Desenvolvimento de um guarda-redes para a Liga de Robôs Médios

Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e TelemáticaCAMBADA (Cooperative Autonomous Mobile Robots with Advanced Distributed Architecture) is the robotic soccer team of the University of Aveiro that participates in RoboCup Middle Size League. This team was created by researchers from research units IEETA and ATRI. Robotics is an area in constant evolution but the work developed within this thesis will hardly be overcome even with the constant progress in this area, since the primary goal of the goalkeeper will always remain the same: not conceding goals. Contributions presented in this dissertation are in terms of high-level behavior of the goalkeeper of the team CAMBADA , however not everything applies exclusively to the goalkeeper, it is important for any eld player and can be applicable in the near future. This work addressed two main topics, the rst one is the positioning of the goalkeeper on the eld that extends to the run-game placements, near the goal posts placement and a more aggressive defense behavior with pressure to the player with the ball. The second topic addressed is the ability of detection and defend shots by air. The con guration of the goalkeeper in a simple way has been one of the objectives of this study, to avoid at all costs that his actions are too static and can easily take advantage of this easy setup to change the goalkeeper behavior depending on the opponents of CAMBADA. A graphical user interface to control these settings was developed. The work has been tested in the laboratory di ering greatly from the previous behavior that was very defensive and whose radius of action was very close to the goal line for a more unpredictable, closer to an human Goalkeeper behavior that applying pressure to the opponent attacker feature a wider range of defensive options.CAMBADA (Cooperative Autonomous Mobile roBots with Advanced Distributed Architecture) e a equipa de futebol rob otico da Universidade de Aveiro que participa na RoboCup Middle Size League. Esta equipa foi criada por investigadores das unidades de investiga c~ao IEETA e ATRI. A rob otica e uma area em constante evolu c~ao mas o trabalho desenvolvido no ^ambito desta tese di cilmente vai ser ultrapassado mesmo com o constante avan co desta area, pois o objetivo fundamental do Guarda-Redes vai continuar sempre o mesmo: n~ao sofrer golos. Nesta disserta c~ao s~ao apresentadas contribui c~oes no comportamento de alto n vel do Guarda-Redes da equipa CAMBADA, no entanto nem tudo se aplica exclusivamente ao Guarda-Redes, sendo importante para qualquer jogador de campo e podendo ser aplic avel num futuro pr oximo. Neste trabalho s~ao abordados dois grandes t opicos, o primeiro e o posicionamento do guarda-redes em campo que se estende aos posicionamentos em jogo-corrido, encostado aos postes, relativo a baliza e a uma defesa mais agressiva com sa das ao jogador com bola. O outro t opico abordado e a capacidade de dete c~ao e defesa de remates pelo ar. A con gura c~ao do Guarda-Redes de uma forma simples foi um dos objetivos neste trabalho, de forma a evitar ao m aximo que a sua a c~ao seja demasiado est atica, podendo facilmente tirar proveito desta f acil con gura c~ao consoante os advers arios da equipa CAMBADA. Foi desenvolvida uma interface gr a ca a m de controlar estas con gura c~oes. O trabalho desenvolvido foi testado em laborat orio diferenciando-se bastante do antigo comportamento que era muito defensivo e cujo o raio de a c~ao era muito pr oximo da linha de golo, para um comportamento mais imprevis vel, mais aproximado a um Guarda-Redes humano ao pressionar o atacante advers ario dispondo de um maior leque de op c~oes defensivas

Mobile Robots

The objective of this book is to cover advances of mobile robotics and related technologies applied for multi robot systems' design and development. Design of control system is a complex issue, requiring the application of information technologies to link the robots into a single network. Human robot interface becomes a demanding task, especially when we try to use sophisticated methods for brain signal processing. Generated electrophysiological signals can be used to command different devices, such as cars, wheelchair or even video games. A number of developments in navigation and path planning, including parallel programming, can be observed. Cooperative path planning, formation control of multi robotic agents, communication and distance measurement between agents are shown. Training of the mobile robot operators is very difficult task also because of several factors related to different task execution. The presented improvement is related to environment model generation based on autonomous mobile robot observations

