Cooperative simultaneous localization and mapping framework

This research work is a contribution to develop a framework for cooperative simultaneous localization and mapping with multiple heterogeneous mobile robots. The presented research work contributes in two aspects of a team of heterogeneous mobile robots for cooperative map building. First it provides a mathematical framework for cooperative localization and geometric features based map building. Secondly it proposes a software framework for controlling, configuring and managing a team of heterogeneous mobile robots. Since mapping and pose estimation are very closely related to each other, therefore, two novel sensor data fusion techniques are also presented, furthermore, various state of the art localization and mapping techniques and mobile robot software frameworks are discussed for an overview of the current development in this research area. The mathematical cooperative SLAM formulation probabilistically solves the problem of estimating the robots state and the environment features using Kalman filter. The software framework is an effort toward the ongoing standardization process of the cooperative mobile robotics systems. To enhance the efficiency of a cooperative mobile robot system the proposed software framework addresses various issues such as different communication protocol structure for mobile robots, different sets of sensors for mobile robots, sensor data organization from different robots, monitoring and controlling robots from a single interface. The present work can be applied to number of applications in various domains where a priori map of the environment is not available and it is not possible to use global positioning devices to find the accurate position of the mobile robot. Therefore the mobile robot(s) has to rely on building the map of its environment and using the same map to find its position and orientation relative to the environment. The exemplary areas for applying the proposed SLAM technique are Indoor environments such as warehouse management, factory floors for parts assembly line, mapping abandoned tunnels, disaster struck environment which are missing maps, under see pipeline inspection, ocean surveying, military applications, planet exploration and many others. These applications are some of many and are only limited by the imagination.Diese Forschungsarbeit ist ein Beitrag zur Entwicklung eines Framework für kooperatives SLAM mit heterogenen, mobilen Robotern. Die präsentierte Forschungsarbeit trägt in zwei Aspekten in einem Team von heterogenen, mobilen Robotern bei. Erstens stellt es einen mathematischen Framework für kooperative Lokalisierung und geometrisch basierende Kartengenerierung bereit. Zweitens schlägt es einen Softwareframework zur Steuerung, Konfiguration und Management einer Gruppe von heterogenen mobilen Robotern vor. Da Kartenerstellung und Poseschätzung miteinander stark verbunden sind, werden zwei neuartige Techniken zur Sensordatenfusion präsentiert. Weiterhin werden zum Stand der Technik verschiedene Techniken zur Lokalisierung und Kartengenerierung sowie Softwareframeworks für die mobile Robotik diskutiert um einen Überblick über die aktuelle Entwicklung in diesem Forschungsbereich zu geben. Die mathematische Formulierung des SLAM Problems löst das Problem der Roboterzustandsschätzung und der Umgebungmerkmale durch Benutzung eines Kalman filters. Der Softwareframework ist ein Beitrag zum anhaltenden Standardisierungsprozess von kooperativen, mobilen Robotern. Um die Effektivität eines kooperativen mobilen Robotersystems zu verbessern enthält der vorgeschlagene Softwareframework die Möglichkeit die Kommunikationsprotokolle flexibel zu ändern, mit verschiedenen Sensoren zu arbeiten sowie die Möglichkeit die Sensordaten verschieden zu organisieren und verschiedene Roboter von einem Interface aus zu steuern. Die präsentierte Arbeit kann in einer Vielzahl von Applikationen in verschiedenen Domänen benutzt werden, wo eine Karte der Umgebung nicht vorhanden ist und es nicht möglich ist GPS Daten zur präzisen Lokalisierung eines mobilen Roboters zu nutzen. Daher müssen die mobilen Roboter sich auf die selbsterstellte Karte verlassen und die selbe Karte zur Bestimmung von Position und Orientierung relativ zur Umgebung verwenden. Die exemplarischen Anwendungen der vorgeschlagenen SLAM Technik sind Innenraumumgebungen wie Lagermanagement, Fabrikgebäude mit Produktionsstätten, verlassene Tunnel, Katastrophengebiete ohne aktuelle Karte, Inspektion von Unterseepipelines, Ozeanvermessung, Militäranwendungen, Planetenerforschung und viele andere. Diese Anwendungen sind einige von vielen und sind nur durch die Vorstellungskraft limitiert

