flow velocity. The robotic fish is designed to mimic its live counterpart in the aspect ratio, body shape, dimension, and locomotory pattern. Fish positional preference with respect to the robot is experimentally analyzed as the robot's color pattern and tail-beat frequency are varied. Behavioral observations are corroborated by particle image velocimetry studies aimed at investigating the flow structure behind the robotic fish. Experimental results show that the time spent by golden shiners in the vicinity of the bioinspired robotic fish is the highest when the robot mimics their natural color pattern and beats its tail at the same frequency. In these conditions, fish tend to swim at the same depth of the robotic fish, where the wake from the robotic fish is stronger and hydrodynamic return is most likely to be effective.

  11. Influence of robotic shoal size, configuration, and activity on zebrafish behavior in a free-swimming environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butail, Sachit; Polverino, Giovanni; Phamduy, Paul; Del Sette, Fausto; Porfiri, Maurizio

    2014-12-15

    In animal studies, robots have been recently used as a valid tool for testing a wide spectrum of hypotheses. These robots often exploit visual or auditory cues to modulate animal behavior. The propensity of zebrafish, a model organism in biological studies, toward fish with similar color patterns and shape has been leveraged to design biologically inspired robots that successfully attract zebrafish in preference tests. With an aim of extending the application of such robots to field studies, here, we investigate the response of zebrafish to multiple robotic fish swimming at different speeds and in varying arrangements. A soft real-time multi-target tracking and control system remotely steers the robots in circular trajectories during the experimental trials. Our findings indicate a complex behavioral response of zebrafish to biologically inspired robots. More robots produce a significant change in salient measures of stress, with a fast robot swimming alone causing more freezing and erratic activity than two robots swimming slowly together. In addition, fish spend more time in the proximity of a robot when they swim far apart than when the robots swim close to each other. Increase in the number of robots also significantly alters the degree of alignment of fish motion with a robot. Results from this study are expected to advance our understanding of robot perception by live animals and aid in hypothesis-driven studies in unconstrained free-swimming environments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Robot motion control in mobile environment

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Iliya V Miroshnik; HUANG Xian-lin(黄显林); HE Jie(贺杰)

    2003-01-01

    With the problem of robot motion control in dynamic environment represented by mobile obstacles,working pieces and external mechanisms considered, a relevant control actions design procedure has been pro-posed to provide coordination of robot motions with respect to the moving external objects so that an extension ofrobot spatial motion techniques and active robotic strategies based on approaches of nonlinear control theory canbe achieved.

  13. Kinematics Control and Analysis of Industrial Robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Tongbo; Cai, Fan; Li, Yongmei; Liu, Wei

    2018-03-01

    The robot’s development present situation, basic principle and control system are introduced briefly. Research is mainly focused on the study of the robot’s kinematics and motion control. The structural analysis of a planar articulated robot (SCARA) robot is presented,the coordinate system is established to obtain the position and orientation matrix of the end effector,a method of robot kinematics analysis based on homogeneous transformation method is proposed, and the kinematics solution of the robot is obtained.Establishment of industrial robot’s kinematics equation and formula for positive kinematics by example. Finally,the kinematic analysis of this robot was verified by examples.It provides a basis for structural design and motion control.It has active significance to promote the motion control of industrial robot.

  14. A cognitive robotics system: the symbolic and sub-symbolic robotic intelligence control system (SS-RICS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelley, Troy D.; Avery, Eric

    2010-04-01

    This paper will detail the progress on the development of the Symbolic and Subsymbolic Robotics Intelligence Control System (SS-RICS). The system is a goal oriented production system, based loosely on the cognitive architecture, the Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational (ACT-R) some additions and changes. We have found that in order to simulate complex cognition on a robot, many aspects of cognition (long term memory (LTM), perception) needed to be in place before any generalized intelligent behavior can be produced. In working with ACT-R, we found that it was a good instantiation of working memory, but that we needed to add other aspects of cognition including LTM and perception to have a complete cognitive system. Our progress to date will be noted and the challenges that remain will be addressed.

  15. Automatic control system generation for robot design validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacon, James A. (Inventor); English, James D. (Inventor)

    2012-01-01

    The specification and drawings present a new method, system and software product for and apparatus for generating a robotic validation system for a robot design. The robotic validation system for the robot design of a robotic system is automatically generated by converting a robot design into a generic robotic description using a predetermined format, then generating a control system from the generic robotic description and finally updating robot design parameters of the robotic system with an analysis tool using both the generic robot description and the control system.

  16. 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...

  17. Intelligent controller of a flexible hybrid robot machine for ITER assembly and maintenance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-saedi, Mazin I.; Wu, Huapeng; Handroos, Heikki

    2014-01-01

    be controlled to hold the hexa-element. Finally, simulated results that demonstrate the robot behaviors are presented

  18. Intelligent controller of a flexible hybrid robot machine for ITER assembly and maintenance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-saedi, Mazin I., E-mail: mazin.al-saedi@lut.fi; Wu, Huapeng; Handroos, Heikki

    2014-10-15

    be controlled to hold the hexa-element. Finally, simulated results that demonstrate the robot behaviors are presented.

  19. Robot welding process control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romine, Peter L.

    1991-01-01

    This final report documents the development and installation of software and hardware for Robotic Welding Process Control. Primary emphasis is on serial communications between the CYRO 750 robotic welder, Heurikon minicomputer running Hunter & Ready VRTX, and an IBM PC/AT, for offline programming and control and closed-loop welding control. The requirements for completion of the implementation of the Rocketdyne weld tracking control are discussed. The procedure for downloading programs from the Intergraph, over the network, is discussed. Conclusions are made on the results of this task, and recommendations are made for efficient implementation of communications, weld process control development, and advanced process control procedures using the Heurikon.

  20. Snake Robots Modelling, Mechatronics, and Control

    CERN Document Server

    Liljebäck, Pål; Stavdahl, Øyvind; Gravdahl, Jan Tommy

    2013-01-01

    Snake Robots is a novel treatment of theoretical and practical topics related to snake robots: robotic mechanisms designed to move like biological snakes and able to operate in challenging environments in which human presence is either undesirable or impossible. Future applications of such robots include search and rescue, inspection and maintenance, and subsea operations. Locomotion in unstructured environments is a focus for this book. The text targets the disparate muddle of approaches to modelling, development and control of snake robots in current literature, giving a unified presentation of recent research results on snake robot locomotion to increase the reader’s basic understanding of these mechanisms and their motion dynamics and clarify the state of the art in the field. The book is a complete treatment of snake robotics, with topics ranging from mathematical modelling techniques, through mechatronic design and implementation, to control design strategies. The development of two snake robots is de...

  1. Intelligent control and cooperation for mobile robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stingu, Petru Emanuel

    of robots subjected to dynamic communication constraints, game theory is used in addition to reinforcement learning. The nodes maintain an extra set of state variables about all the other nodes that they can communicate to. The more important are trust and predictability. They are a way to incorporate knowledge acquired in the past into the control decisions taken by each node. The trust variable provides a simple mechanism for the implementation of reinforcement learning. For robot formations, potential field based control algorithms are used to generate the control commands. The formation structure changes due to the environment and due to the decisions of the nodes. It is a problem of building a graph and coalitions by having distributed decisions but still reaching an optimal behavior globally.

  2. Evidence in Support of the Independent Channel Model Describing the Sensorimotor Control of Human Stance Using a Humanoid Robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasma, Jantsje H; Assländer, Lorenz; van Kordelaar, Joost; de Kam, Digna; Mergner, Thomas; Schouten, Alfred C

    2018-01-01

    The Independent Channel (IC) model is a commonly used linear balance control model in the frequency domain to analyze human balance control using system identification and parameter estimation. The IC model is a rudimentary and noise-free description of balance behavior in the frequency domain, where a stable model representation is not guaranteed. In this study, we conducted firstly time-domain simulations with added noise, and secondly robot experiments by implementing the IC model in a real-world robot (PostuRob II) to test the validity and stability of the model in the time domain and for real world situations. Balance behavior of seven healthy participants was measured during upright stance by applying pseudorandom continuous support surface rotations. System identification and parameter estimation were used to describe the balance behavior with the IC model in the frequency domain. The IC model with the estimated parameters from human experiments was implemented in Simulink for computer simulations including noise in the time domain and robot experiments using the humanoid robot PostuRob II. Again, system identification and parameter estimation were used to describe the simulated balance behavior. Time series, Frequency Response Functions, and estimated parameters from human experiments, computer simulations, and robot experiments were compared with each other. The computer simulations showed similar balance behavior and estimated control parameters compared to the human experiments, in the time and frequency domain. Also, the IC model was able to control the humanoid robot by keeping it upright, but showed small differences compared to the human experiments in the time and frequency domain, especially at high frequencies. We conclude that the IC model, a descriptive model in the frequency domain, can imitate human balance behavior also in the time domain, both in computer simulations with added noise and real world situations with a humanoid robot. This

  3. Evidence in Support of the Independent Channel Model Describing the Sensorimotor Control of Human Stance Using a Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jantsje H. Pasma

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The Independent Channel (IC model is a commonly used linear balance control model in the frequency domain to analyze human balance control using system identification and parameter estimation. The IC model is a rudimentary and noise-free description of balance behavior in the frequency domain, where a stable model representation is not guaranteed. In this study, we conducted firstly time-domain simulations with added noise, and secondly robot experiments by implementing the IC model in a real-world robot (PostuRob II to test the validity and stability of the model in the time domain and for real world situations. Balance behavior of seven healthy participants was measured during upright stance by applying pseudorandom continuous support surface rotations. System identification and parameter estimation were used to describe the balance behavior with the IC model in the frequency domain. The IC model with the estimated parameters from human experiments was implemented in Simulink for computer simulations including noise in the time domain and robot experiments using the humanoid robot PostuRob II. Again, system identification and parameter estimation were used to describe the simulated balance behavior. Time series, Frequency Response Functions, and estimated parameters from human experiments, computer simulations, and robot experiments were compared with each other. The computer simulations showed similar balance behavior and estimated control parameters compared to the human experiments, in the time and frequency domain. Also, the IC model was able to control the humanoid robot by keeping it upright, but showed small differences compared to the human experiments in the time and frequency domain, especially at high frequencies. We conclude that the IC model, a descriptive model in the frequency domain, can imitate human balance behavior also in the time domain, both in computer simulations with added noise and real world situations with a

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. Evolving self-assembly in autonomous homogeneous robots: experiments with two physical robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ampatzis, Christos; Tuci, Elio; Trianni, Vito; Christensen, Anders Lyhne; Dorigo, Marco

    2009-01-01

    This research work illustrates an approach to the design of controllers for self-assembling robots in which the self-assembly is initiated and regulated by perceptual cues that are brought forth by the physical robots through their dynamical interactions. More specifically, we present a homogeneous control system that can achieve assembly between two modules (two fully autonomous robots) of a mobile self-reconfigurable system without a priori introduced behavioral or morphological heterogeneities. The controllers are dynamic neural networks evolved in simulation that directly control all the actuators of the two robots. The neurocontrollers cause the dynamic specialization of the robots by allocating roles between them based solely on their interaction. We show that the best evolved controller proves to be successful when tested on a real hardware platform, the swarm-bot. The performance achieved is similar to the one achieved by existing modular or behavior-based approaches, also due to the effect of an emergent recovery mechanism that was neither explicitly rewarded by the fitness function, nor observed during the evolutionary simulation. Our results suggest that direct access to the orientations or intentions of the other agents is not a necessary condition for robot coordination: Our robots coordinate without direct or explicit communication, contrary to what is assumed by most research works in collective robotics. This work also contributes to strengthening the evidence that evolutionary robotics is a design methodology that can tackle real-world tasks demanding fine sensory-motor coordination.

  7. 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.

  8. Behavior Selection of Mobile Robot Based on Integration of Multimodal Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Bin; Kaneko, Masahide

    Recently, biologically inspired robots have been developed to acquire the capacity for directing visual attention to salient stimulus generated from the audiovisual environment. On purpose to realize this behavior, a general method is to calculate saliency maps to represent how much the external information attracts the robot's visual attention, where the audiovisual information and robot's motion status should be involved. In this paper, we represent a visual attention model where three modalities, that is, audio information, visual information and robot's motor status are considered, while the previous researches have not considered all of them. Firstly, we introduce a 2-D density map, on which the value denotes how much the robot pays attention to each spatial location. Then we model the attention density using a Bayesian network where the robot's motion statuses are involved. Secondly, the information from both of audio and visual modalities is integrated with the attention density map in integrate-fire neurons. The robot can direct its attention to the locations where the integrate-fire neurons are fired. Finally, the visual attention model is applied to make the robot select the visual information from the environment, and react to the content selected. Experimental results show that it is possible for robots to acquire the visual information related to their behaviors by using the attention model considering motion statuses. The robot can select its behaviors to adapt to the dynamic environment as well as to switch to another task according to the recognition results of visual attention.

  9. Controller design for Robotic hand through Electroencephalogram

    OpenAIRE

    Pandelidis P.; Kiriazis N.; Orgianelis K.; Koulios N.

    2016-01-01

    - This paper deals with the designing, the construction and the control of a robotic hand via an electroencephalogram sensor. First a robotic device that is able to mimic a real human hand is constructed. A PID controller is designed in order to improve the performance of the robotic arm for grabbing objects. Furthermore, a novel design approach is presented for controlling the motion of the robotic arm using signals produced from an innovative electroencephalogram sensor that detects the con...

  10. 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...

  11. 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.

  12. Synaptic plasticity in a recurrent neural network for versatile and adaptive behaviors of a walking robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grinke, Eduard; Tetzlaff, Christian; Wörgötter, Florentin; Manoonpong, Poramate

    2015-01-01

    Walking animals, like insects, with little neural computing can effectively perform complex behaviors. For example, they can walk around their environment, escape from corners/deadlocks, and avoid or climb over obstacles. While performing all these behaviors, they can also adapt their movements to deal with an unknown situation. As a consequence, they successfully navigate through their complex environment. The versatile and adaptive abilities are the result of an integration of several ingredients embedded in their sensorimotor loop. Biological studies reveal that the ingredients include neural dynamics, plasticity, sensory feedback, and biomechanics. Generating such versatile and adaptive behaviors for a many degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) walking robot is a challenging task. Thus, in this study, we present a bio-inspired approach to solve this task. Specifically, the approach combines neural mechanisms with plasticity, exteroceptive sensory feedback, and biomechanics. The neural mechanisms consist of adaptive neural sensory processing and modular neural locomotion control. The sensory processing is based on a small recurrent neural network consisting of two fully connected neurons. Online correlation-based learning with synaptic scaling is applied to adequately change the connections of the network. By doing so, we can effectively exploit neural dynamics (i.e., hysteresis effects and single attractors) in the network to generate different turning angles with short-term memory for a walking robot. The turning information is transmitted as descending steering signals to the neural locomotion control which translates the signals into motor actions. As a result, the robot can walk around and adapt its turning angle for avoiding obstacles in different situations. The adaptation also enables the robot to effectively escape from sharp corners or deadlocks. Using backbone joint control embedded in the the locomotion control allows the robot to climb over small obstacles

  13. Behavioral similarity measurement based on image processing for robots that use imitative learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterpin B., Dante G.; Martinez S., Fernando; Jacinto G., Edwar

    2017-02-01

    In the field of the artificial societies, particularly those are based on memetics, imitative behavior is essential for the development of cultural evolution. Applying this concept for robotics, through imitative learning, a robot can acquire behavioral patterns from another robot. Assuming that the learning process must have an instructor and, at least, an apprentice, the fact to obtain a quantitative measurement for their behavioral similarity, would be potentially useful, especially in artificial social systems focused on cultural evolution. In this paper the motor behavior of both kinds of robots, for two simple tasks, is represented by 2D binary images, which are processed in order to measure their behavioral similarity. The results shown here were obtained comparing some similarity measurement methods for binary images.

  14. An Integrated Framework for Human-Robot Collaborative Manipulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheng, Weihua; Thobbi, Anand; Gu, Ye

    2015-10-01

    This paper presents an integrated learning framework that enables humanoid robots to perform human-robot collaborative manipulation tasks. Specifically, a table-lifting task performed jointly by a human and a humanoid robot is chosen for validation purpose. The proposed framework is split into two phases: 1) phase I-learning to grasp the table and 2) phase II-learning to perform the manipulation task. An imitation learning approach is proposed for phase I. In phase II, the behavior of the robot is controlled by a combination of two types of controllers: 1) reactive and 2) proactive. The reactive controller lets the robot take a reactive control action to make the table horizontal. The proactive controller lets the robot take proactive actions based on human motion prediction. A measure of confidence of the prediction is also generated by the motion predictor. This confidence measure determines the leader/follower behavior of the robot. Hence, the robot can autonomously switch between the behaviors during the task. Finally, the performance of the human-robot team carrying out the collaborative manipulation task is experimentally evaluated on a platform consisting of a Nao humanoid robot and a Vicon motion capture system. Results show that the proposed framework can enable the robot to carry out the collaborative manipulation task successfully.

  15. Biologically-Inspired Control Architecture for Musical Performance Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Solis

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available At Waseda University, since 1990, the authors have been developing anthropomorphic musical performance robots as a means for understanding human control, introducing novel ways of interaction between musical partners and robots, and proposing applications for humanoid robots. In this paper, the design of a biologically-inspired control architecture for both an anthropomorphic flutist robot and a saxophone playing robot are described. As for the flutist robot, the authors have focused on implementing an auditory feedback system to improve the calibration procedure for the robot in order to play all the notes correctly during a performance. In particular, the proposed auditory feedback system is composed of three main modules: an Expressive Music Generator, a Feed Forward Air Pressure Control System and a Pitch Evaluation System. As for the saxophone-playing robot, a pressure-pitch controller (based on the feedback error learning to improve the sound produced by the robot during a musical performance was proposed and implemented. In both cases studied, a set of experiments are described to verify the improvements achieved while considering biologically-inspired control approaches.

  16. Responsive Social Positioning Behaviors for Semi-Autonomous Telepresence Robots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vroon, Jered Hendrik

    2017-01-01

    Social interaction with a mobile robot requires the establishment of appropriate social positioning behaviors. Previous work has focused mostly on general and static rules that can be applied to robotics, such as proxemics. How can we deal effectively and efficiently with the dynamic positioning

  17. Quantitative analysis of distributed control paradigms of robot swarms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ngo, Trung Dung

    2010-01-01

    describe the physical and simulated robots, experiment scenario, and experiment setup. Third, we present our robot controllers based on behaviour based and neural network based paradigms. Fourth, we graphically show their experiment results and quantitatively analyse the results in comparison of the two......Given a task of designing controller for mobile robots in swarms, one might wonder which distributed control paradigms should be selected. Until now, paradigms of robot controllers have been within either behaviour based control or neural network based control, which have been recognized as two...... mainstreams of controller design for mobile robots. However, in swarm robotics, it is not clear how to determine control paradigms. In this paper we study the two control paradigms with various experiments of swarm aggregation. First, we introduce the two control paradigms for mobile robots. Second, we...

  18. A Formation Behavior for Large-Scale Micro-Robot Deployment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dudenhoeffer, Donald Dean; Jones, Michael Paul

    2000-12-01

    Micro-robots will soon be available for deployment by the thousands. Consequently, controlling and coordinating a force this large to accomplish a prescribed task is of great interest. This paper describes a flexible architecture for modeling thousands of autonomous agents simultaneously. The agents’ behavior is based on a subsumption architecture in which individual behaviors are prioritized with respect to all others. The primary behavior explored in this work is a group formation behavior based on social potential fields (Reif and Wang 1999). This paper extends the social potential field model by introducing a neutral zone within which other behaviors may exhibit themselves. Previous work with social potential fields has been restricted to models of “perfect” autonomous agents. The paper evaluates the effect of social potential fields in the presence of agent death (failure) and imperfect sensory input.

  19. Adaptive Inverse Optimal Control for Rehabilitation Robot Systems Using Actor-Critic Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fancheng Meng

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The higher goal of rehabilitation robot is to aid a person to achieve a desired functional task (e.g., tracking trajectory based on assisted-as-needed principle. To this goal, a new adaptive inverse optimal hybrid control (AHC combining inverse optimal control and actor-critic learning is proposed. Specifically, an uncertain nonlinear rehabilitation robot model is firstly developed that includes human motor behavior dynamics. Then, based on this model, an open-loop error system is formed; thereafter, an inverse optimal control input is designed to minimize the cost functional and a NN-based actor-critic feedforward signal is responsible for the nonlinear dynamic part contaminated by uncertainties. Finally, the AHC controller is proven (through a Lyapunov-based stability analysis to yield a global uniformly ultimately bounded stability result, and the resulting cost functional is meaningful. Simulation and experiment on rehabilitation robot demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

  20. Development of safe mechanism for surgical robots using equilibrium point control method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Shinsuk; Lim, Hokjin; Kim, Byeong-sang; Song, Jae-bok

    2006-01-01

    This paper introduces a novel mechanism for surgical robotic systems to generate human arm-like compliant motion. The mechanism is based on the idea of the equilibrium point control hypothesis which claims that multi-joint limb movements are achieved by shifting the limbs' equilibrium positions defined by neuromuscular activity. The equilibrium point control can be implemented on a robot manipulator by installing two actuators at each joint of the manipulator, one to control the joint position, and the other to control the joint stiffness. This double-actuator mechanism allows us to arbitrarily manipulate the stiffness (or impedance) of a robotic manipulator as well as its position. Also, the force at the end-effector can be estimated based on joint stiffness and joint angle changes without using force transducers. A two-link manipulator and a three-link manipulator with the double-actuator units have been developed, and experiments and simulation results show the potential of the proposed approach. By creating the human arm-like behavior, this mechanism can improve the performance of robot manipulators to execute stable and safe movement in surgical environments by using a simple control scheme.

  1. Efficient Active Sensing with Categorized Further Explorations for a Home Behavior-Monitoring Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenwei Yu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Mobile robotics is a potential solution to home behavior monitoring for the elderly. For a mobile robot in the real world, there are several types of uncertainties for its perceptions, such as the ambiguity between a target object and the surrounding objects and occlusions by furniture. The problem could be more serious for a home behavior-monitoring system, which aims to accurately recognize the activity of a target person, in spite of these uncertainties. It detects irregularities and categorizes situations requiring further explorations, which strategically maximize the information needed for activity recognition while minimizing the costs. Two schemes of active sensing, based on two irregularity detections, namely, heuristic-based and template-matching-based irregularity detections, were implemented and examined for body contour-based activity recognition. Their time cost and accuracy in activity recognition were evaluated through experiments in both a controlled scenario and a home living scenario. Experiment results showed that the categorized further explorations guided the robot system to sense the target person actively. As a result, with the proposed approach, the robot system has achieved higher accuracy of activity recognition.

  2. Controller design for Robotic hand through Electroencephalogram

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pandelidis P.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available - This paper deals with the designing, the construction and the control of a robotic hand via an electroencephalogram sensor. First a robotic device that is able to mimic a real human hand is constructed. A PID controller is designed in order to improve the performance of the robotic arm for grabbing objects. Furthermore, a novel design approach is presented for controlling the motion of the robotic arm using signals produced from an innovative electroencephalogram sensor that detects the concentration of the brain

  3. Dynamic analysis of space robot remote control system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulakov, Felix; Alferov, Gennady; Sokolov, Boris; Gorovenko, Polina; Sharlay, Artem

    2018-05-01

    The article presents analysis on construction of two-stage remote control for space robots. This control ensures efficiency of the robot control system at large delays in transmission of control signals from the ground control center to the local control system of the space robot. The conditions for control stability of and high transparency are found.

  4. Development of a Dung Beetle Robot and Investigation of Its Dung-Rolling Behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jen-Wei Wang

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In this study, a bio-inspired dung beetle robot was developed that emulated the dung rolling motion of the dung beetle. Dung beetles, which can roll objects up to 1000 times their own body weight, are one of the strongest insect species in the world. While the locomotion of many insects, such as cockroaches, inchworms, and butterflies, has been studied widely, the locomotion of dung beetles has rarely been given attention. Here, we report on the development of a dung beetle robot made specifically to investigate dung-rolling behavior and to determine and understand the underlying mechanism. Two versions of the robot were built, and the leg trajectories were carefully designed based on kinematic analysis. Cylinder and ball rolling experiments were conducted, and the results showed that the dung beetle robot could successfully and reliably roll objects. This further suggests that the dung beetle robot, with its current morphology, is capable of reliably rolling dung without the need for complex control strategies.

  5. An Electromechanical Pendulum Robot Arm in Action: Dynamics and Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Notué Kadjie

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The authors numerically investigate the dynamics and control of an electromechanical robot arm consisting of a pendulum coupled to an electrical circuit via an electromagnetic mechanism. The analysis of the dynamical behavior of the electromechanical device powered by a sinusoidal power source is carried out when the effects of the loads on the arm are neglected. It is found that the device exhibits period-n T oscillations and high amplitude oscillations when the electric current is at its smallest value. The specific case which considers the effects of the impulsive contact force caused by an external load mass pushed by the arm is also studied. It is found that the amplitude of the impulse force generates several behaviors such as jump of amplitude and distortions of the mechanical vibration and electrical signal. For more efficient functioning of the device, both piezoelectric and adaptive backstepping controls are applied on the system. It is found that the control strategies are able to mitigate the signal distortion and restore the dynamical behavior to its normal state or reduce the effects of perturbations such as a short time variation of one component or when the robot system is subject to noises.

  6. On the applicability of the decentralized control mechanism extracted from the true slime mold: a robotic case study with a serpentine robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Takahide; Kano, Takeshi; Ishiguro, Akio

    2011-01-01

    A systematic method for an autonomous decentralized control system is still lacking, despite its appealing concept. In order to alleviate this, we focused on the amoeboid locomotion of the true slime mold, and extracted a design scheme for the decentralized control mechanism that leads to adaptive behavior for the entire system, based on the so-called discrepancy function. In this paper, we intensively investigate the universality of this design scheme by applying it to a different type of locomotion based on a 'synthetic approach'. As a first step, we implement this design scheme to the control of a real physical two-dimensional serpentine robot that exhibits slithering locomotion. The experimental results show that the robot exhibits adaptive behavior and responds to the environmental changes; it is also robust against malfunctions of the body segments due to the local sensory feedback control that is based on the discrepancy function. We expect the results to shed new light on the methodology of autonomous decentralized control systems.

  7. Kinematic control of robot with degenerate wrist

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barker, L. K.; Moore, M. C.

    1984-01-01

    Kinematic resolved rate equations allow an operator with visual feedback to dynamically control a robot hand. When the robot wrist is degenerate, the computed joint angle rates exceed operational limits, and unwanted hand movements can result. The generalized matrix inverse solution can also produce unwanted responses. A method is introduced to control the robot hand in the region of the degenerate robot wrist. The method uses a coordinated movement of the first and third joints of the robot wrist to locate the second wrist joint axis for movement of the robot hand in the commanded direction. The method does not entail infinite joint angle rates.

  8. Control of wheeled mobile robot in restricted environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Mohammed A. H.; En, Chang Yong

    2018-03-01

    This paper presents a simulation and practical control system for wheeled mobile robot in restricted environment. A wheeled mobile robot with 3 wheels is fabricated and controlled by proportional derivative active force control (PD-AFC) to move in a pre-planned restricted environment to maintain the tracking errors at zero level. A control system with two loops, outer by PD controller and inner loop by Active Force Control, are designed to control the wheeled mobile robot. Fuzzy logic controller is implemented in the Active force Control to estimate the inertia matrix that will be used to calculate the actual torque applied on the wheeled mobile robot. The mobile robot is tested in two different trajectories, namely are circular and straight path. The actual path and desired path are compared.

  9. Behaviour based Mobile Robot Navigation Technique using AI System: Experimental Investigation on Active Media Pioneer Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Parasuraman, V.Ganapathy

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available A key issue in the research of an autonomous robot is the design and development of the navigation technique that enables the robot to navigate in a real world environment. In this research, the issues investigated and methodologies established include (a Designing of the individual behavior and behavior rule selection using Alpha level fuzzy logic system  (b Designing of the controller, which maps the sensors input to the motor output through model based Fuzzy Logic Inference System and (c Formulation of the decision-making process by using Alpha-level fuzzy logic system. The proposed method is applied to Active Media Pioneer Robot and the results are discussed and compared with most accepted methods. This approach provides a formal methodology for representing and implementing the human expert heuristic knowledge and perception-based action in mobile robot navigation. In this approach, the operational strategies of the human expert driver are transferred via fuzzy logic to the robot navigation in the form of a set of simple conditional statements composed of linguistic variables.Keywards: Mobile robot, behavior based control, fuzzy logic, alpha level fuzzy logic, obstacle avoidance behavior and goal seek behavior

  10. Comparative Study of SSVEP- and P300-Based Models for the Telepresence Control of Humanoid Robots.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Zhao

    Full Text Available In this paper, we evaluate the control performance of SSVEP (steady-state visual evoked potential- and P300-based models using Cerebot-a mind-controlled humanoid robot platform. Seven subjects with diverse experience participated in experiments concerning the open-loop and closed-loop control of a humanoid robot via brain signals. The visual stimuli of both the SSVEP- and P300- based models were implemented on a LCD computer monitor with a refresh frequency of 60 Hz. Considering the operation safety, we set the classification accuracy of a model over 90.0% as the most important mandatory for the telepresence control of the humanoid robot. The open-loop experiments demonstrated that the SSVEP model with at most four stimulus targets achieved the average accurate rate about 90%, whereas the P300 model with the six or more stimulus targets under five repetitions per trial was able to achieve the accurate rates over 90.0%. Therefore, the four SSVEP stimuli were used to control four types of robot behavior; while the six P300 stimuli were chosen to control six types of robot behavior. Both of the 4-class SSVEP and 6-class P300 models achieved the average success rates of 90.3% and 91.3%, the average response times of 3.65 s and 6.6 s, and the average information transfer rates (ITR of 24.7 bits/min 18.8 bits/min, respectively. The closed-loop experiments addressed the telepresence control of the robot; the objective was to cause the robot to walk along a white lane marked in an office environment using live video feedback. Comparative studies reveal that the SSVEP model yielded faster response to the subject's mental activity with less reliance on channel selection, whereas the P300 model was found to be suitable for more classifiable targets and required less training. To conclude, we discuss the existing SSVEP and P300 models for the control of humanoid robots, including the models proposed in this paper.

  11. Radio Controlled Fish Robot RR-9

    OpenAIRE

    Cifanskis, S; Vība, J; Jakuševičs, V

    2015-01-01

    A remote-controlled underwater robot fish is described. For motion control three actuator drives are used: one actuator is for tail frequency exchange, the second actuator is for the left or right turnings and the third actuator provides neutral swimming or up and down diving. From the robot's center of mass motion theorem (according to the given total mass of robot) the proportional distribution of massesof structural elements is found. Experimental indoor and out...

  12. Interactive robot control system and method of use

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Adam M. (Inventor); Reiland, Matthew J. (Inventor); Abdallah, Muhammad E. (Inventor); Linn, Douglas Martin (Inventor); Platt, Robert (Inventor)

    2012-01-01

    A robotic system includes a robot having joints, actuators, and sensors, and a distributed controller. The controller includes command-level controller, embedded joint-level controllers each controlling a respective joint, and a joint coordination-level controller coordinating motion of the joints. A central data library (CDL) centralizes all control and feedback data, and a user interface displays a status of each joint, actuator, and sensor using the CDL. A parameterized action sequence has a hierarchy of linked events, and allows the control data to be modified in real time. A method of controlling the robot includes transmitting control data through the various levels of the controller, routing all control and feedback data to the CDL, and displaying status and operation of the robot using the CDL. The parameterized action sequences are generated for execution by the robot, and a hierarchy of linked events is created within the sequence.

  13. Dynamic control of quadruped robot with hierarchical control structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Yu-Zhang; Furusho, Junji; Okajima, Yosuke.

    1988-01-01

    For moving on irregular terrain, such as the inside of a nuclear power plant and outer space, it is generally recognized that the multilegged walking robot is suitable. This paper proposes a hierarchical control structure for the dynamic control of quadruped walking robots. For this purpose, we present a reduced order model which can approximate the original higher order model very well. Since this reduced order model does not require much computational time, it can be used in the real-time control of a quadruped walking robot. A hierarchical control experiment is shown in which the optimal control algorithm using a reduced order model is calculated by one microprocessor, and the other control algorithm is calculated by another microprocessor. (author)

  14. Positional control of space robot manipulator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurochkin, Vladislav; Shymanchuk, Dzmitry

    2018-05-01

    In this article the mathematical model of a planar space robot manipulator is under study. The space robot manipulator represents a solid body with attached manipulators. The system of equations of motion is determined using the Lagrange's equations. The control problem concerning moving the robot to a given point and return it to a given trajectory in the phase space is solved. Changes of generalized coordinates and necessary control actions are plotted for a specific model.

  15. Wireless Visual Sensor Network Robots- Based for the Emulation of Collective Behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fredy Hernán Martinez Sarmiento

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available We consider the problem of bacterial quorum sensing emulate on small mobile robots. Robots that reflect the behavior of bacteria are designed as mobile wireless camera nodes. They are able to structure a dynamic wireless sensor network. Emulated behavior corresponds to a simplification of bacterial quorum sensing, where the action of a network node is conditioned by the population density of robots(nodes in a given area. The population density reading is done visually using a camera. The robot makes an estimate of the population density of the images, and acts according to this information. The operation of the camera is done with a custom firmware, reducing the complexity of the node without loss of performance. It was noted the route planning and the collective behavior of robots without the use of any other external or local communication. Neither was it necessary to develop a model system, precise state estimation or state feedback.

  16. Evolutionary Developmental Robotics: Improving Morphology and Control of Physical Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vujovic, Vuk; Rosendo, Andre; Brodbeck, Luzius; Iida, Fumiya

    2017-01-01

    Evolutionary algorithms have previously been applied to the design of morphology and control of robots. The design space for such tasks can be very complex, which can prevent evolution from efficiently discovering fit solutions. In this article we introduce an evolutionary-developmental (evo-devo) experiment with real-world robots. It allows robots to grow their leg size to simulate ontogenetic morphological changes, and this is the first time that such an experiment has been performed in the physical world. To test diverse robot morphologies, robot legs of variable shapes were generated during the evolutionary process and autonomously built using additive fabrication. We present two cases with evo-devo experiments and one with evolution, and we hypothesize that the addition of a developmental stage can be used within robotics to improve performance. Moreover, our results show that a nonlinear system-environment interaction exists, which explains the nontrivial locomotion patterns observed. In the future, robots will be present in our daily lives, and this work introduces for the first time physical robots that evolve and grow while interacting with the environment.

  17. Application of a model of instrumental conditioning to mobile robot control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saksida, Lisa M.; Touretzky, D. S.

    1997-09-01

    Instrumental conditioning is a psychological process whereby an animal learns to associate its actions with their consequences. This type of learning is exploited in animal training techniques such as 'shaping by successive approximations,' which enables trainers to gradually adjust the animal's behavior by giving strategically timed reinforcements. While this is similar in principle to reinforcement learning, the real phenomenon includes many subtle effects not considered in the machine learning literature. In addition, a good deal of domain information is utilized by an animal learning a new task; it does not start from scratch every time it learns a new behavior. For these reasons, it is not surprising that mobile robot learning algorithms have yet to approach the sophistication and robustness of animal learning. A serious attempt to model instrumental learning could prove fruitful for improving machine learning techniques. In the present paper, we develop a computational theory of shaping at a level appropriate for controlling mobile robots. The theory is based on a series of mechanisms for 'behavior editing,' in which pre-existing behaviors, either innate or previously learned, can be dramatically changed in magnitude, shifted in direction, or otherwise manipulated so as to produce new behavioral routines. We have implemented our theory on Amelia, an RWI B21 mobile robot equipped with a gripper and color video camera. We provide results from training Amelia on several tasks, all of which were constructed as variations of one innate behavior, object-pursuit.

  18. Device for dynamic switching of robot control points

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2015-01-01

    The invention comprises a system for switching between control points of a robotic system involving an industrial robot including a robot arm with a number of joints and provided with a tool interest point movable in a plurality of degrees of freedom.......The invention comprises a system for switching between control points of a robotic system involving an industrial robot including a robot arm with a number of joints and provided with a tool interest point movable in a plurality of degrees of freedom....

  19. Motion control for a walking companion robot with a novel human–robot interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunqi Lv

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available A walking companion robot is presented for rehabilitation from dyskinesia of lower limbs in this article. A new human–robot interface (HRI is designed which adopts one-axis force sensor and potentiometer connector to detect the motion of the user. To accompany in displacement and angle between the user and the robot precisely in real time, the common motions are classified into two elemental motion states. With distinction method of motion states, a classification scheme of motion control is adopted. The mathematical model-based control method is first introduced and the corresponding control systems are built. Due to the unavoidable deviation of the mathematical model-based control method, a force control method is proposed and the corresponding control systems are built. The corresponding simulations demonstrate that the efficiency of the two proposed control methods. The experimental data and paths of robot verify the two control methods and indicate that the force control method can better satisfy the user’s requirements.

  20. Open core control software for surgical robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arata, Jumpei; Kozuka, Hiroaki; Kim, Hyung Wook; Takesue, Naoyuki; Vladimirov, B; Sakaguchi, Masamichi; Tokuda, Junichi; Hata, Nobuhiko; Chinzei, Kiyoyuki; Fujimoto, Hideo

    2010-05-01

    In these days, patients and doctors in operation room are surrounded by many medical devices as resulting from recent advancement of medical technology. However, these cutting-edge medical devices are working independently and not collaborating with each other, even though the collaborations between these devices such as navigation systems and medical imaging devices are becoming very important for accomplishing complex surgical tasks (such as a tumor removal procedure while checking the tumor location in neurosurgery). On the other hand, several surgical robots have been commercialized, and are becoming common. However, these surgical robots are not open for collaborations with external medical devices in these days. A cutting-edge "intelligent surgical robot" will be possible in collaborating with surgical robots, various kinds of sensors, navigation system and so on. On the other hand, most of the academic software developments for surgical robots are "home-made" in their research institutions and not open to the public. Therefore, open source control software for surgical robots can be beneficial in this field. From these perspectives, we developed Open Core Control software for surgical robots to overcome these challenges. In general, control softwares have hardware dependencies based on actuators, sensors and various kinds of internal devices. Therefore, these control softwares cannot be used on different types of robots without modifications. However, the structure of the Open Core Control software can be reused for various types of robots by abstracting hardware dependent parts. In addition, network connectivity is crucial for collaboration between advanced medical devices. The OpenIGTLink is adopted in Interface class which plays a role to communicate with external medical devices. At the same time, it is essential to maintain the stable operation within the asynchronous data transactions through network. In the Open Core Control software, several

  1. Mergeable nervous systems for robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathews, Nithin; Christensen, Anders Lyhne; O'Grady, Rehan; Mondada, Francesco; Dorigo, Marco

    2017-09-12

    Robots have the potential to display a higher degree of lifetime morphological adaptation than natural organisms. By adopting a modular approach, robots with different capabilities, shapes, and sizes could, in theory, construct and reconfigure themselves as required. However, current modular robots have only been able to display a limited range of hardwired behaviors because they rely solely on distributed control. Here, we present robots whose bodies and control systems can merge to form entirely new robots that retain full sensorimotor control. Our control paradigm enables robots to exhibit properties that go beyond those of any existing machine or of any biological organism: the robots we present can merge to form larger bodies with a single centralized controller, split into separate bodies with independent controllers, and self-heal by removing or replacing malfunctioning body parts. This work takes us closer to robots that can autonomously change their size, form and function.Robots that can self-assemble into different morphologies are desired to perform tasks that require different physical capabilities. Mathews et al. design robots whose bodies and control systems can merge and split to form new robots that retain full sensorimotor control and act as a single entity.

