Adoption of vehicular ad hoc networking protocols by networked robots

This paper focuses on the utilization of wireless networking in the robotics domain. Many researchers have already equipped their robots with wireless communication capabilities, stimulated by the observation that multi-robot systems tend to have several advantages over their single-robot counterparts. Typically, this integration of wireless communication is tackled in a quite pragmatic manner, only a few authors presented novel Robotic Ad Hoc Network (RANET) protocols that were designed specifically with robotic use cases in mind. This is in sharp contrast with the domain of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET). This observation is the starting point of this paper. If the results of previous efforts focusing on VANET protocols could be reused in the RANET domain, this could lead to rapid progress in the field of networked robots. To investigate this possibility, this paper provides a thorough overview of the related work in the domain of robotic and vehicular ad hoc networks. Based on this information, an exhaustive list of requirements is defined for both types. It is concluded that the most significant difference lies in the fact that VANET protocols are oriented towards low throughput messaging, while RANET protocols have to support high throughput media streaming as well. Although not always with equal importance, all other defined requirements are valid for both protocols. This leads to the conclusion that cross-fertilization between them is an appealing approach for future RANET research. To support such developments, this paper concludes with the definition of an appropriate working plan

Algoritmo bioinspirado a redes de robots para la asistencia en operaciones de busqueda y rescate

ilustraciones, diagramas, fotografíasThis thesis proposes a bio-inspired algorithm for robot networks assisting in the operations of search and rescue scenarios. We consider ants as social animals to study and abstract beha- viors that can be useful in the framework of search and rescue using robots. We consider three main topics to address when using robots to assist rescuers. First, the exploration and mapping of the disaster zones. For this, we consider the mecha- nisms and interactions of ants to explore their environment, look for food, avoid predators, and explore better places to establish a nest. Then, we deploy robots to explore the en- vironment and discourage robots from entering regions other robots have explored using pheromones as markers for the robots. We also abstract the randomness ants use to explore and implement a Q-learning algorithm that allows robots to explore unvisited regions. Second, the navigation and victim detection. Once the environment has been explored, we vi use Reynolds rules to allow the navigation of robots to create cohesion, attraction to target goals, and repulsion to obstacles and inter-agent collisions. Then, we use a neural network to determine whether what robots are detecting is a victim. Lastly, we use a consensus-like approach to classify victims or no victims based on distributed information. Lastly, ants have been famous for carrying loads that surpass their size and payload capacity by cooperating. We consider quadrotors to carry loads cooperatively that can be medical supplies or victims in search and rescue (Texto tomado de la fuente)Esta tesis propone un algoritmo bioinspirado para redes de robots que asisten en las operaciones de escenarios de busqueda y rescate. Consideramos a las hormigas como animales sociales para estudiar y abstraer comportamientos que pueden ser utiles en el marco de la busqueda y rescate mediante robots. Consideramos tres temas principales para abordar cuando se utilizan robots para ayudar a los rescatistas. Primero, la exploracion y mapeo de las zonas de desastre. Para esto, consideramos los mecanismos e interacciones de las hormigas para explorar su entorno, buscar comida, evitar depredadores y explorar mejores lugares para establecer un nido. Luego, desplegamos robots para explorar el entorno y disuadimos a los robots de ingresar a regiones que otros robots han explorado usando feromonas como marcadores para los robots. Tambien abstraemos la aleatoriedad que usan las hormigas para explorar e implementar un algoritmo Q-learning que permite a los robots explorar regiones no visitadas. En segundo lugar, la navegacion y deteccion de vıctimas. Una vez que se ha explorado el entorno, usamos las reglas de Reynolds para permitir que la navegacion de los robots cree cohesion, atraccion hacia los objetivos y repulsion hacia los obstaculos y las colisiones entre agentes. Luego, usamos una red neuronal para determinar si lo que detectan los robots es una vıctima. Por ultimo, utilizamos un enfoque de consenso para clasificar a las vıctimas o no vıctimas en funcion de la informacion distribuida. Por ultimo, las hormigas han sido famosas por llevar cargas que superan su tamano y capacidad de carga al cooperar. Consideramos quadrotors para transportar cargas de manera cooperativa que pueden ser suministros medicos o vıctimas en busqueda y rescate.MaestríaMagister en Ingenieria - Automatizacion IndustrialRobotic

Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks

In this chapter, we present a literature survey of an emerging, cutting-edge, and multi-disciplinary field of research at the intersection of Robotics and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which we refer to as Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks (RWSN). We define a RWSN as an autonomous networked multi-robot system that aims to achieve certain sensing goals while meeting and maintaining certain communication performance requirements, through cooperative control, learning and adaptation. While both of the component areas, i.e., Robotics and WSN, are very well-known and well-explored, there exist a whole set of new opportunities and research directions at the intersection of these two fields which are relatively or even completely unexplored. One such example would be the use of a set of robotic routers to set up a temporary communication path between a sender and a receiver that uses the controlled mobility to the advantage of packet routing. We find that there exist only a limited number of articles to be directly categorized as RWSN related works whereas there exist a range of articles in the robotics and the WSN literature that are also relevant to this new field of research. To connect the dots, we first identify the core problems and research trends related to RWSN such as connectivity, localization, routing, and robust flow of information. Next, we classify the existing research on RWSN as well as the relevant state-of-the-arts from robotics and WSN community according to the problems and trends identified in the first step. Lastly, we analyze what is missing in the existing literature, and identify topics that require more research attention in the future

A robot swarm assisting a human fire-fighter

Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for fire-fighters. The large dimensions, together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major challenges. The GUARDIANS robot swarm is designed to assist fire-fighters in searching a large warehouse. In this paper we discuss the technology developed for a swarm of robots assisting fire-fighters. We explain the swarming algorithms that provide the functionality by which the robots react to and follow humans while no communication is required. Next we discuss the wireless communication system, which is a so-called mobile ad-hoc network. The communication network provides also the means to locate the robots and humans. Thus, the robot swarm is able to provide guidance information to the humans. Together with the fire-fighters we explored how the robot swarm should feed information back to the human fire-fighter. We have designed and experimented with interfaces for presenting swarm-based information to human beings

A review on multi-robot systems categorised by application domain

Literature reviews on Multi-Robot Systems (MRS) typically focus on fundamental technical aspects, like coordination and communication, that need to be considered in order to coordinate a team of robots to perform a given task effectively and efficiently. Other reviews only consider works that aim to address a specific problem or one particular application of MRS. In contrast, this paper presents a survey of recent research works on MRS and categorises them according to their application domain. Furthermore, this paper compiles a number of seminal review works that have proposed specific taxonomies in classifying fundamental concepts, such as coordination, architecture and communication, in the field of MRS.peer-reviewe

odNEAT: an algorithm for decentralised online evolution of robotic controllers

Online evolution gives robots the capacity to learn new tasks and to adapt to changing environmental conditions during task execution. Previous approaches to online evolution of neural controllers are typically limited to the optimisation of weights in networks with a prespecified, fixed topology. In this article, we propose a novel approach to online learning in groups of autonomous robots called odNEAT. odNEAT is a distributed and decentralised neuroevolution algorithm that evolves both weights and network topology. We demonstrate odNEAT in three multirobot tasks: aggregation, integrated navigation and obstacle avoidance, and phototaxis. Results show that odNEAT approximates the performance of rtNEAT, an efficient centralised method, and outperforms IM-( mu + 1), a decentralised neuroevolution algorithm. Compared with rtNEAT and IM( mu + 1), odNEAT's evolutionary dynamics lead to the synthesis of less complex neural controllers with superior generalisation capabilities. We show that robots executing odNEAT can display a high degree of fault tolerance as they are able to adapt and learn new behaviours in the presence of faults. We conclude with a series of ablation studies to analyse the impact of each algorithmic component on performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

GUARDIANS final report part 1 (draft): a robot swarm assisting a human fire fighter

Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for fire fighters. The large dimensions together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major challenges. The Guardians robot swarm is designed to assist re ghters in searching a large warehouse. In this paper we discuss the technology developed for a swarm of robots assisting re ghters. We explain the swarming algorithms which provide the functionality by which the robots react to and follow humans while no communication is required. Next we discuss the wireless communication system, which is a so-called mobile ad-hoc network. The communication network provides also the means to locate the robots and humans. Thus the robot swarm is able to provide guidance information to the humans. Together with the fire fighters we explored how the robot swarm should feed information back to the human fire fighter. We have designed and experimented with interfaces for presenting swarm based information to human beings