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

The efficacy of virtual reality in professional soccer

Professional soccer clubs have taken an interest to virtual reality, however, only a paucity of evidence exists to support its use in the soccer training ground environment. Further, several soccer virtual reality companies have begun providing solutions to teams, claiming to test specific characteristics of players, yet supportive evidence for certain measurement properties remain absent from the literature. The aims of this thesis were to explore the efficacy of virtual reality being used in the professional football training ground environment. To do so, this thesis looked to explore the fundamental measurement properties of soccer specific virtual reality tests, along with the perceptions of professional coaches, backroom staff, and players that could use virtual reality. The first research study (Chapter 3) aimed to quantify the learning effect during familiarisation trials of a soccer-specific virtual reality task. Thirty-four professional soccer players age, stature, and body mass: mean (SD) 20 (3.4) years; 180 (7) cm; 79 (8) kg, participated in six trials of a virtual reality soccer passing task. The task required participants to receive and pass 30 virtual soccer balls into highlighted mini-goals that surrounded the participant. The number of successful passes were recorded in each trial. The one-sided Bayesian paired samples t-test indicated very strong evidence in favour of the alternative hypothesis (H1)(BF10 = 46.5, d = 0.56 [95% CI = 0.2 to 0.92]) for improvements in total goals scored between trial 1: 13.6 (3.3) and trial 2: 16 (3.3). Further, the Bayesian paired-samples equivalence t-tests indicated strong evidence in favour of H1 (BF10 = 10.2, d = 0.24 [95% CI = -0.09 to 0.57]) for equivalence between trial 4: 16.7 (3.7) and trial 5: 18.2 (4.7); extreme evidence in favour of H1 (BF10 = 132, d = -0.02 [95% CI = -0.34 to 0.30]) for equivalence between trials 5 and 6: 18.1 (3.5); and moderate evidence in favour of H1 (BF10 = 8.4, d = 0.26 [95% CI = -0.08 to 0.59]) for equivalence between trials 4 and 6. Sufficient evidence indicated that a learning effect took place between the first two trials, and that up to five trials might be necessary for performance to plateau in a specific virtual reality soccer passing task.The second research study (Chapter 4) aimed to assess the validity of a soccer passing task by comparing passing ability between virtual reality and real-world conditions. A previously validated soccer passing test was replicated into a virtual reality environment. Twenty-nine soccer players participated in the study which required them to complete as many passes as possible between two rebound boards within 45 s. Counterbalancing determined the condition order, and then for each condition, participants completed four familiarisation trials and two recorded trials, with the best score being used for analysis. Sense of presence and fidelity were also assessed via questionnaires to understand how representative the virtual environments were compared to the real-world. Results showed that between conditions a difference was observed (EMM = -3.9, 95% HDI = -5.1 to -2.7) with the number of passes being greater in the real-world (EMM = 19.7, 95% HDI = 18.6 to 20.7) than in virtual reality (EMM = 15.7, 95% HDI = 14.7 to 16.8). Further, several subjective differences for fidelity between the two conditions were reported, notably the ability to control the ball in virtual reality which was suggested to have been more difficult than in the real-world. The last research study (Chapter 5) aimed to compare and quantify the perceptions of virtual reality use in soccer, and to model behavioural intentions to use this technology. This study surveyed the perceptions of coaches, support staff, and players in relation to their knowledge, expectations, influences, and barriers of using virtual reality via an internet-based questionnaire. To model behavioural intention, modified questions and constructs from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology were used, and the model was analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling. Respondents represented coaches and support staff (n = 134) and players (n = 64). All respondents generally agreed that virtual reality should be used to improve tactical awareness and cognition, with its use primarily in performance analysis and rehabilitation settings. Generally, coaches and support staff agreed that monetary cost, coach buy-in and limited evidence base were barriers towards its use. In a sub-sample of coaches and support staff without access to virtual reality (n = 123), performance expectancy was the strongest construct in explaining behavioural intention to use virtual reality, followed by facilitating conditions (i.e., barriers) construct which had a negative association with behavioural intention. This thesis aimed to explore the measurement properties of soccer specific virtual reality tests, and the perceptions of staff and players who might use the technology. The key findings from exploring the measurement properties were (1) evidence of a learning curve, suggesting the need for multiple familiarisation trials before collecting data, and (2) a lack of evidence to support the validity of a virtual reality soccer passing test as evident by a lack of agreement to a real-world equivalent. This finding raises questions on the suitability for virtual reality being used to measure passing skill related performance. The key findings from investigating the perceptions of users included, using the technology to improve cognition and tactical awareness, and using it in rehabilitation and performance analysis settings. Future intention to use was generally positive, and driven by performance related factors, yet several barriers exist that may prevent its widespread use. In Chapter 7 of the thesis, a reflective account is presented for the reader, detailing some of the interactions made with coaches, support staff and players in relation to the personal, moral, and ethical challenges faced as a practitioner-researcher, working and studying, respectively, in a professional soccer club

Visual Servoing

The goal of this book is to introduce the visional application by excellent researchers in the world currently and offer the knowledge that can also be applied to another field widely. This book collects the main studies about machine vision currently in the world, and has a powerful persuasion in the applications employed in the machine vision. The contents, which demonstrate that the machine vision theory, are realized in different field. For the beginner, it is easy to understand the development in the vision servoing. For engineer, professor and researcher, they can study and learn the chapters, and then employ another application method