  2. Distributed flow sensing for closed-loop speed control of a flexible fish robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Feitian; Lagor, Francis D; Yeo, Derrick; Washington, Patrick; Paley, Derek A

    2015-10-23

    Flexibility plays an important role in fish behavior by enabling high maneuverability for predator avoidance and swimming in turbulent flow. This paper presents a novel flexible fish robot equipped with distributed pressure sensors for flow sensing. The body of the robot is molded from soft, hyperelastic material, which provides flexibility. Its Joukowski-foil shape is conducive to modeling the fluid analytically. A quasi-steady potential-flow model is adopted for real-time flow estimation, whereas a discrete-time vortex-shedding flow model is used for higher-fidelity simulation. The dynamics for the flexible fish robot yield a reduced model for one-dimensional swimming. A recursive Bayesian filter assimilates pressure measurements to estimate flow speed, angle of attack, and foil camber. The closed-loop speed-control strategy combines an inverse-mapping feedforward controller based on an average model derived for periodic actuation of angle-of-attack and a proportional-integral feedback controller utilizing the estimated flow information. Simulation and experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness of the estimation and control strategy. The paper provides a systematic approach to distributed flow sensing for closed-loop speed control of a flexible fish robot by regulating the flapping amplitude.

  3. Multiprocessor development for robot control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jong Min; Kim, Byung Soo; Kim, Chang Hoi; Hwang, Suk Yong; Sohn, Surg Won; Yoon, Tae Seob; Lee, Yong Bum; Kim, Woong Ki

    1988-02-01

    A mutiprocessor system that is essential to A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) robot control was developed. A.I. robot control needs very complex real time control. The multiprocessor system interconnecting many SBC's (Single Board Computer) is much faster and accurater than using only one SBC. Various multiprocessor systems and their applications were compared and discussed. The multiprocessor architecture system is specially designed to be used in nuclear environments. The main functions are job distribution, multitasking, and intelligent remote control by SDLC protocol using optical fiber. The system can be applied to position control for locomotion and manipulation, data fusion system, and image processing. (Author)

  4. Flowrate behavior and clustering of self-driven robots in a channel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Bo; Sun, Wang-Ping; Li, Ming; Jiang, Rui; Hu, Mao-Bin

    2018-03-01

    In this paper, the collective motion of self-driven robots is studied experimentally and theoretically. In the channel, the flowrate of robots increases with the density linearly, even if the density of the robots tends to 1.0. There is no abrupt drop in the flowrate, similar to the collective motion of ants. We find that the robots will adjust their velocities by a serial of tiny collisions. The speed-adjustment will affect both robots involved in the collision, and will help to maintain a nearly uniform velocity for the robots. As a result, the flowrate drop will disappear. In the motion, the robots neither gather together nor scatter completely. Instead, they form some clusters to move together. These clusters are not stable during the moving process, but their sizes follow a power-law-alike distribution. We propose a theoretical model to simulate this collective motion process, which can reproduce these behaviors well. Analytic results about the flowrate behavior are also consistent with experiments. Project supported by the Key Research and Development Program, China (Grant No. 2016YFC0802508) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11672289 and 11422221).

  5. Human motion behavior while interacting with an industrial robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bortot, Dino; Ding, Hao; Antonopolous, Alexandros; Bengler, Klaus

    2012-01-01

    Human workers and industrial robots both have specific strengths within industrial production. Advantageously they complement each other perfectly, which leads to the development of human-robot interaction (HRI) applications. Bringing humans and robots together in the same workspace may lead to potential collisions. The avoidance of such is a central safety requirement. It can be realized with sundry sensor systems, all of them decelerating the robot when the distance to the human decreases alarmingly and applying the emergency stop, when the distance becomes too small. As a consequence, the efficiency of the overall systems suffers, because the robot has high idle times. Optimized path planning algorithms have to be developed to avoid that. The following study investigates human motion behavior in the proximity of an industrial robot. Three different kinds of encounters between the two entities under three robot speed levels are prompted. A motion tracking system is used to capture the motions. Results show, that humans keep an average distance of about 0,5m to the robot, when the encounter occurs. Approximation of the workbenches is influenced by the robot in ten of 15 cases. Furthermore, an increase of participants' walking velocity with higher robot velocities is observed.

  6. Stochastic receding horizon control: application to an octopedal robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Shridhar K.; Tanner, Herbert G.

    2013-06-01

    Miniature autonomous systems are being developed under ARL's Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST). These systems can only be fitted with a small-size processor, and their motion behavior is inherently uncertain due to manufacturing and platform-ground interactions. One way to capture this uncertainty is through a stochastic model. This paper deals with stochastic motion control design and implementation for MAST- specific eight-legged miniature crawling robots, which have been kinematically modeled as systems exhibiting the behavior of a Dubin's car with stochastic noise. The control design takes the form of stochastic receding horizon control, and is implemented on a Gumstix Overo Fire COM with 720 MHz processor and 512 MB RAM, weighing 5.5 g. The experimental results show the effectiveness of this control law for miniature autonomous systems perturbed by stochastic noise.

  7. Control algorithms for autonomous robot navigation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jorgensen, C.C.

    1985-01-01

    This paper examines control algorithm requirements for autonomous robot navigation outside laboratory environments. Three aspects of navigation are considered: navigation control in explored terrain, environment interactions with robot sensors, and navigation control in unanticipated situations. Major navigation methods are presented and relevance of traditional human learning theory is discussed. A new navigation technique linking graph theory and incidental learning is introduced

  8. Whole-body impedance control of wheeled humanoid robots

    CERN Document Server

    Dietrich, Alexander

    2016-01-01

    Introducing mobile humanoid robots into human environments requires the systems to physically interact and execute multiple concurrent tasks. The monograph at hand presents a whole-body torque controller for dexterous and safe robotic manipulation. This control approach enables a mobile humanoid robot to simultaneously meet several control objectives with different pre-defined levels of priority, while providing the skills for compliant physical contacts with humans and the environment. After a general introduction into the topic of whole-body control, several essential reactive tasks are developed to extend the repertoire of robotic control objectives. Additionally, the classical Cartesian impedance is extended to the case of mobile robots. All of these tasks are then combined and integrated into an overall, priority-based control law. Besides the experimental validation of the approach, the formal proof of asymptotic stability for this hierarchical controller is presented. By interconnecting the whole-body ...

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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...

  12. Adaptive Behavior for Mobile Robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huntsberger, Terrance

    2009-01-01

    The term "System for Mobility and Access to Rough Terrain" (SMART) denotes a theoretical framework, a control architecture, and an algorithm that implements the framework and architecture, for enabling a land-mobile robot to adapt to changing conditions. SMART is intended to enable the robot to recognize adverse terrain conditions beyond its optimal operational envelope, and, in response, to intelligently reconfigure itself (e.g., adjust suspension heights or baseline distances between suspension points) or adapt its driving techniques (e.g., engage in a crabbing motion as a switchback technique for ascending steep terrain). Conceived for original application aboard Mars rovers and similar autonomous or semi-autonomous mobile robots used in exploration of remote planets, SMART could also be applied to autonomous terrestrial vehicles to be used for search, rescue, and/or exploration on rough terrain.

  13. Decentralized neural control application to robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Garcia-Hernandez, Ramon; Sanchez, Edgar N; Alanis, Alma y; Ruz-Hernandez, Jose A

    2017-01-01

    This book provides a decentralized approach for the identification and control of robotics systems. It also presents recent research in decentralized neural control and includes applications to robotics. Decentralized control is free from difficulties due to complexity in design, debugging, data gathering and storage requirements, making it preferable for interconnected systems. Furthermore, as opposed to the centralized approach, it can be implemented with parallel processors. This approach deals with four decentralized control schemes, which are able to identify the robot dynamics. The training of each neural network is performed on-line using an extended Kalman filter (EKF). The first indirect decentralized control scheme applies the discrete-time block control approach, to formulate a nonlinear sliding manifold. The second direct decentralized neural control scheme is based on the backstepping technique, approximated by a high order neural network. The third control scheme applies a decentralized neural i...

  14. An EMG Interface for the Control of Motion and Compliance of a Supernumerary Robotic Finger

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hussain, Irfan; Spagnoletti, Giovanni; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a novel electromyographic (EMG) control interface to control motion and joints compliance of a supernumerary robotic finger. The supernumerary robotic fingers are a recently introduced class of wearable robotics that provides users additional robotic limbs in order to compensate or augment the existing abilities of natural limbs without substituting them. Since supernumerary robotic fingers are supposed to closely interact and perform actions in synergy with the human limbs, the control principles of extra finger should have similar behavior as human’s ones including the ability of regulating the compliance. So that, it is important to propose a control interface and to consider the actuators and sensing capabilities of the robotic extra finger compatible to implement stiffness regulation control techniques. We propose EMG interface and a control approach to regulate the compliance of the device through servo actuators. In particular, we use a commercial EMG armband for gesture recognition to be associated with the motion control of the robotic device and surface one channel EMG electrodes interface to regulate the compliance of the robotic device. We also present an updated version of a robotic extra finger where the adduction/abduction motion is realized through ball bearing and spur gears mechanism. We have validated the proposed interface with two sets of experiments related to compensation and augmentation. In the first set of experiments, different bimanual tasks have been performed with the help of the robotic device and simulating a paretic hand since this novel wearable system can be used to compensate the missing grasping abilities in chronic stroke patients. In the second set, the robotic extra finger is used to enlarge the workspace and manipulation capability of healthy hands. In both sets, the same EMG control interface has been used. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed control interface is intuitive and can

  15. Adaptive learning fuzzy control of a mobile robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsukada, Akira; Suzuki, Katsuo; Fujii, Yoshio; Shinohara, Yoshikuni

    1989-11-01

    In this report a problem is studied to construct a fuzzy controller for a mobile robot to move autonomously along a given reference direction curve, for which control rules are generated and acquired through an adaptive learning process. An adaptive learning fuzzy controller has been developed for a mobile robot. Good properties of the controller are shown through the travelling experiments of the mobile robot. (author)

  16. Efficient Control Law Simulation for Multiple Mobile Robots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Driessen, B.J.; Feddema, J.T.; Kotulski, J.D.; Kwok, K.S.

    1998-10-06

    In this paper we consider the problem of simulating simple control laws involving large numbers of mobile robots. Such simulation can be computationally prohibitive if the number of robots is large enough, say 1 million, due to the 0(N2 ) cost of each time step. This work therefore uses hierarchical tree-based methods for calculating the control law. These tree-based approaches have O(NlogN) cost per time step, thus allowing for efficient simulation involving a large number of robots. For concreteness, a decentralized control law which involves only the distance and bearing to the closest neighbor robot will be considered. The time to calculate the control law for each robot at each time step is demonstrated to be O(logN).

  17. 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.

  18. Toward anthropomimetic robotics: development, simulation, and control of a musculoskeletal torso.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wittmeier, Steffen; Alessandro, Cristiano; Bascarevic, Nenad; Dalamagkidis, Konstantinos; Devereux, David; Diamond, Alan; Jäntsch, Michael; Jovanovic, Kosta; Knight, Rob; Marques, Hugo Gravato; Milosavljevic, Predrag; Mitra, Bhargav; Svetozarevic, Bratislav; Potkonjak, Veljko; Pfeifer, Rolf; Knoll, Alois; Holland, Owen

    2013-01-01

    Anthropomimetic robotics differs from conventional approaches by capitalizing on the replication of the inner structures of the human body, such as muscles, tendons, bones, and joints. Here we present our results of more than three years of research in constructing, simulating, and, most importantly, controlling anthropomimetic robots. We manufactured four physical torsos, each more complex than its predecessor, and developed the tools required to simulate their behavior. Furthermore, six different control approaches, inspired by classical control theory, machine learning, and neuroscience, were developed and evaluated via these simulations or in small-scale setups. While the obtained results are encouraging, we are aware that we have barely exploited the potential of the anthropomimetic design so far. But, with the tools developed, we are confident that this novel approach will contribute to our understanding of morphological computation and human motor control in the future.

  19. The Microsoft Visual Studio Software Development For 5 DOF Nuclear Malaysia Robot Arm V2 Control System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Zaid Hassan; Anwar Abdul Rahman; Azraf Azman; Mohd Rizal Mamat; Mohd Arif Hamzah

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the Microsoft visual studio development for 5DOF Nuclear Malaysia Robot Arm V2 control system. The kinematics analysis is the study of the relationship between the individual joints of robot manipulator, the position and orientation of the end-effector. The Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) model is used to model the robot links and joints. Both forward and inverse kinematic are presented. The simulation software has been developed by using Microsoft visual studio to solve the robot arms kinematic behavior. (author)

  20. Synaptic plasticity in a recurrent neural network for versatile and adaptive behaviors of a walking robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduard eGrinke

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Walking animals, like insects, with little neural computing can effectively perform complex behaviors. They can walk around their environment, escape from corners/deadlocks, and avoid or climb over obstacles. While performing all these behaviors, they can also adapt their movements to deal with an unknown situation. As a consequence, they successfully navigate through their complex environment. The versatile and adaptive abilities are the result of an integration of several ingredients embedded in their sensorimotor loop. Biological studies reveal that the ingredients include neural dynamics, plasticity, sensory feedback, and biomechanics. Generating such versatile and adaptive behaviors for a walking robot is a challenging task. In this study, we present a bio-inspired approach to solve this task. Specifically, the approach combines neural mechanisms with plasticity, sensory feedback, and biomechanics. The neural mechanisms consist of adaptive neural sensory processing and modular neural locomotion control. The sensory processing is based on a small recurrent network consisting of two fully connected neurons. Online correlation-based learning with synaptic scaling is applied to adequately change the connections of the network. By doing so, we can effectively exploit neural dynamics (i.e., hysteresis effects and single attractors in the network to generate different turning angles with short-term memory for a biomechanical walking robot. The turning information is transmitted as descending steering signals to the locomotion control which translates the signals into motor actions. As a result, the robot can walk around and adapt its turning angle for avoiding obstacles in different situations as well as escaping from sharp corners or deadlocks. Using backbone joint control embedded in the locomotion control allows the robot to climb over small obstacles. Consequently, it can successfully explore and navigate in complex environments.

  1. Formation control of robotic swarm using bounded artificial forces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Long; Zha, Yabing; Yin, Quanjun; Peng, Yong

    2013-01-01

    Formation control of multirobot systems has drawn significant attention in the recent years. This paper presents a potential field control algorithm, navigating a swarm of robots into a predefined 2D shape while avoiding intermember collisions. The algorithm applies in both stationary and moving targets formation. We define the bounded artificial forces in the form of exponential functions, so that the behavior of the swarm drove by the forces can be adjusted via selecting proper control parameters. The theoretical analysis of the swarm behavior proves the stability and convergence properties of the algorithm. We further make certain modifications upon the forces to improve the robustness of the swarm behavior in the presence of realistic implementation considerations. The considerations include obstacle avoidance, local minima, and deformation of the shape. Finally, detailed simulation results validate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, and the direction of possible futrue work is discussed in the conclusions.

  2. Control of a Robot Dancer for Enhancing Haptic Human-Robot Interaction in Waltz.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hongbo Wang; Kosuge, K

    2012-01-01

    Haptic interaction between a human leader and a robot follower in waltz is studied in this paper. An inverted pendulum model is used to approximate the human's body dynamics. With the feedbacks from the force sensor and laser range finders, the robot is able to estimate the human leader's state by using an extended Kalman filter (EKF). To reduce interaction force, two robot controllers, namely, admittance with virtual force controller, and inverted pendulum controller, are proposed and evaluated in experiments. The former controller failed the experiment; reasons for the failure are explained. At the same time, the use of the latter controller is validated by experiment results.

  3. An ultrasonic sensor controller for mapping and servo control in robotic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Drotning, W.D.; Garcia, P. Jr.

    1993-03-01

    An ultrasonic sensor controller has been developed and applied in a variety of robotic systems for operation in hazardous environments. The controller consists of hardware and software that control multiple ultrasonic range sensors and provide workspace information to robot controllers for rapid, safe, and reliable operation in hazardous and remote environments. The hardware consists of a programmable multichannel controller that resides on a VMEbus for high speed communication to a multiprocessor architecture. The sensor controller has been used in a number of applications, which include providing high precision range information for proximity servo control of robots, and performing surface and obstacle mapping functions for safe path planning of robots in unstructured environments

  4. Walking Robots Dynamic Control Systems on an Uneven Terrain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MUNTEANU, M. S.

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents ZPM dynamic control of walking robots, developing an open architecture real time control multiprocessor system, in view of obtaining new capabilities for walking robots. The complexity of the movement mechanism of a walking robot was taken into account, being a repetitive tilting process with numerous instable movements and which can lead to its turnover on an uneven terrain. The control system architecture for the dynamic robot walking is presented in correlation with the control strategy which contains three main real time control loops: balance robot control using sensorial feedback, walking diagram control with periodic changes depending on the sensorial information during each walk cycle, predictable movement control based on a quick decision from the previous experimental data. The results obtained through simulation and experiments show an increase in mobility, stability in real conditions and obtaining of high performances related to the possibility of moving walking robots on terrains with a configuration as close as possible to real situations, respectively developing new technological capabilities of the walking robot control systems for slope movement and walking by overtaking or going around obstacles.

  5. Hydraulically actuated hexapod robots design, implementation and control

    CERN Document Server

    Nonami, Kenzo; Irawan, Addie; Daud, Mohd Razali

    2014-01-01

    Legged robots are a promising locomotion system, capable of performing tasks that conventional vehicles cannot. Even more exciting is the fact that this is a rapidly developing field of study for researchers from a variety of disciplines. However, only a few books have been published on the subject of multi-legged robots. The main objective of this book is to describe some of the major control issues concerning walking robots that the authors have faced over the past 10 years. A second objective is to focus especially on very large hydraulically driven hexapod robot locomotion weighing more than 2,000 kg, making this the first specialized book on this topic. The 10 chapters of the book touch on diverse relevant topics such as design aspects, implementation issues, modeling for control, navigation and control, force and impedance control-based walking, fully autonomous walking, walking and working tasks of hexapod robots, and the future of walking robots. The construction machines of the future will very likel...

  6. Review on design and control aspects of ankle rehabilitation robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jamwal, Prashant K; Hussain, Shahid; Xie, Sheng Q

    2015-03-01

    Ankle rehabilitation robots can play an important role in improving outcomes of the rehabilitation treatment by assisting therapists and patients in number of ways. Consequently, few robot designs have been proposed by researchers which fall under either of the two categories, namely, wearable robots or platform-based robots. This paper presents a review of both kinds of ankle robots along with a brief analysis of their design, actuation and control approaches. While reviewing these designs it was observed that most of them are undesirably inspired by industrial robot designs. Taking note of the design concerns of current ankle robots, few improvements in the ankle robot designs have also been suggested. Conventional position control or force control approaches, being used in the existing ankle robots, have been reviewed. Apparently, opportunities of improvement also exist in the actuation as well as control of ankle robots. Subsequently, a discussion on most recent research in the development of novel actuators and advanced controllers based on appropriate physical and cognitive human-robot interaction has also been included in this review. Implications for Rehabilitation Ankle joint functions are restricted/impaired as a consequence of stroke or injury during sports or otherwise. Robots can help in reinstating functions faster and can also work as tool for recording rehabilitation data useful for further analysis. Evolution of ankle robots with respect to their design and control aspects has been discussed in the present paper and a novel design with futuristic control approach has been proposed.

  7. Rhythm Patterns Interaction - Synchronization Behavior for Human-Robot Joint Action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mörtl, Alexander; Lorenz, Tamara; Hirche, Sandra

    2014-01-01

    Interactive behavior among humans is governed by the dynamics of movement synchronization in a variety of repetitive tasks. This requires the interaction partners to perform for example rhythmic limb swinging or even goal-directed arm movements. Inspired by that essential feature of human interaction, we present a novel concept and design methodology to synthesize goal-directed synchronization behavior for robotic agents in repetitive joint action tasks. The agents’ tasks are described by closed movement trajectories and interpreted as limit cycles, for which instantaneous phase variables are derived based on oscillator theory. Events segmenting the trajectories into multiple primitives are introduced as anchoring points for enhanced synchronization modes. Utilizing both continuous phases and discrete events in a unifying view, we design a continuous dynamical process synchronizing the derived modes. Inverse to the derivation of phases, we also address the generation of goal-directed movements from the behavioral dynamics. The developed concept is implemented to an anthropomorphic robot. For evaluation of the concept an experiment is designed and conducted in which the robot performs a prototypical pick-and-place task jointly with human partners. The effectiveness of the designed behavior is successfully evidenced by objective measures of phase and event synchronization. Feedback gathered from the participants of our exploratory study suggests a subjectively pleasant sense of interaction created by the interactive behavior. The results highlight potential applications of the synchronization concept both in motor coordination among robotic agents and in enhanced social interaction between humanoid agents and humans. PMID:24752212

  8. Robot-Arm Dynamic Control by Computer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bejczy, Antal K.; Tarn, Tzyh J.; Chen, Yilong J.

    1987-01-01

    Feedforward and feedback schemes linearize responses to control inputs. Method for control of robot arm based on computed nonlinear feedback and state tranformations to linearize system and decouple robot end-effector motions along each of cartesian axes augmented with optimal scheme for correction of errors in workspace. Major new feature of control method is: optimal error-correction loop directly operates on task level and not on joint-servocontrol level.

  9. Virtual Sensors for Advanced Controllers in Rehabilitation Robotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mancisidor, Aitziber; Zubizarreta, Asier; Cabanes, Itziar; Portillo, Eva; Jung, Je Hyung

    2018-03-05

    In order to properly control rehabilitation robotic devices, the measurement of interaction force and motion between patient and robot is an essential part. Usually, however, this is a complex task that requires the use of accurate sensors which increase the cost and the complexity of the robotic device. In this work, we address the development of virtual sensors that can be used as an alternative of actual force and motion sensors for the Universal Haptic Pantograph (UHP) rehabilitation robot for upper limbs training. These virtual sensors estimate the force and motion at the contact point where the patient interacts with the robot using the mathematical model of the robotic device and measurement through low cost position sensors. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed virtual sensors, they have been implemented in an advanced position/force controller of the UHP rehabilitation robot and experimentally evaluated. The experimental results reveal that the controller based on the virtual sensors has similar performance to the one using direct measurement (less than 0.005 m and 1.5 N difference in mean error). Hence, the developed virtual sensors to estimate interaction force and motion can be adopted to replace actual precise but normally high-priced sensors which are fundamental components for advanced control of rehabilitation robotic devices.

  10. Virtual Sensors for Advanced Controllers in Rehabilitation Robotics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aitziber Mancisidor

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In order to properly control rehabilitation robotic devices, the measurement of interaction force and motion between patient and robot is an essential part. Usually, however, this is a complex task that requires the use of accurate sensors which increase the cost and the complexity of the robotic device. In this work, we address the development of virtual sensors that can be used as an alternative of actual force and motion sensors for the Universal Haptic Pantograph (UHP rehabilitation robot for upper limbs training. These virtual sensors estimate the force and motion at the contact point where the patient interacts with the robot using the mathematical model of the robotic device and measurement through low cost position sensors. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed virtual sensors, they have been implemented in an advanced position/force controller of the UHP rehabilitation robot and experimentally evaluated. The experimental results reveal that the controller based on the virtual sensors has similar performance to the one using direct measurement (less than 0.005 m and 1.5 N difference in mean error. Hence, the developed virtual sensors to estimate interaction force and motion can be adopted to replace actual precise but normally high-priced sensors which are fundamental components for advanced control of rehabilitation robotic devices.

  11. STDP-based behavior learning on the TriBot robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arena, P.; De Fiore, S.; Patané, L.; Pollino, M.; Ventura, C.

    2009-05-01

    This paper describes a correlation-based navigation algorithm, based on an unsupervised learning paradigm for spiking neural networks, called Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP). This algorithm was implemented on a new bio-inspired hybrid mini-robot called TriBot to learn and increase its behavioral capabilities. In fact correlation based algorithms have been found to explain many basic behaviors in simple animals. The main interesting consequence of STDP is that the system is able to learn high-level sensor features, based on a set of basic reflexes, depending on some low-level sensor inputs. TriBot is composed of 3 modules, the first two being identical and inspired by the Whegs hybrid robot. The peculiar characteristics of the robot consists in the innovative shape of the three-spoke appendages that allow to increase stability of the structure. The last module is composed of two standard legs with 3 degrees of freedom each. Thanks to the cooperation among these modules, TriBot is able to face with irregular terrains overcoming potential deadlock situations, to climb high obstacles compared to its size and to manipulate objects. Robot experiments will be reported to demonstrate the potentiality and the effectiveness of the approach.

  12. Modelling and Control of a Mobile Robot

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Georg Kronborg

    1998-01-01

    In order to control a mobile robot, kinematic odels as well as dynamic models are required. This parer describes these basic models for an experimental mobile robot under construction at the Department of Control and Engineering Design. A description of a set of trajectory control rules is given...

  13. Development of 6-DOF painting robot control system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Junbiao; Liu, Jianqun; Gao, Weiqiang

    2017-01-01

    With the development of society, the spraying technology of manufacturing industry in China has changed from the manual operation to the 6-DOF (Degree Of Freedom)robot automatic spraying. Spraying painting robot can not only complete the work which does harm to human being, but also improve the production efficiency and save labor costs. Control system is the most critical part of the 6-DOF robots, however, there is still a lack of relevant technology research in China. It is very necessary to study a kind of control system of 6-DOF spraying painting robots which is easy to operation, and has high efficiency and stable performance. With Googol controller platform, this paper develops programs based on Windows CE embedded systems to control the robot to finish the painting work. Software development is the core of the robot control system, including the direct teaching module, playback module, motion control module, setting module, man-machine interface, alarm module, log module, etc. All the development work of the entire software system has been completed, and it has been verified that the entire software works steady and efficient.

  14. Development of Vision Control Scheme of Extended Kalman filtering for Robot's Position Control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jang, W. S.; Kim, K. S.; Park, S. I.; Kim, K. Y.

    2003-01-01

    It is very important to reduce the computational time in estimating the parameters of vision control algorithm for robot's position control in real time. Unfortunately, the batch estimation commonly used requires too murk computational time because it is iteration method. So, the batch estimation has difficulty for robot's position control in real time. On the other hand, the Extended Kalman Filtering(EKF) has many advantages to calculate the parameters of vision system in that it is a simple and efficient recursive procedures. Thus, this study is to develop the EKF algorithm for the robot's vision control in real time. The vision system model used in this study involves six parameters to account for the inner(orientation, focal length etc) and outer (the relative location between robot and camera) parameters of camera. Then, EKF has been first applied to estimate these parameters, and then with these estimated parameters, also to estimate the robot's joint angles used for robot's operation. finally, the practicality of vision control scheme based on the EKF has been experimentally verified by performing the robot's position control

  15. Quantification of dynamic property of pneumatic muscle actuator for design of therapeutic robot control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balasubramanian, Sivakumar; Huang, He; He, Jiping

    2006-01-01

    Robot-assisted therapy has shown potential in neuromotor rehabilitation. A therapeutic robot driven by pneumatic muscle actuators has been developed in our research group. However, the design of fine and real-time feedback robot control is a challenge. One of the difficulties is the lack of a general dynamic model of the pneumatic muscle actuator. In this study, a phenomenological model has been developed to quantify the dynamic behavior of pneumatic muscle actuator by fitting the experimental length response of the pneumatic muscle, to a step pressure input. In addition, comparison of the dynamic responses of two pneumatic muscles of different dimensions has also been studied. Several control strategies for the pneumatic muscle actuator are discussed based on the results from this study.

  16. Feedback Control Design for a Walking Athlete Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuan Vu Trien Nguyen

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In the paper, authors generalized the dynamic model of an athlete robot with elastic legs through Lagrange method. Then, a feed-back controller was designed to control the robot through a step-walking. The research just focused on stance phase – the period that robot just touched one leg on the ground. The simulation results showed that system worked well with the designed controller.

  17. Fractal gene regulatory networks for robust locomotion control of modular robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zahadat, Payam; Christensen, David Johan; Schultz, Ulrik Pagh

    2010-01-01

    Designing controllers for modular robots is difficult due to the distributed and dynamic nature of the robots. In this paper fractal gene regulatory networks are evolved to control modular robots in a distributed way. Experiments with different morphologies of modular robot are performed and the ......Designing controllers for modular robots is difficult due to the distributed and dynamic nature of the robots. In this paper fractal gene regulatory networks are evolved to control modular robots in a distributed way. Experiments with different morphologies of modular robot are performed...

  18. Optimization of Power Utilization in Multimobile Robot Foraging Behavior Inspired by Honeybees System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Faisul Arif; Ramli, Abd Rahman; Samsudin, Khairulmizam; Hashim, Shaiful Jahari

    2014-01-01

    Deploying large numbers of mobile robots which can interact with each other produces swarm intelligent behavior. However, mobile robots are normally running with finite energy resource, supplied from finite battery. The limitation of energy resource required human intervention for recharging the batteries. The sharing information among the mobile robots would be one of the potentials to overcome the limitation on previously recharging system. A new approach is proposed based on integrated intelligent system inspired by foraging of honeybees applied to multimobile robot scenario. This integrated approach caters for both working and foraging stages for known/unknown power station locations. Swarm mobile robot inspired by honeybee is simulated to explore and identify the power station for battery recharging. The mobile robots will share the location information of the power station with each other. The result showed that mobile robots consume less energy and less time when they are cooperating with each other for foraging process. The optimizing of foraging behavior would result in the mobile robots spending more time to do real work. PMID:24949491

  19. Spoken commands control robot that handles radioactive materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phelan, P.F.; Keddy, C.; Beugelsdojk, T.J.

    1989-01-01

    Several robotic systems have been developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory to handle radioactive material. Because of safety considerations, the robotic system must be under direct human supervision and interactive control continuously. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a voice-recognition system that permits this control, yet allows the robot to perform complex preprogrammed manipulations without the operator's intervention. To provide better interactive control, we connected to the robot's control computer, a speech synthesis unit, which provides audible feedback to the operator. Thus upon completion of a task or if an emergency arises, an appropriate spoken message can be reported by the control computer. The training programming and operation of this commercially available system are discussed, as are the practical problems encountered during operations

  20. Applying virtual reality to remote control of mobile robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Chin-Shan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research is based on virtual reality to assisted pick and place tasks. Virtual reality can be utilized to control remote robot for pick and place element. The operator monitored and controlled the situation information of working site by Human Machine Interface. Therefore, we worked in harsh or dangerous environments that thing can be avoided. The procedure to operate mobile robot in virtual reality describes as follow: An experiment site with really experimental equipment is first established. Then, the experimental equipment and scene modeling are input to virtual reality for establishing a environment similar to the reality. Finally, the remote mobile robot is controlled to operate pick and place tasks through wireless communication by the object operation in virtual reality. The robot consists of a movable robot platform and robotic arm. The virtual reality is constructed by EON software; the Human Machine Interface is established by Visual Basic. The wireless connection is equipped the wireless Bluetooth, which is set the PC and PLC controller. With experimental tests to verify the robot in virtual reality and the wireless remote control, the robot could be operated and controlled to successfully complete pick and place tasks in reality by Human Machine Interface.

  1. Formation Control of Robotic Swarm Using Bounded Artificial Forces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zha, Yabing; Peng, Yong

    2013-01-01

    Formation control of multirobot systems has drawn significant attention in the recent years. This paper presents a potential field control algorithm, navigating a swarm of robots into a predefined 2D shape while avoiding intermember collisions. The algorithm applies in both stationary and moving targets formation. We define the bounded artificial forces in the form of exponential functions, so that the behavior of the swarm drove by the forces can be adjusted via selecting proper control parameters. The theoretical analysis of the swarm behavior proves the stability and convergence properties of the algorithm. We further make certain modifications upon the forces to improve the robustness of the swarm behavior in the presence of realistic implementation considerations. The considerations include obstacle avoidance, local minima, and deformation of the shape. Finally, detailed simulation results validate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, and the direction of possible futrue work is discussed in the conclusions. PMID:24453809

  2. Formation Control of Robotic Swarm Using Bounded Artificial Forces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Long Qin

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Formation control of multirobot systems has drawn significant attention in the recent years. This paper presents a potential field control algorithm, navigating a swarm of robots into a predefined 2D shape while avoiding intermember collisions. The algorithm applies in both stationary and moving targets formation. We define the bounded artificial forces in the form of exponential functions, so that the behavior of the swarm drove by the forces can be adjusted via selecting proper control parameters. The theoretical analysis of the swarm behavior proves the stability and convergence properties of the algorithm. We further make certain modifications upon the forces to improve the robustness of the swarm behavior in the presence of realistic implementation considerations. The considerations include obstacle avoidance, local minima, and deformation of the shape. Finally, detailed simulation results validate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, and the direction of possible futrue work is discussed in the conclusions.

  3. Sociable mobile robots through self-maintained energy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ngo, Trung Dung; Schiøler, Henrik

    2006-01-01

    society, collecting and sharing are experimentally recognized as the highest property. This paper issues an approach to sociable robots using self-maintained energy in robot society, which is naturally inspired from swarm behavior of honey-bee and ant. Typically, autonomous mobile robots are usually......Research of sociable robots has emphasized interaction and coordination of mobile robots with inspiration from natural behavior of birds, insects, and fish: flocking, foraging, collecting, sharing and so forth. However, the animal behaviors are looking for food towards survival. In an animal...... equipped with a finite energy, thus they can operate in a finite time. To overcome the limitation, we describe practical deployment of a group of mobile robot with the possibility of carrying and exchanging fuel, e.g. battery to other robots. Early implementation that includes modular hardware and control...

  4. EMBEDDED CONTROL SYSTEM FOR MOBILE ROBOTS WITH DIFFERENTIAL DRIVE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michal KOPČÍK

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This article deals with design and implementation of control system for mobile robots with differential drive using embedded system. This designed embedded system consists of single control board featuring ARM based microcontroller which control the peripherals in real time and perform all low-level motion control. Designed embedded system can be easily expanded with additional sensors, actuators or control units to enhance applicability of mobile robot. Designed embedded system also features build-in communication module, which can be used for data for data acquisition and control of the mobile robot. Control board was implemented on two different types of mobile robots with differential drive, one of which was wheeled and other was tracked. These mobile robots serve as testing platform for Fault Detection and Isolation using hardware and analytical redundancy using Multisensor Data Fusion based on Kalman filters.

  5. Graphical programming: On-line robot simulation for telerobotic control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDonald, M.J.; Palmquist, R.D.

    1993-01-01

    Sandia has developed an advanced operational control system approach, caged Graphical Programming, to design and operate robotic waste cleanup and other hazardous duty robotic systems. The Graphical Programming approach produces robot systems that are faster to develop and use, safer in operation, and cheaper overall than altemative teleoperation or autonomous robot control systems. The Graphical Programming approach uses 3-D visualization and simulation software with intuitive operator interfaces for the programming and control of complex robotic systems. Graphical Programming Supervisor software modules allow an operator to command and simulate complex tasks in a graphic preview mode and, when acceptable, command the actual robots and monitor their motions with the graphic system. Graphical Progranuning Supervisors maintain registration with the real world and allow the robot to perform tasks that cannot be accurately represented with models alone by using a combination of model and sensor-based control. This paper describes the Graphical Programming approach, several example control systems that use Graphical Programming, and key features necessary for implementing successful Graphical Programming systems

  6. 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...

  7. Boundaries Control Collective Dynamics of Inertial Self-Propelled Robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deblais, A.; Barois, T.; Guerin, T.; Delville, P. H.; Vaudaine, R.; Lintuvuori, J. S.; Boudet, J. F.; Baret, J. C.; Kellay, H.

    2018-05-01

    Simple ingredients, such as well-defined interactions and couplings for the velocity and orientation of self-propelled objects, are sufficient to produce complex collective behavior in assemblies of such entities. Here, we use assemblies of rodlike robots made motile through self-vibration. When confined in circular arenas, dilute assemblies of these rods act as a gas. Increasing the surface fraction leads to a collective behavior near the boundaries: polar clusters emerge while, in the bulk, gaslike behavior is retained. The coexistence between a gas and surface clusters is a direct consequence of inertial effects as shown by our simulations. A theoretical model, based on surface mediated transport accounts for this coexistence and illustrates the exact role of the boundaries. Our study paves the way towards the control of collective behavior: By using deformable but free to move arenas, we demonstrate that the surface induced clusters can lead to directed motion, while the topology of the surface states can be controlled by biasing the motility of the particles.

  8. 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.

  9. Using robots to understand animal cognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frohnwieser, Anna; Murray, John C; Pike, Thomas W; Wilkinson, Anna

    2016-01-01

    In recent years, robotic animals and humans have been used to answer a variety of questions related to behavior. In the case of animal behavior, these efforts have largely been in the field of behavioral ecology. They have proved to be a useful tool for this enterprise as they allow the presentation of naturalistic social stimuli whilst providing the experimenter with full control of the stimulus. In interactive experiments, the behavior of robots can be controlled in a manner that is impossible with real animals, making them ideal instruments for the study of social stimuli in animals. This paper provides an overview of the current state of the field and considers the impact that the use of robots could have on fundamental questions related to comparative psychology: namely, perception, spatial cognition, social cognition, and early cognitive development. We make the case that the use of robots to investigate these key areas could have an important impact on the field of animal cognition. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  10. Direct adaptive control of a PUMA 560 industrial robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seraji, Homayoun; Lee, Thomas; Delpech, Michel

    1989-01-01

    The implementation and experimental validation of a new direct adaptive control scheme on a PUMA 560 industrial robot is described. The testbed facility consists of a Unimation PUMA 560 six-jointed robot and controller, and a DEC MicroVAX II computer which hosts the Robot Control C Library software. The control algorithm is implemented on the MicroVAX which acts as a digital controller for the PUMA robot, and the Unimation controller is effectively bypassed and used merely as an I/O device to interface the MicroVAX to the joint motors. The control algorithm for each robot joint consists of an auxiliary signal generated by a constant-gain Proportional plus Integral plus Derivative (PID) controller, and an adaptive position-velocity (PD) feedback controller with adjustable gains. The adaptive independent joint controllers compensate for the inter-joint couplings and achieve accurate trajectory tracking without the need for the complex dynamic model and parameter values of the robot. Extensive experimental results on PUMA joint control are presented to confirm the feasibility of the proposed scheme, in spite of strong interactions between joint motions. Experimental results validate the capabilities of the proposed control scheme. The control scheme is extremely simple and computationally very fast for concurrent processing with high sampling rates.

