Development of an autonomous mobile robot with planning and location in a structured environment

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáWith the advance of technology mobile robots have been increasingly applied in the industry, performing repetitive work with high performance, and in environments that pose risks to human health. The present work plans and develops a mobile robot platform for the micromouse competition. The micromouse consists of a small autonomous mobile robot that, when placed in an unknown labyrinth, is able to map it, search for the best path between the starting point and the goal and travel it in the shortest possible time. To accomplish these tasks, the robot must be able to self-locate, map the maze as it traverses it and plan paths based on the map obtained. The developed self-localization method is based on the odometry, the laser sensors present in the robot and on a previous knowledge of the start point and the configuration of the environment. Several methodologies of locomotion in unknown environment and route planning are analyzed in order to obtain the combination with the best performance. In order to verify the results, the present work is developed in real environment, in 3D simulation and also with a hardware in the loop capability. Labyrinths from previous competitions are used as basis for comparing methodologies and validating results. At the end it presents the algorithm capable of fulfilling all the requirements of the micromouse competition together with the results of its evaluation run.Com o avanço da tecnologia, os robôs móveis têm sido cada vez mais aplicados na indústria, realizando trabalhos repetitivos com alto desempenho e em ambientes que expõem riscos à saúde humana. O presente trabalho planeja e desenvolve um robô móvel para a competição micromouse. O micromouse consiste em um pequeno robô autônomo que, ao ser colocado em um labirinto desconhecido, é capaz de mapeá-lo, procurar o melhor caminho entre o ponto de partida e o objetivo, e percorrê-lo no menor tempo possível. Para realizar estas tarefas, o robô deve ser capaz de se auto-localizar, mapear o labirinto enquanto o percorre e planejar caminhos com base no mapa obtido. O método de auto-localização desenvolvido baseia-se na odometria, nos sensores a laser presentes no robô e em um prévio conhecimento do ponto de início e da configuração do ambiente. Diversas metodologias de locomoção em ambiente desconhecido e planejamento de rotas são analisadas buscando-se obter a combinação com o melhor desempenho. Para averiguação de resultados o presente trabalho desenvolve-se em ambiente real e em simulação 3D com hardware in the loop. Labirintos de competições anteriores são utilizados de base para o comparativo de metodologias e validação de resultados. Ao final apresenta-se o algoritmo capaz de cumprir todas as exigências da competição micromouse juntamente com os resultados em sua corrida de avaliação

A realistic simulation environment as a teaching aid in educational robotics

The experimental component is an essential method in Engineering education. Sometimes the availability of laboratories and components is compromised, and the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation. Resorting to an accurate simulation seems to help this process by allowing students to develop the work, program, test, and validate it. Moreover, it lowers the development time and cost of the prototyping stages of a robotics project. As a multidisciplinary area, robotics requires simulation environments with essential characteristics, such as dynamics, connection to hardware (embedded systems), and other applications. Thus, this paper presents the Simulation environment of SimTwo, emphasizing previous publications with models of sensors, actuators, and simulation scenes. The simulator can be used for free, and the source code is available to the community. Proposed scenes and examples can inspire the development of other simulation scenes to be used in electrical and mechanical Engineering projects. © 2022 IEEE.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CeDRI (UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021). Thadeu Brito was supported by FCT PhD grant SFRH/BD/08598/2020 and Joao Braun received the ˜ support of a fellowship from ”la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434) with code LCF/BQ/DI20/11780028.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Micromouse 3D simulator with dynamics capability: a unity environment approach

The micromouse competition has been gaining prominence in the robotic atmosphere, due to the challenging and multidisciplinary characteristics provided by the teams’ duels, being a gateway for those who intend to deepen their studies in autonomous robotics. In this context, this paper presents a realistic micromouse simulator developed with Unity software, a widely game engine with dynamics and 3D development platform used. The developed simulator has hardware-in-the-loop capabilities, aims to be simple to use, it can be customizable, and designed to be as similar as possible to the real robot configurations. In this way, the proposed simulator requires few modifications to port the microcontroller code to a real robot. Therefore, the framework presented in this work allows the user to simulate the development of new algorithm strategies dedicated to competition and also hardware updates. The simulation supports several mazes, from previous competitions and has the possibility to add different mazes elaborated by the user. Thus, the features and functionality of the simulator can serve to accelerate the project’s development of the beginning and advanced competitors, using real models to reduce the gap between the mouse robot behavior in the simulation and the reality. The developed simulation environment is available to the community. © 2021, The Author(s).This work has been supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Projects UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDB/50014/2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Systematic mapping literature review of mobile robotics competitions