Biomechanical Spectrum of Human Sport Performance

Writing or managing a scientific book, as it is known today, depends on a series of major activities, such as regrouping researchers, reviewing chapters, informing and exchanging with contributors, and at the very least, motivating them to achieve the objective of publication. The idea of this book arose from many years of work in biomechanics, health disease, and rehabilitation. Through exchanges with authors from several countries, we learned much from each other, and we decided with the publisher to transfer this knowledge to readers interested in the current understanding of the impact of biomechanics in the analysis of movement and its optimization. The main objective is to provide some interesting articles that show the scope of biomechanical analysis and technologies in human behavior tasks. Engineers, researchers, and students from biomedical engineering and health sciences, as well as industrial professionals, can benefit from this compendium of knowledge about biomechanics applied to the human body

A non-contact geomatics technique for monitoring membrane roof structures

This thesis presents research carried out to monitor the behaviour of membrane structures, using the non-contact geornatics techniques of terrestrial laser scanning and videogrammetry. Membrane structures are covers or enclosures in which fabric surface is pre-tensioned to provide a stable shape under environmental loads. It is most often adopted by structural engineers as the solution to the roof of a building. Membrane structures resist extemally-imposed loads by a combination of curvature and tension of the highly flexible fabric membrane. However, collapse may occur if the real deflections exceed the designed tolerances. In order to avoid such failures in the future, a generic monitoring system, incorporating in-house software for observing and analysing the behaviour of existing membrane structures, was developed. This system has been applied to observe three different types of as-built membrane structures, with two primary issues investigated and resolved. The first aspect of the research was devoted to determining differences which exist between the designed model and the finished structure. To address this issue, terrestrial laser scanning was applied to generate the as-built model of the membrane structure. Statistical comparisons were then performed between the resultant scanned model and the designed mathematical model. The disparities were determined, allowing the factors causing these differences to be further explored. The second research issue investigated the effects of loading on the displacement of the membrane roof. A videogrammetric monitoring system employing stereo CCD video cameras was used to observe the movements of the membrane roofs. In order to accommodate constraints at the test site, a non-contact control method and structured light targeting were adopted in the monitoring scheme. Once the processing was completed, displacements occurring over time were determined. Investigations on the three types of finished membrane structures have been successfully achieved, proving the system to be a viable metrology tool for structural engineers involved in monitoring real-world membrane structures. The system effectively fulfilled the requirements for understanding the interaction of membrane surface geometry, applied loads and structural response. The information acquired by the system offers great potential to collaborating engineers who are involved in the design and refinement of such structures.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies

Despite the enormous technical progress seen in the past few years, the maturity of indoor localization technologies has not yet reached the level of GNSS solutions. The 23 selected papers in this book present the recent advances and new developments in indoor localization systems and technologies, propose novel or improved methods with increased performance, provide insight into various aspects of quality control, and also introduce some unorthodox positioning methods

Automated generation of geometrically-precise and semantically-informed virtual geographic environnements populated with spatially-reasoning agents

La Géo-Simulation Multi-Agent (GSMA) est un paradigme de modélisation et de simulation de phénomènes dynamiques dans une variété de domaines d'applications tels que le domaine du transport, le domaine des télécommunications, le domaine environnemental, etc. La GSMA est utilisée pour étudier et analyser des phénomènes qui mettent en jeu un grand nombre d'acteurs simulés (implémentés par des agents) qui évoluent et interagissent avec une représentation explicite de l'espace qu'on appelle Environnement Géographique Virtuel (EGV). Afin de pouvoir interagir avec son environnement géographique qui peut être dynamique, complexe et étendu (à grande échelle), un agent doit d'abord disposer d'une représentation détaillée de ce dernier. Les EGV classiques se limitent généralement à une représentation géométrique du monde réel laissant de côté les informations topologiques et sémantiques qui le caractérisent. Ceci a pour conséquence d'une part de produire des simulations multi-agents non plausibles, et, d'autre part, de réduire les capacités de raisonnement spatial des agents situés. La planification de chemin est un exemple typique de raisonnement spatial dont un agent pourrait avoir besoin dans une GSMA. Les approches classiques de planification de chemin se limitent à calculer un chemin qui lie deux positions situées dans l'espace et qui soit sans obstacle. Ces approches ne prennent pas en compte les caractéristiques de l'environnement (topologiques et sémantiques), ni celles des agents (types et capacités). Les agents situés ne possèdent donc pas de moyens leur permettant d'acquérir les connaissances nécessaires sur l'environnement virtuel pour pouvoir prendre une décision spatiale informée. Pour répondre à ces limites, nous proposons une nouvelle approche pour générer automatiquement des Environnements Géographiques Virtuels Informés (EGVI) en utilisant les données fournies par les Systèmes d'Information Géographique (SIG) enrichies par des informations sémantiques pour produire des GSMA précises et plus réalistes. De plus, nous présentons un algorithme de planification hiérarchique de chemin qui tire avantage de la description enrichie et optimisée de l'EGVI pour fournir aux agents un chemin qui tient compte à la fois des caractéristiques de leur environnement virtuel et de leurs types et capacités. Finalement, nous proposons une approche pour la gestion des connaissances sur l'environnement virtuel qui vise à supporter la prise de décision informée et le raisonnement spatial des agents situés