  11. Car-Like Mobile Robot Oriented Positioning by Fuzzy Controllers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noureddine Ouadah

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, fuzzy logic controllers (FLC are used to implement an efficient and accurate positioning of an autonomous car-like mobile robot, respecting final orientation. To accomplish this task, called "Oriented Positioning", two FLC have been developed: robot positioning controller (RPC and robot following controller (RFC. Computer simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. Finally, real-time experiments have been made on an autonomous car-like mobile robot called "Robucar", developed to perform people transportation. Obtained results from experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

  12. Car-Like Mobile Robot Oriented Positioning by Fuzzy Controllers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noureddine Ouadah

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, fuzzy logic controllers (FLC are used to implement an efficient and accurate positioning of an autonomous car-like mobile robot, respecting final orientation. To accomplish this task, called “Oriented Positioning”, two FLC have been developed: robot positioning controller (RPC and robot following controller (RFC. Computer simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. Finally, real-time experiments have been made on an autonomous car-like mobile robot called “Robucar”, developed to perform people transportation. Obtained results from experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

  13. Research on wheelchair robot control system based on EOG

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Wang; Chen, Naijian; Han, Xiangdong; Sun, Jianbo

    2018-04-01

    The paper describes an intelligent wheelchair control system based on EOG. It can help disabled people improve their living ability. The system can acquire EOG signal from the user, detect the number of blink and the direction of glancing, and then send commands to the wheelchair robot via RS-232 to achieve the control of wheelchair robot. Wheelchair robot control system based on EOG is composed of processing EOG signal and human-computer interactive technology, which achieves a purpose of using conscious eye movement to control wheelchair robot.

  14. Survival of falling robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameron, Jonathan M.; Arkin, Ronald C.

    1992-01-01

    As mobile robots are used in more uncertain and dangerous environments, it will become important to design them so that they can survive falls. In this paper, we examine a number of mechanisms and strategies that animals use to withstand these potentially catastrophic events and extend them to the design of robots. A brief survey of several aspects of how common cats survive falls provides an understanding of the issues involved in preventing traumatic injury during a falling event. After outlining situations in which robots might fall, a number of factors affecting their survival are described. From this background, several robot design guidelines are derived. These include recommendations for the physical structure of the robot as well as requirements for the robot control architecture. A control architecture is proposed based on reactive control techniques and action-oriented perception that is geared to support this form of survival behavior.

  15. Survival of falling robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameron, Jonathan M.; Arkin, Ronald C.

    1992-02-01

    As mobile robots are used in more uncertain and dangerous environments, it will become important to design them so that they can survive falls. In this paper, we examine a number of mechanisms and strategies that animals use to withstand these potentially catastrophic events and extend them to the design of robots. A brief survey of several aspects of how common cats survive falls provides an understanding of the issues involved in preventing traumatic injury during a falling event. After outlining situations in which robots might fall, a number of factors affecting their survival are described. From this background, several robot design guidelines are derived. These include recommendations for the physical structure of the robot as well as requirements for the robot control architecture. A control architecture is proposed based on reactive control techniques and action-oriented perception that is geared to support this form of survival behavior.

  16. Open Issues in Evolutionary Robotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Fernando; Duarte, Miguel; Correia, Luís; Oliveira, Sancho Moura; Christensen, Anders Lyhne

    2016-01-01

    One of the long-term goals in evolutionary robotics is to be able to automatically synthesize controllers for real autonomous robots based only on a task specification. While a number of studies have shown the applicability of evolutionary robotics techniques for the synthesis of behavioral control, researchers have consistently been faced with a number of issues preventing the widespread adoption of evolutionary robotics for engineering purposes. In this article, we review and discuss the open issues in evolutionary robotics. First, we analyze the benefits and challenges of simulation-based evolution and subsequent deployment of controllers versus evolution on real robotic hardware. Second, we discuss specific evolutionary computation issues that have plagued evolutionary robotics: (1) the bootstrap problem, (2) deception, and (3) the role of genomic encoding and genotype-phenotype mapping in the evolution of controllers for complex tasks. Finally, we address the absence of standard research practices in the field. We also discuss promising avenues of research. Our underlying motivation is the reduction of the current gap between evolutionary robotics and mainstream robotics, and the establishment of evolutionary robotics as a canonical approach for the engineering of autonomous robots.

  17. Method and apparatus for automatic control of a humanoid robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdallah, Muhammad E (Inventor); Platt, Robert (Inventor); Wampler, II, Charles W. (Inventor); Reiland, Matthew J (Inventor); Sanders, Adam M (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    A robotic system includes a humanoid robot having a plurality of joints adapted for force control with respect to an object acted upon by the robot, a graphical user interface (GUI) for receiving an input signal from a user, and a controller. The GUI provides the user with intuitive programming access to the controller. The controller controls the joints using an impedance-based control framework, which provides object level, end-effector level, and/or joint space-level control of the robot in response to the input signal. A method for controlling the robotic system includes receiving the input signal via the GUI, e.g., a desired force, and then processing the input signal using a host machine to control the joints via an impedance-based control framework. The framework provides object level, end-effector level, and/or joint space-level control of the robot, and allows for functional-based GUI to simplify implementation of a myriad of operating modes.

  18. Robot Formations Using Only Local Sensing and Control

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fredslund, Jakob; Matarić, Maja J

    2001-01-01

    , behaviorbased algorithm that solves the problem for N robots each equipped with sonar, laser, camera, and a radio link for communicating with other robots. The method uses the idea of keeping a single friend at a desired angle (by panning the camera and keeping the friend centered in the image), and only......We study the problem of achieving global behavior in a group of robots using only local sensing and interaction, in the context of formations, where the goal is to have N mobile robots establish and maintain some predetermined geometric shape. We have devised a simple, general, robust, localized...... communicating heartbeat messages. We also developed a general analytical method for evaluating formations and applied it to our algorithm. We validate our algorithm both in simulation and with physical robots....

  19. Robotic Oncological Surgery: Technology That's Here to Stay?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HRH Patel

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available A robot functioning in an environment may exhibit various forms of behavior emerge from the interaction with its environment through sense, control and plan activities. Hence, this paper introduces a behaviour selection based navigation and obstacle avoidance algorithm with effective method for adapting robotic behavior according to the environment conditions and the navigated terrain. The developed algorithm enable the robot to select the suitable behavior in real-time to avoid obstacles based on sensory information through visual and ultrasonic sensors utilizing the robot's ability to step over obstacles, and move between surfaces of different heights. In addition, it allows the robot to react in appropriate manner to the changing conditions either by fine-tuning of behaviors or by selecting different set of behaviors to increase the efficiency of the robot over time. The presented approach has been demonstrated on quadruped robot in several different experimental environments and the paper provides an analysis of its performance.

  20. Modeling and identification for high-performance robot control : an RRR-robotic arm case study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kostic, D.; Jager, de A.G.; Steinbuch, M.; Hensen, R.H.A.

    2004-01-01

    We explain a procedure for getting models of robot kinematics and dynamics that are appropriate for robot control design. The procedure consists of the following steps: (i) derivation of robot kinematic and dynamic models and establishing correctness of their structures; (ii) experimental estimation

  1. Dynamic Modelling and Adaptive Traction Control for Mobile Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Albagul

    2004-09-01

    Full Text Available Mobile robots have received a great deal of research in recent years. A significant amount of research has been published in many aspects related to mobile robots. Most of the research is devoted to design and develop some control techniques for robot motion and path planning. A large number of researchers have used kinematic models to develop motion control strategy for mobile robots. Their argument and assumption that these models are valid if the robot has low speed, low acceleration and light load. However, dynamic modelling of mobile robots is very important as they are designed to travel at higher speed and perform heavy duty work. This paper presents and discusses a new approach to develop a dynamic model and control strategy for wheeled mobile robot which I modelled as a rigid body that roles on two wheels and a castor. The motion control strategy consists of two levels. The first level is dealing with the dynamic of the system and denoted as ‘Low’ level controller. The second level is developed to take care of path planning and trajectory generation.

  2. Development of a robot Holon using an open modular controller

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schnell, Jakob; Andersen, Søren; Sørensen, Christian

    1999-01-01

    System (HoMuCS) architecture and methodology for implementing a HMS. This paper specifically reviews the development of a Robot Holon based on an open controller in the context of the HoMuCS architecture. The paper will describe the results and research work that was involved in developing a robot holon...... for a physical robot. The robot holon was implemented on an existing robot at the department which was upgraded by removing its native control system and replacing it with a new PC-based open controller. The development of the robot holon builds on the notion that a robot holon will be able to performboth......Holonic Manufacturing Systems (HMS) has during the last period presented itself as an advantageous theoretical foundation for the problems that arise in controlling agile manufacturing systems. Previous research, at the Department, has demonstrated how modern shop floor control systems can...

  3. Integration of advanced teleoperation technologies for control of space robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stagnaro, Michael J.

    1993-01-01

    Teleoperated robots require one or more humans to control actuators, mechanisms, and other robot equipment given feedback from onboard sensors. To accomplish this task, the human or humans require some form of control station. Desirable features of such a control station include operation by a single human, comfort, and natural human interfaces (visual, audio, motion, tactile, etc.). These interfaces should work to maximize performance of the human/robot system by streamlining the link between human brain and robot equipment. This paper describes development of a control station testbed with the characteristics described above. Initially, this testbed will be used to control two teleoperated robots. Features of the robots include anthropomorphic mechanisms, slaving to the testbed, and delivery of sensory feedback to the testbed. The testbed will make use of technologies such as helmet mounted displays, voice recognition, and exoskeleton masters. It will allow tor integration and testing of emerging telepresence technologies along with techniques for coping with control link time delays. Systems developed from this testbed could be applied to ground control of space based robots. During man-tended operations, the Space Station Freedom may benefit from ground control of IVA or EVA robots with science or maintenance tasks. Planetary exploration may also find advanced teleoperation systems to be very useful.

  4. Design and control of a pneumatic musculoskeletal biped robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zang, Xizhe; Liu, Yixiang; Liu, Xinyu; Zhao, Jie

    2016-04-29

    Pneumatic artificial muscles are quite promising actuators for humanoid robots owing to their similar characteristics with human muscles. Moreover, biologically inspired musculoskeletal systems are particularly important for humanoid robots to perform versatile dynamic tasks. This study aims to develop a pneumatic musculoskeletal biped robot, and its controller, to realize human-like walking. According to the simplified musculoskeletal structure of human lower limbs, each leg of the biped robot is driven by nine muscles, including three pairs of monoarticular muscles which are arranged in the flexor-extensor form, as well as three biarticular muscles which span two joints. To lower cost, high-speed on/off solenoid valves rather than proportional valves are used to control the muscles. The joint trajectory tracking controller based on PID control method is designed to achieve the desired motion. Considering the complex characteristics of pneumatic artificial muscles, the control model is obtained through parameter identification experiments. Preliminary experimental results demonstrate that the biped robot is able to walk with this control strategy. The proposed musculoskeletal structure and control strategy are effective for the biped robot to achieve human-like walking.

  5. CONTROL SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT EQUIPPED WITH ROBOTICS ARM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexei A. Margun

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with the problem of control system synthesis for multi rotational UAV equipped with robotics arm. Control algorithm is proposed based on the method of feedback linearization and synthesis of proportional-differential controller with the real time computation of the inertia tensor and center of mass changes and compensation of the reactive torque generated by the dynamics of the manipulator. Quadrocopter with attached articulated manipulator is selected as a model of the control object. Systems of equations describing the behavior of considered dynamical system are obtained according to the Newton and Euler-Lagrange laws. Expressions are offered, defining the inertia tensor and the position of the system center of mass depending on the current position of the manipulator, and the torque acting on the quadrocopter from the manipulator. Feedback linearization with arm influence compensation on quadrocopter is applied for the resulting nonlinear coupled system. As a result, robot dynamics equations have been converted to a linear stationary system. Converted system control is achieved by a proportional-differential controller. Examined system simulation is done with control method described in the paper and the classical method based on a proportional-differential controller. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach and demonstrate that the proposed approach provides higher accuracy of the tracking error, than control method by means of proportional-differential regulator.

  6. Development of constrained motion control for robot handling of hazardous waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Starr, G.P.

    1993-01-01

    Handling and archiving of hazardous waste is an area where automation and robotics can be of significant benefit, by removing the human operator from the workplace and its associated hazards. For reasons of safety, throughput, and reduced setup time, force-controlled robots are well-suited for hazardous materials handling. The focus of this investigation is the development of advanced force control techniques for commercial industrial robots in the surface sampling of hazardous waste containers. Two particular control strategies are considered, (1) preview control, and (2) adaptive control. Preview control uses a sensor which can ''look ahead'' and thereby reduce the effect of surface irregularity on contact force control. Adaptive control allows the robot controller to compensate for changes in the robot characteristics as it changes position, and likewise improves performance. The resulting control algorithms will be applied to a two-dimensional contour-following task using a PUMA robot at the Robotics Research Laboratory at The University of New Mexico. (author) 9 figs., 13 refs

  7. Developing a Psychologically Inspired Cognitive Architecture for Robotic Control: The Symbolic and Subsymbolic Robotic Intelligence Control System (SS-RICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Troy Dale Kelley

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the ongoing development of a robotic control architecture that was inspired by computational cognitive architectures from the discipline of cognitive psychology. The robotic control architecture combines symbolic and subsymbolic representations of knowledge into a unified control structure. The architecture is organized as a goal driven, serially executing, production system at the highest symbolic level; and a multiple algorithm, parallel executing, simple collection of algorithms at the lowest subsymbolic level. The goal is to create a system that will progress through the same cognitive developmental milestones as do human infants. Common robotics problems of localization, object recognition, and object permanence are addressed within the specified framework.

  8. Developing a Psychologically Inspired Cognitive Architecture for Robotic Control: The Symbolic and Subsymbolic Robotic Intelligence Control System (SS-RICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Troy Dale Kelley

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the ongoing development of a robotic control architecture that was inspired by computational cognitive architectures from the discipline of cognitive psychology. The robotic control architecture combines symbolic and subsymbolic representations of knowledge into a unified control structure. The architecture is organized as a goal driven, serially executing, production system at the highest symbolic level; and a multiple algorithm, parallel executing, simple collection of algorithms at the lowest subsymbolic level. The goal is to create a system that will progress through the same cognitive developmental milestones as do human infants. Common robotics problems of localization, object recognition, and object permanence are addressed within the specified framework.

  9. Internet remote control interface for a multipurpose robotic arm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew W. Dunnigan

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an Internet remote control interface for a MITSUBISHI PA10-6CE manipulator established for the purpose of the ROBOT museum exhibition during spring and summer 2004. The robotic manipulator is a part of the Intelligent Robotic Systems Laboratory at Heriot ? Watt University, which has been established to work on dynamic and kinematic aspects of manipulator control in the presence of environmental disturbances. The laboratory has been enriched by a simple vision system consisting of three web-cameras to broadcast the live images of the robots over the Internet. The Interface comprises of the TCP/IP server providing command parsing and execution using the open controller architecture of the manipulator and a client Java applet web-site providing a simple robot control interface.

  10. Supervisory control for a complex robotic system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, D.J.

    1988-01-01

    The Robotic Radiation Survey and Analysis System investigates the use of advanced robotic technology for performing remote radiation surveys on nuclear waste shipping casks. Robotic systems have the potential for reducing personnel exposure to radiation and providing fast reliable throughput at future repository sites. A primary technology issue is the integrated control of distributed specialized hardware through a modular supervisory software system. Automated programming of robot trajectories based upon mathematical models of the cask and robot coupled with sensory feedback enables flexible operation of a commercial gantry robot with the reliability needed to perform autonomous operations in a hazardous environment. Complexity is managed using structured software engineering techniques resulting in the generation of reusable command primitives which contribute to a software parts catalog for a generalized robot programming language

  11. [Haptic tracking control for minimally invasive robotic surgery].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Zhaohong; Song, Chengli; Wu, Wenwu

    2012-06-01

    Haptic feedback plays a significant role in minimally invasive robotic surgery (MIRS). A major deficiency of the current MIRS is the lack of haptic perception for the surgeon, including the commercially available robot da Vinci surgical system. In this paper, a dynamics model of a haptic robot is established based on Newton-Euler method. Because it took some period of time in exact dynamics solution, we used a digital PID arithmetic dependent on robot dynamics to ensure real-time bilateral control, and it could improve tracking precision and real-time control efficiency. To prove the proposed method, an experimental system in which two Novint Falcon haptic devices acting as master-slave system has been developed. Simulations and experiments showed proposed methods could give instrument force feedbacks to operator, and bilateral control strategy is an effective method to master-slave MIRS. The proposed methods could be used to tele-robotic system.

  12. Advances in soft computing, intelligent robotics and control

    CERN Document Server

    Fullér, Robert

    2014-01-01

    Soft computing, intelligent robotics and control are in the core interest of contemporary engineering. Essential characteristics of soft computing methods are the ability to handle vague information, to apply human-like reasoning, their learning capability, and ease of application. Soft computing techniques are widely applied in the control of dynamic systems, including mobile robots. The present volume is a collection of 20 chapters written by respectable experts of the fields, addressing various theoretical and practical aspects in soft computing, intelligent robotics and control. The first part of the book concerns with issues of intelligent robotics, including robust xed point transformation design, experimental verification of the input-output feedback linearization of differentially driven mobile robot and applying kinematic synthesis to micro electro-mechanical systems design. The second part of the book is devoted to fundamental aspects of soft computing. This includes practical aspects of fuzzy rule ...

  13. Siroco, a configurable robot control system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tejedor, B.G.; Maraggi, G.J.B.

    1988-01-01

    The SIROCO (Configurable Robot Control System) is an electronic system designed to work in applications where mechanized remote control equipment and robots are necessary especially in Nuclear Power Plants. The structure of the system (hardware and software) determines the following user characteristics: a) Reduction in the time spent in NDT and in radiation doses absorbed, due to remote control operation; b) possibility for full automation in NDT, c) the system can simultaneously control up to six axes and can generate movements in remote areas; and d) possibility for equipment unification, due to SIROCO being a configurable system. (author)

  14. Optimized Assistive Human-Robot Interaction Using Reinforcement Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Modares, Hamidreza; Ranatunga, Isura; Lewis, Frank L; Popa, Dan O

    2016-03-01

    An intelligent human-robot interaction (HRI) system with adjustable robot behavior is presented. The proposed HRI system assists the human operator to perform a given task with minimum workload demands and optimizes the overall human-robot system performance. Motivated by human factor studies, the presented control structure consists of two control loops. First, a robot-specific neuro-adaptive controller is designed in the inner loop to make the unknown nonlinear robot behave like a prescribed robot impedance model as perceived by a human operator. In contrast to existing neural network and adaptive impedance-based control methods, no information of the task performance or the prescribed robot impedance model parameters is required in the inner loop. Then, a task-specific outer-loop controller is designed to find the optimal parameters of the prescribed robot impedance model to adjust the robot's dynamics to the operator skills and minimize the tracking error. The outer loop includes the human operator, the robot, and the task performance details. The problem of finding the optimal parameters of the prescribed robot impedance model is transformed into a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) problem which minimizes the human effort and optimizes the closed-loop behavior of the HRI system for a given task. To obviate the requirement of the knowledge of the human model, integral reinforcement learning is used to solve the given LQR problem. Simulation results on an x - y table and a robot arm, and experimental implementation results on a PR2 robot confirm the suitability of the proposed method.

  15. Visual Recognition and Its Application to Robot Arm Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jih-Gau Juang

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an application of optical word recognition and fuzzy control to a smartphone automatic test system. The system consists of a robot arm and two webcams. After the words from the control panel that represent commands are recognized by the robot system, the robot arm performs the corresponding actions to test the smartphone. One of the webcams is utilized to capture commands on the screen of the control panel, the other to recognize the words on the screen of the tested smartphone. The method of image processing is based on the Red-Green-Blue (RGB and Hue-Saturation-Luminance (HSL color spaces to reduce the influence of light. Fuzzy theory is used in the robot arm’s position control. The Optical Character Recognition (OCR technique is applied to the word recognition, and the recognition results are then checked by a dictionary process to increase the recognition accuracy. The camera which is used to recognize the tested smartphone also provides object coordinates to the fuzzy controller, then the robot arm moves to the desired positions and presses the desired buttons. The proposed control scheme allows the robot arm to perform different assigned test functions successfully.

  16. Position Control of the Single Spherical Wheel Mobile Robot by Using the Fuzzy Sliding Mode Controller

    OpenAIRE

    Hamed Navabi; Soroush Sadeghnejad; Sepehr Ramezani; Jacky Baltes

    2017-01-01

    A spherical wheel robot or Ballbot—a robot that balances on an actuated spherical ball—is a new and recent type of robot in the popular area of mobile robotics. This paper focuses on the modeling and control of such a robot. We apply the Lagrangian method to derive the governing dynamic equations of the system. We also describe a novel Fuzzy Sliding Mode Controller (FSMC) implemented to control a spherical wheel mobile robot. The nonlinear nature of the equations makes the controller nontrivi...

  17. What happens when a robot favors someone? How a tour guide robot uses gaze behavior to address multiple persons while storytelling about art

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Karreman, Daphne Eleonora; Sépulveda Bradford, Gilberto; van Dijk, Elisabeth M.A.G.; Lohse, M.; Evers, Vanessa

    2013-01-01

    We report intermediate results of an ongoing study into the effectiveness of robot gaze behaviors when addressing multiple persons. The work is being carried out as part of the EU FP7 project FROG and concerns the design and evaluation of interactive behaviors of a tour guide robot. Our objective is

  18. Haptic Control with a Robotic Gripper

    OpenAIRE

    Rody, Morgan

    2011-01-01

    The Novint Falcon is a low cost, 3-axis, haptic device primarily designed and built for the gaming industry. Meant to replace the conventional mouse, the Novint Falcon has sub- millimeter accuracy and is capable of real time updates. The device itself has the potential to be used in telerobotics applications when coupled with a robotic gripper for example. Recently, the Intelligent Control Lab at Örebro University in Sweden built such a robotic gripper. The robotic gripper has three fingers a...

  19. Case studies in configuration control for redundant robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seraji, H.; Lee, T.; Colbaugh, R.; Glass, K.

    1989-01-01

    A simple approach to configuration control of redundant robots is presented. The redundancy is utilized to control the robot configuration directly in task space, where the task will be performed. A number of task-related kinematic functions are defined and combined with the end-effector coordinates to form a set of configuration variables. An adaptive control scheme is then utilized to ensure that the configuration variables track the desired reference trajectories as closely as possible. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the control scheme. The scheme has also been implemented for direct online control of a PUMA industrial robot, and experimental results are presented. The simulation and experimental results validate the configuration control scheme for performing various realistic tasks.

  20. Control of complex physically simulated robot groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brogan, David C.

    2001-10-01

    Actuated systems such as robots take many forms and sizes but each requires solving the difficult task of utilizing available control inputs to accomplish desired system performance. Coordinated groups of robots provide the opportunity to accomplish more complex tasks, to adapt to changing environmental conditions, and to survive individual failures. Similarly, groups of simulated robots, represented as graphical characters, can test the design of experimental scenarios and provide autonomous interactive counterparts for video games. The complexity of writing control algorithms for these groups currently hinders their use. A combination of biologically inspired heuristics, search strategies, and optimization techniques serve to reduce the complexity of controlling these real and simulated characters and to provide computationally feasible solutions.

  1. Research on Robot Pose Control Technology Based on Kinematics Analysis Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Dalong; Xu, Lijuan

    2018-01-01

    In order to improve the attitude stability of the robot, proposes an attitude control method of robot based on kinematics analysis model, solve the robot walking posture transformation, grasping and controlling the motion planning problem of robot kinematics. In Cartesian space analytical model, using three axis accelerometer, magnetometer and the three axis gyroscope for the combination of attitude measurement, the gyroscope data from Calman filter, using the four element method for robot attitude angle, according to the centroid of the moving parts of the robot corresponding to obtain stability inertia parameters, using random sampling RRT motion planning method, accurate operation to any position control of space robot, to ensure the end effector along a prescribed trajectory the implementation of attitude control. The accurate positioning of the experiment is taken using MT-R robot as the research object, the test robot. The simulation results show that the proposed method has better robustness, and higher positioning accuracy, and it improves the reliability and safety of robot operation.

  2. Lattice Automata for Control of Self-Reconfigurable Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Støy, Kasper

    2015-01-01

    are extreme versatility and robustness. The organisation of self-reconfigurable robots in a lattice structure and the emphasis on local communication between modules mean that lattice automata are a useful basis for control of self-reconfigurable robots. However, there are significant differences which arise...... mainly from the physical nature of self-reconfigurable robots as opposed to the virtual nature of lattice automata. The problems resulting from these differences are mutual exclusion, handling motion constraints of modules, and unrealistic assumption about global, spatial orientation. Despite...... these problems the self-reconfigurable robot community has successfully applied lattice automata to simple control problems. However, for more complex problems hybrid solutions based on lattice automata and distributed algorithms are used. Hence, lattice automata have shown to have potential for the control...

  3. Kinect-Based Sliding Mode Control for Lynxmotion Robotic Arm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismail Ben Abdallah

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Recently, the technological development of manipulator robot increases very quickly and provides a positive impact to human life. The implementation of the manipulator robot technology offers more efficiency and high performance for several human’s tasks. In reality, efforts published in this context are focused on implementing control algorithms with already preprogrammed desired trajectories (passive robots case or trajectory generation based on feedback sensors (active robots case. However, gesture based control robot can be considered as another channel of system control which is not widely discussed. This paper focuses on a Kinect-based real-time interactive control system implementation. Based on LabVIEW integrated development environment (IDE, a developed human-machine-interface (HMI allows user to control in real time a Lynxmotion robotic arm. The Kinect software development kit (SDK provides a tool to keep track of human body skeleton and abstract it into 3-dimensional coordinates. Therefore, the Kinect sensor is integrated into our control system to detect the different user joints coordinates. The Lynxmotion dynamic has been implemented in a real-time sliding mode control algorithm. The experimental results are carried out to test the effectiveness of the system, and the results verify the tracking ability, stability, and robustness.

  4. Artificial intelligence in robot control systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korikov, A.

    2018-05-01

    This paper analyzes modern concepts of artificial intelligence and known definitions of the term "level of intelligence". In robotics artificial intelligence system is defined as a system that works intelligently and optimally. The author proposes to use optimization methods for the design of intelligent robot control systems. The article provides the formalization of problems of robotic control system design, as a class of extremum problems with constraints. Solving these problems is rather complicated due to the high dimensionality, polymodality and a priori uncertainty. Decomposition of the extremum problems according to the method, suggested by the author, allows reducing them into a sequence of simpler problems, that can be successfully solved by modern computing technology. Several possible approaches to solving such problems are considered in the article.

  5. Experiments in robotic sensorimotor control during grasp

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stansfield, S.A.

    1993-01-01

    A series of experiments is presented, using a robot manipulator, which attempt to reproduce human sensorimotor control during grasping. The work utilizes a multifingered, dexterous robot hand equipped with a fingertip force sensor to explore dynamic grasp force adjustment during manipulation. The work is primarily concerned with the relationship between the weight of an object and the grasp force required to lift it. Too weak a grasp is unstable and the object will slip from the hand. Too strong a grasp may damage the object and/or the manipulator. An algorithm is presented which reproduces observed human behavior during grasp-and-lift tasks. The algorithm uses tactile information from the sensor to dynamically adjust the grasp force during lift. It is assumed that there is no a priori knowledge about the object to be manipulated. The effects of different arm/hand postures and object surfaces is explored. Finally, the use of sensory data to detect unexpected object motion and to signal transitions between manipulation phases--with the coincident triggering of new motor programs--is investigated

  6. Command and Control Architectures for Autonomous Micro-Robotic Forces - FY-2000 Project Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dudenhoeffer, Donald Dean

    2001-04-01

    Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and micro-technologies will soon give rise to production of large-scale forces of autonomous micro-robots with systems of innate behaviors and with capabilities of self-organization and real world tasking. Such organizations have been compared to schools of fish, flocks of birds, herds of animals, swarms of insects, and military squadrons. While these systems are envisioned as maintaining a high degree of autonomy, it is important to understand the relationship of man with such machines. In moving from research studies to the practical deployment of large-scale numbers of robots, one of critical pieces that must be explored is the command and control architecture for humans to re-task and also inject global knowledge, experience, and intuition into the force. Tele-operation should not be the goal, but rather a level of adjustable autonomy and high-level control. If a herd of sheep is comparable to the collective of robots, then the human element is comparable to the shepherd pulling in strays and guiding the herd in the direction of greener pastures. This report addresses the issues and development of command and control for largescale numbers of autonomous robots deployed as a collective force.

  7. Controlling legs for locomotion-insights from robotics and neurobiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buschmann, Thomas; Ewald, Alexander; von Twickel, Arndt; Büschges, Ansgar

    2015-06-29

    Walking is the most common terrestrial form of locomotion in animals. Its great versatility and flexibility has led to many attempts at building walking machines with similar capabilities. The control of walking is an active research area both in neurobiology and robotics, with a large and growing body of work. This paper gives an overview of the current knowledge on the control of legged locomotion in animals and machines and attempts to give walking control researchers from biology and robotics an overview of the current knowledge in both fields. We try to summarize the knowledge on the neurobiological basis of walking control in animals, emphasizing common principles seen in different species. In a section on walking robots, we review common approaches to walking controller design with a slight emphasis on biped walking control. We show where parallels between robotic and neurobiological walking controllers exist and how robotics and biology may benefit from each other. Finally, we discuss where research in the two fields diverges and suggest ways to bridge these gaps.

  8. Position Control of the Single Spherical Wheel Mobile Robot by Using the Fuzzy Sliding Mode Controller

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamed Navabi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A spherical wheel robot or Ballbot—a robot that balances on an actuated spherical ball—is a new and recent type of robot in the popular area of mobile robotics. This paper focuses on the modeling and control of such a robot. We apply the Lagrangian method to derive the governing dynamic equations of the system. We also describe a novel Fuzzy Sliding Mode Controller (FSMC implemented to control a spherical wheel mobile robot. The nonlinear nature of the equations makes the controller nontrivial. We compare the performance of four different fuzzy controllers: (a regulation with one signal, (b regulation and position control with one signal, (c regulation and position control with two signals, and (d FSMC for regulation and position control with two signals. The system is evaluated in a realistic simulation and the robot parameters are chosen based on a LEGO platform, so the designed controllers have the ability to be implemented on real hardware.

  9. Torque Control of Underactuated Tendon-driven Robotic Fingers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdallah, Muhammad E. (Inventor); Ihrke, Chris A. (Inventor); Reiland, Matthew J. (Inventor); Wampler, Charles W. (Inventor); Diftler, Myron A. (Inventor); Platt, Robert (Inventor); Bridgwater, Lyndon (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    A robotic system includes a robot having a total number of degrees of freedom (DOF) equal to at least n, an underactuated tendon-driven finger driven by n tendons and n DOF, the finger having at least two joints, being characterized by an asymmetrical joint radius in one embodiment. A controller is in communication with the robot, and controls actuation of the tendon-driven finger using force control. Operating the finger with force control on the tendons, rather than position control, eliminates the unconstrained slack-space that would have otherwise existed. The controller may utilize the asymmetrical joint radii to independently command joint torques. A method of controlling the finger includes commanding either independent or parameterized joint torques to the controller to actuate the fingers via force control on the tendons.

  10. MODELADO, SIMULACIÓN Y CONTROL DEL ROBOT PARA CIRUGÍA LAPAROSCÓPICA 'LAPBOT' MODELING, SIMULATION AND CONTROL OF SURGICAL LAPAROSCOPIC ROBOT 'LAPBOT'

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Alexander Salinas

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Este artículo presenta el modelado matemático y estructural, la simulación por computador y el control por par calculado del robot para cirugía laparoscópica ‘LapBot’, que ha sido desarrollado en el Grupo de Investigación de Automática Industrial de la Universidad del Cauca, Colombia. Inicialmente se muestra un resumen de los principales robots utilizados como asistentes para cirugías de laparoscopia en el mundo, y de cómo tratan ellos el problema del paso por la incisión practicada en la cavidad abdominal. Con base en lo anterior se describen los requerimientos que deben cumplir los robots de este tipo y a partir de éstos se diseña el robot LapBot. Se muestra el modelo cinemático y dinámico del robot LapBot, así como el modelo de la restricción espacial que representa el punto de incisión abdominal. Se implementa una estrategia de control basada en el modelo del robot (control por par calculado. Diversas trayectorias en un plano y en un espacio de tres dimensiones son utilizadas para validar tanto el modelo como el controlador.This paper presents the mathematical and structural model, simulation and computed torque control of the LapBot robot, developed by the Group of Investigation of Industrial Automatics, of the University of Cauca, Colombia. First, a summary of the principal surgery assistant robots of the world is presented, and how they solve the problem of passing through the incision into the abdominal cavity. Based on this, the conditions that must be fulfilled by the robots of this type is exposed, and from these conditions the LapBot robot is designed. Its kinematics and dynamics model is shown, as well as the mathematical spatial restriction that incision represents. A control strategy based on the model (computed torque control is implemented. Several trajectories defined in a plane and in a three dimensions space are used to validate the model and the control.

  11. Mobile robot navigation in unknown static environments using ANFIS controller

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anish Pandey

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Navigation and obstacle avoidance are the most important task for any mobile robots. This article presents the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS controller for mobile robot navigation and obstacle avoidance in the unknown static environments. The different sensors such as ultrasonic range finder sensor and sharp infrared range sensor are used to detect the forward obstacles in the environments. The inputs of the ANFIS controller are obstacle distances obtained from the sensors, and the controller output is a robot steering angle. The primary objective of the present work is to use ANFIS controller to guide the mobile robot in the given environments. Computer simulations are conducted through MATLAB software and implemented in real time by using C/C++ language running Arduino microcontroller based mobile robot. Moreover, the successful experimental results on the actual mobile robot demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed controller.

  12. Multilateral Telecoordinated Control of Multiple Robots With Uncertain Kinematics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhai, Di-Hua; Xia, Yuanqing

    2017-06-06

    This paper addresses the telecoordinated control of multiple robots in the simultaneous presence of asymmetric time-varying delays, nonpassive external forces, and uncertain kinematics/dynamics. To achieve the control objective, a neuroadaptive controller with utilizing prescribed performance control and switching control technique is developed, where the basic idea is to employ the concept of motion synchronization in each pair of master-slave robots and among all slave robots. By using the multiple Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals method, the state-independent input-to-output practical stability of the closed-loop system is established. Compared with the previous approaches, the new design is straightforward and easier to implement and is applicable to a wider area. Simulation results on three pairs of three degrees-of-freedom robots confirm the theoretical findings.

  13. Controlling Kuka Industrial Robots : Flexible Communication Interface JOpenShowVar.

    OpenAIRE

    Sanfilippo, Filippo; Hatledal, Lars Ivar; Zhang, Houxiang; Fago, Massimiliano; Pettersen, Kristin Ytterstad

    2015-01-01

    JOpenShowVar is a Java open-source cross-platform communication interface to Kuka industrial robots. This novel interface allows for read-write use of the controlled manipulator variables and data structures. JOpenShowVar, which is compatible with all the Kuka industrial robots that use KUKA Robot Controller version 4 (KR C4) and KUKA Robot Controller version 2 (KR C2), runs as a client on a remote computer connected with the Kuka controller via TCP/IP. Even though only soft real-time applica...

  14. Actuation control of a PiezoMEMS biomimetic robotic jellyfish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alejandre, Alvaro; Olszewski, Oskar; Jackson, Nathan

    2017-06-01

    Biomimetic micro-robots try to mimic the motion of a living system in the form of a synthetically developed microfabricated device. Dynamic motion of living systems have evolved through the years, but trying to mimic these motions is challenging. Micro-robotics are particular challenging as the fabrication of devices and controlling the motion in 3 dimensions is difficult. However, micro-scale robotics have potential to be used in a wide range of applications. MEMS based robots that can move and function in a liquid environment is of particular interest. This paper describes the development of a piezoMEMS based device that mimics the movement of a jellyfish. The paper focuses on the development of a finite element model that investigates a method of controlling the individual piezoelectric beams in order to create a jet propulsion motion, consisting of a quick excitation pulse followed by a slow recovery pulse in order to maximize thrust and velocity. By controlling the individual beams or legs of the jellyfish robot the authors can control the robot to move precisely in 3 dimensions.

  15. The real-time control of planetary rovers through behavior modification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, David P.

    1991-01-01

    It is not yet clear of what type, and how much, intelligence is needed for a planetary rover to function semi-autonomously on a planetary surface. Current designs assume an advanced AI system that maintains a detailed map of its journeys and the surroundings, and that carefully calculates and tests every move in advance. To achieve these abilities, and because of the limitations of space-qualified electronics, the supporting rover is quite sizable, massing a large fraction of a ton, and requiring technology advances in everything from power to ground operations. An alternative approach is to use a behavior driven control scheme. Recent research has shown that many complex tasks may be achieved by programming a robot with a set of behaviors and activation or deactivating a subset of those behaviors as required by the specific situation in which the robot finds itself. Behavior control requires much less computation than is required by tradition AI planning techniques. The reduced computation requirements allows the entire rover to be scaled down as appropriate (only down-link communications and payload do not scale under these circumstances). The missions that can be handled by the real-time control and operation of a set of small, semi-autonomous, interacting, behavior-controlled planetary rovers are discussed.

  16. Control of Wall Mounting Robot

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sloth, Christoffer; Pedersen, Rasmus

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents a method for designing controllers for trajectory tracking with actuator constraints. In particular, we consider a joystick-controlled wall mounting robot called WallMo. In contrast to previous works, a model-free approach is taken to the control problem, where the path...

  17. Control and robotics remote laboratory for engineering education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregor Pačnik

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available The new tools for education of engineering emerged and one of the most promising is a remote rapid control prototyping (RRCP, which is very useful also for control and robotics development in industry and in education. Examples of introductory remote control and simple robotics courses with integrated hands on experiments are presented in the paper. The aim of integration of remote hands on experiments into control and/or robotics course is to minimize the gap between the theory and practice to teach students the use of RRCP and to decrease the education costs. Developed RRCP experiments are based on MATLAB/Simulink, xPC target, custom developed embedded target

  18. R4SA for Controlling Robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aghazarian, Hrand

    2009-01-01

    The R4SA GUI mentioned in the immediately preceding article is a userfriendly interface for controlling one or more robot(s). This GUI makes it possible to perform meaningful real-time field experiments and research in robotics at an unmatched level of fidelity, within minutes of setup. It provides such powerful graphing modes as that of a digitizing oscilloscope that displays up to 250 variables at rates between 1 and 200 Hz. This GUI can be configured as multiple intuitive interfaces for acquisition of data, command, and control to enable rapid testing of subsystems or an entire robot system while simultaneously performing analysis of data. The R4SA software establishes an intuitive component-based design environment that can be easily reconfigured for any robotic platform by creating or editing setup configuration files. The R4SA GUI enables event-driven and conditional sequencing similar to those of Mars Exploration Rover (MER) operations. It has been certified as part of the MER ground support equipment and, therefore, is allowed to be utilized in conjunction with MER flight hardware. The R4SA GUI could also be adapted to use in embedded computing systems, other than that of the MER, for commanding and real-time analysis of data.

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  1. Passivity-based control and estimation in networked robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Hatanaka, Takeshi; Fujita, Masayuki; Spong, Mark W

    2015-01-01

    Highlighting the control of networked robotic systems, this book synthesizes a unified passivity-based approach to an emerging cross-disciplinary subject. Thanks to this unified approach, readers can access various state-of-the-art research fields by studying only the background foundations associated with passivity. In addition to the theoretical results and techniques,  the authors provide experimental case studies on testbeds of robotic systems  including networked haptic devices, visual robotic systems,  robotic network systems and visual sensor network systems. The text begins with an introduction to passivity and passivity-based control together with the other foundations needed in this book. The main body of the book consists of three parts. The first examines how passivity can be utilized for bilateral teleoperation and demonstrates the inherent robustness of the passivity-based controller against communication delays. The second part emphasizes passivity’s usefulness for visual feedback control ...