This paper presents a systematic mapping literature review about the mobile robotics competitions that took place over the last few decades in order to obtain an overview of the main objectives, target public, challenges, technologies used and final application area to show how these competitions have been contributing to education. In the review we found 673 papers from 5 different databases and at the end of the process, 75 papers were classified to extract all the relevant information using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. More than 50 mobile robotics competitions were found and it was possible to analyze most of the competitions in detail in order to answer the research questions, finding the main goals, target public, challenges, technologies and application area, mainly in education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

UnimouseSim: a real-time mobile robot simulator with hardware-in-the-loop support for the micromouse contest

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáMobile robots are applied to various industrial contexts, performing repetitive and highperformance tasks. One way of generating interest in the study of robotics in this context is through robotics competitions. The aim of this work is the development of a 3D mobile robotics simulator with hardware-in-the-loop capabilities. It includes developing models for standard components, such as time-of-flight sensors, wheel encoders, and direct current motors. The simulator interacts with development boards, programmed through Arduino-compatible libraries for communication with each robot component. By having the microcontrollers process each sensor’s output and determine the appropriate motor commands, the microcontroller’s limitations are present even during the simulation. The simulator contains different environments, where users have to complete challenges that require sensor data to be interpreted and motor commands to be calculated for different purposes, namely following walls, controlling the robot speed, and developing algorithms for completing the micromouse competition. A modification to the flood fill algorithm, commonly used in the micromouse competition, was proposed and analysed. It targets robots with a simple movement set, unable to perform turns while maintaining linear speed. The simulator was used in the RoboSTEM hackathon, where students were presented with the challenge environments and developed their solutions. It provided insights about the problems they were asked to solve and the simulator software itself.A robótica móvel é aplicada a diferentes contextos industriais, executando tarefas repetitivas e de alta performance. Uma forma de gerar interesse no estudo da robótica é por meio de competições. O objetivo deste trabalho é o desenvolvimento de um simulador 3D de robótica com hardware-in-the-loop. Foi feito o desenvolvimento de components comumente utilizados nos robôs, como sensores time-of-flight, encoders e motores de corrente contínua. A intereção com o simulador é feita por placas de desenvolvimento programadas por bibliotecas compatíveis com o ambiente Arduino, específicas para cada componente. Sendo o microcontrolador responsável por processar as medições dos esnsores e determinar o comando apropriado para os motores, as limitações de memória e poder de processamento dos microcontroladores se fazem presentes mesmo no ambiente de simulação. O simulador contém diferentes ambientes, em que o tulizador deve completar desafios que requerem a utilização dos sensores e atuadores para dieferentes fins, nomeadamnete o seguimento de paredes, controlo de velocidade e completar a competição do micromouse. Foi proposta e analizada uma modificação ao algorítmo flood fill, comumente usado na competição do micromouse, que visa robôs com um conjunto de movimento limitado, inaptos a fazer curvas enquanto mantêm velocidade linear. O simulador foi utilizado no hackathon RoboSTEM, em que os diferentes desafios foram apresentados a estudantes, e as soluções elaboradas por eles continham observações imporotantes sobre os problemas apresentados e sobre o simulador em si

Development of a small robot prototype for educational purposes

The project consisted of simulating an Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) system and creating a model of an AGV that will serve as a teaching kit for future generations. The simulation was performed in SIMTWO, a realistic robotics simulator. Three simulations were built of increasing complexity starting from the simple line movements to AGV systems. It was plotted in each simulation the most important graphs to present the reader and explain what has happened. Moreover CAD files were created of the AGV using 3D printing and assembled. Then, a software that runs on the Arduino, was developed, and it uses a six-byte combination of symbols and numbers to control the AGV.O projecto consistiu na simulação de um sistema de Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) e na criação de um modelo de AGV que servirá como kit de ensino para as gerações futuras. A simulação foi feita em SIMTWO, um simulador robótico no mesmo, foram feitas três simulações de complexidade crescente a partir dos simples movimentos de linha para sistemas AGV. Foi traçado em cada simulação os gráficos mais importantes para apresentar o leitor e explicar o que aconteceu. Além disso, foram criados ficheiros CAD para o modelo AGV e criados utilizando a impressão e montagem 3D. Estes, um programa que corre no Arduino, foi concebido, e utiliza uma combinação de seis bytes de símbolos e números para controlar o AGV

