Accurate robot simulation through system identification

Robot simulators are useful tools for developing robot behaviours. They provide a fast and efficient means to test robot control code at the convenience of the office desk. In all but the simplest cases though, due to the complexities of the physical systems modelled in the simulator, there are considerable differences between the behaviour of the robot in the simulator and that in the real world environment. In this paper we present a novel method to create a robot simulator using real sensor data. Logged sensor data is used to construct a mathematically explicit model(in the form of a NARMAX polynomial) of the robot’s environment. The advantage of such a transparent model — in contrast to opaque modelling methods such as artificial neural networks — is that it can be analysed to characterise the modelled system, using established mathematical methods In this paper we compare the behaviour of the robot running a particular task in both the simulator and the real-world using qualitative and quantitative measures including statistical methods to investigate the faithfulness of the simulator

Robotin ajurijärjestelmän modularisointi liitännäisarkkitehtuurilla

Factory lines are nowadays filled with intelligent systems that can perform various tasks without human interaction. To reach the current level of intelligence and automation, The significance of software in industrial robotics has increased dramatically. That creates new challenges in software design for such environments, which are then tackled with new software platforms and frameworks. This thesis takes an existing test automation platform and designs a new architecture based on plugins for it. The platform is used in functional testing of smartphones. The redesign aims to increase the modularity of the architecture, and thus allow for a more flexible deployment of the system in various hardware configurations. To verify the successfulness of the new architecture, a modularity analysis is performed for both the old and the new architectures. The analysis focuses on cohesion and coupling of the classes and modules in the systems. Both the old and the new platforms are implemented in Python, so the research process will evaluate the feasibility of manual modularity analysis for a dynamically typed programming language, as these kind of analyses are usually performed on a statically typed languages utilizing static analysis tools. The new architecture was shown to increase the cohesion, and decrease the coupling of the platform, which indicates an increase in the overall modularity of the platform. The analysis itself was found to be tedious, and the dynamic nature of Python increases the chance of errors in determining the coupling and cohesion of a component. A possibility of modifying a refactoring tool to aid in a such analysis was discussed.Tehdaslinjastot koostuvat nykyään älykkäistä järjestelmistä, jotka kykenevät toimimaan ilman ihmisen ohjausta. Merkittävä tekijä tämän muutoksen takana on ohjelmistojen kehittyminen, ja niiden merkityksen kasvu teollisuudessa. Tämä luo ohjelmistosuunnitteluun uusia haasteita, joita on ratkottu uusilla sovellusalustoilla ja -kehyksillä. Tässä tutkielmassa toteutetaan uusi ohjelmistoarkkitehtuuri testiautomaatiorobotille käyttäen liitännäisarkkitehtuuria. Tavoitteena on kasvattaa alustan modulaarisuutta, mikä mahdollistaa sen joustavan käytön erilaisissa järjestelmissä, jotka koostuvat erilaisista roboteista, antureista ja sensoreista. Uuden toteutuksen soveltuvuuden varmistamiseksi tässä tutkielmassa suoritetaan modulaarisuusanalyysi molemmille järjestelmille. Analyysissä perehdytään järjestelmien luokkien ja moduulien yhteenkuuluvuuteen (eng. cohesion) sekä riippuvuuksiin (eng. coupling). Järjestelmä toteutetaan Python-kielellä, joten tutkimuksessa selvitetään modulaarisuusanalyysin soveltuvuutta dynaamisesti tyypitetylle ohjelmointikielelle. Tutkimuksessa todettiin luokkien yhteenkuuluvuuden kasvaneen ja moduulien riippuvuuksien vähentyneen, mikä kertoo järjestelmän modulaarisuuden kasvusta. Analyysi itsessään todettiin työlääksi, ja sen huomattiin kasvattavan tulosten virhettä, koska moduulien väliset vuorovaikuttamiset eivät välttämättä olleet yksikäsitteisiä. Tutkimuksessa pohdittiin mahdollisuudesta muokata olemassa olevia refaktorointityökaluja siten, että niitä voisi hyödyntää tämänkaltaisen analyysin tekemisessä