  2. Soft Dielectric Elastomer Oscillators Driving Bioinspired Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henke, E-F Markus; Schlatter, Samuel; Anderson, Iain A

    2017-12-01

    Entirely soft robots with animal-like behavior and integrated artificial nervous systems will open up totally new perspectives and applications. To produce them, we must integrate control and actuation in the same soft structure. Soft actuators (e.g., pneumatic and hydraulic) exist but electronics are hard and stiff and remotely located. We present novel soft, electronics-free dielectric elastomer oscillators, which are able to drive bioinspired robots. As a demonstrator, we present a robot that mimics the crawling motion of the caterpillar, with an integrated artificial nervous system, soft actuators and without any conventional stiff electronic parts. Supplied with an external DC voltage, the robot autonomously generates all signals that are necessary to drive its dielectric elastomer actuators, and it translates an in-plane electromechanical oscillation into a crawling locomotion movement. Therefore, all functional and supporting parts are made of polymer materials and carbon. Besides the basic design of this first electronic-free, biomimetic robot, we present prospects to control the general behavior of such robots. The absence of conventional stiff electronics and the exclusive use of polymeric materials will provide a large step toward real animal-like robots, compliant human machine interfaces, and a new class of distributed, neuron-like internal control for robotic systems.

  3. Interactive animated displayed of man-controlled and autonomous robots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crane, C.D. III; Duffy, J.

    1986-01-01

    An interactive computer graphics program has been developed which allows an operator to more readily control robot motions in two distinct modes; viz., man-controlled and autonomous. In man-controlled mode, the robot is guided by a joystick or similar device. As the robot moves, actual joint angle information is measured and supplied to a graphics system which accurately duplicates the robot motion. Obstacles are placed in the actual and animated workspace and the operator is warned of imminent collisions by sight and sound via the graphics system. Operation of the system in man-controlled mode is shown. In autonomous mode, a collision-free path between specified points is obtained by previewing robot motions on the graphics system. Once a satisfactory path is selected, the path characteristics are transmitted to the actual robot and the motion is executed. The telepresence system developed at the University of Florida has been successful in demonstrating that the concept of controlling a robot manipulator with the aid of an interactive computer graphics system is feasible and practical. The clarity of images coupled with real-time interaction and real-time determination of imminent collision with obstacles has resulted in improved operator performance. Furthermore, the ability for an operator to preview and supervise autonomous operations is a significant attribute when operating in a hazardous environment

  4. Engineering Sensorial Delay to Control Phototaxis and Emergent Collective Behaviors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mite Mijalkov

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Collective motions emerging from the interaction of autonomous mobile individuals play a key role in many phenomena, from the growth of bacterial colonies to the coordination of robotic swarms. For these collective behaviors to take hold, the individuals must be able to emit, sense, and react to signals. When dealing with simple organisms and robots, these signals are necessarily very elementary; e.g., a cell might signal its presence by releasing chemicals and a robot by shining light. An additional challenge arises because the motion of the individuals is often noisy; e.g., the orientation of cells can be altered by Brownian motion and that of robots by an uneven terrain. Therefore, the emphasis is on achieving complex and tunable behaviors from simple autonomous agents communicating with each other in robust ways. Here, we show that the delay between sensing and reacting to a signal can determine the individual and collective long-term behavior of autonomous agents whose motion is intrinsically noisy. We experimentally demonstrate that the collective behavior of a group of phototactic robots capable of emitting a radially decaying light field can be tuned from segregation to aggregation and clustering by controlling the delay with which they change their propulsion speed in response to the light intensity they measure. We track this transition to the underlying dynamics of this system, in particular, to the ratio between the robots’ sensorial delay time and the characteristic time of the robots’ random reorientation. Supported by numerics, we discuss how the same mechanism can be applied to control active agents, e.g., airborne drones, moving in a three-dimensional space. Given the simplicity of this mechanism, the engineering of sensorial delay provides a potentially powerful tool to engineer and dynamically tune the behavior of large ensembles of autonomous mobile agents; furthermore, this mechanism might already be at work within

  5. Fuzzy Logic and PID control of a 3 DOF Robotic Arm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Korhan Kayışlı

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The robotic arms are used in many industrial applications at the present time. At this point, high precision control is required for robotics used in fields such as healthcare area. Therefore, the control method applied to robots is also important. In this study, a force was applied to the end function of a three degree-of-freedom robot and the robustness of the controllers are tested. PID and Fuzzy Logic control method are used for this process. The control process of robotic arm which is designed and simulated is obtained by using Fuzzy Logic and classical PID controllers and the results are presented comparatively

  6. Four Degree Freedom Robot Arm with Fuzzy Neural Network Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Şinasi Arslan

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the control of four degree freedom robot arm has been realized with the computed torque control method.. It is usually required that the four jointed robot arm has high precision capability and good maneuverability for using in industrial applications. Besides, high speed working and external applied loads have been acting as important roles. For those purposes, the computed torque control method has been developed in a good manner that the robot arm can track the given trajectory, which has been able to enhance the feedback control together with fuzzy neural network control. The simulation results have proved that the computed torque control with the neural network has been so successful in robot control.

  7. MPC-Based Path Following Control of an Omnidirectional Mobile Robot with Consideration of Robot Constraints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kiattisin Kanjanawanishkul

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the path following problem of an omnidirectional mobile robot (OMR has been studied. Unlike nonholonomic mobile robots, translational and rotational movements of OMRs can be controlled simultaneously and independently. However the constraints of translational and rotational velocities are coupled through the OMR's orientation angle. Therefore, a combination of a virtual-vehicle concept and a model predictive control (MPC strategy is proposed in this work to handle both robot constraints and the path following problem. Our proposed control scheme allows the OMR to follow the reference path successfully and safely, as illustrated in simulation experiments. The forward velocity is close to the desired one and the desired orientation angle is achieved at a given point on the path, while the robot's wheel velocities are maintained within boundaries.

  8. Behavior-Based Approach for the Detection of Land Mines Utilizing off the Shelf Low Cost Autonomous Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdel Ilah Nour Alshbatat

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Several countries all of the world are affected by landmines. The presence of mines represents a major threat to lives and causes economic problems. Currently, detecting and clearing mines demand specific expertise with special equipment. In this context, this paper offers the design and development of an intelligent controller which can control and enable the robot to detect mines by means of sensors and of processing the fused information to guide soldiers when passing landmines.  This is accomplished by broken down the overall system into two subsystems: sensor technologies and robotic device. Sensors devices include infrared distance sensor, metal detector, ultrasonic range finder, accelerometer sensor, while the structure of the robot in our case consists mainly  of a commercial  off-the-shelf  parts which  are  available  at  low  costs. The proposed controller is mainly based on creating fuzzy rules that reflect the behaviors of soldier beings in controlling a robot in a well known landmine. Simulation and experimental results are presented her to prove the efficiency of the proposed approach. The results show that the system is able to detect landmines and guide soldiers while crossing mines area.

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. Integrated Control Strategies Supporting Autonomous Functionalities in Mobile Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brandon Sights

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available High-level intelligence allows a mobile robot to create and interpret complex world models, but without a precise control system, the accuracy of the world model and the robot's ability to interact with its surroundings are greatly diminished. This problem is amplified when the environment is hostile, such as in a battlefield situation where an error in movement or a slow response may lead to destruction of the robot. As the presence of robots on the battlefield continues to escalate and the trend toward relieving the human of the low-level control burden advances, the ability to combine the functionalities of several critical control systems on a single platform becomes imperative.

  13. Human-Inspired Eigenmovement Concept Provides Coupling-Free Sensorimotor Control in Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Mergner

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available 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.

  14. Arquitectura Basada en Roles Aplicada en Equipos de Fútbol de Robots con Control Centralizado

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José G. Guarnizo

    2016-07-01

    are assigned using an assignment function, which is activated when the ball changes of the quadrant in the playing field. This strategy has been compared by simulation in games against an opposition team with constant roles, and other team with a hierarchical strategy which assigns roles depending on a tactic previously selected. The results showed a better performance in the team with the role-based strategy outperformed the rest of the methods. As well as uniformity within the players’ behaviors during the role and behavior transitions. Palabras clave: Agentes, toma de decisiones, robots móviles autónomos, control centralizado, arquitecturas., Keywords: Agents, decision making, autonomous mobile robots, centralized control, architectures.

  15. Drive Control System for Pipeline Crawl Robot Based on CAN Bus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, H J; Gao, B T; Zhang, X H; Deng, Z Q

    2006-01-01

    Drive control system plays important roles in pipeline robot. In order to inspect the flaw and corrosion of seabed crude oil pipeline, an original mobile pipeline robot with crawler drive unit, power and monitor unit, central control unit, and ultrasonic wave inspection device is developed. The CAN bus connects these different function units and presents a reliable information channel. Considering the limited space, a compact hardware system is designed based on an ARM processor with two CAN controllers. With made-to-order CAN protocol for the crawl robot, an intelligent drive control system is developed. The implementation of the crawl robot demonstrates that the presented drive control scheme can meet the motion control requirements of the underwater pipeline crawl robot

  16. Drive Control System for Pipeline Crawl Robot Based on CAN Bus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, H J [Department of Electrical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150001 (China); Gao, B T [Department of Electrical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150001 (China); Zhang, X H [Department of Electrical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150001 (China); Deng, Z Q [School of Mechanical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150001 (China)

    2006-10-15

    Drive control system plays important roles in pipeline robot. In order to inspect the flaw and corrosion of seabed crude oil pipeline, an original mobile pipeline robot with crawler drive unit, power and monitor unit, central control unit, and ultrasonic wave inspection device is developed. The CAN bus connects these different function units and presents a reliable information channel. Considering the limited space, a compact hardware system is designed based on an ARM processor with two CAN controllers. With made-to-order CAN protocol for the crawl robot, an intelligent drive control system is developed. The implementation of the crawl robot demonstrates that the presented drive control scheme can meet the motion control requirements of the underwater pipeline crawl robot.

  17. Everyday robotic action: Lessons from human action control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roy eDe Kleijn

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Robots are increasingly capable of performing everyday human activities such as cooking, cleaning, and doing the laundry. This requires the real-time planning and execution of complex, temporally-extended sequential actions under high degrees of uncertainty, which provides many challenges to traditional approaches to robot action control. We argue that important lessons in this respect can be learned from research on human action control. We provide a brief overview of available psychological insights into this issue and focus on four principles that we think could be particularly beneficial for robot control: the integration of symbolic and subsymbolic planning of action sequences, the integration of feedforward and feedback control, the clustering of complex actions into subcomponents, and the contextualization of action-control structures through goal representations.

  18. Robot trajectory tracking with self-tuning predicted control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Xianzhong; Shin, Kang G.

    1988-01-01

    A controller that combines self-tuning prediction and control is proposed for robot trajectory tracking. The controller has two feedback loops: one is used to minimize the prediction error, and the other is designed to make the system output track the set point input. Because the velocity and position along the desired trajectory are given and the future output of the system is predictable, a feedforward loop can be designed for robot trajectory tracking with self-tuning predicted control (STPC). Parameters are estimated online to account for the model uncertainty and the time-varying property of the system. The authors describe the principle of STPC, analyze the system performance, and discuss the simplification of the robot dynamic equations. To demonstrate its utility and power, the controller is simulated for a Stanford arm.

  19. Workspace Safe Operation of a Force- or Impedance-Controlled Robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdallah, Muhammad E. (Inventor); Hargrave, Brian (Inventor); Yamokoski, John D. (Inventor); Strawser, Philip A. (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    A method of controlling a robotic manipulator of a force- or impedance-controlled robot within an unstructured workspace includes imposing a saturation limit on a static force applied by the manipulator to its surrounding environment, and may include determining a contact force between the manipulator and an object in the unstructured workspace, and executing a dynamic reflex when the contact force exceeds a threshold to thereby alleviate an inertial impulse not addressed by the saturation limited static force. The method may include calculating a required reflex torque to be imparted by a joint actuator to a robotic joint. A robotic system includes a robotic manipulator having an unstructured workspace and a controller that is electrically connected to the manipulator, and which controls the manipulator using force- or impedance-based commands. The controller, which is also disclosed herein, automatically imposes the saturation limit and may execute the dynamic reflex noted above.

  20. An Augmented Discrete-Time Approach for Human-Robot Collaboration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peidong Liang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Human-robot collaboration (HRC is a key feature to distinguish the new generation of robots from conventional robots. Relevant HRC topics have been extensively investigated recently in academic institutes and companies to improve human and robot interactive performance. Generally, human motor control regulates human motion adaptively to the external environment with safety, compliance, stability, and efficiency. Inspired by this, we propose an augmented approach to make a robot understand human motion behaviors based on human kinematics and human postural impedance adaptation. Human kinematics is identified by geometry kinematics approach to map human arm configuration as well as stiffness index controlled by hand gesture to anthropomorphic arm. While human arm postural stiffness is estimated and calibrated within robot empirical stability region, human motion is captured by employing a geometry vector approach based on Kinect. A biomimetic controller in discrete-time is employed to make Baxter robot arm imitate human arm behaviors based on Baxter robot dynamics. An object moving task is implemented to validate the performance of proposed methods based on Baxter robot simulator. Results show that the proposed approach to HRC is intuitive, stable, efficient, and compliant, which may have various applications in human-robot collaboration scenarios.

  1. You Look Human, But Act Like a Machine: Agent Appearance and Behavior Modulate Different Aspects of Human–Robot Interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdulaziz Abubshait

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Gaze following occurs automatically in social interactions, but the degree to which gaze is followed depends on whether an agent is perceived to have a mind, making its behavior socially more relevant for the interaction. Mind perception also modulates the attitudes we have toward others, and determines the degree of empathy, prosociality, and morality invested in social interactions. Seeing mind in others is not exclusive to human agents, but mind can also be ascribed to non-human agents like robots, as long as their appearance and/or behavior allows them to be perceived as intentional beings. Previous studies have shown that human appearance and reliable behavior induce mind perception to robot agents, and positively affect attitudes and performance in human–robot interaction. What has not been investigated so far is whether different triggers of mind perception have an independent or interactive effect on attitudes and performance in human–robot interaction. We examine this question by manipulating agent appearance (human vs. robot and behavior (reliable vs. random within the same paradigm and examine how congruent (human/reliable vs. robot/random versus incongruent (human/random vs. robot/reliable combinations of these triggers affect performance (i.e., gaze following and attitudes (i.e., agent ratings in human–robot interaction. The results show that both appearance and behavior affect human–robot interaction but that the two triggers seem to operate in isolation, with appearance more strongly impacting attitudes, and behavior more strongly affecting performance. The implications of these findings for human–robot interaction are discussed.

  2. You Look Human, But Act Like a Machine: Agent Appearance and Behavior Modulate Different Aspects of Human-Robot Interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abubshait, Abdulaziz; Wiese, Eva

    2017-01-01

    Gaze following occurs automatically in social interactions, but the degree to which gaze is followed depends on whether an agent is perceived to have a mind, making its behavior socially more relevant for the interaction. Mind perception also modulates the attitudes we have toward others, and determines the degree of empathy, prosociality, and morality invested in social interactions. Seeing mind in others is not exclusive to human agents, but mind can also be ascribed to non-human agents like robots, as long as their appearance and/or behavior allows them to be perceived as intentional beings. Previous studies have shown that human appearance and reliable behavior induce mind perception to robot agents, and positively affect attitudes and performance in human-robot interaction. What has not been investigated so far is whether different triggers of mind perception have an independent or interactive effect on attitudes and performance in human-robot interaction. We examine this question by manipulating agent appearance (human vs. robot) and behavior (reliable vs. random) within the same paradigm and examine how congruent (human/reliable vs. robot/random) versus incongruent (human/random vs. robot/reliable) combinations of these triggers affect performance (i.e., gaze following) and attitudes (i.e., agent ratings) in human-robot interaction. The results show that both appearance and behavior affect human-robot interaction but that the two triggers seem to operate in isolation, with appearance more strongly impacting attitudes, and behavior more strongly affecting performance. The implications of these findings for human-robot interaction are discussed.

  3. Contribution to control of robotics structures and dynamic behaviour

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilliot, Jean-Marie

    1990-01-01

    The scope of this thesis is the simulation of the dynamics of complex rigid multi-body systems involved in robotics, in order to control them. In the first stage, methods for obtaining equations and models required for simulation and control purposes are proposed and discussed: - determination of constraint equations using the jacobian matrices, - elaboration of direct and inverse dynamics of manipulators. The second part of this thesis deals with the different concepts and components involved in the setting of simulation systems for Robotics Application Programs: models, emulators and the software development environment. The control algorithms are then introduced as a particular class of robotics application programs. A simulator has been developed, allowing the calculation and the visualisation of robot motions, driven by generalized torques. Some examples of control programs generating such control torques are then presented to illustrate the use of the simulator. (author) [fr

  4. Towards a Unified Representation of Mechanisms for Robotic Control Software

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Diaz-Calderon

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available This article gives an overview of the Mechanism Model paradigm. The mechanism model paradigm provides a framework to modeling mechanisms for robotic control. The emphasis is on the unification of mathematical models of kinematics/dynamics, geometric information and control system parameters for a variety of robotic systems (including serial manipulators, wheeled and legged locomotors, with algorithms that are needed for typical robot control applications.

  5. 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.

  6. 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

  7. Remote-controlled vision-guided mobile robot system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ande, Raymond; Samu, Tayib; Hall, Ernest L.

    1997-09-01

    Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have many potential applications in manufacturing, medicine, space and defense. The purpose of this paper is to describe exploratory research on the design of the remote controlled emergency stop and vision systems for an autonomous mobile robot. The remote control provides human supervision and emergency stop capabilities for the autonomous vehicle. The vision guidance provides automatic operation. A mobile robot test-bed has been constructed using a golf cart base. The mobile robot (Bearcat) was built for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (AUVS) 1997 competition. The mobile robot has full speed control with guidance provided by a vision system and an obstacle avoidance system using ultrasonic sensors systems. Vision guidance is accomplished using two CCD cameras with zoom lenses. The vision data is processed by a high speed tracking device, communicating with the computer the X, Y coordinates of blobs along the lane markers. The system also has three emergency stop switches and a remote controlled emergency stop switch that can disable the traction motor and set the brake. Testing of these systems has been done in the lab as well as on an outside test track with positive results that show that at five mph the vehicle can follow a line and at the same time avoid obstacles.

  8. Fuzzy logic controller for stabilization of biped robot gait

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryadchikov I.V.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The article centers round the problem of stabilization of biped robot gait through smoothing out the jumps of first and second order derivatives of a biped robot control vector using the fuzzy logic approach. The structure of a composite Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy logic controller developed by the authors is presented. The simulation study of a robot gait with climbing an obstacle is carried out and the results provided in the article showed that the developed controller performed significantly better than the analytical formula model in terms of smoothing out the derivatives of the control vector.

  9. Multipurpose expert-robot system model for control, diagnosis, maintenance, and repairs at the steam generators of the NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Popa, I.

    1994-01-01

    The paper presents the model concept for a multipurpose expert-robot system for control, diagnosis, forecast, maintenance, and repairs at the steam generators of CANDU type nuclear power plants. The system has two separate parts: the expert system and the robot (manipulator) system. These parts compose a hierarchic structure with the expert system on the upper level. The expert system has a blackboard architecture, to which tree interfaces with the robot system, with the control system of the NPP and with the methods and techniques of control, maintenance and repairs system of the steam generator are added. Due to complex nature of its activities the expert-robot system model combines the deterministic type reasons with probabilistic, fuzzy, and neural-networks type ones. The information that enter the expert system comes from the robot system, from process, from user, and human expert. The information that enter robot system comes from the expert system, from the human operator (when connected) and from process. Control maintenance and repair operations take place by means of the robot system that can be monitored either directly by the expert system or by the human operator who follows its activity. All these activities are performed in parallel with the adequate information of the expert system directly, by the human operator, about the status parameters and, possibly, operating parameters of the steam generator components. The expert-robot system can work independently, but it can be connected and integrated in the control system of NPP, to take over and develop some of its functions. The activities concerning diagnosis and characterization of the state of steam generator components subsequent to control, as well as the forecast of their future behavior, are performed by means of the expert system. Due to these characteristics the expert-robot system can be used successfully in personnel training activities. (Author)

  10. Modeling and identification for robot motion control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kostic, D.; Jager, de A.G.; Steinbuch, M.; Kurfess, T.R.

    2004-01-01

    This chapter deals with the problems of robot modelling and identification for high-performance model-based motion control. A derivation of robot kinematic and dynamic models was explained. Modelling of friction effects was also discussed. Use of a writing task to establish correctness of the models

  11. Visual Trajectory-Tracking Model-Based Control for Mobile Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrej Zdešar

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we present a visual-control algorithm for driving a mobile robot along the reference trajectory. The configuration of the system consists of a two-wheeled differentially driven mobile robot that is observed by an overhead camera, which can be placed at arbitrary, but reasonable, inclination with respect to the ground plane. The controller must be capable of generating appropriate tangential and angular control velocities for the trajectory-tracking problem, based on the information received about the robot position obtained in the image. To be able to track the position of the robot through a sequence of images in real-time, the robot is marked with an artificial marker that can be distinguishably recognized by the image recognition subsystem. Using the property of differential flatness, a dynamic feedback compensator can be designed for the system, thereby extending the system into a linear form. The presented control algorithm for reference tracking combines a feedforward and a feedback loop, the structure also known as a two DOF control scheme. The feedforward part should drive the system to the vicinity of the reference trajectory and the feedback part should eliminate any errors that occur due to noise and other disturbances etc. The feedforward control can never achieve accurate reference following, but this deficiency can be eliminated with the introduction of the feedback loop. The design of the model predictive control is based on the linear error model. The model predictive control is given in analytical form, so the computational burden is kept at a reasonable level for real-time implementation. The control algorithm requires that a reference trajectory is at least twice differentiable function. A suitable approach to design such a trajectory is by exploiting some useful properties of the Bernstein-Bézier parametric curves. The simulation experiments as well as real system experiments on a robot normally used in the

  12. Affective and behavioral responses to robot-initiated social touch : Towards understanding the opportunities and limitations of physical contact in human-robot interaction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Willemse, C.J.A.M.; Toet, A.; Erp, J.B.F. van

    2017-01-01

    Social touch forms an important aspect of the human non-verbal communication repertoire, but is often overlooked in human–robot interaction. In this study, we investigated whether robot-initiated touches can induce physiological, emotional, and behavioral responses similar to those reported for

  13. Affective and Behavioral Responses to Robot-Initiated Social Touch : Toward Understanding the Opportunities and Limitations of Physical Contact in Human–Robot Interaction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Willemse, Christian J. A. M.; Toet, Alexander; van Erp, Jan B. F.

    2017-01-01

    Social touch forms an important aspect of the human non-verbal communication repertoire, but is often overlooked in human-robot interaction. In this study, we investigated whether robot-initiated touches can induce physiological, emotional, and behavioral responses similar to those reported for

  14. Controlling Tensegrity Robots through Evolution using Friction based Actuation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kothapalli, Tejasvi; Agogino, Adrian K.

    2017-01-01

    Traditional robotic structures have limitations in planetary exploration as their rigid structural joints are prone to damage in new and rough terrains. In contrast, robots based on tensegrity structures, composed of rods and tensile cables, offer a highly robust, lightweight, and energy efficient solution over traditional robots. In addition tensegrity robots can be highly configurable by rearranging their topology of rods, cables and motors. However, these highly configurable tensegrity robots pose a significant challenge for locomotion due to their complexity. This study investigates a control pattern for successful locomotion in tensegrity robots through an evolutionary algorithm. A twelve-rod hardware model is rapidly prototyped to utilize a new actuation method based on friction. A web-based physics simulation is created to model the twelve-rod tensegrity ball structure. Square-waves are used as control policies for the actuators of the tensegrity structure. Monte Carlo trials are run to find the most successful number of amplitudes for the square-wave control policy. From the results, an evolutionary algorithm is implemented to find the most optimized solution for locomotion of the twelve-rod tensegrity structure. The software pattern coupled with the new friction based actuation method can serve as the basis for highly efficient tensegrity robots in space exploration.

  15. Method and System for Controlling a Dexterous Robot Execution Sequence Using State Classification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Adam M. (Inventor); Platt, Robert J., Jr. (Inventor); Quillin, Nathaniel (Inventor); Permenter, Frank Noble (Inventor); Pfeiffer, Joseph (Inventor)

    2014-01-01

    A robotic system includes a dexterous robot and a controller. The robot includes a plurality of robotic joints, actuators for moving the joints, and sensors for measuring a characteristic of the joints, and for transmitting the characteristics as sensor signals. The controller receives the sensor signals, and is configured for executing instructions from memory, classifying the sensor signals into distinct classes via the state classification module, monitoring a system state of the robot using the classes, and controlling the robot in the execution of alternative work tasks based on the system state. A method for controlling the robot in the above system includes receiving the signals via the controller, classifying the signals using the state classification module, monitoring the present system state of the robot using the classes, and controlling the robot in the execution of alternative work tasks based on the present system state.

  16. Study of Inverted Pendulum Robot Using Fuzzy Servo Control Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dazhong Wang

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The inverted pendulum robot is a classical problem in controls. The inherit instabilities in the setup make it a natural target for a control system. Inverted pendulum robot is suitable to use for investigation and verification of various control methods for dynamic systems. Maintaining an equilibrium position of the pendulum pointing up is a challenge as this equilibrium position is unstable. As the inverted pendulum robot system is nonlinear it is well-suited to be controlled by fuzzy logic. In this paper, Lagrange method has been applied to develop the mathematical model of the system. The objective of the simulation to be shown using the fuzzy control method can stabilize the nonlinear system of inverted pendulum robot.

  17. A Modular Approach to Redundant Robot Control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, R.J.

    1997-12-01

    This paper describes a modular approach for computing redundant robot kinematics. First some conventional redundant control methods are presented and shown to be 'passive control laws', i.e. they can be represented by a network consisting of passive elements. These networks are then put into modular form by applying scattering operator techniques. Additional subnetwork modules can then be added to further shape the motion. Modules for obstacle detection, joint limit avoidance, proximity sensing, and for imposing nonlinear velocity constraints are presented. The resulting redundant robot control system is modular, flexible and robust

  18. Formalization, implementation, and modeling of institutional controllers for distributed robotic systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, José N; Silva, Porfírio; Lima, Pedro U; Martinoli, Alcherio

    2014-01-01

    The work described is part of a long term program of introducing institutional robotics, a novel framework for the coordination of robot teams that stems from institutional economics concepts. Under the framework, institutions are cumulative sets of persistent artificial modifications made to the environment or to the internal mechanisms of a subset of agents, thought to be functional for the collective order. In this article we introduce a formal model of institutional controllers based on Petri nets. We define executable Petri nets-an extension of Petri nets that takes into account robot actions and sensing-to design, program, and execute institutional controllers. We use a generalized stochastic Petri net view of the robot team controlled by the institutional controllers to model and analyze the stochastic performance of the resulting distributed robotic system. The ability of our formalism to replicate results obtained using other approaches is assessed through realistic simulations of up to 40 e-puck robots. In particular, we model a robot swarm and its institutional controller with the goal of maintaining wireless connectivity, and successfully compare our model predictions and simulation results with previously reported results, obtained by using finite state automaton models and controllers.

  19. Adaptive Control Methods for Soft Robots

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — I propose to develop methods for soft and inflatable robots that will allow the control system to adapt and change control parameters based on changing conditions...

  20. Influences of a Socially Interactive Robot on the Affective Behavior of Young Children with Disabilities. Social Robots Research Reports, Number 3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunst, Carl J.; Prior, Jeremy; Hamby, Deborah W.; Trivette, Carol M.

    2013-01-01

    Findings from two studies of 11 young children with autism, Down syndrome, or attention deficit disorders investigating the effects of Popchilla, a socially interactive robot, on the children's affective behavior are reported. The children were observed under two conditions, child-toy interactions and child-robot interactions, and ratings of child…

  1. Experimental robot gripper control for handling of soft objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedrich, Werner E.; Ziegler, T. H.; Lim, P.

    1996-10-01

    The challenging task of automated handling of variable objects necessitates a combination of innovative engineering and advanced information technology. This paper describes the application of a recently developed control strategy applied to overcome some limitations of robot handling, particularly when dealing with variable objects. The paper focuses on a novel approach to accommodate the need for sensing and actuation in controlling the pickup procedure. An experimental robot-based system for the handling of soft parts, ranging from artificial components to natural objects such as fruit and meat pieces was developed. The configuration comprises a modular gripper subsystem, and an industrial robot as part of a distributed control system. The gripper subsystem features manually configurable fingers with integrated sensing capabilities. The control architecture is based on a concept of decentralized control differentiating between positioning and gripping procedures. In this way, the robot and gripper systems are treated as individual handling operations. THis concept allows very short set-up times for future changes involving one or more sub-systems.

  2. Live video monitoring robot controlled by web over internet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lokanath, M.; Akhil Sai, Guruju

    2017-11-01

    Future is all about robots, robot can perform tasks where humans cannot, Robots have huge applications in military and industrial area for lifting heavy weights, for accurate placements, for repeating the same task number of times, where human are not efficient. Generally robot is a mix of electronic, electrical and mechanical engineering and can do the tasks automatically on its own or under the supervision of humans. The camera is the eye for robot, call as robovision helps in monitoring security system and also can reach into the places where the human eye cannot reach. This paper presents about developing a live video streaming robot controlled from the website. We designed the web, controlling for the robot to move left, right, front and back while streaming video. As we move to the smart environment or IoT (Internet of Things) by smart devices the system we developed here connects over the internet and can be operated with smart mobile phone using a web browser. The Raspberry Pi model B chip acts as heart for this system robot, the sufficient motors, surveillance camera R pi 2 are connected to Raspberry pi.

  3. 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).

  4. Control of a high precision macro-micro robotic manipulator system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Whang

    1997-01-01

    A controller for macro-micro robotic manipulator system in which kinematically independent two robotic sub-systems work together to improve the accuracy of the motion is proposed. A nonlinear feedback linearization scheme is employed as basic architecture for the controller and additional formulations about the controller structure are made to assure the robustness of the overall control action and to restrict the motion of micro sub-system close to its nominal position without causing saturation of joint associated with micro-robot. (author)

  5. 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)

  6. Control de Tracción en Robots Móviles con Ruedas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Fernández

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Resumen: En este trabajo se presenta una solución para mejorar el rendimiento de los robots móviles con ruedas que se desplacen sobre superficies con un bajo coeficiente de fricción estática. En estas circunstancias, los robots móviles con ruedas pueden experimentar pérdidas de tracción, y por tanto, sufrir deslizamientos a lo largo de la superficie. La solución descrita propone la utilización de una configuración especial para el robot móvil, en la que todas las ruedas son accionadas de forma independiente, y una estructura de control que consta de tres partes bien diferenciadas: un controlador de seguimiento con realimentación de estado basado en el modelo cinemático del robot, una extensión de la ley de control cinemático resultante para incorporar la dinámica del robot móvil utilizando backstepping, y un algoritmo de distribución de la fuerza de tracción global, que calcula las señales de referencia adecuadas para cada una de las ruedas. Con esta estructura se consigue controlar la posición y la velocidad del robot móvil, y al mismo tiempo, distribuir la fuerza de tracción global entre las ruedas, evitando así el deslizamiento del robot. El funcionamiento de los algoritmos de control es evaluado mediante pruebas experimentales. Abstract: This article presents a solution to improve the performance of wheeled mobile robots that move upon surfaces with small coefficient of static friction. In these circumstances the wheeled mobile robots can experience loss of traction and therefore, slide along the surface. The proposed solution implies the use of a special configuration for the mobile robot, in which all the wheels are driven independently, and a control structure which consists of three distinct parts: firstly, a state-feedback tracking controller based on the kinematic model of the mobile robot is derived. Secondly, an extension of the kinematic control law is made to incorporate the dynamics of the wheeled mobile

  7. The Remotely Controlled Robot System for Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koh, Kwangill; Lee, Gwangnam; Lim, Kyeyoung

    1993-01-01

    The problem of radioactivity has been our major concern. So, it makes the needs of remotely controlled robot system necessary for maintenance and repair services. Up to now, several foreign companies have been contracted for the maintenance of the steam generators of nuclear power plants in Korea, to acquire its own capability of maintaining the steam generators of it impossible for Korea to acquire its own capability of maintaining the steam generators. In case of emergency, it is difficult to take appropriate steps on its own. In order to resolve the above problems, it seems inevitable to develop the robot system for the inspection and repair of steam generator. This project intends to acquire domestic capabilities of maintaining steam generators, so that this advanced skills could be applied to the related areas. As a result, it will save immense money in the future. the purposes of development of the remotely controlled robot system are : to perform the desired tasks at the polluted area without requiring entry of personnel. to closely inspect the steam generator U-tubes at high speed. to inspect the steam generator intelligently and efficiently under the extreme circumstances where radioactivity problem is very severe. to use for the repair of steam generator tube. Considering from the social and technical standpoint, we can say that the development of the remotely controlled robot system for nuclear power plants resulted in great achievements. From the social standpoint, it should be recognized that domestic robot for nuclear power plant was successfully developed and operator was protected against radioactivity. Also, we advanced our skills in the area of mechanical and control system design for an articulated robot. Using the robot controller in hierarchical structure, it was possible to control the robot remotely. In addition, resolver feedback typed A C servo drive was proven to be sturdy in hazardous environment. Now we are confident that our robot will

  8. Biologically inspired control of humanoid robot arms robust and adaptive approaches

    CERN Document Server

    Spiers, Adam; Herrmann, Guido

    2016-01-01

    This book investigates a biologically inspired method of robot arm control, developed with the objective of synthesising human-like motion dynamically, using nonlinear, robust and adaptive control techniques in practical robot systems. The control method caters to a rising interest in humanoid robots and the need for appropriate control schemes to match these systems. Unlike the classic kinematic schemes used in industrial manipulators, the dynamic approaches proposed here promote human-like motion with better exploitation of the robot’s physical structure. This also benefits human-robot interaction. The control schemes proposed in this book are inspired by a wealth of human-motion literature that indicates the drivers of motion to be dynamic, model-based and optimal. Such considerations lend themselves nicely to achievement via nonlinear control techniques without the necessity for extensive and complex biological models. The operational-space method of robot control forms the basis of many of the techniqu...

  9. Adaptive Robot to Person Encounter by Motion Patterns

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Hans Jørgen; Bak, Thomas; Svenstrup, Mikael

    2009-01-01

    This paper introduces a new method for adaptive control of a robot approaching a person controlled by the person's interest in interaction. For adjustment of the robot behavior a cost function centered in the person is adapted according to an introduced person evaluator method relying on the three...... variables: the distance between the person and the robot, the relative velocity between the two, and position of the person. The person evaluator method determine the person's interest by evaluating the spatial relationship between robot and person in a Case Based Reasoning (CBR) system that is trained...... to determine to which degree the person is interested in interaction. The outcome of the CBR system is used to adapt the cost function around the person, so that the robot's behavior is adapted to the expressed interest. The proposed methods are evaluated by a number of physical experiments that demonstrate...

  10. RoMPS concept review automatic control of space robot, volume 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobbs, M. E.

    1991-01-01

    Topics related to robot operated materials processing in space (RoMPS) are presented in view graph form and include: (1) system concept; (2) Hitchhiker Interface Requirements; (3) robot axis control concepts; (4) Autonomous Experiment Management System; (5) Zymate Robot Controller; (6) Southwest SC-4 Computer; (7) oven control housekeeping data; and (8) power distribution.

  11. Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M. L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

    2016-07-01

    The term 'synergy' - from the Greek synergia - means 'working together'. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project ;The Hand Embodied; (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies.

  12. Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M.L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

    2017-01-01

    The term ‘synergy’ – from the Greek synergia – means ‘working together’. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project “The Hand Embodied” (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies. PMID:26923030

  13. Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M L; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

    2016-07-01

    The term 'synergy' - from the Greek synergia - means 'working together'. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project "The Hand Embodied" (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Inverse kinematic-based robot control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolovich, W. A.; Flueckiger, K. F.

    1987-01-01

    A fundamental problem which must be resolved in virtually all non-trivial robotic operations is the well-known inverse kinematic question. More specifically, most of the tasks which robots are called upon to perform are specified in Cartesian (x,y,z) space, such as simple tracking along one or more straight line paths or following a specified surfacer with compliant force sensors and/or visual feedback. In all cases, control is actually implemented through coordinated motion of the various links which comprise the manipulator; i.e., in link space. As a consequence, the control computer of every sophisticated anthropomorphic robot must contain provisions for solving the inverse kinematic problem which, in the case of simple, non-redundant position control, involves the determination of the first three link angles, theta sub 1, theta sub 2, and theta sub 3, which produce a desired wrist origin position P sub xw, P sub yw, and P sub zw at the end of link 3 relative to some fixed base frame. Researchers outline a new inverse kinematic solution and demonstrate its potential via some recent computer simulations. They also compare it to current inverse kinematic methods and outline some of the remaining problems which will be addressed in order to render it fully operational. Also discussed are a number of practical consequences of this technique beyond its obvious use in solving the inverse kinematic question.

  15. Integrated mobile robot control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amidi, Omead; Thorpe, Chuck E.

    1991-03-01

    This paper describes the strucwre implementation and operation of a real-time mobile robot controller which integrates capabilities such as: position estimation path specification and hacking human interfaces fast communication and multiple client support The benefits of such high-level capabilities in a low-level controller was shown by its implementation for the Naviab autonomous vehicle. In addition performance results from positioning and tracking systems are reported and analyzed.

  16. Dynamical Integration of Language and Behavior in a Recurrent Neural Network for Human--Robot Interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatsuro Yamada

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available To work cooperatively with humans by using language, robots must not only acquire a mapping between language and their behavior but also autonomously utilize the mapping in appropriate contexts of interactive tasks online. To this end, we propose a novel learning method linking language to robot behavior by means of a recurrent neural network. In this method, the network learns from correct examples of the imposed task that are given not as explicitly separated sets of language and behavior but as sequential data constructed from the actual temporal flow of the task. By doing this, the internal dynamics of the network models both language--behavior relationships and the temporal patterns of interaction. Here, ``internal dynamics'' refers to the time development of the system defined on the fixed-dimensional space of the internal states of the context layer. Thus, in the execution phase, by constantly representing where in the interaction context it is as its current state, the network autonomously switches between recognition and generation phases without any explicit signs and utilizes the acquired mapping in appropriate contexts. To evaluate our method, we conducted an experiment in which a robot generates appropriate behavior responding to a human's linguistic instruction. After learning, the network actually formed the attractor structure representing both language--behavior relationships and the task's temporal pattern in its internal dynamics. In the dynamics, language--behavior mapping was achieved by the branching structure. Repetition of human's instruction and robot's behavioral response was represented as the cyclic structure, and besides, waiting to a subsequent instruction was represented as the fixed-point attractor. Thanks to this structure, the robot was able to interact online with a human concerning the given task by autonomously switching phases.