3D Simulator based on simTwo to evaluate algorithms in micromouse competition

Robotics competitions are increasing in complexity and number challenging the researchers, roboticists and enthusiastic to address the robot applications. One of the well-known competition is the micromouse where the fastest mobile robot to solve a maze is the winner. There are several topics addressed in this competition such as robot prototyping, control, electronics, path planning, optimization, among others. A simulation can be used to speed-up the development and testing algorithms but faces the gap between the reality in the dynamics behaviour. In this paper, an open source realistic simulator tool is presented where the dynamics of the robot, the slippage of the wheels, the friction and the 3D visualization can be found. The complete simulator with the robot model and an example is available that allow the users to test, implement and change all the environment. The presented results validate the proposed simulator.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Políticas de Copyright de Publicações Científicas em Repositórios Institucionais: O Caso do INESC TEC

A progressiva transformação das práticas científicas, impulsionada pelo desenvolvimento das novas Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC), têm possibilitado aumentar o acesso à informação, caminhando gradualmente para uma abertura do ciclo de pesquisa. Isto permitirá resolver a longo prazo uma adversidade que se tem colocado aos investigadores, que passa pela existência de barreiras que limitam as condições de acesso, sejam estas geográficas ou financeiras. Apesar da produção científica ser dominada, maioritariamente, por grandes editoras comerciais, estando sujeita às regras por estas impostas, o Movimento do Acesso Aberto cuja primeira declaração pública, a Declaração de Budapeste (BOAI), é de 2002, vem propor alterações significativas que beneficiam os autores e os leitores. Este Movimento vem a ganhar importância em Portugal desde 2003, com a constituição do primeiro repositório institucional a nível nacional. Os repositórios institucionais surgiram como uma ferramenta de divulgação da produção científica de uma instituição, com o intuito de permitir abrir aos resultados da investigação, quer antes da publicação e do próprio processo de arbitragem (preprint), quer depois (postprint), e, consequentemente, aumentar a visibilidade do trabalho desenvolvido por um investigador e a respetiva instituição. O estudo apresentado, que passou por uma análise das políticas de copyright das publicações científicas mais relevantes do INESC TEC, permitiu não só perceber que as editoras adotam cada vez mais políticas que possibilitam o auto-arquivo das publicações em repositórios institucionais, como também que existe todo um trabalho de sensibilização a percorrer, não só para os investigadores, como para a instituição e toda a sociedade. A produção de um conjunto de recomendações, que passam pela implementação de uma política institucional que incentive o auto-arquivo das publicações desenvolvidas no âmbito institucional no repositório, serve como mote para uma maior valorização da produção científica do INESC TEC.The progressive transformation of scientific practices, driven by the development of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which made it possible to increase access to information, gradually moving towards an opening of the research cycle. This opening makes it possible to resolve, in the long term, the adversity that has been placed on researchers, which involves the existence of barriers that limit access conditions, whether geographical or financial. Although large commercial publishers predominantly dominate scientific production and subject it to the rules imposed by them, the Open Access movement whose first public declaration, the Budapest Declaration (BOAI), was in 2002, proposes significant changes that benefit the authors and the readers. This Movement has gained importance in Portugal since 2003, with the constitution of the first institutional repository at the national level. Institutional repositories have emerged as a tool for disseminating the scientific production of an institution to open the results of the research, both before publication and the preprint process and postprint, increase the visibility of work done by an investigator and his or her institution. The present study, which underwent an analysis of the copyright policies of INESC TEC most relevant scientific publications, allowed not only to realize that publishers are increasingly adopting policies that make it possible to self-archive publications in institutional repositories, all the work of raising awareness, not only for researchers but also for the institution and the whole society. The production of a set of recommendations, which go through the implementation of an institutional policy that encourages the self-archiving of the publications developed in the institutional scope in the repository, serves as a motto for a greater appreciation of the scientific production of INESC TEC