Ambiente de simulação para agentes em futebol robótico

Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e TelemáticaO teste de algoritmos na área da robótica pode ser uma tarefa difícil, especialmente se o teste envolver múltipos robots. Neste contexto o uso de um simulador torna-se uma ferramenta importante no teste de algoritmos pois permite ultrapassar algumas limitações e oferece várias vantagens. CAMBADA é a equipa de futebol robótico da liga de tamanho médio da Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal. A equipa está familiarizada com as limitações do uso de robots reais para o teste de algoritmos. Devido a isso o simulador criado pela equipa Brainstormers Tribots foi adaptado para prover um ambiente de simulação ao software CAMBADA e estava em uso aquando do início desta dissertação. O simulador oferecia pouca flexibilidade na modelação dos robots que resultava em comportamentos imprecisos, oferecia também reduzida interacção com a simulação. O objectivo desta dissertação é criar um ambiente de simulação para agentes em futebol robótico com a intenção de melhorar o ambiente de simulação da equipa CAMBADA. O simulador deve ser capaz de simular dinâmica de objectos a três dimensões, sensores e actuadores ao mesmo tempo que oferece visualização do mundo e a possibilidade de interagir com a simulação. Da pesquisa realizada sobre simuladores robóticos o simulador Gazebo respeitava os nossos requisitos e foi escolhido para código base do nosso simulador. Para criar um ambiente simulado adequado à equipa CAMBADA alguns componentes do Gazebo foram alterados e novos sensores e actuadores virtuais foram desenvolvidos. Vários componentes do software CAMBADA tiveram que sofrer alterações de modo a suportar um ambiente simulado. O robot virtual foi modelado de modo a assemelhar-se com o robot real com o objectivo de obter comportamentos mais precisos. O simulador desenvolvido substituiu a solução anteriormente criada pela equipa CAMBADA e foi usado nos testes de preparação para a participação da equipa no RoboCup 2010 em Singapura onde deu o seu contributo na obtenção do terceiro lugar.In the field of robotics, testing algorithms with the real robots can be a di cult task, specially if the test involves more than one robot. In this context a simulator is an important tool for testing algorithms because it helps overcome some limitation and o ers several advantages. CAMBADA is the RoboCup MSL soccer team of the University of Aveiro, Portugal. The team is familiar with the limitations of using the real robots for testing algorithms. Therefore, a simulator created by the Brainstormers Tribots team was adapted to provide a simulated environment for their software and was used for testing at the time of the beginning of this thesis. The simulator offered low flexibility on the modeling of the robots from which resulted inaccurate behaviors, it also o ered reduced interaction with the simulation. The purpose of this thesis is to create a simulation environment for robotic soccer agents with the intention of improving the simulated environment for the CAMBADA team. The simulation must provide three-dimensional dynamics of objects, be capable of simulating sensors and actuators, allow the visualization of the simulation and provide interaction with the simulation. From the conducted survey about robotic simulators, the simulator Gazebo complied with our requirements and was chosen to provide the code base for our simulator. To create an adequate simulation environment for the CAMBADA team some components of Gazebo were modi ed and new sensors and actuator were developed. Several components of the CAMBADA software had to be modified to support the simulated environment. The virtual robot was modeled to resemble the real robot to provide more accurate behaviors. The developed simulator substituted the previous solution created by CAMBADA team and was used in the preparation tests for the participation in the RoboCup 2010 in Singapore where it contributed to obtain of the third-place

A Plugin-Based Architecture For Simulation In The F2000 League

Simulation has become an essential part in the development process of autonomous robotic systems. In the domain of robotics, developers often are confronted with problems like noisy sensor data, hardware malfunctions and scarce or temporarily inoperable hardware resources. A solution to most of the problems can be given by tools which allow the simulation of the application scenario in varying degrees of abstraction and the suppression of unwanted features of the domain (like e.g. sensor noise). The RoboCup scenario of autonomous mobile robots playing soccer is one such domain where the above mentioned problems typically arise