  17. Dynamical Integration of Language and Behavior in a Recurrent Neural Network for Human-Robot Interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamada, Tatsuro; Murata, Shingo; Arie, Hiroaki; Ogata, Tetsuya

    2016-01-01

    To work cooperatively with humans by using language, robots must not only acquire a mapping between language and their behavior but also autonomously utilize the mapping in appropriate contexts of interactive tasks online. To this end, we propose a novel learning method linking language to robot behavior by means of a recurrent neural network. In this method, the network learns from correct examples of the imposed task that are given not as explicitly separated sets of language and behavior but as sequential data constructed from the actual temporal flow of the task. By doing this, the internal dynamics of the network models both language-behavior relationships and the temporal patterns of interaction. Here, "internal dynamics" refers to the time development of the system defined on the fixed-dimensional space of the internal states of the context layer. Thus, in the execution phase, by constantly representing where in the interaction context it is as its current state, the network autonomously switches between recognition and generation phases without any explicit signs and utilizes the acquired mapping in appropriate contexts. To evaluate our method, we conducted an experiment in which a robot generates appropriate behavior responding to a human's linguistic instruction. After learning, the network actually formed the attractor structure representing both language-behavior relationships and the task's temporal pattern in its internal dynamics. In the dynamics, language-behavior mapping was achieved by the branching structure. Repetition of human's instruction and robot's behavioral response was represented as the cyclic structure, and besides, waiting to a subsequent instruction was represented as the fixed-point attractor. Thanks to this structure, the robot was able to interact online with a human concerning the given task by autonomously switching phases.

  18. Distributed Recurrent Neural Forward Models with Synaptic Adaptation and CPG-based control for Complex Behaviors of Walking Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sakyasingha eDasgupta

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Walking animals, like stick insects, cockroaches or ants, demonstrate a fascinating range of locomotive abilities and complex behaviors. The locomotive behaviors can consist of a variety of walking patterns along with adaptation that allow the animals to deal with changes in environmental conditions, like uneven terrains, gaps, obstacles etc. Biological study has revealed that such complex behaviors are a result of a combination of biomechanics and neural mechanism thus representing the true nature of embodied interactions. While the biomechanics helps maintain flexibility and sustain a variety of movements, the neural mechanisms generate movements while making appropriate predictions crucial for achieving adaptation. Such predictions or planning ahead can be achieved by way of internal models that are grounded in the overall behavior of the animal. Inspired by these findings, we present here, an artificial bio-inspired walking system which effectively combines biomechanics (in terms of the body and leg structures with the underlying neural mechanisms. The neural mechanisms consist of 1 central pattern generator based control for generating basic rhythmic patterns and coordinated movements, 2 distributed (at each leg recurrent neural network based adaptive forward models with efference copies as internal models for sensory predictions and instantaneous state estimations, and 3 searching and elevation control for adapting the movement of an individual leg to deal with different environmental conditions. Using simulations we show that this bio-inspired approach with adaptive internal models allows the walking robot to perform complex locomotive behaviors as observed in insects, including walking on undulated terrains, crossing large gaps as well as climbing over high obstacles. Furthermore we demonstrate that the newly developed recurrent network based approach to sensorimotor prediction outperforms the previous state of the art adaptive neuron

  19. Morphology Independent Learning in Modular Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, David Johan; Bordignon, Mirko; Schultz, Ulrik Pagh

    2009-01-01

    Hand-coding locomotion controllers for modular robots is difficult due to their polymorphic nature. Instead, we propose to use a simple and distributed reinforcement learning strategy. ATRON modules with identical controllers can be assembled in any configuration. To optimize the robot’s locomotion...... speed its modules independently and in parallel adjust their behavior based on a single global reward signal. In simulation, we study the learning strategy’s performance on different robot configurations. On the physical platform, we perform learning experiments with ATRON robots learning to move as fast...

  20. Effects of Interruptibility-Aware Robot Behavior

    OpenAIRE

    Banerjee, Siddhartha; Silva, Andrew; Feigh, Karen; Chernova, Sonia

    2018-01-01

    As robots become increasingly prevalent in human environments, there will inevitably be times when a robot needs to interrupt a human to initiate an interaction. Our work introduces the first interruptibility-aware mobile robot system, and evaluates the effects of interruptibility-awareness on human task performance, robot task performance, and on human interpretation of the robot's social aptitude. Our results show that our robot is effective at predicting interruptibility at high accuracy, ...

  1. Controller tuning based on optimization algorithms of a novel spherical rolling robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadegjian, Rasou; Masouleh, Mehdi Tale

    2016-01-01

    This study presents the construction process of a novel spherical rolling robot and control strategies that are used to improve robot locomotion. The proposed robot drive mechanism is constructed based on a combination of the pendulum and wheel drive mechanisms. The control model of the proposed robot is developed, and the state space model is calculated based on the obtained control model. Two control strategies are defined to improve the synchronization performance of the proposed robot motors. The proportional-derivative and proportional-integral-derivative controllers are designed based on the pole placement method. The proportional-integral-derivative controller leads to a better step response than the proportional-derivative controller. The controller parameters are tuned with genetic and differential evaluation algorithms. The proportional-integral-derivative controller which is tuned based on the differential evaluation algorithm leads to a better step response than the proportional-integral-derivative controller that is tuned based on genetic algorithm. Fuzzy logics are used to reduce the robot drive mechanism motors synchronizing process time to the end of achieving a high-performance controller. The experimental implementation results of fuzzy-proportional-integral-derivative on the proposed spherical rolling robot resulted in a desirable synchronizing performance in a short time

  2. Controller tuning based on optimization algorithms of a novel spherical rolling robot

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sadegjian, Rasou [Dept. of Electrical, Biomedical, and Mechatronics Engineering, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, QazvinI (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Masouleh, Mehdi Tale [Human and Robot Interaction Laboratory, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2016-11-15

    This study presents the construction process of a novel spherical rolling robot and control strategies that are used to improve robot locomotion. The proposed robot drive mechanism is constructed based on a combination of the pendulum and wheel drive mechanisms. The control model of the proposed robot is developed, and the state space model is calculated based on the obtained control model. Two control strategies are defined to improve the synchronization performance of the proposed robot motors. The proportional-derivative and proportional-integral-derivative controllers are designed based on the pole placement method. The proportional-integral-derivative controller leads to a better step response than the proportional-derivative controller. The controller parameters are tuned with genetic and differential evaluation algorithms. The proportional-integral-derivative controller which is tuned based on the differential evaluation algorithm leads to a better step response than the proportional-integral-derivative controller that is tuned based on genetic algorithm. Fuzzy logics are used to reduce the robot drive mechanism motors synchronizing process time to the end of achieving a high-performance controller. The experimental implementation results of fuzzy-proportional-integral-derivative on the proposed spherical rolling robot resulted in a desirable synchronizing performance in a short time.

  3. Control design for a mobile robot Including tire behavior

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ploeg, J.; Schouten, H.E.; Nijmeijer, H.

    2008-01-01

    In order to support the development process of Advanced Driver Assistance systems for road vehicles, TNO is operating a hardware-in-the-loop test setup. In this facility, called VeHIL, vehicles in the direct neighborhood of the test vehicle are simulated using wheeled mobile robots. Due to the

  4. Control design for a mobile robot including tire behavior

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ploeg, J.; Schouten, H.E.; Nijmeijer, H.

    2008-01-01

    In order to support the development process of Advanced Driver Assistance systems for road vehicles, TNO is operating a hardware-in-the-loop test setup. In this facility, called VeHIL, vehicles in the direct neighborhood of the test vehicle are simulated using wheeled mobile robots. Due to the

  5. Walking Pattern Generation of Dual-Arm Mobile Robot Using Preview Controller

    OpenAIRE

    P. Wu; W. Wu

    2012-01-01

    Based on the stability request of robot’s moving on the ground, the motion planning of dual-arm mobile robot when moving on the ground is studied and the preview control system is applied in the robot walking pattern generation. Direct question of robot kinematics in the extended task space is analyzed according to Degrees of Freedom configuration of the dual-arm mobile robot. It is proved that the preview control system could be used in the generation of robot Center of Mass forward trajecto...

  6. State Estimation for Tensegrity Robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caluwaerts, Ken; Bruce, Jonathan; Friesen, Jeffrey M.; Sunspiral, Vytas

    2016-01-01

    Tensegrity robots are a class of compliant robots that have many desirable traits when designing mass efficient systems that must interact with uncertain environments. Various promising control approaches have been proposed for tensegrity systems in simulation. Unfortunately, state estimation methods for tensegrity robots have not yet been thoroughly studied. In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of a state estimator for tensegrity robots. This state estimator will enable existing and future control algorithms to transfer from simulation to hardware. Our approach is based on the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and combines inertial measurements, ultra wideband time-of-flight ranging measurements, and actuator state information. We evaluate the effectiveness of our method on the SUPERball, a tensegrity based planetary exploration robotic prototype. In particular, we conduct tests for evaluating both the robot's success in estimating global position in relation to fixed ranging base stations during rolling maneuvers as well as local behavior due to small-amplitude deformations induced by cable actuation.

  7. Soft brain-machine interfaces for assistive robotics: A novel control approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schiatti, Lucia; Tessadori, Jacopo; Barresi, Giacinto; Mattos, Leonardo S; Ajoudani, Arash

    2017-07-01

    Robotic systems offer the possibility of improving the life quality of people with severe motor disabilities, enhancing the individual's degree of independence and interaction with the external environment. In this direction, the operator's residual functions must be exploited for the control of the robot movements and the underlying dynamic interaction through intuitive and effective human-robot interfaces. Towards this end, this work aims at exploring the potential of a novel Soft Brain-Machine Interface (BMI), suitable for dynamic execution of remote manipulation tasks for a wide range of patients. The interface is composed of an eye-tracking system, for an intuitive and reliable control of a robotic arm system's trajectories, and a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) unit, for the control of the robot Cartesian stiffness, which determines the interaction forces between the robot and environment. The latter control is achieved by estimating in real-time a unidimensional index from user's electroencephalographic (EEG) signals, which provides the probability of a neutral or active state. This estimated state is then translated into a stiffness value for the robotic arm, allowing a reliable modulation of the robot's impedance. A preliminary evaluation of this hybrid interface concept provided evidence on the effective execution of tasks with dynamic uncertainties, demonstrating the great potential of this control method in BMI applications for self-service and clinical care.

  8. Robotics for mining control

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1986-11-01

    In 1982 surveys of the mining industry revealed no applications of robotics existed and none were planned. This report provides a general overview of automation in the mining industry since this point in time. Roof control electronics, gas monitoring, jumbo drill automation, remote and sensor- controlled continuous miners, automated trolley trucks, roof bolting and screening machines are examples of technology available today. The report concludes with recommendations as to six potential research areas. 25 refs.

  9. Iterative learning control with sampled-data feedback for robot manipulators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Delchev Kamen

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the improvement of the stability of sampled-data (SD feedback control for nonlinear multiple-input multiple-output time varying systems, such as robotic manipulators, by incorporating an off-line model based nonlinear iterative learning controller. The proposed scheme of nonlinear iterative learning control (NILC with SD feedback is applicable to a large class of robots because the sampled-data feedback is required for model based feedback controllers, especially for robotic manipulators with complicated dynamics (6 or 7 DOF, or more, while the feedforward control from the off-line iterative learning controller should be assumed as a continuous one. The robustness and convergence of the proposed NILC law with SD feedback is proven, and the derived sufficient condition for convergence is the same as the condition for a NILC with a continuous feedback control input. With respect to the presented NILC algorithm applied to a virtual PUMA 560 robot, simulation results are presented in order to verify convergence and applicability of the proposed learning controller with SD feedback controller attached

  10. Intelligent control system Cellular Robotics Approach to Nuclear Plant control and maintenance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fukuda, Toshio; Sekiyama, Kousuke; Xue Guoqing; Ueyama, Tsuyoshi.

    1994-01-01

    This paper presents the concept of Cellular Robotic System (CEBOT) and describe the strategy of a distributed sensing, control and planning as a Cellular Robotics Approach to the Nuclear Plant control and maintenance. Decentralized System is effective in large plant and The CEBOT possesses desirable features for realization of Nuclear Plant control and maintenance because of its flexibility and adaptability. Also, as related on going research work, self-organizing manipulator and communication issues are mentioned. (author)

  11. Robust tracking control of two-degrees-of-freedom mobile robots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oelen, W.; Oelen, W.; van Amerongen, J.

    1994-01-01

    A robust tracking controller for a mobile robot with two degrees of freedom has been developed. It is implemented and tested on a real mobile robot. Where other controllers show decreasing performance for low reference velocities, the performance of this controller depends only on the geometry of

  12. Fuzzy Logic Based The Application of Multi-Microcontroller in Mobile Robot Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuryono Satya Widodo

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposed a fuzzy logic based mobile robot as implemented in a multimicrocontroller system. Fuzzy logic controller was developed based on a behavior based approach. The Controller inputs were obtained from seven sonar sensor and three tactile switches. Behavior based approach was implemented in different level priority of behaviors. The behaviors were: obstacle avoidance, wall following and escaping as the emergency behavior. The results show that robot was able to navigate autonomously and avoid the entire obstacle.

  13. The research on visual industrial robot which adopts fuzzy PID control algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Yifei; Lu, Guoping; Yue, Lulin; Jiang, Weifeng; Zhang, Ye

    2017-03-01

    The control system of six degrees of freedom visual industrial robot based on the control mode of multi-axis motion control cards and PC was researched. For the variable, non-linear characteristics of industrial robot`s servo system, adaptive fuzzy PID controller was adopted. It achieved better control effort. In the vision system, a CCD camera was used to acquire signals and send them to video processing card. After processing, PC controls the six joints` motion by motion control cards. By experiment, manipulator can operate with machine tool and vision system to realize the function of grasp, process and verify. It has influence on the manufacturing of the industrial robot.

  14. Traction Control Study for a Scaled Automated Robotic Car

    OpenAIRE

    Morton, Mark A.

    2004-01-01

    This thesis presents the use of sliding mode control applied to a 1/10th scale robotic car to operate at a desired slip. Controlling the robot car at any desired slip has a direct relation to the amount of force that is applied to the driving wheels based on road surface conditions. For this model, the desired traction/slip is maintained for a specific surface which happens to be a Lego treadmill platform. How the platform evolved and the robot car was designed are also covered. To parame...

  15. Automating the Incremental Evolution of Controllers for Physical Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Faina, Andres; Jacobsen, Lars Toft; Risi, Sebastian

    2017-01-01

    the evolution of digital objects.…” The work presented here investigates how fully autonomous evolution of robot controllers can be realized in hardware, using an industrial robot and a marker-based computer vision system. In particular, this article presents an approach to automate the reconfiguration...... of the test environment and shows that it is possible, for the first time, to incrementally evolve a neural robot controller for different obstacle avoidance tasks with no human intervention. Importantly, the system offers a high level of robustness and precision that could potentially open up the range...

  16. Remote control and motion coordination of mobile robots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alvarez Aguirre, A.

    2011-01-01

    As robots destined for personal and professional applications advance towards becoming part of our daily lives, the importance and complexity of the control algorithms which regulate them should not be underestimated. This thesis is related to two fields within robotics which are of major importance

  17. Self-repairing control for damaged robotic manipulators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eisler, G.R.; Robinett, R.D.; Dohrmann, C.R.; Driessen, B.J.

    1997-03-01

    Algorithms have been developed allowing operation of robotic systems under damaged conditions. Specific areas addressed were optimal sensor location, adaptive nonlinear control, fault-tolerant robot design, and dynamic path-planning. A seven-degree-of-freedom, hydraulic manipulator, with fault-tolerant joint design was also constructed and tested. This report completes this project which was funded under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program

  18. Design and real-time control of a robotic system for fracture manipulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dagnino, G; Georgilas, I; Tarassoli, P; Atkins, R; Dogramadzi, S

    2015-08-01

    This paper presents the design, development and control of a new robotic system for fracture manipulation. The objective is to improve the precision, ergonomics and safety of the traditional surgical procedure to treat joint fractures. The achievements toward this direction are here reported and include the design, the real-time control architecture and the evaluation of a new robotic manipulator system. The robotic manipulator is a 6-DOF parallel robot with the struts developed as linear actuators. The control architecture is also described here. The high-level controller implements a host-target structure composed by a host computer (PC), a real-time controller, and an FPGA. A graphical user interface was designed allowing the surgeon to comfortably automate and monitor the robotic system. The real-time controller guarantees the determinism of the control algorithms adding an extra level of safety for the robotic automation. The system's positioning accuracy and repeatability have been demonstrated showing a maximum positioning RMSE of 1.18 ± 1.14mm (translations) and 1.85 ± 1.54° (rotations).

  19. Optimal Control Method of Robot End Position and Orientation Based on Dynamic Tracking Measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Dalong; Xu, Lijuan

    2018-01-01

    In order to improve the accuracy of robot pose positioning and control, this paper proposed a dynamic tracking measurement robot pose optimization control method based on the actual measurement of D-H parameters of the robot, the parameters is taken with feedback compensation of the robot, according to the geometrical parameters obtained by robot pose tracking measurement, improved multi sensor information fusion the extended Kalan filter method, with continuous self-optimal regression, using the geometric relationship between joint axes for kinematic parameters in the model, link model parameters obtained can timely feedback to the robot, the implementation of parameter correction and compensation, finally we can get the optimal attitude angle, realize the robot pose optimization control experiments were performed. 6R dynamic tracking control of robot joint robot with independent research and development is taken as experimental subject, the simulation results show that the control method improves robot positioning accuracy, and it has the advantages of versatility, simplicity, ease of operation and so on.

  20. Research and development of service robot platform based on artificial psychology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xueyuan; Wang, Zhiliang; Wang, Fenhua; Nagai, Masatake

    2007-12-01

    Some related works about the control architecture of robot system are briefly summarized. According to the discussions above, this paper proposes control architecture of service robot based on artificial psychology. In this control architecture, the robot can obtain the cognition of environment through sensors, and then be handled with intelligent model, affective model and learning model, and finally express the reaction to the outside stimulation through its behavior. For better understanding the architecture, hierarchical structure is also discussed. The control system of robot can be divided into five layers, namely physical layer, drives layer, information-processing and behavior-programming layer, application layer and system inspection and control layer. This paper shows how to achieve system integration from hardware modules, software interface and fault diagnosis. Embedded system GENE-8310 is selected as the PC platform of robot APROS-I, and its primary memory media is CF card. The arms and body of the robot are constituted by 13 motors and some connecting fittings. Besides, the robot has a robot head with emotional facial expression, and the head has 13 DOFs. The emotional and intelligent model is one of the most important parts in human-machine interaction. In order to better simulate human emotion, an emotional interaction model for robot is proposed according to the theory of need levels of Maslom and mood information of Siminov. This architecture has already been used in our intelligent service robot.

  1. 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.

  2. Gesture-Based Robot Control with Variable Autonomy from the JPL Biosleeve

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, Michael T.; Assad, Christopher; Vernacchia, Matthew T.; Fromm, Joshua; Jethani, Henna L.

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a new gesture-based human interface for natural robot control. Detailed activity of the user's hand and arm is acquired via a novel device, called the BioSleeve, which packages dry-contact surface electromyography (EMG) and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) into a sleeve worn on the forearm. The BioSleeve's accompanying algorithms can reliably decode as many as sixteen discrete hand gestures and estimate the continuous orientation of the forearm. These gestures and positions are mapped to robot commands that, to varying degrees, integrate with the robot's perception of its environment and its ability to complete tasks autonomously. This flexible approach enables, for example, supervisory point-to-goal commands, virtual joystick for guarded teleoperation, and high degree of freedom mimicked manipulation, all from a single device. The BioSleeve is meant for portable field use; unlike other gesture recognition systems, use of the BioSleeve for robot control is invariant to lighting conditions, occlusions, and the human-robot spatial relationship and does not encumber the user's hands. The BioSleeve control approach has been implemented on three robot types, and we present proof-of-principle demonstrations with mobile ground robots, manipulation robots, and prosthetic hands.

  3. Kinematic equations for resolved-rate control of an industrial robot arm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barker, L. K.

    1983-01-01

    An operator can use kinematic, resolved-rate equations to dynamically control a robot arm by watching its response to commanded inputs. Known resolved-rate equations for the control of a particular six-degree-of-freedom industrial robot arm and proceeds to simplify the equations for faster computations are derived. Methods for controlling the robot arm in regions which normally cause mathematical singularities in the resolved-rate equations are discussed.

  4. Integrated Control Strategies Supporting Autonomous Functionalities in Mobile Robots

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Sights, B; Everett, H. R; Pacis, E. B; Kogut, G; Thompson, M

    2005-01-01

    High-level intelligence allows a mobile robot to create and interpret complex world models, but without a precise control system, the accuracy of the world model and the robot's ability to interact...

  5. Design And Control Of Agricultural Robot For Tomato Plants Treatment And Harvesting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sembiring, Arnes; Budiman, Arif; Lestari, Yuyun D.

    2017-12-01

    Although Indonesia is one of the biggest agricultural country in the world, implementation of robotic technology, otomation and efficiency enhancement in agriculture process hasn’t extensive yet. This research proposed a low cost agricultural robot architecture. The robot could help farmer to survey their farm area, treat the tomato plants and harvest the ripe tomatoes. Communication between farmer and robot was facilitated by wireless line using radio wave to reach wide area (120m radius). The radio wave was combinated with Bluetooth to simplify the communication between robot and farmer’s Android smartphone. The robot was equipped with a camera, so the farmers could survey the farm situation through 7 inch monitor display real time. The farmers controlled the robot and arm movement through an user interface in Android smartphone. The user interface contains control icons that allow farmers to control the robot movement (formard, reverse, turn right and turn left) and cut the spotty leaves or harvest the ripe tomatoes.

  6. Distributed Control Diffusion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schultz, Ulrik Pagh

    2007-01-01

    . Programming a modular, self-reconfigurable robot is however a complicated task: the robot is essentially a real-time, distributed embedded system, where control and communication paths often are tightly coupled to the current physical configuration of the robot. To facilitate the task of programming modular....... This approach allows the programmer to dynamically distribute behaviors throughout a robot and moreover provides a partial abstraction over the concrete physical shape of the robot. We have implemented a prototype of a distributed control diffusion system for the ATRON modular, self-reconfigurable robot......, self-reconfigurable robots, we present the concept of distributed control diffusion: distributed queries are used to identify modules that play a specific role in the robot, and behaviors that implement specific control strategies are diffused throughout the robot based on these role assignments...

  7. Pardon the rude robot: social cues diminish reactance to high controlling language

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ghazali, A.S.; Ham, J.R.C.; Barakova, E.I.; Markopoulos, P.

    2017-01-01

    In many future social interactions between robots and humans, robots may need to convince people to change their behavior. People may dislike and resist such persuasive attempts, a phenomenon known as psychological reactance. This paper examines how reactance, measured in terms of negative

  8. Humanoid Walking Robot: Modeling, Inverse Dynamics, and Gain Scheduling Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elvedin Kljuno

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This article presents reference-model-based control design for a 10 degree-of-freedom bipedal walking robot, using nonlinear gain scheduling. The main goal is to show concentrated mass models can be used for prediction of the required joint torques for a bipedal walking robot. Relatively complicated architecture, high DOF, and balancing requirements make the control task of these robots difficult. Although linear control techniques can be used to control bipedal robots, nonlinear control is necessary for better performance. The emphasis of this work is to show that the reference model can be a bipedal walking model with concentrated mass at the center of gravity, which removes the problems related to design of a pseudo-inverse system. Another significance of this approach is the reduced calculation requirements due to the simplified procedure of nominal joint torques calculation. Kinematic and dynamic analysis is discussed including results for joint torques and ground force necessary to implement a prescribed walking motion. This analysis is accompanied by a comparison with experimental data. An inverse plant and a tracking error linearization-based controller design approach is described. We propose a novel combination of a nonlinear gain scheduling with a concentrated mass model for the MIMO bipedal robot system.

  9. An assigned responsibility system for robotic teleoperation control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Small, Nicolas; Lee, Kevin; Mann, Graham

    2018-01-01

    This paper proposes an architecture that explores a gap in the spectrum of existing strategies for robot control mode switching in adjustable autonomy. In situations where the environment is reasonably known and/or predictable, pre-planning these control changes could relieve robot operators of the additional task of deciding when and how to switch. Such a strategy provides a clear division of labour between the automation and the human operator(s) before the job even begins, allowing for individual responsibilities to be known ahead of time, limiting confusion and allowing rest breaks to be planned. Assigned Responsibility is a new form of adjustable autonomy-based teleoperation that allows the selective inclusion of automated control elements at key stages of a robot operation plan's execution. Progression through these stages is controlled by automatic goal accomplishment tracking. An implementation is evaluated through engineering tests and a usability study, demonstrating the viability of this approach and offering insight into its potential applications.

  10. Robust Control Design of Wheeled Inverted Pendulum Assistant Robot

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Magdi S.Mahmoud; Mohammad T.Nasir

    2017-01-01

    This paper examines the design concept and mobile control strategy of the human assistant robot I-PENTAR(inverted pendulum type assistant robot). The motion equation is derived considering the non-holonomic constraint of the twowheeled mobile robot. Different optimal control approaches are applied to a linearized model of I-PENTAR. These include linear quadratic regulator(LQR), linear quadratic Gaussian control(LQG), H2 control and H∞ control. Simulation is performed for all the approaches yielding good performance results.

  11. Co-Simulation Control of Robot Arm Dynamics in ADAMS and MATLAB

    OpenAIRE

    Luo Haitao; Liu Yuwang; Chen Zhengcang; Leng Yuquan

    2013-01-01

    The main objective of this study is how to quickly establish the virtual prototyping model of robot arm system and effectively solve trajectory tracking control for a given signal. Taking the 2-DOF robot arm as an example, a co-simulation control method is introduced to research multi-body dynamics. Using Newton-Euler and Lagrange method, respectively establish the dynamics model of robot arm and verify the correctness of equations. Firstly, the physical model of robot arm was built by PROE a...

  12. 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.

  13. Transputer Control of Hydraulic Actuators and Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Conrad, Finn

    1996-01-01

    Results from a Danish mechatronics research program entitled IMCIA - Intelligent Control and Intelligent Actuators. The objective is development of intelligent actuators for intelligent motion control. A mechatronics test facility with a transputer controlled hydraulic robot suiteable for real...

  14. Robotics, vision and control fundamental algorithms in Matlab

    CERN Document Server

    Corke, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Robotic vision, the combination of robotics and computer vision, involves the application of computer algorithms to data acquired from sensors. The research community has developed a large body of such algorithms but for a newcomer to the field this can be quite daunting. For over 20 years the author has maintained two open-source MATLAB® Toolboxes, one for robotics and one for vision. They provide implementations of many important algorithms and allow users to work with real problems, not just trivial examples. This book makes the fundamental algorithms of robotics, vision and control accessible to all. It weaves together theory, algorithms and examples in a narrative that covers robotics and computer vision separately and together. Using the latest versions of the Toolboxes the author shows how complex problems can be decomposed and solved using just a few simple lines of code. The topics covered are guided by real problems observed by the author over many years as a practitioner of both robotics and compu...

  15. CPG-based Locomotion Controller Design for a Boxfish-like Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Wang

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on a Central Pattern Generator (CPG-based locomotion controller design for a boxfish-like robot. The bio-inspired controller is aimed at flexible switching in multiple 3D swimming patterns and exact attitude control of yaw and roll such that the robot will swim more like a real boxfish. The CPG network comprises two layers, the lower layer is the network of coupled linear oscillators and the upper is the transition layer where the lower-dimensional locomotion stimuli are transformed into the higher-dimensional control parameters serving for all the oscillators. Based on such a two-layer framework, flexible switching between multiple three-dimensional swimming patterns, such as swimming forwards/backwards, turning left/right, swimming upwards/downwards and rolling clockwise/counter-clockwise, can be simply realized by inputting different stimuli. Moreover, the stability of the CPG network is strictly proved to guarantee the intrinsic stability of the swimming patterns. As to exact attitude control, based on this open-loop CPG network and the sensory feedback from the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU, a closed-loop CPG controller is advanced for yaw and roll control of the robotic fish for the first time. This CPG-based online attitude control for a robotic fish will greatly facilitate high-level practical underwater applications. A series of relevant experiments with the robotic fish are conducted systematically to validate the effectiveness and stability of the open-loop and closed-loop CPG controllers.

  16. Development of the first force-controlled robot for otoneurosurgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Federspil, Philipp A; Geisthoff, Urban W; Henrich, Dominik; Plinkert, Peter K

    2003-03-01

    In some surgical specialties (eg, orthopedics), robots are already used in the operating room for bony milling work. Otological surgery and otoneurosurgery may also greatly benefit from the enhanced precision of robotics. Experimental study on robotic milling of oak wood and human temporal bone specimen. A standard industrial robot with a six-degrees-of-freedom serial kinematics was used, with force feedback to proportionally control the robot speed. Different milling modes and characteristic path parameters were evaluated to generate milling paths based on computer-aided design (CAD) geometry data of a cochlear implant and an implantable hearing system. The best-suited strategy proved to be the spiral horizontal milling mode with the burr held perpendicular to the temporal bone surface. To reduce groove height, the distance between paths should equal half the radius of the cutting burr head. Because of the vibration of the robot's own motors, a high oscillation of the SD of forces was encountered. This oscillation dropped drastically to nearly 0 Newton (N) when the burr head made contact with the dura mater, because of its damping characteristics. The cutting burr could be kept in contact with the dura mater for an extended period without damaging it, because of the burr's blunt head form. The robot moved the burr smoothly according to the encountered resistances. The study reports the first development of a functional robotic milling procedure for otoneurosurgery with force-based speed control. Future plans include implementation of ultrasound-based local navigation and performance of robotic mastoidectomy.

  17. Event-Based Control Strategy for Mobile Robots in Wireless Environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Socas, Rafael; Dormido, Sebastián; Dormido, Raquel; Fabregas, Ernesto

    2015-12-02

    In this paper, a new event-based control strategy for mobile robots is presented. It has been designed to work in wireless environments where a centralized controller has to interchange information with the robots over an RF (radio frequency) interface. The event-based architectures have been developed for differential wheeled robots, although they can be applied to other kinds of robots in a simple way. The solution has been checked over classical navigation algorithms, like wall following and obstacle avoidance, using scenarios with a unique or multiple robots. A comparison between the proposed architectures and the classical discrete-time strategy is also carried out. The experimental results shows that the proposed solution has a higher efficiency in communication resource usage than the classical discrete-time strategy with the same accuracy.

  18. Hand Motion-Based Remote Control Interface with Vibrotactile Feedback for Home Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Wu

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the design and implementation of a hand-held interface system for the locomotion control of home robots. A handheld controller is proposed to implement hand motion recognition and hand motion-based robot control. The handheld controller can provide a ‘connect-and-play’ service for the users to control the home robot with visual and vibrotactile feedback. Six natural hand gestures are defined for navigating the home robots. A three-axis accelerometer is used to detect the hand motions of the user. The recorded acceleration data are analysed and classified to corresponding control commands according to their characteristic curves. A vibration motor is used to provide vibrotactile feedback to the user when an improper operation is performed. The performances of the proposed hand motion-based interface and the traditional keyboard and mouse interface have been compared in robot navigation experiments. The experimental results of home robot navigation show that the success rate of the handheld controller is 13.33% higher than the PC based controller. The precision of the handheld controller is 15.4% more than that of the PC and the execution time is 24.7% less than the PC based controller. This means that the proposed hand motion-based interface is more efficient and flexible.

  19. 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.

  20. Myoelectric Control Techniques for a Rehabilitation Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan Smith

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This work examines two different types of myoelectric control schemes for the purpose of rehabilitation robot applications. The first is a commonly used technique based on a Gaussian classifier. It is implemented in real time for healthy subjects in addition to a subject with Central Cord Syndrome (CCS. The myoelectric control scheme is used to control three degrees of freedom (DOF on a robot manipulator which corresponded to the robot's elbow joint, wrist joint, and gripper. The classes of motion controlled include elbow flexion and extension, wrist pronation and supination, hand grasping and releasing, and rest. Healthy subjects were able to achieve 90% accuracy. Single DOF controllers were first tested on the subject with CCS and he achieved 100%, 96%, and 85% accuracy for the elbow, gripper, and wrist controllers respectively. Secondly, he was able to control the three DOF controller at 68% accuracy. The potential applications for this scheme are rehabilitation and teleoperation. To overcome limitations in the pattern recognition based scheme, a second myoelectric control scheme is also presented which is trained using electromyographic (EMG data derived from natural reaching motions in the sagittal plane. This second scheme is based on a time delayed neural network (TDNN which has the ability to control multiple DOF at once. The controller tracked a subject's elbow and shoulder joints in the sagittal plane. Results showed an average error of 19° for the two joints. This myoelectric control scheme has the potential of being used in the development of exoskeleton and orthotic rehabilitation applications.

  1. Web based educational tool for neural network robot control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jure Čas

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract— This paper describes the application for teleoperations of the SCARA robot via the internet. The SCARA robot is used by students of mehatronics at the University of Maribor as a remote educational tool. The developed software consists of two parts i.e. the continuous neural network sliding mode controller (CNNSMC and the graphical user interface (GUI. Application is based on two well-known commercially available software packages i.e. MATLAB/Simulink and LabVIEW. Matlab/Simulink and the DSP2 Library for Simulink are used for control algorithm development, simulation and executable code generation. While this code is executing on the DSP-2 Roby controller and through the analog and digital I/O lines drives the real process, LabVIEW virtual instrument (VI, running on the PC, is used as a user front end. LabVIEW VI provides the ability for on-line parameter tuning, signal monitoring, on-line analysis and via Remote Panels technology also teleoperation. The main advantage of a CNNSMC is the exploitation of its self-learning capability. When friction or an unexpected impediment occurs for example, the user of a remote application has no information about any changed robot dynamic and thus is unable to dispatch it manually. This is not a control problem anymore because, when a CNNSMC is used, any approximation of changed robot dynamic is estimated independently of the remote’s user. Index Terms—LabVIEW; Matlab/Simulink; Neural network control; remote educational tool; robotics

  2. JACoW A dual arms robotic platform control for navigation, inspection and telemanipulation

    CERN Document Server

    Di Castro, Mario; Ferre, Manuel; Gilardoni, Simone; Losito, Roberto; Lunghi, Giacomo; Masi, Alessandro

    2018-01-01

    High intensity hadron colliders and fixed target experiments require an increasing amount of robotic tele-manipulation to prevent excessive exposure of maintenance personnel to the radioactive environment. Telemanipulation tasks are often required on old radioactive devices not conceived to be maintained and handled using standard industrial robotic solutions. Robotic platforms with a level of dexterity that often require the use of two robotic arms with a minimum of six degrees of freedom are instead needed for these purposes. In this paper, the control of a novel robust robotic platform able to host and to carry safely a dual robotic arm system is presented. The control of the arms is fully integrated with the vehicle control in order to guarantee simplicity to the operators during the realization of the robotic tasks. A novel high-level control architecture for the new robot is shown, as well as a novel low level safety layer for anti-collision and recovery scenarios. Preliminary results of the system comm...

  3. Fixed geometric formation structure in formation control problem for group of robots with dynamically changing number of robots in the group

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. S. Morozova

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article considers a problem of the decentralization-based approach to formation control of a group of agents, which simulate mobile autonomous robots. The agents use only local information limited by the covering range of their sensors. The agents have to build and maintain the formation, which fits to the defined target geometric formation structure with desired accuracy during the movement to the target point. At any point in time the number of agents in the group can change unexpectedly (for example, as a result of the agent failure or if a new agent joins the group.The aim of the article is to provide the base control rule, which solves the formation control problem, and to develop its modifications, which provide the correct behavior in case the agent number in the group is not equal to the size of the target geometric formation structure. The proposed base control rule, developed by the author, uses the method of involving virtual leaders. The coordinates of the virtual leaders and also the priority to follow the specific leader are calculated by each agent itself according to specific rules.The following results are presented in the article: the base control rule for solving the formation control problem, its modifications for the cases when the number of agents is greater/less than the size of the target geometric formation structure and also the computer modeling results proving the efficiency of the modified control rules. The specific feature of the control rule, developed by the author, is that each agent itself calculates the virtual leaders and each agent performs dynamic choice of the place within the formation (there is no predefined one-to-one relation between agents and places within the geometric formation structure. The results, provided in this article, can be used in robotics for developing control algorithms for the tasks, which require preserving specific relational positions among the agents while moving. One of the

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

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pin, Francois G.

    2003-01-01

    Our overall objective is the development of a generalized methodology and code for the automated generation of the kinematics equations of robots and for the analytical solution of their motion planning equations subject to time-varying constraints, behavioral objectives and modular configuration

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

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pin, Grancois G.

    2004-01-01

    Our overall objective is the development of a generalized methodology and code for the automated generation of the kinematics equations of robots and for the analytical solution of their motion planning equations subject to time-varying constraints, behavioral objectives, and modular configuration

  6. Framework and Method for Controlling a Robotic System Using a Distributed Computer Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Adam M. (Inventor); Barajas, Leandro G. (Inventor); Permenter, Frank Noble (Inventor); Strawser, Philip A. (Inventor)

    2015-01-01

    A robotic system for performing an autonomous task includes a humanoid robot having a plurality of compliant robotic joints, actuators, and other integrated system devices that are controllable in response to control data from various control points, and having sensors for measuring feedback data at the control points. The system includes a multi-level distributed control framework (DCF) for controlling the integrated system components over multiple high-speed communication networks. The DCF has a plurality of first controllers each embedded in a respective one of the integrated system components, e.g., the robotic joints, a second controller coordinating the components via the first controllers, and a third controller for transmitting a signal commanding performance of the autonomous task to the second controller. The DCF virtually centralizes all of the control data and the feedback data in a single location to facilitate control of the robot across the multiple communication networks.

  7. Robotics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popov, E. P.; Iurevich, E. I.

    The history and the current status of robotics are reviewed, as are the design, operation, and principal applications of industrial robots. Attention is given to programmable robots, robots with adaptive control and elements of artificial intelligence, and remotely controlled robots. The applications of robots discussed include mechanical engineering, cargo handling during transportation and storage, mining, and metallurgy. The future prospects of robotics are briefly outlined.

  8. Control synchronization of differential mobile robots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nijmeijer, H.; Rodriguez Angeles, A.; Allgoewer, F.

    2004-01-01

    In this paper a synchronization controller for differential mobile robots is proposed. The synchronization goal is to control the angular position of each wheel to a desired trajectory and at the same time the differential (or synchronization) error between the angular positions of the two wheels.

  9. Trajectory-tracking control of underwater inspection robot for nuclear reactor internals using Time Delay Control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Joon-Young; Cho, Byung-Hak; Lee, Jae-Kyung

    2009-01-01

    This paper addresses the trajectory control problem of an underwater inspection robot for nuclear reactor internals. From the viewpoint of control engineering, the trajectory control of the underwater robot is a difficult task due to its nonlinear dynamics, which includes various hydraulic forces such as buoyancy and hydrodynamic damping, the difference between the centres of gravity and buoyancy, and disturbances from a tether cable. To solve such problems, we applied Time Delay Control to the underwater robot. This control law has a very simple structure not requiring nonlinear plant dynamics, and was proven to be highly robust against nonlinearities, uncertainties and disturbances. We confirmed its effectiveness through experiments.

  10. Flocking and rendezvous in distributed robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Francis, Bruce A

    2016-01-01

    This brief describes the coordinated control of groups of robots using only sensory input – and no direct external commands. Furthermore, each robot employs the same local strategy, i.e., there are no leaders, and the text also deals with decentralized control, allowing for cases in which no single robot can sense all the others. One can get intuition for the problem from the natural world, for example, flocking birds. How do they achieve and maintain their flying formation? Recognizing their importance as the most basic coordination tasks for mobile robot networks, the brief details flocking and rendezvous. They are shown to be physical illustrations of emergent behaviors with global consensus arising from local interactions. The authors extend the consideration of these fundamental ideas to describe their operation in flying robots and prompt readers to pursue further research in the field.  Flocking and Rendezvous in Distributed Robotics will provide graduate students a firm grounding in the subject, w...

  11. Alternative Motion Control for Educational Biped BRAT Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Levente Barabas

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper an alternative control solution will be proposed for an educational biped BRAT robot by replacing its SSC-32 servomotor controller with an Arduino R3 development board. Also we will be approaching the problem of adapting the existing electronic circuit to the new requirements and proposing a new application by adding an ultrasonic distance sensor in order to increase the versatility of the robot and make it capable to interact with its environment.

  12. Thought-Controlled Nanoscale Robots in a Living Host.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shachar Arnon

    Full Text Available We report a new type of brain-machine interface enabling a human operator to control nanometer-size robots inside a living animal by brain activity. Recorded EEG patterns are recognized online by an algorithm, which in turn controls the state of an electromagnetic field. The field induces the local heating of billions of mechanically-actuating DNA origami robots tethered to metal nanoparticles, leading to their reversible activation and subsequent exposure of a bioactive payload. As a proof of principle we demonstrate activation of DNA robots to cause a cellular effect inside the insect Blaberus discoidalis, by a cognitively straining task. This technology enables the online switching of a bioactive molecule on and off in response to a subject's cognitive state, with potential implications to therapeutic control in disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, and attention deficits, which are among the most challenging conditions to diagnose and treat.

  13. Thought-Controlled Nanoscale Robots in a Living Host

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giron, Jonathan; Ben-Ami, Lee; Amir, Yaniv; Hel-Or, Yacov; Friedman, Doron; Bachelet, Ido

    2016-01-01

    We report a new type of brain-machine interface enabling a human operator to control nanometer-size robots inside a living animal by brain activity. Recorded EEG patterns are recognized online by an algorithm, which in turn controls the state of an electromagnetic field. The field induces the local heating of billions of mechanically-actuating DNA origami robots tethered to metal nanoparticles, leading to their reversible activation and subsequent exposure of a bioactive payload. As a proof of principle we demonstrate activation of DNA robots to cause a cellular effect inside the insect Blaberus discoidalis, by a cognitively straining task. This technology enables the online switching of a bioactive molecule on and off in response to a subject’s cognitive state, with potential implications to therapeutic control in disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, and attention deficits, which are among the most challenging conditions to diagnose and treat. PMID:27525806

  14. Developing stereo image based robot control system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suprijadi,; Pambudi, I. R.; Woran, M.; Naa, C. F; Srigutomo, W. [Department of Physics, FMIPA, InstitutTeknologi Bandung Jl. Ganesha No. 10. Bandung 40132, Indonesia supri@fi.itb.ac.id (Indonesia)

    2015-04-16

    Application of image processing is developed in various field and purposes. In the last decade, image based system increase rapidly with the increasing of hardware and microprocessor performance. Many fields of science and technology were used this methods especially in medicine and instrumentation. New technique on stereovision to give a 3-dimension image or movie is very interesting, but not many applications in control system. Stereo image has pixel disparity information that is not existed in single image. In this research, we proposed a new method in wheel robot control system using stereovision. The result shows robot automatically moves based on stereovision captures.

  15. Nonlinear control methods for planar carangiform robot fish locomotion

    OpenAIRE

    Morgansen, Kristi A.; Duindam, Vincent; Mason, Richard J.; Burdick, Joel W.; Murray, Richard M.

    2001-01-01

    Considers the design of motion control algorithms for robot fish. We present modeling, control design, and experimental trajectory tracking results for an experimental planar robotic fish system that is propelled using carangiform-like locomotion. Our model for the fish's propulsion is based on quasi-steady fluid flow. Using this model, we propose gaits for forward and turning trajectories and analyze system response under such control strategies. Our models and predictions are verified by ex...

  16. Software toolkit for modeling, simulation and control of soft robots

    OpenAIRE

    Coevoet , Eulalie; Morales-Bieze , Thor; Largilliere , Frederick; Zhang , Zhongkai; Thieffry , Maxime; Sanz-Lopez , Mario; Carrez , Bruno; Marchal , Damien; Goury , Olivier; Dequidt , Jeremie; Duriez , Christian

    2017-01-01

    International audience; The technological differences between traditional robotics and soft robotics have an impact on all of the modeling tools generally in use, including direct kinematics and inverse models, Jacobians, and dynamics. Due to the lack of precise modeling and control methods for soft robots, the promising concepts of using such design for complex applications (medicine, assistance, domestic robotics...) cannot be practically implemented. This paper presents a first unified sof...

  17. Navigation Algorithm Using Fuzzy Control Method in Mobile Robotics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cviklovič Vladimír

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The issue of navigation methods is being continuously developed globally. The aim of this article is to test the fuzzy control algorithm for track finding in mobile robotics. The concept of an autonomous mobile robot EN20 has been designed to test its behaviour. The odometry navigation method was used. The benefits of fuzzy control are in the evidence of mobile robot’s behaviour. These benefits are obtained when more physical variables on the base of more input variables are controlled at the same time. In our case, there are two input variables - heading angle and distance, and two output variables - the angular velocity of the left and right wheel. The autonomous mobile robot is moving with human logic.

  18. The development of radiation hardened robot for nuclear facility - Development of embedded controller for hydraulic robot

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Byung Kook; Kim, Jae Kwon [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea)

    2000-04-01

    We designed and implemented a reliable hierarchical control system for hydraulic robots for nuclear power plant maintenance. In hazardous environments such as nuclear power plants, robot systems or automated equipment should be used instead of human being for maintenance and repair. Such robot should guarantee high reliability in hazardous environments such as high radiation or high temperature. The overall system is composed of three hierarchical subsystems: i) supervisory controller in safe zone for operator interaction with monitoring and commanding and graphic user interface, ii) master controller in semi-hazardous zone for control function, and iii) slave controller in hazardous zone for sensing and actuation. These subsystems are connected with suitable communication channels: a) master-slave communication channel implemented with CAN (Control Area Network) and b) supervisory-master communication with Ethernet. The master and the slave controllers construct a feedback closed-loop control system. In order to improve reliability, the slave controller is duplicated using cold-standby scheme, and master-slave communication channel is also duplicated. The overall system is implemented harmonically, and we obtained fast control interval of 1msec, which is sufficient for high-performance real-time control. 12 refs., 58 figs., 13 tabs. (Author)

  19. Fuzzy Control of Robotic Arm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Kyaw Kyaw; Soe, Aung Kyaw; Thu, Theint Theint

    2008-10-01

    This research work investigates a Self-Tuning Proportional Derivative (PD) type Fuzzy Logic Controller (STPDFLC) for a two link robot system. The proposed scheme adjusts on-line the output Scaling Factor (SF) by fuzzy rules according to the current trend of the robot. The rule base for tuning the output scaling factor is defined on the error (e) and change in error (de). The scheme is also based on the fact that the controller always tries to manipulate the process input. The rules are in the familiar if-then format. All membership functions for controller inputs (e and de) and controller output (UN) are defined on the common interval [-1,1]; whereas the membership functions for the gain updating factor (α) is defined on [0,1]. There are various methods to calculate the crisp output of the system. Center of Gravity (COG) method is used in this application due to better results it gives. Performances of the proposed STPDFLC are compared with those of their corresponding PD-type conventional Fuzzy Logic Controller (PDFLC). The proposed scheme shows a remarkably improved performance over its conventional counterpart especially under parameters variation (payload). The two-link results of analysis are simulated. These simulation results are illustrated by using MATLAB® programming.

  20. SVM-Based Control System for a Robot Manipulator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Foudil Abdessemed

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Real systems are usually non-linear, ill-defined, have variable parameters and are subject to external disturbances. Modelling these systems is often an approximation of the physical phenomena involved. However, it is from this approximate system of representation that we propose - in this paper - to build a robust control, in the sense that it must ensure low sensitivity towards parameters, uncertainties, variations and external disturbances. The computed torque method is a well-established robot control technique which takes account of the dynamic coupling between the robot links. However, its main disadvantage lies on the assumption of an exactly known dynamic model which is not realizable in practice. To overcome this issue, we propose the estimation of the dynamics model of the nonlinear system with a machine learning regression method. The output of this regressor is used in conjunction with a PD controller to achieve the tracking trajectory task of a robot manipulator. In cases where some of the parameters of the plant undergo a change in their values, poor performance may result. To cope with this drawback, a fuzzy precompensator is inserted to reinforce the SVM computed torque-based controller and avoid any deterioration. The theory is developed and the simulation results are carried out on a two-degree of freedom robot manipulator to demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.

  1. Adaptive Robot Control – An Experimental Comparison

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Alonge

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with experimental comparison between stable adaptive controllers of robotic manipulators based on Model Based Adaptive, Neural Network and Wavelet -Based control. The above control methods were compared with each other in terms of computational efficiency, need for accurate mathematical model of the manipulator and tracking performances. An original management algorithm of the Wavelet Network control scheme has been designed, with the aim of constructing the net automatically during the trajectory tracking, without the need to tune it to the trajectory itself. Experimental tests, carried out on a planar two link manipulator, show that the Wavelet-Based control scheme, with the new management algorithm, outperforms the conventional Model-Based schemes in the presence of structural uncertainties in the mathematical model of the robot, without pre-training and more efficiently than the Neural Network approach.

  2. Energy-based control for a biologically inspired hexapod robot with rolling locomotion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takuma Nemoto

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an approach to control rolling locomotion on the level ground with a biologically inspired hexapod robot. For controlling rolling locomotion, a controller which can compensate energy loss with rolling locomotion of the hexapod robot is designed based on its dynamic model. The dynamic model describes the rolling locomotion which is limited to planar one by an assumption that the hexapod robot does not fall down while rolling and influences due to collision and contact with the ground, and it is applied for computing the mechanical energy of the hexapod robot and a plant for a numerical simulation. The numerical simulation of the rolling locomotion on the level ground verifies the effectiveness of the proposed controller. The simulation results show that the hexapod robot can perform the rolling locomotion with the proposed controller. In conclusion, it is shown that the proposed control approach is effective in achieving the rolling locomotion on the level ground.

  3. Force control of a robot for surface contamination detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petterson, B.J.; Jones, J.F.

    1987-01-01

    A system is under development at Sandia National Laboratories for use in understanding the issues relating to automated robotic handling of spent nuclear fuel shipping casks. The goal of robotic handling is reduction of personnel radiation exposure at the proposed geologic repositories. One of the major technology development areas has been the integration of sensors into the control of the robot system to allow operation in semi-structured environments. In particular, a multiaxis force sensor is used to make robot trajectory corrections based on the contact force between the robot and workpiece. This force feedback system allows contact swipes (smears) to be made on the cask surface in a repeatable manner. 8 refs., 3 figs

  4. PD-like controller for delayed bilateral teleoperation of wheeled robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slawiñski, E.; Mut, V.; Santiago, D.

    2016-08-01

    This paper proposes a proportional derivative (PD)-like controller applied to the delayed bilateral teleoperation of wheeled robots with force feedback in face of asymmetric and varying-time delays. In contrast to bilateral teleoperation of manipulator robots, in these systems, there is a mismatch between the models of the master and slave (mobile robot), problem that is approached in this work, where the system stability is analysed. From this study, it is possible to infer the control parameters, depending on the time delay, necessary to assure stability. Finally, the performance of the delayed teleoperation system is evaluated through tests where a human operator drives a 3D simulator as well as a mobile robot for pushing objects.

  5. Implementación de un control fuzzy para el control cinemático directo en un robot manipulador Implementation of a fuzzy control for the direct kinematic control of a robot manipulator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D.A Tibaduiza

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available En este artículo se muestra el desarrollo e implementación de la lógica difusa como herramienta de control de posición para cada una de las articulaciones de un robot tipo PUMA. Se hace una descripción general del robot y se muestra el cálculo del volumen de trabajo, el cual es usado para la fuzzificación en el desarrollo del controlador. Finalmente es mostrado el desarrollo y la simulación del controlador usando la toolbox fuzzy de Matlab, así como la descripción de una implementación realizada en un PLC.In this article, the development and implementation of a fuzzy logic system as position control tool of each one of the joints in a PUMA robot is shown. A general description, which include general descriptions about the robot as workspace and therefore the development of the strategy of control with the definition of the rules in the fuzzification process is also included. Finally are shown the development and simulation of the controller using the fuzzy control toolbox of Matlab and the description of a implementation in a PLC.

  6. Control of compliant anthropomimetic robot joint

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Svetozarević Bratislav

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we propose a control strategy for a robot joint which fully mimics the typical human joint structure. The joint drive is based on two actuators (dc motors, agonist and antagonist, acting through compliant tendons and forming a nonlinear multi-input multi-output (MIMO system. At any time, we consider one actuator, the puller, as being responsible for motion control, while the role of the other is to keep its tendon force at some appropriate low level. This human-like and energetically efficient approach requires the control of 'switching', or exchanging roles between actuators. Moreover, an algorithm based on adaptive force reference is used to solve a problem of slacken tendons during the switching and to increase the energy efficiency. This approach was developed and evaluated on increasingly complex robot joint configurations, starting with simple and noncompliant system, and finishing with nonlinear and compliant system.

  7. Reverse control for humanoid robot task recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hak, Sovannara; Mansard, Nicolas; Stasse, Olivier; Laumond, Jean Paul

    2012-12-01

    Efficient methods to perform motion recognition have been developed using statistical tools. Those methods rely on primitive learning in a suitable space, for example, the latent space of the joint angle and/or adequate task spaces. Learned primitives are often sequential: A motion is segmented according to the time axis. When working with a humanoid robot, a motion can be decomposed into parallel subtasks. For example, in a waiter scenario, the robot has to keep some plates horizontal with one of its arms while placing a plate on the table with its free hand. Recognition can thus not be limited to one task per consecutive segment of time. The method presented in this paper takes advantage of the knowledge of what tasks the robot is able to do and how the motion is generated from this set of known controllers, to perform a reverse engineering of an observed motion. This analysis is intended to recognize parallel tasks that have been used to generate a motion. The method relies on the task-function formalism and the projection operation into the null space of a task to decouple the controllers. The approach is successfully applied on a real robot to disambiguate motion in different scenarios where two motions look similar but have different purposes.

  8. Control method for biped locomotion robots based on ZMP information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kume, Etsuo

    1994-01-01

    The Human Acts Simulation Program (HASP) started as a ten year program of Computing and Information Systems Center (CISC) at Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) in 1987. A mechanical design study of biped locomotion robots for patrol and inspection in nuclear facilities is being performed as an item of the research scope. One of the goals of our research is to design a biped locomotion robot for practical use in nuclear facilities. So far, we have been studying for several dynamic walking patterns. In conventional control methods for biped locomotion robots, the program control is used based on preset walking patterns, so it dose not have the robustness such as a dynamic change of walking pattern. Therefore, a real-time control method based on dynamic information of the robot states is necessary for the high performance of walking. In this study a new control method based on Zero Moment Point (ZMP) information is proposed as one of real-time control methods. The proposed method is discussed and validated based on the numerical simulation. (author)

  9. 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.

  10. Can a Soft Robotic Probe Use Stiffness Control Like a Human Finger to Improve Efficacy of Haptic Perception?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sornkarn, Nantachai; Nanayakkara, Thrishantha

    2017-01-01

    When humans are asked to palpate a soft tissue to locate a hard nodule, they regulate the stiffness, speed, and force of the finger during examination. If we understand the relationship between these behavioral variables and haptic information gain (transfer entropy) during manual probing, we can improve the efficacy of soft robotic probes for soft tissue palpation, such as in tumor localization in minimally invasive surgery. Here, we recorded the muscle co-contraction activity of the finger using EMG sensors to address the question as to whether joint stiffness control during manual palpation plays an important role in the haptic information gain. To address this question, we used a soft robotic probe with a controllable stiffness joint and a force sensor mounted at the base to represent the function of the tendon in a biological finger. Then, we trained a Markov chain using muscle co-contraction patterns of human subjects, and used it to control the stiffness of the soft robotic probe in the same soft tissue palpation task. The soft robotic experiments showed that haptic information gain about the depth of the hard nodule can be maximized by varying the internal stiffness of the soft probe.

  11. Monitoring and Controlling an Underwater Robotic Arm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haas, John; Todd, Brian Keith; Woodcock, Larry; Robinson, Fred M.

    2009-01-01

    The SSRMS Module 1 software is part of a system for monitoring an adaptive, closed-loop control of the motions of a robotic arm in NASA s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where buoyancy in a pool of water is used to simulate the weightlessness of outer space. This software is so named because the robot arm is a replica of the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS). This software is distributed, running on remote joint processors (RJPs), each of which is mounted in a hydraulic actuator comprising the joint of the robotic arm and communicating with a poolside processor denoted the Direct Control Rack (DCR). Each RJP executes the feedback joint-motion control algorithm for its joint and communicates with the DCR. The DCR receives joint-angular-velocity commands either locally from an operator or remotely from computers that simulate the flight like SSRMS and perform coordinated motion calculations based on hand-controller inputs. The received commands are checked for validity before they are transmitted to the RJPs. The DCR software generates a display of the statuses of the RJPs for the DCR operator and can shut down the hydraulic pump when excessive joint-angle error or failure of a RJP is detected.

  12. DEVELOPMENT OF TRAJECTORY CONTROL SYSTEM FOR THE OMNIDIRECTIONAL MOBILE ROBOT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. A. Kapitanyuk

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with a trajectory control system development for the omnidirectional mobile robot. This kind of robots gives the possibility to control separately each degree of freedom due to special design of the wheels, which greatly facilitates the solution of the spatial control tasks and makes it possible to focus directly on the development of algorithms. Control law synthesis is based on kinematic model of a solid body on a plane. Desired trajectory is defined as a smooth implicit function in a fixed coordinate system. Procedure of control design is represented by using a differential-geometric method of nonlinear transformation of the original model to the task-oriented form, which describes the longitudinal motion along a trajectory and orthogonal deviation. Proportional controllers with direct compensation of nonlinear terms are synthesized for the transformed model. Main results are represented by nonlinear control algorithms and experimental data. Practical implementation of considered control laws for the Robotino mobile robot by Festo Didactics Company is done for illustration of this approach workability. The cases of straight line motion and movement along a circle are represented as desirable trajectories, and the majority of practical tasks for mobile robots control can be implemented by their combination.

  13. Design, Implementation and Control of a Fish Robot with Undulating Fins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Siahmansouri

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Biomimetic robots can potentially perform better than conventional robots in underwater vehicle designing. This paper describes the design of the propulsion system and depth control of a robotic fish. In this study, inspired by knife fish, we have designed and implemented an undulating fin to produce propulsive force. This undulating fin is a segmental anal fin that produces sinusoidal wave to propel the robot. The relationship between the individual fin segment and phase angles with the overall fin trajectory has also been discussed. This propulsive force can be adjusted and directed for fish robot manoeuvre by a mechanical system with two servomotors. These servomotors regulate the direction and depth of swimming. A wireless remote control system is designed to adjust the servomotors which enables us to control revolution, speed and phase differences of neighbor servomotors of fins. Finally, Field trials are conducted in an outdoor pool to demonstrate the relationship between robotic fish speed and fin parameters like phase difference, the number of phase and undulatory amplitude.

  14. SDRE control strategy applied to a nonlinear robotic including drive motor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lima, Jeferson J. de, E-mail: jefersonjl82@gmail.com, E-mail: tusset@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: fcjanzen@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: piccirillo@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: claudinor@utfpr.edu.br; Tusset, Angelo M., E-mail: jefersonjl82@gmail.com, E-mail: tusset@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: fcjanzen@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: piccirillo@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: claudinor@utfpr.edu.br; Janzen, Frederic C., E-mail: jefersonjl82@gmail.com, E-mail: tusset@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: fcjanzen@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: piccirillo@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: claudinor@utfpr.edu.br; Piccirillo, Vinicius, E-mail: jefersonjl82@gmail.com, E-mail: tusset@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: fcjanzen@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: piccirillo@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: claudinor@utfpr.edu.br; Nascimento, Claudinor B., E-mail: jefersonjl82@gmail.com, E-mail: tusset@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: fcjanzen@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: piccirillo@utfpr.edu.br, E-mail: claudinor@utfpr.edu.br [UTFPR-PONTA GROSSA, PR (Brazil); Balthazar, José M., E-mail: jmbaltha@rc.unesp.br [UNESP-BAURU, SP (Brazil); Brasil, Reyolando M. L. R. da Fonseca, E-mail: reyolando.brasil@ufabc.edu.br [UFABC-SANTO ANDRE, SP (Brazil)

    2014-12-10

    A robotic control design considering all the inherent nonlinearities of the robot-engine configuration is developed. The interactions between the robot and joint motor drive mechanism are considered. The proposed control combines two strategies, one feedforward control in order to maintain the system in the desired coordinate, and feedback control system to take the system into a desired coordinate. The feedback control is obtained using State-Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE). For link positioning two cases are considered. Case I: For control positioning, it is only used motor voltage; Case II: For control positioning, it is used both motor voltage and torque between the links. Simulation results, including parametric uncertainties in control shows the feasibility of the proposed control for the considered system.

  15. See You See Me: the Role of Eye Contact in Multimodal Human-Robot Interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Tian Linger; Zhang, Hui; Yu, Chen

    2016-05-01

    We focus on a fundamental looking behavior in human-robot interactions - gazing at each other's face. Eye contact and mutual gaze between two social partners are critical in smooth human-human interactions. Therefore, investigating at what moments and in what ways a robot should look at a human user's face as a response to the human's gaze behavior is an important topic. Toward this goal, we developed a gaze-contingent human-robot interaction system, which relied on momentary gaze behaviors from a human user to control an interacting robot in real time. Using this system, we conducted an experiment in which human participants interacted with the robot in a joint attention task. In the experiment, we systematically manipulated the robot's gaze toward the human partner's face in real time and then analyzed the human's gaze behavior as a response to the robot's gaze behavior. We found that more face looks from the robot led to more look-backs (to the robot's face) from human participants and consequently created more mutual gaze and eye contact between the two. Moreover, participants demonstrated more coordinated and synchronized multimodal behaviors between speech and gaze when more eye contact was successfully established and maintained.

  16. Effects of different kinds of robot feedback

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fischer, Kerstin; Lohan, K. S.; Nehaniv, C.

    2013-01-01

    , we investigate the impact of the robot's learning success on tutors' tutoring strategies. Our results show that only in the condition in which the robot's behavior is socially contingent, the human tutors adjust their behavior to the robot. In the developmentally equally plausible object......In this paper, we investigate to what extent tutors' behavior is influenced by different kinds of robot feedback. In particular, we study the effects of online robot feedback in which the robot responds either contingently to the tutor's social behavior or by tracking the objects presented. Also......-driven condition, in which the robot tracked the objects presented, tutors do not change their behavior significantly, even though in both conditions the robot develops from a prelinguistic stage to producing keywords. Socially contingent robot feedback has thus the potential to influence tutors' behavior over...

  17. Kinematics, dynamics and control design of 4WIS4WID mobile robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming-Han Lee

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Kinematic and dynamic modelling and corresponding control design of a four-wheel-independent steering and four-wheel-independent driving (4WIS4WID mobile robot are presented in this study. Different from the differential or car-like mobile robot, the 4WIS4WID mobile robot is controlled by four steering and four driving motors, so the control scheme should possess the ability to integrate and manipulate the four independent wheels. A trajectory tracking control scheme is developed for the 4WIS4WID mobile robot, where both non-linear kinematic control and dynamic sliding-mode control are designed. All of the stabilities of the kinematic and dynamic control laws are proved by Lyapunov stability analysis. Finally, the feasibility and validity of the proposed trajectory tracking control scheme are confirmed through computer simulations.

  18. A review on modeling, identification and servo control of robotic ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    This article reviews modeling, identification, and low level control of the robotic excavator. ... The oil viscosity, oil flow through the spool valves, and variable loading, ..... squares, to identify all the unknown individual parameters for a unmanned ..... Robust low level control of robotic excavation, PhD Thesis, The University of ...

  19. A real time tracking vision system and its application to robotics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inoue, Hirochika

    1994-01-01

    Among various sensing channels the vision is most important for making robot intelligent. If provided with a high speed visual tracking capability, the robot-environment interaction becomes dynamic instead of static, and thus the potential repertoire of robot behavior becomes very rich. For this purpose we developed a real-time tracking vision system. The fundamental operation on which our system based is the calculation of correlation between local images. Use of special chip for correlation and the multi-processor configuration enable the robot to track more than hundreds cues in full video rate. In addition to the fundamental visual performance, applications for robot behavior control are also introduced. (author)

  20. An Interactive Astronaut-Robot System with Gesture Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinguo Liu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Human-robot interaction (HRI plays an important role in future planetary exploration mission, where astronauts with extravehicular activities (EVA have to communicate with robot assistants by speech-type or gesture-type user interfaces embedded in their space suits. This paper presents an interactive astronaut-robot system integrating a data-glove with a space suit for the astronaut to use hand gestures to control a snake-like robot. Support vector machine (SVM is employed to recognize hand gestures and particle swarm optimization (PSO algorithm is used to optimize the parameters of SVM to further improve its recognition accuracy. Various hand gestures from American Sign Language (ASL have been selected and used to test and validate the performance of the proposed system.

  1. 12th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Gusikhin, Oleg; Madani, Kurosh; Sasiadek, Jurek

    2016-01-01

    The present book includes a set of selected extended papers from the 11th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2014), held in Vienna, Austria, from 1 to 3 September 2014. The conference brought together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the application of informatics to Control, Automation and Robotics. Four simultaneous tracks will be held, covering Intelligent Control Systems, Optimization, Robotics, Automation, Signal Processing, Sensors, Systems Modelling and Control, and Industrial Engineering, Production and Management. Informatics applications are pervasive in many areas of Control, Automation and Robotics. ICINCO 2014 received 301 submissions, from 49 countries, in all continents. After a double blind paper review performed by the Program Committee, 20% were accepted as full papers and thus selected for oral presentation. Additional papers were accepted as short papers and posters. A further selection was made after the Conference, ba...

  2. 12th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Madani, Kurosh; Gusikhin, Oleg; Sasiadek, Jurek

    2016-01-01

    The present book includes a set of selected extended papers from the 12th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2015), held in Colmar, France, from 21 to 23 July 2015. The conference brought together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the application of informatics to Control, Automation and Robotics. Four simultaneous tracks will be held, covering Intelligent Control Systems, Optimization, Robotics, Automation, Signal Processing, Sensors, Systems Modelling and Control, and Industrial Engineering, Production and Management. Informatics applications are pervasive in many areas of Control, Automation and Robotics. ICINCO 2015 received 214 submissions, from 42 countries, in all continents. After a double blind paper review performed by the Program Committee, 14% were accepted as full papers and thus selected for oral presentation. Additional papers were accepted as short papers and posters. A further selection was made after the Conference, based ...

  3. Combination of Robot Simulation with Real-time Monitoring and Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianyu YANG

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper mainly focuses in combining virtual reality based operation simulation with remote real-time monitoring and control method for an experimental robot. A system composition framework was designed and relative arm-wheel experimental robot platform was also built. Virtual robots and two virtual environments were developed. To locate the virtual robot within numerical environments, relative mathematical methods is also discussed, including analytic locating methods for linear motion and self-rotation, as well as linear transformation method with homogeneous matrices for turning motion, in order to decrease division calculations. Several experiments were carried out, trajectory errors were found because of relative slides between the wheel and the floor, during the locating experiments. Writing-monitoring experiments were also performed by programming the robotic arm to write a Chinese character, and the virtual robot in monitoring terminal perfectly followed all the movements. All the experiment results confirmed that virtual environment can not only be used as a good supplement to the traditional video monitoring method, but also offer better control experience during the operation.

  4. Intelligent Vision System for Door Sensing Mobile Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jharna Majumdar

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Wheeled Mobile Robots find numerous applications in the Indoor man made structured environments. In order to operate effectively, the robots must be capable of sensing its surroundings. Computer Vision is one of the prime research areas directed towards achieving these sensing capabilities. In this paper, we present a Door Sensing Mobile Robot capable of navigating in the indoor environment. A robust and inexpensive approach for recognition and classification of the door, based on monocular vision system helps the mobile robot in decision making. To prove the efficacy of the algorithm we have designed and developed a ‘Differentially’ Driven Mobile Robot. A wall following behavior using Ultra Sonic range sensors is employed by the mobile robot for navigation in the corridors.  Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA have been used for the implementation of PD Controller for wall following and PID Controller to control the speed of the Geared DC Motor.

  5. Modelado de sistemas de visión en 2D y 3D: un enfoque hacia el control de robots manipuladores

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maximiliano Bueno López

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Visual servoing of robot manipulators has been an evolving issue in recent years, especially in applications where the environment is not structured or where access is difficult for operators. To design these controllers, previous simulations are important to adjust parameters or implement a behavioral approach. In this paper we present two different models of vision systems. The models focus on applications in the field of manipulator-robot control. The modeling of video cameras is obtained by using perspective projections. To validate the models, two servo visual controllers in 2D and 3D are simulated.

  6. SMR-CL, A Real-time Control Language for Mobile Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Nils Axel; Ravn, Ole

    2004-01-01

    The paper describes requirements and implementation of a tactical control lan¬guage for mobile robots. Emphasis is given to the real-time issues of the language especially the isolation of the hard real-time and the soft real-time layers of the mobile robot control system. The language may be used...

  7. DARC: Next generation decentralized control framework for robot applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Morten; Andersen, Nils Axel; Ravn, Ole

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents DARC, a next generation control framework for robot applications. It is designed to be equally powerful in prototyping research projects and for building serious commercial robots running on low powered embedded hardware, thus closing the gab between research and industry....... It incorporates several new techniques such as a decentralized peer-to-peer architecture, transparent network distribution of the control system, and automatic run-time supervision to guarantee robustness....

  8. A multifunction editor for programming control sequences for a robot based radiopharmaceutical synthesis system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Appelquist, G.; Bohm, C.

    1990-01-01

    A Multifunction Editor is a development tool for building control sequences for a robotized production system for positron emitting radiopharmaceuticals. This system consists of SCARA robot and a PC-AT personal computer as a controller together with general and synthesis specific chemistry equipment. The general equipment, which is common for many synthesis, is fixed to the wall of the hotcell, while the specific equipment, dedicated to the given synthesis, is located on a removable tray. The program recognizes commands to move the robot, to control valves and to control the computer screen. From within the editor it is possible to run the control sequence forward or backward to test it and to use the single step feature to debug. The editor commands include insert, replace and delete of commands in the sequence. When programming or editing robot movements the robot may be controlled by the mouse, from the keyboard or from a remote control box. The robot control sequence consists of a succession of stored robot positions. The screen control is used to display dynamic flowchart diagrams. This is achieved by displaying a modified picture on the screen whenever the system state has been changed significantly

  9. Trends in control and decision-making for human-robot collaboration systems

    CERN Document Server

    Zhang, Fumin

    2017-01-01

    This book provides an overview of recent research developments in the automation and control of robotic systems that collaborate with humans. A measure of human collaboration being necessary for the optimal operation of any robotic system, the contributors exploit a broad selection of such systems to demonstrate the importance of the subject, particularly where the environment is prone to uncertainty or complexity. They show how such human strengths as high-level decision-making, flexibility, and dexterity can be combined with robotic precision, and ability to perform task repetitively or in a dangerous environment. The book focuses on quantitative methods and control design for guaranteed robot performance and balanced human experience. Its contributions develop and expand upon material presented at various international conferences. They are organized into three parts covering: one-human–one-robot collaboration; one-human–multiple-robot collaboration; and human–swarm collaboration. Individual topic ar...

  10. Developments and Control of Biocompatible Conducting Polymer for Intracorporeal Continuum Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chikhaoui, Mohamed Taha; Benouhiba, Amine; Rougeot, Patrick; Rabenorosoa, Kanty; Ouisse, Morvan; Andreff, Nicolas

    2018-04-30

    Dexterity of robots is highly required when it comes to integration for medical applications. Major efforts have been conducted to increase the dexterity at the distal parts of medical robots. This paper reports on developments toward integrating biocompatible conducting polymers (CP) into inherently dexterous concentric tube robot paradigm. In the form of tri-layer thin structures, CP micro-actuators produce high strains while requiring less than 1 V for actuation. Fabrication, characterization, and first integrations of such micro-actuators are presented. The integration is validated in a preliminary telescopic soft robot prototype with qualitative and quantitative performance assessment of accurate position control for trajectory tracking scenarios. Further, CP micro-actuators are integrated to a laser steering system in a closed-loop control scheme with displacements up to 5 mm. Our first developments aim toward intracorporeal medical robotics, with miniaturized actuators to be embedded into continuum robots.

  11. Repetitive motion planning and control of redundant robot manipulators

    CERN Document Server

    Zhang, Yunong

    2013-01-01

    Repetitive Motion Planning and Control of Redundant Robot Manipulators presents four typical motion planning schemes based on optimization techniques, including the fundamental RMP scheme and its extensions. These schemes are unified as quadratic programs (QPs), which are solved by neural networks or numerical algorithms. The RMP schemes are demonstrated effectively by the simulation results based on various robotic models; the experiments applying the fundamental RMP scheme to a physical robot manipulator are also presented. As the schemes and the corresponding solvers presented in the book have solved the non-repetitive motion problems existing in redundant robot manipulators, it is of particular use in applying theoretical research based on the quadratic program for redundant robot manipulators in industrial situations. This book will be a valuable reference work for engineers, researchers, advanced undergraduate and graduate students in robotics fields. Yunong Zhang is a professor at The School of Informa...

  12. Control of walking robots using virtual springs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Oort, Gijs; Stramigioli, Stefano; Gevers, M.; Sepulchre, R.

    2009-01-01

    At the Control Engineering group of the University of Twente, we are conducting research on control of bipedal robots. In our search for robust and energy efficient control, we are making extensive use of simulation. In order to facil- itate the development of algorithms, we want to design con-

  13. Control of a Quadcopter Aerial Robot Using Optic Flow Sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurd, Michael Brandon

    This thesis focuses on the motion control of a custom-built quadcopter aerial robot using optic flow sensing. Optic flow sensing is a vision-based approach that can provide a robot the ability to fly in global positioning system (GPS) denied environments, such as indoor environments. In this work, optic flow sensors are used to stabilize the motion of quadcopter robot, where an optic flow algorithm is applied to provide odometry measurements to the quadcopter's central processing unit to monitor the flight heading. The optic-flow sensor and algorithm are capable of gathering and processing the images at 250 frames/sec, and the sensor package weighs 2.5 g and has a footprint of 6 cm2 in area. The odometry value from the optic flow sensor is then used a feedback information in a simple proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller on the quadcopter. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of using optic flow for controlling the motion of the quadcopter aerial robot. The technique presented herein can be applied to different types of aerial robotic systems or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as unmanned ground vehicles (UGV).

  14. Dynamic Modelling of a CPG-Controlled Amphibious Biomimetic Swimming Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rui Ding

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the modelling and control problems of a self-propelled, multimodal amphibious robot. Inspired by the undulatory body motions of fish and dolphins, the amphibious robot propels itself underwater by oscillations of several modular fish-like propelling units coupled with a pair of pectoral fins capable of non-continuous 360 degree rotation. In order to mimic fish-like undulating propulsion, a control architecture based on Central Pattern Generator (CPG is applied to the amphibious robot for robust swimming gaits, including forward and backward swimming and turning, etc. With the simplification of the robot as a multi-link serial mechanism, a Lagrangian function is employed to establish the hydrodynamic model for steady swimming. The CPG motion control law is then imported into the Lagrangian-based dynamic model, where an associated system of kinematics and dynamics is formed to solve real-time movements and, further, to guide the exploration of the CPG parameters and steady locomotion gaits. Finally, comparative results between the simulations and experiments are provided to show the effectiveness of the built control models.

  15. Novel Approach to Control of Robotic Hand Using Flex Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandesh R.S

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper discuss about novel design approach to control of a robotic hand using flex sensors which indicates a biomechatronic multi fingered robotic hand. This robotic hand consists of base unit, upper arm, lower arm, palm and five fingers. The aim is to develop an anthropomorphic five fingered robotic hand. The proposed design illustrates the use of 5 micro DC motors with 9 Degrees of Freedom (DOF.Each finger is controlled independently. Further three extra motors were used for the control of wrist elbow and base movement. The study of the DC motor is being carried out using the transfer function model for constant excitation. The micro DC motor performance was analyzed using MATLAB simulation environment. The whole system is implemented using flex sensors. The flex sensors placed on the human hand gloves appear as if they look like real human hand.  89v51 microcontroller was used for all the controlling actions along with RF transmitter/receiver .The performance of the system has been conducted experimentally and studied.

  16. Impedance Control of the Rehabilitation Robot Based on Sliding Mode Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Jiawang; Zhou, Zude; Ai, Qingsong

    As an auxiliary treatment, the 6-DOF parallel robot plays an important role in lower limb rehabilitation. In order to improve the efficiency and flexibility of the lower limb rehabilitation training, this paper studies the impedance controller based on the position control. A nonsingular terminal sliding mode control is developed to ensure the trajectory tracking precision and in contrast to traditional PID control strategy in the inner position loop, the system will be more stable. The stability of the system is proved by Lyapunov function to guarantee the convergence of the control errors. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the target impedance model and show that the parallel robot can adjust gait trajectory online according to the human-machine interaction force to meet the gait request of patients, and changing the impedance parameters can meet the demands of different stages of rehabilitation training.

  17. Cloud-Enhanced Robotic System for Smart City Crowd Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akhlaqur Rahman

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Cloud robotics in smart cities is an emerging paradigm that enables autonomous robotic agents to communicate and collaborate with a cloud computing infrastructure. It complements the Internet of Things (IoT by creating an expanded network where robots offload data-intensive computation to the ubiquitous cloud to ensure quality of service (QoS. However, offloading for robots is significantly complex due to their unique characteristics of mobility, skill-learning, data collection, and decision-making capabilities. In this paper, a generic cloud robotics framework is proposed to realize smart city vision while taking into consideration its various complexities. Specifically, we present an integrated framework for a crowd control system where cloud-enhanced robots are deployed to perform necessary tasks. The task offloading is formulated as a constrained optimization problem capable of handling any task flow that can be characterized by a Direct Acyclic Graph (DAG. We consider two scenarios of minimizing energy and time, respectively, and develop a genetic algorithm (GA-based approach to identify the optimal task offloading decisions. The performance comparison with two benchmarks shows that our GA scheme achieves desired energy and time performance. We also show the adaptability of our algorithm by varying the values for bandwidth and movement. The results suggest their impact on offloading. Finally, we present a multi-task flow optimal path sequence problem that highlights how the robot can plan its task completion via movements that expend the minimum energy. This integrates path planning with offloading for robotics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to evaluate cloud-based task offloading for a smart city crowd control system.

  18. INTEGRATED ROBOT-HUMAN CONTROL IN MINING OPERATIONS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    George Danko

    2005-04-01

    This report contains a detailed description of the work conducted in the first year of the project on Integrated Robot-Human Control in Mining Operations at University of Nevada, Reno. This project combines human operator control with robotic control concepts to create a hybrid control architecture, in which the strengths of each control method are combined to increase machine efficiency and reduce operator fatigue. The kinematics reconfiguration type differential control of the excavator implemented with a variety of ''software machine kinematics'' is the key feature of the project. This software re-configured excavator is more desirable to execute a given digging task. The human operator retains the master control of the main motion parameters, while the computer coordinates the repetitive movement patterns of the machine links. These repetitive movements may be selected from a pre-defined family of trajectories with different transformations. The operator can make adjustments to this pattern in real time, as needed, to accommodate rapidly-changing environmental conditions. A Bobcat{reg_sign} 435 excavator was retrofitted with electro-hydraulic control valve elements. The modular electronic control was tested and the basic valve characteristics were measured for each valve at the Robotics Laboratory at UNR. Position sensors were added to the individual joint control actuators, and the sensors were calibrated. An electronic central control system consisting of a portable computer, converters and electronic driver components was interfaced to the electro-hydraulic valves and position sensors. The machine is operational with or without the computer control system depending on whether the computer interface is on or off. In preparation for emulated mining tasks tests, typical, repetitive tool trajectories during surface mining operations were recorded at the Newmont Mining Corporation's ''Lone Tree'' mine in Nevada.

  19. 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.

  20. Dynamics and control of robot for capturing objects in space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Panfeng

    Space robots are expected to perform intricate tasks in future space services, such as satellite maintenance, refueling, and replacing the orbital replacement unit (ORU). To realize these missions, the capturing operation may not be avoided. Such operations will encounter some challenges because space robots have some unique characteristics unfound on ground-based robots, such as, dynamic singularities, dynamic coupling between manipulator and space base, limited energy supply and working without a fixed base, and so on. In addition, since contacts and impacts may not be avoided during capturing operation. Therefore, dynamics and control problems of space robot for capturing objects are significant research topics if the robots are to be deployed for the space services. A typical servicing operation mainly includes three phases: capturing the object, berthing and docking the object, then repairing the target. Therefore, this thesis will focus on resolving some challenging problems during capturing the object, berthing and docking, and so on. In this thesis, I study and analyze the dynamics and control problems of space robot for capturing objects. This work has potential impact in space robotic applications. I first study the contact and impact dynamics of space robot and objects. I specifically focus on analyzing the impact dynamics and mapping the relationship of influence and speed. Then, I develop the fundamental theory for planning the minimum-collision based trajectory of space robot and designing the configuration of space robot at the moment of capture. To compensate for the attitude of the space base during the capturing approach operation, a new balance control concept which can effectively balance the attitude of the space base using the dynamic couplings is developed. The developed balance control concept helps to understand of the nature of space dynamic coupling, and can be readily applied to compensate or minimize the disturbance to the space base

  1. Children's Behavior toward and Understanding of Robotic and Living Dogs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melson, Gail F.; Kahn, Peter H., Jr.; Beck, Alan; Friedman, Batya; Roberts, Trace; Garrett, Erik; Gill, Brian T.

    2009-01-01

    This study investigated children's reasoning about and behavioral interactions with a computationally sophisticated robotic dog (Sony's AIBO) compared to a live dog (an Australian Shepherd). Seventy-two children from three age groups (7-9 years, 10-12 years, and 13-15 years) participated in this study. Results showed that more children…

  2. Control of articulated snake robot under dynamic active constraints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwok, Ka-Wai; Vitiello, Valentina; Yang, Guang-Zhong

    2010-01-01

    Flexible, ergonomically enhanced surgical robots have important applications to transluminal endoscopic surgery, for which path-following and dynamic shape conformance are essential. In this paper, kinematic control of a snake robot for motion stabilisation under dynamic active constraints is addressed. The main objective is to enable the robot to track the visual target accurately and steadily on deforming tissue whilst conforming to pre-defined anatomical constraints. The motion tracking can also be augmented with manual control. By taking into account the physical limits in terms of maximum frequency response of the system (manifested as a delay between the input of the manipulator and the movement of the end-effector), we show the importance of visual-motor synchronisation for performing accurate smooth pursuit movements. Detailed user experiments are performed to demonstrate the practical value of the proposed control mechanism.

  3. Active Tension Control for WT Wheelchair Robot by Using a Novel Control Law for Holonomic or Nonholonomic Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian Wang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Interactional characteristics between WT wheelchair robot and stair environment are analyzed, and possible patterns of WT wheelchair robot during the stair-climbing process are summarized, with the criteria of the wheelchair robot for determining the pattern proposed. Aiming at WT wheelchair robot's complicated mechanism with holonomic constraints and combined with the computed torque method, a novel control law that is called active tension control is presented for holonomic or nonholonomic robotic systems, by which the wheelchair robot with a holonomic or nonholonomic mechanism can track the reference input of the constraint forces of holonomic or nonholonomic constraints as well as tracking the reference input of the generalized coordinate of each joint. A stateflow module of Matlab is used to simulate the entire stair-climbing process for WT wheelchair robot. A comparison of output curve with the reference input curve of each joint is made, with the effectiveness of the presented control law verified.

  4. Automating the Incremental Evolution of Controllers for Physical Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faíña, Andrés; Jacobsen, Lars Toft; Risi, Sebastian

    2017-01-01

    Evolutionary robotics is challenged with some key problems that must be solved, or at least mitigated extensively, before it can fulfill some of its promises to deliver highly autonomous and adaptive robots. The reality gap and the ability to transfer phenotypes from simulation to reality constitute one such problem. Another lies in the embodiment of the evolutionary processes, which links to the first, but focuses on how evolution can act on real agents and occur independently from simulation, that is, going from being, as Eiben, Kernbach, & Haasdijk [2012, p. 261] put it, "the evolution of things, rather than just the evolution of digital objects.…" The work presented here investigates how fully autonomous evolution of robot controllers can be realized in hardware, using an industrial robot and a marker-based computer vision system. In particular, this article presents an approach to automate the reconfiguration of the test environment and shows that it is possible, for the first time, to incrementally evolve a neural robot controller for different obstacle avoidance tasks with no human intervention. Importantly, the system offers a high level of robustness and precision that could potentially open up the range of problems amenable to embodied evolution.

  5. Quasi-dynamic walk of a quadruped locomotion robot using optimal tracking control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uchida, Hiroaki; Nonami, Kenzo; Chiba, Yasunori; Koyama, Kakutaro.

    1994-01-01

    Recently, many research works of quadruped locomotion robots, which are considered to be operable on irregular terrain, have been carried out. In the case of realizing ideal motion control of the quadruped locomotion robot, it is assumed that hierarchical cooperative control consisting of decentralized control and centralized control is desirable. In the case that the locomotion robot moves at high speed, it is impossible to follow the desired trajectory because using only the feedback control method includes time delay. It is known that feedforward control input is valid for such motion control. In this paper, decentralized control is realized to apply optimal tracking control using feedforward control input to the quadruped locomotion robot, as the first step. As a result, it is determined that the angle variation of the foot and the stride applying optimal tracking control input are large compared with using only feedback control. It is verified that feedforward control input is useful to control the trajectory of the tip of the foot in high speed locomotion. (author)

  6. Continuous path control of a 5-DOF parallel-serial hybrid robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uchiyama, Takuma; Terada, Hidetsugu; Mitsuya, Hironori

    2010-01-01

    Using the 5-degree of freedom parallel-serial hybrid robot, to realize the de-burring, new forward and inverse kinematic calculation methods based on the 'off-line teaching' method are proposed. This hybrid robot consists of a parallel stage section and a serial stage section. Considering this point, each section is calculated individually. And the continuous path control algorithm of this hybrid robot is proposed. To verify the usefulness, a prototype robot is tested which is controlled based on the proposed methods. This verification includes a positioning test and a pose test. The positioning test evaluates the continuous path of the tool center point. The pose test evaluates the pose on the tool center point. As the result, it is confirmed that this hybrid robot moves correctly using the proposed methods

  7. Just-In-Time predictive control for a two-wheeled robot

    OpenAIRE

    Nakpong, Nuttapun; Yamamoto, Shigeru

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we introduce the use of Just-In-Time predictive control to enhance the stability of a two-wheeled robot. Just-In-Time predictive control uses a database which includes a huge amounts of input-output data of the two-wheeled robot and predicts its future movements based on a Just-In-Time algorithm. © 2012 IEEE.

  8. E-Learning System for Learning Virtual Circuit Making with a Microcontroller and Programming to Control a Robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takemura, Atsushi

    2015-01-01

    This paper proposes a novel e-Learning system for learning electronic circuit making and programming a microcontroller to control a robot. The proposed e-Learning system comprises a virtual-circuit-making function for the construction of circuits with a versatile, Arduino microcontroller and an educational system that can simulate behaviors of…

  9. Developing and modeling of voice control system for prosthetic robot arm in medical systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koksal Gundogdu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In parallel with the development of technology, various control methods are also developed. Voice control system is one of these control methods. In this study, an effective modelling upon mathematical models used in the literature is performed, and a voice control system is developed in order to control prosthetic robot arms. The developed control system has been applied on four-jointed RRRR robot arm. Implementation tests were performed on the designed system. As a result of the tests; it has been observed that the technique utilized in our system achieves about 11% more efficient voice recognition than currently used techniques in the literature. With the improved mathematical modelling, it has been shown that voice commands could be effectively used for controlling the prosthetic robot arm. Keywords: Voice recognition model, Voice control, Prosthetic robot arm, Robotic control, Forward kinematic

  10. Tracked robot controllers for climbing obstacles autonomously

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vincent, Isabelle

    2009-05-01

    Research in mobile robot navigation has demonstrated some success in navigating flat indoor environments while avoiding obstacles. However, the challenge of analyzing complex environments to climb obstacles autonomously has had very little success due to the complexity of the task. Unmanned ground vehicles currently exhibit simple autonomous behaviours compared to the human ability to move in the world. This paper presents the control algorithms designed for a tracked mobile robot to autonomously climb obstacles by varying its tracks configuration. Two control algorithms are proposed to solve the autonomous locomotion problem for climbing obstacles. First, a reactive controller evaluates the appropriate geometric configuration based on terrain and vehicle geometric considerations. Then, a reinforcement learning algorithm finds alternative solutions when the reactive controller gets stuck while climbing an obstacle. The methodology combines reactivity to learning. The controllers have been demonstrated in box and stair climbing simulations. The experiments illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for crossing obstacles.

  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 Domain-Specific Language for Programming Self-Reconfigurable Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schultz, Ulrik Pagh; Christensen, David Johan; Støy, Kasper

    2007-01-01

    . Programming a modular, self-reconfigurable robot is however a complicated task: the robot is essentially a real-time, distributed embedded system, where control and communication paths often are tightly coupled to the current physical configuration of the robot. To facilitate the task of programming modular......, self-reconfigurable robots, we have developed a declarative, role-based language that allows the programmer to define roles and behavior independently of the concrete physical structure of the robot. Roles are compiled to mobile code fragments that distribute themselves over the physical structure...

  13. The Development of Control System Design for 5 DOF Nuclear Malaysia Robot Arm v2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Zaid Hassan; Anwar Abdul Rahman; Rosli Darmawan; Mohd Arif Hamzah

    2011-01-01

    This paper describes a general design and implementation approach used for programming and controlling robotic systems such as remotely operated robotic manipulator systems. A hierarchical approach to control system design is adopted. The hierarchical design is translated into a component-based software design. A low-cost robotic arm and controller system is presented. The controller is a modular model of the robotic arm with the same degrees of freedom whose joints are equipped with sensors. The system takes advantage of the low cost and wide availability of control components and uses a low-cost, easy-to-program microprocessor. Furthermore, it presents the design and the construction of electronic systems for the control of an articulated robot developed for research and development related with instrumentation and control. The system is simple but it is designed the motor to move the robot arm to proper angular position according to the input controller. Limitations of the micro controller are discussed, and suggestions for further development of the robot arm and control are made. (author)

  14. Mechanical design and optimal control of humanoid robot (TPinokio

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teck Chew Wee

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The mechanical structure and the control of the locomotion of bipedal humanoid is an important and challenging domain of research in bipedal robots. Accurate models of the kinematics and dynamics of the robot are essential to achieve bipedal locomotion. Toe-foot walking produces a more natural and faster walking speed and it is even possible to perform stretch knee walking. This study presents the mechanical design of a toe-feet bipedal, TPinokio and the implementation of some optimal walking gait generation methods. The optimality in the gait trajectory is achieved by applying augmented model predictive control method and the pole-zero cancellation method, taken into consideration of a trade-off between walking speed and stability. The mechanism of the TPinokio robot is designed in modular form, so that its kinematics can be modelled accurately into a multiple point-mass system, its dynamics is modelled using the single and double mass inverted pendulum model and zero-moment-point concept. The effectiveness of the design and control technique is validated by simulation testing with the robot walking on flat surface and climbing stairs.

  15. End-Point Contact Force Control with Quantitative Feedback Theory for Mobile Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuhuan Wen

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Robot force control is an important issue for intelligent mobile robotics. The end-point stiffness of a robot is a key and open problem in the research community. The control strategies are mostly dependent on both the specifications of the task and the environment of the robot. Due to the limited stiffness of the end-effector, we may adopt inherent torque to feedback the oscillations of the controlled force. This paper proposes an effective control strategy which contains a controller using quantitative feedback theory. The nested loop controllers take into account the physical limitation of the system's inner variables and harmful interference. The biggest advantage of the method is its simplicity in both the design process and the implementation of the control algorithm in engineering practice. Taking the one-link manipulator as an example, numerical experiments are carried out to verify the proposed control method. The results show the satisfactory performance.

  16. Research on the man in the loop control system of the robot arm based on gesture control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Lifeng; Peng, Jinbao

    2017-03-01

    The Man in the loop control system of the robot arm based on gesture control research complex real-world environment, which requires the operator to continuously control and adjust the remote manipulator, as the background, completes the specific mission human in the loop entire system as the research object. This paper puts forward a kind of robot arm control system of Man in the loop based on gesture control, by robot arm control system based on gesture control and Virtual reality scene feedback to enhance immersion and integration of operator, to make operator really become a part of the whole control loop. This paper expounds how to construct a man in the loop control system of the robot arm based on gesture control. The system is a complex system of human computer cooperative control, but also people in the loop control problem areas. The new system solves the problems that the traditional method has no immersion feeling and the operation lever is unnatural, the adjustment time is long, and the data glove mode wears uncomfortable and the price is expensive.

  17. Fuzzy control in robot-soccer, evolutionary learning in the first layer of control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter J Thomas

    2003-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper an evolutionary algorithm is developed to learn a fuzzy knowledge base for the control of a soccer playing micro-robot from any configuration belonging to a grid of initial configurations to hit the ball along the ball to goal line of sight. The knowledge base uses relative co-ordinate system including left and right wheel velocities of the robot. Final path positions allow forward and reverse facing robot to ball and include its physical dimensions.

  18. Mathematical model for adaptive control system of ASEA robot at Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zia, Omar

    1989-01-01

    The dynamic properties and the mathematical model for the adaptive control of the robotic system presently under investigation at Robotic Application and Development Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center are discussed. NASA is currently investigating the use of robotic manipulators for mating and demating of fuel lines to the Space Shuttle Vehicle prior to launch. The Robotic system used as a testbed for this purpose is an ASEA IRB-90 industrial robot with adaptive control capabilities. The system was tested and it's performance with respect to stability was improved by using an analogue force controller. The objective of this research project is to determine the mathematical model of the system operating under force feedback control with varying dynamic internal perturbation in order to provide continuous stable operation under variable load conditions. A series of lumped parameter models are developed. The models include some effects of robot structural dynamics, sensor compliance, and workpiece dynamics.

  19. Development of a remote controlled robot system for monitoring nuclear power plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Woo, Hee Gon; Song, Myung Jae; Shin, Hyun Bum; Oh, Gil Hwan; Maeng, Sung Jun; Choi, Byung Jae; Chang, Tae Woo [Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Bum Hee; Yoo, Jun; Choi, Myung Hwan; Go, Nak Yong; Lee, Kee Dong; Lee, Young Dae; Cho, Hae Kyeng; Nam, Yoon Suk [Electric and Science Research Center, (Korea, Republic of)

    1996-12-31

    It`s a final report of the development of remote controlled robot system for monitoring the facilities in nuclear power plant and contains as follows, -Studying the technologies in robot developments and analysing the requirements and working environments - Development of the test mobile robot system - Development of the mobile-robot - Development of the Mounted system on the Mobile robot - Development of the Monitoring system - Mobil-robot applications and future study. In this study we built the basic technologies and schemes for future robot developments and applications. (author). 20 refs., figs.

  20. The design of robust independence multivariable controller for robot manipulator using inverse dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, Sung Hyun

    1993-01-01

    This paper proposes a new approach to the design of multivariable control schemes for assembly robot manipulator to achieve accuracy trajectory tracking by joint angles. The proposed control scheme consists of a multivariable feedforward controller and a feedback controller. In this control scheme, the feedback controller is proportional integral-derivative type and is designed to achieve the pole placement. The feedforward controller is the inverse of the linealized model of robot manipulator dynamics. The feedback controller ensures that each joint tracks any reference trajectory. The proposed robot controller scheme has a computationally efficient schemes for either offline gain scheduling or online gain computation to account for variations in the linealized robot dynamic model due to changes in operating point. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed control schemesperporms remarkably well for parameter uncertainties and load variations. (Author)

  1. Experientally guided robots. [for planet exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merriam, E. W.; Becker, J. D.

    1974-01-01

    This paper argues that an experientally guided robot is necessary to successfully explore far-away planets. Such a robot is characterized as having sense organs which receive sensory information from its environment and motor systems which allow it to interact with that environment. The sensori-motor information which it receives is organized into an experiential knowledge structure and this knowledge in turn is used to guide the robot's future actions. A summary is presented of a problem solving system which is being used as a test bed for developing such a robot. The robot currently engages in the behaviors of visual tracking, focusing down, and looking around in a simulated Martian landscape. Finally, some unsolved problems are outlined whose solutions are necessary before an experientally guided robot can be produced. These problems center around organizing the motivational and memory structure of the robot and understanding its high-level control mechanisms.

  2. Hierarchical Compliance Control of a Soft Ankle Rehabilitation Robot Actuated by Pneumatic Muscles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Quan; Liu, Aiming; Meng, Wei; Ai, Qingsong; Xie, Sheng Q

    2017-01-01

    Traditional compliance control of a rehabilitation robot is implemented in task space by using impedance or admittance control algorithms. The soft robot actuated by pneumatic muscle actuators (PMAs) is becoming prominent for patients as it enables the compliance being adjusted in each active link, which, however, has not been reported in the literature. This paper proposes a new compliance control method of a soft ankle rehabilitation robot that is driven by four PMAs configured in parallel to enable three degrees of freedom movement of the ankle joint. A new hierarchical compliance control structure, including a low-level compliance adjustment controller in joint space and a high-level admittance controller in task space, is designed. An adaptive compliance control paradigm is further developed by taking into account patient's active contribution and movement ability during a previous period of time, in order to provide robot assistance only when it is necessarily required. Experiments on healthy and impaired human subjects were conducted to verify the adaptive hierarchical compliance control scheme. The results show that the robot hierarchical compliance can be online adjusted according to the participant's assessment. The robot reduces its assistance output when participants contribute more and vice versa , thus providing a potentially feasible solution to the patient-in-loop cooperative training strategy.

  3. Landing Control of Foot with Springs for Walking Robots on Rough Terrain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moyuru Yamada

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Landing control is one of the important issues for biped walking robot, because robots are expected to walk on not only known flat surfaces but also unknown and uneven terrain for working at various fields. This paper presents a new controller design for a robotic foot to land on unknown terrain. The robotic foot considered in this study equips springs to reduce the impact force at the foot landing. There are two objectives in the landing control; achieving the desired ground reaction force and positioning the foot on unknown terrain. To achieve these two objectives simultaneously by adjusting the foot position, we propose a PI force controller with a desired foot position, which guarantees the robust stability of control system with respect to terrain variance, and exact positioning of the foot to unknown terrain. Simulation results using the Open Dynamics Engine demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

  4. A fuzzy behaviorist approach to sensor-based robot control

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pin, F.G.

    1996-05-01

    Sensor-based operation of autonomous robots in unstructured and/or outdoor environments has revealed to be an extremely challenging problem, mainly because of the difficulties encountered when attempting to represent the many uncertainties which are always present in the real world. These uncertainties are primarily due to sensor imprecisions and unpredictability of the environment, i.e., lack of full knowledge of the environment characteristics and dynamics. An approach. which we have named the {open_quotes}Fuzzy Behaviorist Approach{close_quotes} (FBA) is proposed in an attempt to remedy some of these difficulties. This approach is based on the representation of the system`s uncertainties using Fuzzy Set Theory-based approximations and on the representation of the reasoning and control schemes as sets of elemental behaviors. Using the FBA, a formalism for rule base development and an automated generator of fuzzy rules have been developed. This automated system can automatically construct the set of membership functions corresponding to fuzzy behaviors. Once these have been expressed in qualitative terms by the user. The system also checks for completeness of the rule base and for non-redundancy of the rules (which has traditionally been a major hurdle in rule base development). Two major conceptual features, the suppression and inhibition mechanisms which allow to express a dominance between behaviors are discussed in detail. Some experimental results obtained with the automated fuzzy, rule generator applied to the domain of sensor-based navigation in aprion unknown environments. using one of our autonomous test-bed robots as well as a real car in outdoor environments, are then reviewed and discussed to illustrate the feasibility of large-scale automatic fuzzy rule generation using the {open_quotes}Fuzzy Behaviorist{close_quotes} concepts.

  5. Measurements in Concentrated Sun using a Remote Controlled Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan Floroian

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Nowdays, using the concentrated sunlight is a big issue because the amount of energy is very high and the light is concentrated in a very small area. The main problem in this situation is the heating, and in order to make safe measurements a remote controlled robot is needed. After that, a remote controlled robot will assume the duty of protect the measured sample and to expose it for a precise time to the concentrated sun in order to reduce heating of the sample. For easy operating, and for automatize the process, all the duties, starting with initial conditions, continuing with triggering the measurements, and conditioning the signals and finalizing with data saving must be assured by the robot.

  6. Homeostasis lighting control based on relationship between lighting environment and human behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ueda, Risa; Mita, Akira

    2015-03-01

    Although each person has own preferences, living spaces which can respond to various preferences and needs have not become reality. Focusing on the lighting environments which influence on the impression of living spaces, this research aims to offer comfortable lighting environments for each resident by a flexible control. This research examines the relationship between lighting environments and human behaviors considering colored lights. In accord with the relationship, this research proposes an illuminance-color control system which flexibly changes spatial environments responding to human conditions. Firstly, the psychological evaluation was conducted in order to build human models for various environments. As a result, preferred lighting environments for each examinee were determined for particular behaviors. Moreover, satisfaction levels of lighting environments were calculated by using seven types of impression of the environments as parameters. The results were summarized as human models. Secondly, this research proposed "Homeostasis Lighting Control System", which employs the human models. Homeostasis lighting control system embodies the algorithm of homeostasis, which is one of the functions of the physiological adaptation. Human discomfort feelings are obtained automatically by the sensor agent robot. The system can offer comfortable lighting environments without controlling environments by residents autonomously based on the information from the robot. This research takes into accounts both illuminance and color. The robot communicates with the server which contains human models, then the system corresponds to individuals. Combining these three systems, the proposed system can effectively control the lighting environment. At last, the feasibility of the proposed system was verified by simulation experiments.

  7. Control of a Robotic Hand Using a Tongue Control System-A Prosthesis Application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johansen, Daniel; Cipriani, Christian; Popovic, Dejan B; Struijk, Lotte N S A

    2016-07-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using an inductive tongue control system (ITCS) for controlling robotic/prosthetic hands and arms. This study presents a novel dual modal control scheme for multigrasp robotic hands combining standard electromyogram (EMG) with the ITCS. The performance of the ITCS control scheme was evaluated in a comparative study. Ten healthy subjects used both the ITCS control scheme and a conventional EMG control scheme to complete grasping exercises with the IH1 Azzurra robotic hand implementing five grasps. Time to activate a desired function or grasp was used as the performance metric. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing the performance of the two control schemes. On average, the ITCS control scheme was 1.15 s faster than the EMG control scheme, corresponding to a 35.4% reduction in the activation time. The largest difference was for grasp 5 with a mean AT reduction of 45.3% (2.38 s). The findings indicate that using the ITCS control scheme could allow for faster activation of specific grasps or functions compared with a conventional EMG control scheme. For transhumeral and especially bilateral amputees, the ITCS control scheme could have a significant impact on the prosthesis control. In addition, the ITCS would provide bilateral amputees with the additional advantage of environmental and computer control for which the ITCS was originally developed.

  8. Study on Characteristics of Hydraulic Servo System for Force Control of Hydraulic Robots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Hyo-gon; Han, Changsoo; Lee, Jong-won; Park, Sangdeok

    2015-01-01

    Because a hydraulic actuator has high power and force densities, this allows the weight of the robot's limbs to be reduced. This allows for good dynamic characteristics and high energy efficiency. Thus, hydraulic actuators are used in some exoskeleton robots and quadrupedal robots that require high torque. Force control is useful for robot compliance with a user or environment. However, force control of a hydraulic robot is difficult because a hydraulic servo system is highly nonlinear from a control perspective. In this study, a nonlinear model was used to develop a simulation program for a hydraulic servo system consisting of a servo valve, transmission lines, and a cylinder. The problems and considerations with regard to the force control performance for a hydraulic servo system were investigated. A force control method using the nonlinear model was proposed, and its effect was evaluated with the simulation program

  9. Study on Characteristics of Hydraulic Servo System for Force Control of Hydraulic Robots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Hyo-gon; Han, Changsoo [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jong-won [Korea University of Science and Technology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Sangdeok [Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-02-15

    Because a hydraulic actuator has high power and force densities, this allows the weight of the robot's limbs to be reduced. This allows for good dynamic characteristics and high energy efficiency. Thus, hydraulic actuators are used in some exoskeleton robots and quadrupedal robots that require high torque. Force control is useful for robot compliance with a user or environment. However, force control of a hydraulic robot is difficult because a hydraulic servo system is highly nonlinear from a control perspective. In this study, a nonlinear model was used to develop a simulation program for a hydraulic servo system consisting of a servo valve, transmission lines, and a cylinder. The problems and considerations with regard to the force control performance for a hydraulic servo system were investigated. A force control method using the nonlinear model was proposed, and its effect was evaluated with the simulation program.

  10. Generalized dynamic model and control of ambiguous mono axial vehicle robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frantisek Duchon

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This article deals with the novel concept of ambiguous mono axial vehicle robot. Such robot is a combination of Segway and dicycle, which utilizes the advantages of each chassis. The advantage of dicycle is lower energy consumption during the movement and the higher safety of carried payload. The movable platform inside the ambiguous mono axial vehicle allows using the various sensors or devices. This will change the ambiguous mono axial vehicle to the Segway type robot. Both these modes are necessary to control in the stable mode to ensure the safety of the ambiguous mono axial vehicle’s movement. The main contents of the article contain description of generalized dynamic model of ambiguous mono axial vehicle and related control of ambiguous mono axial vehicle. The proposal is unique in that the same controller is used for both modes. Several simulations verify proposed control schemes and identified parameters. Moreover, the dicycle type of platform has never been used in robotics and that is another novelty.

  11. Virtual reality and telepresence control of robots used in hazardous environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bronisz, L.E.; Pittman, P.C.

    1996-01-01

    The purpose of this project was to explore the application of teleoperation and telepresence control to robots in hazardous environments at Los Alamos. The primary use of this technology would be in a glove-box type operation potentially allowing operators to work on hazardous materials while being completely removed from the danger of exposure in situations that are difficult to completely automate due to the highly unstructured environments or off-normal conditions. This project focused on determining the most appropriate tools and methods that could be applied in the near future resulting in a reasonably inexpensive working teleoperation or telepresence control system for industrial robots used in the handling of hazardous materials. Several topics had to be addressed to perform this task including input devices, control systems, robot manipulators, and simulation techniques or packages. Much of the work is still in the developmental stage and hardware will follow -- providing a usable tool for glove box robot control

  12. Remote controlled data collector robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jozsef Suto

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Today a general need for robots assisting different human activities rises. The goal of the present project is to develop a prototyping robot, which provides facilities for attaching and fitting different kinds of sensors and actuators. This robot provides an easy way to turn a general purpose robot into a special function one.

  13. Complete Low-Cost Implementation of a Teleoperated Control System for a Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Barea

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Humanoid robotics is a field of a great research interest nowadays. This work implements a low-cost teleoperated system to control a humanoid robot, as a first step for further development and study of human motion and walking. A human suit is built, consisting of 8 sensors, 6 resistive linear potentiometers on the lower extremities and 2 digital accelerometers for the arms. The goal is to replicate the suit movements in a small humanoid robot. The data from the sensors is wirelessly transmitted via two ZigBee RF configurable modules installed on each device: the robot and the suit. Replicating the suit movements requires a robot stability control module to prevent falling down while executing different actions involving knees flexion. This is carried out via a feedback control system with an accelerometer placed on the robot’s back. The measurement from this sensor is filtered using Kalman. In addition, a two input fuzzy algorithm controlling five servo motors regulates the robot balance. The humanoid robot is controlled by a medium capacity processor and a low computational cost is achieved for executing the different algorithms. Both hardware and software of the system are based on open platforms. The successful experiments carried out validate the implementation of the proposed teleoperated system.

  14. Put Your Robot In, Put Your Robot Out: Sequencing through Programming Robots in Early Childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazakoff, Elizabeth R.; Bers, Marina Umaschi

    2014-01-01

    This article examines the impact of programming robots on sequencing ability in early childhood. Thirty-four children (ages 4.5-6.5 years) participated in computer programming activities with a developmentally appropriate tool, CHERP, specifically designed to program a robot's behaviors. The children learned to build and program robots over three…

  15. Interface Based on Electrooculography for Velocity Control of a Robot Arm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Iáñez

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a technique based on electrooculography to control a robot arm. This technique detects the movement of the eyes, measuring the difference of potential between the cornea and the retina by placing electrodes around the ocular area. The processing algorithm developed to obtain the position of the eye at the blink of the user is explained. The output of the processing algorithm offers, apart from the direction, four different values (zero to three to control the velocity of the robot arm according to how much the user is looking in one direction. This allows controlling two degrees of freedom of a robot arm with the eyes movement. The blink has been used to mark some targets in tests. In this paper, the experimental results obtained with a real robot arm are shown.

  16. Design and evaluation of a motor imagery electroencephalogram-controlled robot system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baoguo Xu

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Brain–computer interface provides a new communication channel to control external device by directly translating the brain activity into commands. In this article, as the foundation of electroencephalogram-based robot-assisted upper limb rehabilitation therapy, we report on designing a brain–computer interface–based online robot control system which is made up of electroencephalogram amplifier, acquisition and experimental platform, feature extraction algorithm based on discrete wavelet transform and autoregressive model, linear discriminant analysis classifier, robot control board, and Rhino XR-1 robot. The performance of the system has been tested by 30 participants, and satisfactory results are achieved with an average error rate of 8.5%. Moreover, the advantage of the feature extraction method was further validated by the Graz data set for brain–computer interface competition 2003, and an error rate of 10.0% was obtained. This method provides a useful way for the research of brain–computer interface system and lays a foundation for brain–computer interface–based robotic upper extremity rehabilitation therapy.

  17. Control solutions for robots using Android and iOS devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, A. William, III; Gray, Jeremy P.; Rudnick, Dave; Karlsen, Robert E.

    2012-06-01

    As more Soldiers seek to utilize robots to enhance their mission capabilities, controls are needed which are intuitive, portable, and adaptable to a wide range of mission tasks. Android™ and iOS™ devices have the potential to meet each of these requirements as well as being based on readily available hardware. This paper will focus on some of the ways in which an Android™ or iOS™ device could be used to control specific and varied robot mobility functions and payload tools. Several small unmanned ground vehicle (SUGV) payload tools will have been investigated at Camp Pendleton during a user assessment and mission feasibility study for automatic remote tool changing. This group of payload tools will provide a basis, to researchers, concerning what types of control functions are needed to fully utilize SUGV robotic capabilities. Additional, mobility functions using tablet devices have been used as part of the Safe Operation of Unmanned systems for Reconnaissance in Complex Environments Army Technology Objective (SOURCE ATO) which is investigating the safe operation of robotics. Using Android™ and iOS™ hand-held devices is not a new concept in robot manipulation. However, the authors of this paper hope to introduce some novel concepts that may serve to make the interaction between Soldier and machine more fluid and intuitive. By creating a better user experience, Android™ and iOS™ devices could help to reduce training time, enhance performance, and increase acceptance of robotics as valuable mission tools for Soldiers.

  18. Maximizing Function through Intelligent Robot Actuator Control

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Maximizing Function through Intelligent Robot Actuator Control Successful missions to Mars and beyond will only be possible with the support of high-performance...

  19. EXOS research on master controllers for robotic devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcus, Beth A.; An, Ben; Eberman, Brian

    1992-01-01

    Two projects are currently being conducted by EXOS under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program with NASA. One project will develop a force feedback device for controlling robot hands, the other will develop an elbow and shoulder exoskeleton which can be integrated with other EXOS devices to provide whole robot arm and hand control. Aspects covered are the project objectives, important research issues which have arisen during the developments, and interim results of the projects. The Phase 1 projects currently underway will result in hardware prototypes and identification of research issues required for complete system development and/or integration.

  20. Design of a Compact Actuation and Control System for Flexible Medical Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morimoto, Tania K; Hawkes, Elliot Wright; Okamura, Allison M

    2017-07-01

    Flexible medical robots can improve surgical procedures by decreasing invasiveness and increasing accessibility within the body. Using preoperative images, these robots can be designed to optimize a procedure for a particular patient. To minimize invasiveness and maximize biocompatibility, the actuation units of flexible medical robots should be placed fully outside the patient's body. In this letter, we present a novel, compact, lightweight, modular actuation, and control system for driving a class of these flexible robots, known as concentric tube robots. A key feature of the design is the use of three-dimensional printed waffle gears to enable compact control of two degrees of freedom within each module. We measure the precision and accuracy of a single actuation module and demonstrate the ability of an integrated set of three actuation modules to control six degrees of freedom. The integrated system drives a three-tube concentric tube robot to reach a final tip position that is on average less than 2 mm from a given target. In addition, we show a handheld manifestation of the device and present its potential applications.

  1. Design, analysis and control of cable-suspended parallel robots and its applications

    CERN Document Server

    Zi, Bin

    2017-01-01

    This book provides an essential overview of the authors’ work in the field of cable-suspended parallel robots, focusing on innovative design, mechanics, control, development and applications. It presents and analyzes several typical mechanical architectures of cable-suspended parallel robots in practical applications, including the feed cable-suspended structure for super antennae, hybrid-driven-based cable-suspended parallel robots, and cooperative cable parallel manipulators for multiple mobile cranes. It also addresses the fundamental mechanics of cable-suspended parallel robots on the basis of their typical applications, including the kinematics, dynamics and trajectory tracking control of the feed cable-suspended structure for super antennae. In addition it proposes a novel hybrid-driven-based cable-suspended parallel robot that uses integrated mechanism design methods to improve the performance of traditional cable-suspended parallel robots. A comparative study on error and performance indices of hybr...

  2. I, Quantum Robot: Quantum Mind control on a Quantum Computer

    OpenAIRE

    Zizzi, Paola

    2008-01-01

    The logic which describes quantum robots is not orthodox quantum logic, but a deductive calculus which reproduces the quantum tasks (computational processes, and actions) taking into account quantum superposition and quantum entanglement. A way toward the realization of intelligent quantum robots is to adopt a quantum metalanguage to control quantum robots. A physical implementation of a quantum metalanguage might be the use of coherent states in brain signals.

  3. Architecture for robot intelligence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, II, Richard Alan (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    An architecture for robot intelligence enables a robot to learn new behaviors and create new behavior sequences autonomously and interact with a dynamically changing environment. Sensory information is mapped onto a Sensory Ego-Sphere (SES) that rapidly identifies important changes in the environment and functions much like short term memory. Behaviors are stored in a DBAM that creates an active map from the robot's current state to a goal state and functions much like long term memory. A dream state converts recent activities stored in the SES and creates or modifies behaviors in the DBAM.

  4. Smooth transition for CPG-based body shape control of a snake-like robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nor, Norzalilah Mohamad; Ma, Shugen

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents a locomotion control based on central pattern generator (CPG) of a snake-like robot. The main point addressed in this paper is a method that produces a smooth transition of the body shape of a snake-like robot. Body shape transition is important for snake-like robot locomotion to adapt to different space widths and also for obstacle avoidance. By manipulating the phase difference of the CPG outputs instantly, it will results in a sharp point or discontinuity which lead to an unstable movement of the snake-like robot. To tackle the problem, we propose a way of controlling the body shape: by incorporating activation function in the phase oscillator CPG model. The simplicity of the method promises an easy implementation and simple control. Simulation results and torque analysis confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control method and thus, can be used as a locomotion control in various potential applications of a snake-like robot. (paper)

  5. Dynamic Characterization and Interaction Control of the CBM-Motus Robot for Upper-Limb Rehabilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Loredana Zollo

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents dynamic characterization and control of an upper-limb rehabilitation machine aimed at improving robot performance in the interaction with the patient. An integrated approach between mechanics and control is the key issue of the paper for the development of a robotic machine with desirable dynamic properties. Robot inertial and acceleration properties are studied in the workspace via a graphical representation based on ellipses. Robot friction is experimentally retrieved by means of a parametric identification procedure. A current-based impedance control is developed in order to compensate for friction and enhance control performance in the interaction with the patient by means of force feedback, without increasing system inertia. To this end, servo-amplifier motor currents are monitored to provide force feedback in the interaction, thus avoiding the need for force sensors mounted at the robot end-effector. Current-based impedance control is implemented on the robot; experimental results in free space as well as in constrained space are provided.

  6. Admittance Control for Robot Assisted Retinal Vein Micro-Cannulation under Human-Robot Collaborative Mode.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, He; Gonenc, Berk; Iordachita, Iulian

    2017-10-01

    Retinal vein occlusion is one of the most common retinovascular diseases. Retinal vein cannulation is a potentially effective treatment method for this condition that currently lies, however, at the limits of human capabilities. In this work, the aim is to use robotic systems and advanced instrumentation to alleviate these challenges, and assist the procedure via a human-robot collaborative mode based on our earlier work on the Steady-Hand Eye Robot and force-sensing instruments. An admittance control method is employed to stabilize the cannula relative to the vein and maintain it inside the lumen during the injection process. A pre-stress strategy is used to prevent the tip of microneedle from getting out of vein in in prolonged infusions, and the performance is verified through simulations.

  7. HCBPM: An Idea toward a Social Learning Environment for Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fady Alnajjar

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available To advance robotics toward real-world applications, a growing body of research has focused on the development of control systems for humanoid robots in recent years. Several approaches have been proposed to support the learning stage of such controllers, where the robot can learn new behaviors by observing and/or receiving direct guidance from a human or even another robot. These approaches require dynamic learning and memorization techniques, which the robot can use to reform and update its internal systems continuously while learning new behaviors. Against this background, this study investigates a new approach to the development of an incremental learning and memorization model. This approach was inspired by the principles of neuroscience, and the developed model was named “Hierarchical Constructive Backpropagation with Memory” (HCBPM. The validity of the model was tested by teaching a humanoid robot to recognize a group of objects through natural interaction. The experimental results indicate that the proposed model efficiently enhances real-time machine learning in general and can be used to establish an environment suitable for social learning between the robot and the user in particular.

  8. The development of functional fail-safe control for advanced robots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hosaka, Shigetaka; Shimizu, Yujiro; Hayashi, Tetsuji

    1990-01-01

    Advanced robots for the nuclear power plant maintenance are increasing the complexity in comparison with industrial robots, and severe in condition of use, and are increasing the importance of safety and reliability. In this paper, as a high reliability technology for Advanced Robot, Functional Failsafe control (FFC) is described. FFC isolates the faults, and keeps the minimum function of robot, using the remained potential redundancy of robot, with minimizing of additional parts to robot, at the occurrence of faults. We suggest the three reliability evaluation principles for Advanced robot, then define the FFC in these principles. In the proposed FFC, the method of using an amplifier between two servosystems in common, and the method of stucking the degrees of freedom of robot arm are studied and proved by experiments on the design of FFC. And, a new design method is showed, based on not only the reliability of time, but also the reliability of amount of working. So, we clarified some remained subjects to develop for the FFC. (author)

  9. Hierarchical Compliance Control of a Soft Ankle Rehabilitation Robot Actuated by Pneumatic Muscles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Quan Liu

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Traditional compliance control of a rehabilitation robot is implemented in task space by using impedance or admittance control algorithms. The soft robot actuated by pneumatic muscle actuators (PMAs is becoming prominent for patients as it enables the compliance being adjusted in each active link, which, however, has not been reported in the literature. This paper proposes a new compliance control method of a soft ankle rehabilitation robot that is driven by four PMAs configured in parallel to enable three degrees of freedom movement of the ankle joint. A new hierarchical compliance control structure, including a low-level compliance adjustment controller in joint space and a high-level admittance controller in task space, is designed. An adaptive compliance control paradigm is further developed by taking into account patient’s active contribution and movement ability during a previous period of time, in order to provide robot assistance only when it is necessarily required. Experiments on healthy and impaired human subjects were conducted to verify the adaptive hierarchical compliance control scheme. The results show that the robot hierarchical compliance can be online adjusted according to the participant’s assessment. The robot reduces its assistance output when participants contribute more and vice versa, thus providing a potentially feasible solution to the patient-in-loop cooperative training strategy.

  10. 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.

  11. Optimizing a mobile robot control system using GPU acceleration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuck, Nat; McGuinness, Michael; Martin, Fred

    2012-01-01

    This paper describes our attempt to optimize a robot control program for the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) by running computationally intensive portions of the system on a commodity graphics processing unit (GPU). The IGVC Autonomous Challenge requires a control program that performs a number of different computationally intensive tasks ranging from computer vision to path planning. For the 2011 competition our Robot Operating System (ROS) based control system would not run comfortably on the multicore CPU on our custom robot platform. The process of profiling the ROS control program and selecting appropriate modules for porting to run on a GPU is described. A GPU-targeting compiler, Bacon, is used to speed up development and help optimize the ported modules. The impact of the ported modules on overall performance is discussed. We conclude that GPU optimization can free a significant amount of CPU resources with minimal effort for expensive user-written code, but that replacing heavily-optimized library functions is more difficult, and a much less efficient use of time.

  12. Control of a mobile robot through brain computer interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robinson Jimenez Moreno

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper poses a control interface to command the movement of a mobile robot according to signals captured from the user's brain. These signals are acquired and interpreted by Emotiv EPOC device, a 14-electrode type sensor which captures electroencephalographic (EEG signals with high resolution, which, in turn, are sent to a computer for processing. One brain-computer interface (BCI was developed based on the Emotiv software and SDK in order to command the mobile robot from a distance. Functionality tests are performed with the sensor to discriminate shift intentions of a user group, as well as with a fuzzy controller to hold the direction in case of concentration loss. As conclusion, it was possible to obtain an efficient system for robot movements by brain commands.

  13. Robotic Planetary Drill Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glass, Brian J.; Thompson, S.; Paulsen, G.

    2010-01-01

    Several proposed or planned planetary science missions to Mars and other Solar System bodies over the next decade require subsurface access by drilling. This paper discusses the problems of remote robotic drilling, an automation and control architecture based loosely on observed human behaviors in drilling on Earth, and an overview of robotic drilling field test results using this architecture since 2005. Both rotary-drag and rotary-percussive drills are targeted. A hybrid diagnostic approach incorporates heuristics, model-based reasoning and vibration monitoring with neural nets. Ongoing work leads to flight-ready drilling software.

  14. 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.

  15. 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)

  16. Head Orientation Behavior of Users and Durations in Playful Open-Ended Interactions with an Android Robot

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vlachos, Evgenios; Jochum, Elizabeth Ann; Schärfe, Henrik

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents the results of a field-experiment focused on the head orientation behavior of users in short-term dyadic interactions with an android (male) robot in a playful context, as well as on the duration of the interactions. The robotic trials took place in an art exhibition where...... subjects. The findings suggest that androids have the ability to maintain the focus of attention during short-term in-teractions within a playful context. This study provides an insight on how users communicate with an android robot, and on how to design meaningful human robot social interaction for real...

  17. Beyond R2D2 - The design of nonverbal interaction behavior optimized for robot-specific morphologies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Karreman, Daphne Eleonora

    2016-01-01

    It is likely that in the near future we will meet more and more robots that will perform tasks in social environments, such as shopping malls, airports or museums. However, design guidelines that inform the design of effective nonverbal behavior for robots are scarce. This is surprising since the

  18. Prototype of Remote Controlled Robot Vehicle to Scan Radioactive Contaminated Areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ratongasoandrazana, J.B.; Raoelina Andriambololona; Rambolamanana, G.; Andrianiaina, H.; Rajaobelison, J.

    2016-01-01

    The ionizing radiations are not directly audible by the organs of sense of the human being. Maintenance and handling of sources of such ionizing radiations present some risks of very serious and often irreversible accident for human organism. The works of experimentation and maintenance in such zone also present the risks requiring some minimum of precaution. Thus, the main objective of this work is to design and develop (hard- and software) a prototype of educational semi-autonomous Radio Frequency controlled robot-vehicle based on 8-bit AVR-RISC Flash microcontroller system (ATmega128L) able to detect, identify and map the radioactive contaminated area. An integrated video camera coupled with a UHF video transmitter module, placed in front of the robot, will be used as visual feedback control to well direct it toward a precise place to reach. The navigation information and the data collected are transmitted from the robot toward the Computer via 02 Radio Frequency Transceivers for peer-to-peer serial data transfer in half-duplex mode. A Joystick module which is connected to the Computer parallel port allows full motion control of the platform. Robot-vehicle user interface program for the PC has been designed to allow full control of all functions of the robot vehicles.

  19. The quadruped robot adaptive control in trotting gait walking on slopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shulong; Ma, Hongxu; Yang, Yu; Wang, Jian

    2017-10-01

    The quadruped robot can be decomposed into a planar seven-link closed kinematic chain in the direction of supporting line and a linear inverted pendulum in normal direction of supporting line. The ground slope can be estimated by using the body attitude information and supporting legs length. The slope degree is used in feedback, to achieve the point of quadruped robot adaptive control walking on slopes. The simulation results verify that the quadruped robot can achieves steady locomotion on the slope with the control strategy proposed in this passage.

  20. Locomotor Sub-functions for Control of Assistive Wearable Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maziar A. Sharbafi

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available A primary goal of comparative biomechanics is to understand the fundamental physics of locomotion within an evolutionary context. Such an understanding of legged locomotion results in a transition from copying nature to borrowing strategies for interacting with the physical world regarding design and control of bio-inspired legged robots or robotic assistive devices. Inspired from nature, legged locomotion can be composed of three locomotor sub-functions, which are intrinsically interrelated: Stance: redirecting the center of mass by exerting forces on the ground. Swing: cycling the legs between ground contacts. Balance: maintaining body posture. With these three sub-functions, one can understand, design and control legged locomotory systems with formulating them in simpler separated tasks. Coordination between locomotor sub-functions in a harmonized manner appears then as an additional problem when considering legged locomotion. However, biological locomotion shows that appropriate design and control of each sub-function simplifies coordination. It means that only limited exchange of sensory information between the different locomotor sub-function controllers is required enabling the envisioned modular architecture of the locomotion control system. In this paper, we present different studies on implementing different locomotor sub-function controllers on models, robots, and an exoskeleton in addition to demonstrating their abilities in explaining humans' control strategies.

  1. Locomotor Sub-functions for Control of Assistive Wearable Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharbafi, Maziar A; Seyfarth, Andre; Zhao, Guoping

    2017-01-01

    A primary goal of comparative biomechanics is to understand the fundamental physics of locomotion within an evolutionary context. Such an understanding of legged locomotion results in a transition from copying nature to borrowing strategies for interacting with the physical world regarding design and control of bio-inspired legged robots or robotic assistive devices. Inspired from nature, legged locomotion can be composed of three locomotor sub-functions, which are intrinsically interrelated: Stance : redirecting the center of mass by exerting forces on the ground. Swing : cycling the legs between ground contacts. Balance : maintaining body posture. With these three sub-functions, one can understand, design and control legged locomotory systems with formulating them in simpler separated tasks. Coordination between locomotor sub-functions in a harmonized manner appears then as an additional problem when considering legged locomotion. However, biological locomotion shows that appropriate design and control of each sub-function simplifies coordination. It means that only limited exchange of sensory information between the different locomotor sub-function controllers is required enabling the envisioned modular architecture of the locomotion control system. In this paper, we present different studies on implementing different locomotor sub-function controllers on models, robots, and an exoskeleton in addition to demonstrating their abilities in explaining humans' control strategies.

  2. Bio-inspired grasp control in a robotic hand with massive sensorial input.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ascari, Luca; Bertocchi, Ulisse; Corradi, Paolo; Laschi, Cecilia; Dario, Paolo

    2009-02-01

    The capability of grasping and lifting an object in a suitable, stable and controlled way is an outstanding feature for a robot, and thus far, one of the major problems to be solved in robotics. No robotic tools able to perform an advanced control of the grasp as, for instance, the human hand does, have been demonstrated to date. Due to its capital importance in science and in many applications, namely from biomedics to manufacturing, the issue has been matter of deep scientific investigations in both the field of neurophysiology and robotics. While the former is contributing with a profound understanding of the dynamics of real-time control of the slippage and grasp force in the human hand, the latter tries more and more to reproduce, or take inspiration by, the nature's approach, by means of hardware and software technology. On this regard, one of the major constraints robotics has to overcome is the real-time processing of a large amounts of data generated by the tactile sensors while grasping, which poses serious problems to the available computational power. In this paper a bio-inspired approach to tactile data processing has been followed in order to design and test a hardware-software robotic architecture that works on the parallel processing of a large amount of tactile sensing signals. The working principle of the architecture bases on the cellular nonlinear/neural network (CNN) paradigm, while using both hand shape and spatial-temporal features obtained from an array of microfabricated force sensors, in order to control the sensory-motor coordination of the robotic system. Prototypical grasping tasks were selected to measure the system performances applied to a computer-interfaced robotic hand. Successful grasps of several objects, completely unknown to the robot, e.g. soft and deformable objects like plastic bottles, soft balls, and Japanese tofu, have been demonstrated.

  3. 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.

  4. A Comparison of Types of Robot Control for Programming by Demonstration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fischer, Kerstin; Kirstein, Franziska; Jensen, Lars Christian

    2016-01-01

    Programming by Demonstration (PbD) is an efficient way for non-experts to teach new skills to a robot. PbD can be carried out in different ways, for instance, by kinesthetic guidance, teleoperation or by using external controls. In this paper, we compare these three ways of controlling a robot in...

  5. Modeling and Control of Underwater Robotic Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schjoelberg, I:

    1996-12-31

    This doctoral thesis describes modeling and control of underwater vehicle-manipulator systems. The thesis also presents a model and a control scheme for a system consisting of a surface vessel connected to an underwater robotic system by means of a slender marine structure. The equations of motion of the underwater vehicle and manipulator are described and the system kinematics and properties presented. Feedback linearization technique is applied to the system and evaluated through a simulation study. Passivity-based controllers for vehicle and manipulator control are presented. Stability of the closed loop system is proved and simulation results are given. The equation of motion for lateral motion of a cable/riser system connected to a surface vessel at the top end and to a thruster at the bottom end is described and stability analysis and simulations are presented. The equations of motion in 3 degrees of freedom of the cable/riser, surface vessel and robotic system are given. Stability analysis of the total system with PD-controllers is presented. 47 refs., 32 figs., 7 tabs.

  6. An overview on real-time control schemes for wheeled mobile robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radzak, M. S. A.; Ali, M. A. H.; Sha’amri, S.; Azwan, A. R.

    2018-04-01

    The purpose of this paper is to review real-time control motion algorithms for wheeled mobile robot (WMR) when navigating in environment such as road. Its need a good controller to avoid collision with any disturbance and maintain a track error at zero level. The controllers are used with other aiding sensors to measure the WMR’s velocities, posture, and interference to estimate the required torque to be applied on the wheels of mobile robot. Four main categories for wheeled mobile robot control systems have been found in literature which are namely: Kinematic based controller, Dynamic based controllers, artificial intelligence based control system, and Active Force control. A MATLAB/Simulink software is the main software to simulate and implement the control system. The real-time toolbox in MATLAB/SIMULINK are used to receive/send data from sensors/to actuator with presence of disturbances, however others software such C, C++ and visual basic are rare to be used.

  7. Visual servo control for a human-following robot

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Burke, Michael G

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available This thesis presents work completed on the design of control and vision components for use in a monocular vision-based human-following robot. The use of vision in a controller feedback loop is referred to as vision-based or visual servo control...

  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. A neural learning classifier system with self-adaptive constructivism for mobile robot control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurst, Jacob; Bull, Larry

    2006-01-01

    For artificial entities to achieve true autonomy and display complex lifelike behavior, they will need to exploit appropriate adaptable learning algorithms. In this context adaptability implies flexibility guided by the environment at any given time and an open-ended ability to learn appropriate behaviors. This article examines the use of constructivism-inspired mechanisms within a neural learning classifier system architecture that exploits parameter self-adaptation as an approach to realize such behavior. The system uses a rule structure in which each rule is represented by an artificial neural network. It is shown that appropriate internal rule complexity emerges during learning at a rate controlled by the learner and that the structure indicates underlying features of the task. Results are presented in simulated mazes before moving to a mobile robot platform.

  10. Controlling maximum evaluation duration in on-line and on-board evolutionary robotics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Atta-ul-Qayyum, A.; Nedev, D.G.; Haasdijk, E.W.

    2014-01-01

    On-line evolution of robot controllers allows robots to adapt while they perform their proper tasks. In our investigations, robots contain their own self-sufficient evolutionary algorithm (known as the encapsulated approach) where individual solutions are evaluated by means of a time sharing scheme:

  11. Approximate Dynamic Programming in Tracking Control of a Robotic Manipulator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcin Szuster

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available This article focuses on the implementation of an approximate dynamic programming algorithm in the discrete tracking control system of the three-degrees of freedom Scorbot-ER 4pc robotic manipulator. The controlled system is included in an articulated robots group which uses rotary joints to access their work space. The main part of the control system is a dual heuristic dynamic programming algorithm that consists of two structures designed in the form of neural networks: an actor and a critic. The actor generates the suboptimal control law while the critic approximates the difference of the value function from Bellman's equation with respect to the state. The residual elements of the control system are the PD controller, the supervisory term and an additional control signal. The structure of the supervisory term derives from the stability analysis performed using the Lyapunov stability theorem. The control system works online, the neural networks' weights-adaptation procedure is performed in every iteration step, and the neural networks' preliminary learning process is not required. The performance of the control system was verified by a series of computer simulations and experiments performed using the Scorbot-ER 4pc robotic manipulator.

  12. 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.

  13. HiMoP: A three-component architecture to create more human-acceptable social-assistive robots : Motivational architecture for assistive robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodríguez-Lera, Francisco J; Matellán-Olivera, Vicente; Conde-González, Miguel Á; Martín-Rico, Francisco

    2018-05-01

    Generation of autonomous behavior for robots is a general unsolved problem. Users perceive robots as repetitive tools that do not respond to dynamic situations. This research deals with the generation of natural behaviors in assistive service robots for dynamic domestic environments, particularly, a motivational-oriented cognitive architecture to generate more natural behaviors in autonomous robots. The proposed architecture, called HiMoP, is based on three elements: a Hierarchy of needs to define robot drives; a set of Motivational variables connected to robot needs; and a Pool of finite-state machines to run robot behaviors. The first element is inspired in Alderfer's hierarchy of needs, which specifies the variables defined in the motivational component. The pool of finite-state machine implements the available robot actions, and those actions are dynamically selected taking into account the motivational variables and the external stimuli. Thus, the robot is able to exhibit different behaviors even under similar conditions. A customized version of the "Speech Recognition and Audio Detection Test," proposed by the RoboCup Federation, has been used to illustrate how the architecture works and how it dynamically adapts and activates robots behaviors taking into account internal variables and external stimuli.

  14. Aerial robot intelligent control method based on back-stepping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Jian; Xue, Qian

    2018-05-01

    The aerial robot is characterized as strong nonlinearity, high coupling and parameter uncertainty, a self-adaptive back-stepping control method based on neural network is proposed in this paper. The uncertain part of the aerial robot model is compensated online by the neural network of Cerebellum Model Articulation Controller and robust control items are designed to overcome the uncertainty error of the system during online learning. At the same time, particle swarm algorithm is used to optimize and fix parameters so as to improve the dynamic performance, and control law is obtained by the recursion of back-stepping regression. Simulation results show that the designed control law has desired attitude tracking performance and good robustness in case of uncertainties and large errors in the model parameters.

  15. Unix Philosophy and the Real World: Control Software for Humanoid Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neil Thomas Dantam

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Robot software combines the challenges of general purpose and real-time software, requiring complex logic and bounded resource use. Physical safety, particularly for dynamic systems such as humanoid robots, depends on correct software. General purpose computation has converged on unix-like operating systems -- standardized as POSIX, the Portable Operating System Interface -- for devices from cellular phones to supercomputers. The modular, multi-process design typical of POSIX applications is effective for building complex and reliable software. Absent from POSIX, however, is an interproccess communication mechanism that prioritizes newer data as typically desired for control of physical systems. We address this need in the Ach communication library which provides suitable semantics and performance for real-time robot control. Although initially designed for humanoid robots, Ach has broader applicability to complex mechatronic devices -- humanoid and otherwise -- that require real-time coupling of sensors, control, planning, and actuation. The initial user space implementation of Ach was limited in the ability to receive data from multiple sources. We remove this limitation by implementing Ach as a Linux kernel module, enabling Ach's high-performance and latest-message-favored semantics within conventional POSIX communication pipelines. We discuss how these POSIX interfaces and design principles apply to robot software, and we present a case study using the Ach kernel module for communication on the Baxter robot.

  16. A Layered Middleware Architecture for Automated Robot Services

    OpenAIRE

    Choi, Jongsun; Cho, Yongseong; Choi, Jaeyoung; Choi, Jongmyung

    2014-01-01

    These days, using robots has gradually been extending from the limited industrial areas in factories to service areas for the general public in everyday life. It is possible to imagine that end users easily control robots and they define new services by themselves as they wish in the near future. However, there are three issues to resolve to realize the future. Firstly, it is required to abstract robots’ behaviors from primitive robot functions, and secondly, we need context awareness in orde...

  17. Hybrid Analytical and Data-Driven Modeling for Feed-Forward Robot Control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinhart, René Felix; Shareef, Zeeshan; Steil, Jochen Jakob

    2017-02-08

    Feed-forward model-based control relies on models of the controlled plant, e.g., in robotics on accurate knowledge of manipulator kinematics or dynamics. However, mechanical and analytical models do not capture all aspects of a plant's intrinsic properties and there remain unmodeled dynamics due to varying parameters, unmodeled friction or soft materials. In this context, machine learning is an alternative suitable technique to extract non-linear plant models from data. However, fully data-based models suffer from inaccuracies as well and are inefficient if they include learning of well known analytical models. This paper thus argues that feed-forward control based on hybrid models comprising an analytical model and a learned error model can significantly improve modeling accuracy. Hybrid modeling here serves the purpose to combine the best of the two modeling worlds. The hybrid modeling methodology is described and the approach is demonstrated for two typical problems in robotics, i.e., inverse kinematics control and computed torque control. The former is performed for a redundant soft robot and the latter for a rigid industrial robot with redundant degrees of freedom, where a complete analytical model is not available for any of the platforms.

  18. Admittance Control for Robot Assisted Retinal Vein Micro-Cannulation under Human-Robot Collaborative Mode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonenc, Berk; Iordachita, Iulian

    2017-01-01

    Retinal vein occlusion is one of the most common retinovascular diseases. Retinal vein cannulation is a potentially effective treatment method for this condition that currently lies, however, at the limits of human capabilities. In this work, the aim is to use robotic systems and advanced instrumentation to alleviate these challenges, and assist the procedure via a human-robot collaborative mode based on our earlier work on the Steady-Hand Eye Robot and force-sensing instruments. An admittance control method is employed to stabilize the cannula relative to the vein and maintain it inside the lumen during the injection process. A pre-stress strategy is used to prevent the tip of microneedle from getting out of vein in in prolonged infusions, and the performance is verified through simulations. PMID:29607442

  19. Parametric Approach to Trajectory Tracking Control of Robot Manipulators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shijie Zhang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The mathematic description of the trajectory of robot manipulators with the optimal trajectory tracking problem is formulated as an optimal control problem, and a parametric approach is proposed for the optimal trajectory tracking control problem. The optimal control problem is first solved as an open loop optimal control problem by using a time scaling transform and the control parameterization method. Then, by virtue of the relationship between the optimal open loop control and the optimal closed loop control along the optimal trajectory, a practical method is presented to calculate an approximate optimal feedback gain matrix, without having to solve an optimal control problem involving the complex Riccati-like matrix differential equation coupled with the original system dynamics. Simulation results of 2-link robot manipulator are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  20. Dynamic control of biped locomotion robot using optimal regulator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sano, Akihito; Furusho, Junji

    1988-01-01

    For moving in indoor space, it is generally recognized that biped locomotion is suitable. This paper proposes a hierarchical control strategy for the lower level where the position control or the force control at each joint is implemented. In the upper level control, the robot motion is divided into a sagittal plane and a lateral plane. We applied the optimal control algorithm to the motion control in the lateral plane in order to improve the robustness of the control system. The effects of these control schemes are shown by the experiments using the new walking robot BLR-G 1 and the parallel calculation system. BLR-G 1 has 9 degrees of freedom and equips the foot-pressure-sensors and a rate gyroscope. Complete dynamic walking is realized, in which the cycle for each step is about 1.0 second. (author)

  1. Analysis of balance control methods based on inverted pendulum for legged robots

    OpenAIRE

    Denisov, A.; Iakovlev, R.; Mamaev, I.; Pavliuk, N.

    2017-01-01

    Methods of balance control for a legged robot, the model of which is presented as a two-section inverted pendulum, are considered. The following balance methods for humanoid robots are analysed: the parallel algorithm of the network operator method; the method of natural synergies; the method of fuzzy control, the spherical inverted pendulum mode, a dual length linear inverted pendulum method. The best of these methods will be used in the development of the Russian anthropomorphic robot Antares.

  2. Medial gastrocnemius myoelectric control of a robotic ankle exoskeleton.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinnaird, Catherine R; Ferris, Daniel P

    2009-02-01

    A previous study from our laboratory showed that when soleus electromyography was used to control the amount of plantar flexion assistance from a robotic ankle exoskeleton, subjects significantly reduced their soleus activity to quickly return to normal gait kinematics. We speculated that subjects were primarily responding to the local mechanical assistance of the exoskeleton rather than directly attempting to reduce exoskeleton mechanical power via decreases in soleus activity. To test this observation we studied ten healthy subjects walking on a treadmill at 1.25 m/s while wearing a robotic exoskeleton proportionally controlled by medial gastrocnemius activation. We hypothesized that subjects would primarily decrease soleus activity due to its synergistic mechanics with the exoskeleton. Subjects decreased medial gastrocnemius recruitment by 12% ( p exoskeleton (soleus). These findings indicate that anatomical morphology needs to be considered carefully when designing software and hardware for robotic exoskeletons.

  3. Intuitive adaptive orientation control of assistive robots for people living with upper limb disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vu, Dinh-Son; Allard, Ulysse Cote; Gosselin, Clement; Routhier, Francois; Gosselin, Benoit; Campeau-Lecours, Alexandre

    2017-07-01

    Robotic assistive devices enhance the autonomy of individuals living with physical disabilities in their day-to-day life. Although the first priority for such devices is safety, they must also be intuitive and efficient from an engineering point of view in order to be adopted by a broad range of users. This is especially true for assistive robotic arms, as they are used for the complex control tasks of daily living. One challenge in the control of such assistive robots is the management of the end-effector orientation which is not always intuitive for the human operator, especially for neophytes. This paper presents a novel orientation control algorithm designed for robotic arms in the context of human-robot interaction. This work aims at making the control of the robot's orientation easier and more intuitive for the user, in particular, individuals living with upper limb disabilities. The performance and intuitiveness of the proposed orientation control algorithm is assessed through two experiments with 25 able-bodied subjects and shown to significantly improve on both aspects.

  4. INTEGRATED ROBOT-HUMAN CONTROL IN MINING OPERATIONS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    George Danko

    2006-04-01

    This report describes the results of the 2nd year of a research project on the implementation of a novel human-robot control system for hydraulic machinery. Sensor and valve re-calibration experiments were conducted to improve open loop machine control. A Cartesian control example was tested both in simulation and on the machine; the results are discussed in detail. The machine tests included open-loop as well as closed-loop motion control. Both methods worked reasonably well, due to the high-quality electro-hydraulic valves used on the experimental machine. Experiments on 3-D analysis of the bucket trajectory using marker tracking software are also presented with the results obtained. Open-loop control is robustly stable and free of short-term dynamic problems, but it allows for drifting away from the desired motion kinematics of the machine. A novel, closed-loop control adjustment provides a remedy, while retaining much of the advantages of the open-loop control based on kinematics transformation. Additional analysis of previously recorded, three-dimensional working trajectories of the bucket of large mine shovels was completed. The motion patterns, when transformed into a family of curves, serve as the basis for software-controlled machine kinematics transformation in the new human-robot control system.

  5. A CORBA-Based Control Architecture for Real-Time Teleoperation Tasks in a Developmental Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanafiah Yussof

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the development of new Humanoid Robot Control Architecture (HRCA platform based on Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA in a developmental biped humanoid robot for real-time teleoperation tasks. The objective is to make the control platform open for collaborative teleoperation research in humanoid robotics via the internet. Meanwhile, to generate optimal trajectory generation in bipedal walk, we proposed a real time generation of optimal gait by using Genetic Algorithms (GA to minimize the energy for humanoid robot gait. In addition, we proposed simplification of kinematical solutions to generate controlled trajectories of humanoid robot legs in teleoperation tasks. The proposed control systems and strategies was evaluated in teleoperation experiments between Australia and Japan using humanoid robot Bonten-Maru. Additionally, we have developed a user-friendly Virtual Reality (VR user interface that is composed of ultrasonic 3D mouse system and a Head Mounted Display (HMD for working coexistence of human and humanoid robot in teleoperation tasks. The teleoperation experiments show good performance of the proposed system and control, and also verified the good performance for working coexistence of human and humanoid robot.

  6. A CORBA-Based Control Architecture for Real-Time Teleoperation Tasks in a Developmental Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanafiah Yussof

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the development of new Humanoid Robot Control Architecture (HRCA platform based on Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA in a developmental biped humanoid robot for real‐time teleoperation tasks. The objective is to make the control platform open for collaborative teleoperation research in humanoid robotics via the internet. Meanwhile, to generate optimal trajectory generation in bipedal walk, we proposed a real time generation of optimal gait by using Genetic Algorithms (GA to minimize the energy for humanoid robot gait. In addition, we proposed simplification of kinematical solutions to generate controlled trajectories of humanoid robot legs in teleoperation tasks. The proposed control systems and strategies was evaluated in teleoperation experiments between Australia and Japan using humanoid robot Bonten‐Maru. Additionally, we have developed a user‐ friendly Virtual Reality (VR user interface that is composed of ultrasonic 3D mouse system and a Head Mounted Display (HMD for working coexistence of human and humanoid robot in teleoperation tasks. The teleoperation experiments show good performance of the proposed system and control, and also verified the good performance for working coexistence of human and humanoid robot.

  7. Robot Futures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christoffersen, Anja; Grindsted Nielsen, Sally; Jochum, Elizabeth Ann

    Robots are increasingly used in health care settings, e.g., as homecare assistants and personal companions. One challenge for personal robots in the home is acceptance. We describe an innovative approach to influencing the acceptance of care robots using theatrical performance. Live performance...... is a useful testbed for developing and evaluating what makes robots expressive; it is also a useful platform for designing robot behaviors and dialogue that result in believable characters. Therefore theatre is a valuable testbed for studying human-robot interaction (HRI). We investigate how audiences...... perceive social robots interacting with humans in a future care scenario through a scripted performance. We discuss our methods and initial findings, and outline future work....

  8. Port-Based Modeling and Control for Efficient Bipedal Walking Robots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Duindam, V.

    2006-01-01

    Research on walking robots has shown that the process of walking, in itself, requires little energy. Indeed, many robots have been built that walk with high efficiency. General analysis and control tools for such efficient walkers, however, are lacking, and many results are based on engineering

  9. Symmetric Kullback-Leibler Metric Based Tracking Behaviors for Bioinspired Robotic Eyes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hengli; Luo, Jun; Wu, Peng; Xie, Shaorong; Li, Hengyu

    2015-01-01

    A symmetric Kullback-Leibler metric based tracking system, capable of tracking moving targets, is presented for a bionic spherical parallel mechanism to minimize a tracking error function to simulate smooth pursuit of human eyes. More specifically, we propose a real-time moving target tracking algorithm which utilizes spatial histograms taking into account symmetric Kullback-Leibler metric. In the proposed algorithm, the key spatial histograms are extracted and taken into particle filtering framework. Once the target is identified, an image-based control scheme is implemented to drive bionic spherical parallel mechanism such that the identified target is to be tracked at the center of the captured images. Meanwhile, the robot motion information is fed forward to develop an adaptive smooth tracking controller inspired by the Vestibuloocular Reflex mechanism. The proposed tracking system is designed to make the robot track dynamic objects when the robot travels through transmittable terrains, especially bumpy environment. To perform bumpy-resist capability under the condition of violent attitude variation when the robot works in the bumpy environment mentioned, experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our bioinspired tracking system using bionic spherical parallel mechanism inspired by head-eye coordination.

  10. Symmetric Kullback-Leibler Metric Based Tracking Behaviors for Bioinspired Robotic Eyes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hengli Liu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A symmetric Kullback-Leibler metric based tracking system, capable of tracking moving targets, is presented for a bionic spherical parallel mechanism to minimize a tracking error function to simulate smooth pursuit of human eyes. More specifically, we propose a real-time moving target tracking algorithm which utilizes spatial histograms taking into account symmetric Kullback-Leibler metric. In the proposed algorithm, the key spatial histograms are extracted and taken into particle filtering framework. Once the target is identified, an image-based control scheme is implemented to drive bionic spherical parallel mechanism such that the identified target is to be tracked at the center of the captured images. Meanwhile, the robot motion information is fed forward to develop an adaptive smooth tracking controller inspired by the Vestibuloocular Reflex mechanism. The proposed tracking system is designed to make the robot track dynamic objects when the robot travels through transmittable terrains, especially bumpy environment. To perform bumpy-resist capability under the condition of violent attitude variation when the robot works in the bumpy environment mentioned, experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our bioinspired tracking system using bionic spherical parallel mechanism inspired by head-eye coordination.

  11. Reward-Modulated Hebbian Plasticity as Leverage for Partially Embodied Control in Compliant Robotics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burms, Jeroen; Caluwaerts, Ken; Dambre, Joni

    2015-01-01

    In embodied computation (or morphological computation), part of the complexity of motor control is offloaded to the body dynamics. We demonstrate that a simple Hebbian-like learning rule can be used to train systems with (partial) embodiment, and can be extended outside of the scope of traditional neural networks. To this end, we apply the learning rule to optimize the connection weights of recurrent neural networks with different topologies and for various tasks. We then apply this learning rule to a simulated compliant tensegrity robot by optimizing static feedback controllers that directly exploit the dynamics of the robot body. This leads to partially embodied controllers, i.e., hybrid controllers that naturally integrate the computations that are performed by the robot body into a neural network architecture. Our results demonstrate the universal applicability of reward-modulated Hebbian learning. Furthermore, they demonstrate the robustness of systems trained with the learning rule. This study strengthens our belief that compliant robots should or can be seen as computational units, instead of dumb hardware that needs a complex controller. This link between compliant robotics and neural networks is also the main reason for our search for simple universal learning rules for both neural networks and robotics. PMID:26347645

  12. Hand Gesture Based Wireless Robotic Arm Control for Agricultural Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kannan Megalingam, Rajesh; Bandhyopadhyay, Shiva; Vamsy Vivek, Gedela; Juned Rahi, Muhammad

    2017-08-01

    One of the major challenges in agriculture is harvesting. It is very hard and sometimes even unsafe for workers to go to each plant and pluck fruits. Robotic systems are increasingly combined with new technologies to automate or semi automate labour intensive work, such as e.g. grape harvesting. In this work we propose a semi-automatic method for aid in harvesting fruits and hence increase productivity per man hour. A robotic arm fixed to a rover roams in the in orchard and the user can control it remotely using the hand glove fixed with various sensors. These sensors can position the robotic arm remotely to harvest the fruits. In this paper we discuss the design of hand glove fixed with various sensors, design of 4 DoF robotic arm and the wireless control interface. In addition the setup of the system and the testing and evaluation under lab conditions are also presented in this paper.

  13. 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.

  14. 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

  15. Task Refinement for Autonomous Robots using Complementary Corrective Human Feedback

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cetin Mericli

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available A robot can perform a given task through a policy that maps its sensed state to appropriate actions. We assume that a hand-coded controller can achieve such a mapping only for the basic cases of the task. Refining the controller becomes harder and gets more tedious and error prone as the complexity of the task increases. In this paper, we present a new learning from demonstration approach to improve the robot's performance through the use of corrective human feedback as a complement to an existing hand-coded algorithm. The human teacher observes the robot as it performs the task using the hand-coded algorithm and takes over the control to correct the behavior when the robot selects a wrong action to be executed. Corrections are captured as new state-action pairs and the default controller output is replaced by the demonstrated corrections during autonomous execution when the current state of the robot is decided to be similar to a previously corrected state in the correction database. The proposed approach is applied to a complex ball dribbling task performed against stationary defender robots in a robot soccer scenario, where physical Aldebaran Nao humanoid robots are used. The results of our experiments show an improvement in the robot's performance when the default hand-coded controller is augmented with corrective human demonstration.

  16. A set of decentralized PID controllers for an n–link robot manipulator

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    A class of stabilizing decentralized proportional integral derivative (PID) controllers for an -link robot manipulator system is proposed. The range of decentralized PID controller parameters for an -link robot manipulator is obtained using Kharitonov theorem and stability boundary equations. Basically, the proposed design ...

  17. Safety Supervisory Strategy for an Upper-Limb Rehabilitation Robot Based on Impedance Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lizheng Pan

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available User security is an important consideration for robots that interact with humans, especially for upper-limb rehabilitation robots, during the use of which stroke patients are often more susceptible to injury. In this paper, a novel safety supervisory control method incorporating fuzzy logic is proposed so as to guarantee the impaired limb's safety should an emergency situation occur and the robustness of the upper-limb rehabilitation robot control system. Firstly, a safety supervisory fuzzy controller (SSFC was designed based on the impaired-limb's real-time physical state by extracting and recognizing the impaired-limb's tracking movement features. Then, the proposed SSFC was used to automatically regulate the desired force either to account for reasonable disturbance resulting from pose or position changes or to respond in adequate time to an emergency based on an evaluation of the impaired-limb's physical condition. Finally, a position-based impedance controller was implemented to achieve compliance between the robotic end-effector and the impaired limb during the robot-assisted rehabilitation training. The experimental results show the effectiveness and potential of the proposed method for achieving safety and robustness for the rehabilitation robot.

  18. Temporal Memory Reinforcement Learning for the Autonomous Micro-mobile Robot Based-behavior

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yang Yujun(杨玉君); Cheng Junshi; Chen Jiapin; Li Xiaohai

    2004-01-01

    This paper presents temporal memory reinforcement learning for the autonomous micro-mobile robot based-behavior. Human being has a memory oblivion process, i.e. the earlier to memorize, the earlier to forget, only the repeated thing can be remembered firmly. Enlightening forms this, and the robot need not memorize all the past states, at the same time economizes the EMS memory space, which is not enough in the MPU of our AMRobot. The proposed algorithm is an extension of the Q-learning, which is an incremental reinforcement learning method. The results of simulation have shown that the algorithm is valid.

  19. Image-Based Visual Servoing for Robotic Systems: A Nonlinear Lyapunov-Based Control Approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dixon, Warren

    2002-01-01

    The objective of this project is to enable current and future EM robots with an increased ability to perceive and interact with unstructured and unknown environments through the use of camera-based visual servo controlled robots. The scientific goals of this research are to develop a new visual servo control methodology that: (1) adapts for the unknown camera calibration parameters (e.g., focal length, scaling factors, camera position and orientation) and the physical parameters of the robotic system (e.g., mass, inertia, friction), (2) compensates for unknown depth information (extract 3D information from the 2D image), and (3) enables multi-uncalibrated cameras to be used as a means to provide a larger field-of-view. Nonlinear Lyapunov-based techniques are being used to overcome the complex control issues and alleviate many of the restrictive assumptions that impact current visual servo controlled robotic systems. The potential relevance of this control methodology will be a plug-and-play visual servoing control module that can be utilized in conjunction with current technology such as feature extraction and recognition, to enable current EM robotic systems with the capabilities of increased accuracy, autonomy, and robustness, with a larger field of view (and hence a larger workspace). These capabilities will enable EM robots to significantly accelerate D and D operations by providing for improved robot autonomy and increased worker productivity, while also reducing the associated costs, removing the human operator from the hazardous environments, and reducing the burden and skill of the human operators

  20. Position Control Method For Pick And Place Robot Arm For Object Sorting System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khin Moe Myint

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The more increase the number of industries in developing countries the more require labourers or workers in that. To reduce the cost of labour force and to increase the manufacturing capacity of industries the advanced robot arms are more needed. The aim of this journal is to eliminate the manual control for object sorting system.Robot arm design in this research uses two joints three links and servo motors to drive. Microcontroller is used to generate required PWM signal for servo motors. In this research the position control of robot arm was designed by using kinematic control methods. There are two types of kinematic control methods which are forward and reverse kinematic methods. In forward kinematic method the input parameters are the joint angles and link length of robot arm and then the output is the position at XYZ coordinate of tool or gripper. In inverse kinematic the input parameters are position at XYZ coordinate of gripper and the link length of robot arm and then the output parameters are the joint angles. So kinematic methods can explain the analytical description of the geometry motion of the manipulator with reference to a robot coordinate system fixed to a frame without consideration of the forces or the moments causing the movements. For sorting system Metal detector is used to detect the metal or non-metal. This position control of pick and place robot arm is fully tested and the result is obtained more precisely.