Proceedings of the 9th Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions

Welcome to ROBOTICA 2009. This is the 9th edition of the conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions, the third time with IEEE‐Robotics and Automation Society Technical Co‐Sponsorship. Previous editions were held since 2001 in Guimarães, Aveiro, Porto, Lisboa, Coimbra and Algarve. ROBOTICA 2009 is held on the 7th May, 2009, in Castelo Branco , Portugal. ROBOTICA has received 32 paper submissions, from 10 countries, in South America, Asia and Europe. To evaluate each submission, three reviews by paper were performed by the international program committee. 23 papers were published in the proceedings and presented at the conference. Of these, 14 papers were selected for oral presentation and 9 papers were selected for poster presentation. The global acceptance ratio was 72%. After the conference, eighth papers will be published in the Portuguese journal Robótica, and the best student paper will be published in IEEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Education Magazine. Three prizes will be awarded in the conference for: the best conference paper, the best student paper and the best presentation. The last two, sponsored by the IEEE Education Society ‐ Student Activities Committee. We would like to express our thanks to all participants. First of all to the authors, whose quality work is the essence of this conference. Next, to all the members of the international program committee and reviewers, who helped us with their expertise and valuable time. We would also like to deeply thank the invited speaker, Jean Paul Laumond, LAAS‐CNRS France, for their excellent contribution in the field of humanoid robots. Finally, a word of appreciation for the hard work of the secretariat and volunteers. Our deep gratitude goes to the Scientific Organisations that kindly agreed to sponsor the Conference, and made it come true. We look forward to seeing more results of R&D work on Robotics at ROBOTICA 2010, somewhere in Portugal

Virtual innovation lab

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de InformaçãoO tema que se propõe estudar é a maneira como as pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) podem aprender sobre o potencial transformador das tecnologias emergentes, adquirindo uma melhor preparação para a Transformação Digital de produtos/serviços, processos e modelos de negócio. As PMEs têm maior dificuldade em avaliar o potencial transformador das tecnologias emergentes. Esta dificuldade advém da complexidade destas tecnologias, as quais estão frequentemente em estado muito imaturo de desenvolvimento. Assim a experimentação com estas tecnologias num ambiente seguro torna-se fundamental para uma decisão de investimento bem fundamentada. O primeiro objetivo deste trabalho é explorar os desafios da transformação digital com os quais os gestores das PMEs se defrontam, em particular o desafio de compreender o potencial transformador das tecnologias emergentes. Este trabalho parte do pressuposto que a aprendizagem por simulação é um meio eficaz para atingir esta compreensão. Neste trabalho apresentamos uma visão geral sobre como a simulação tem vindo a ser aplicada para promover a aprendizagem de processos e tecnologias complexas, nomeadamente em áreas como enfermagem e aviação. A experiência relatada nestas áreas é importante para informar a utilização da simulação na área dos Sistemas de Informação bem como fundamentar as decisões deste trabalho. Assim, o nosso trabalho foca três áreas centrais: (1) a implementação de estratégias de transformação digital nas PMEs, (2) as tecnologias emergentes com potencial transformador dos modelos de negócio das PMEs, e (3) a aprendizagem baseada na simulação da utilização de tecnologias emergentes. O nosso trabalho fornece recomendações para o desenvolvimento de competências digitais avançadas nas PMEs e apresenta um ambiente virtual de apoio à transformação digital nestas empresas. As recomendações e ambiente virtual são úteis aos gestores das PMEs e apontam caminhos para futura investigação na área da aprendizagem por simulação no contexto da transformação digital das PMEs.The theme we propose to study is the way in which small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) can learn about the transformative potential of emerging technologies, acquiring a better preparation for the Digital Transformation of products/services, processes and business models. SMEs find it more difficult to assess the transformative potential of emerging technologies. This difficulty come from the complexity of these technologies, which are often in a very immature state of development. Thus, experimentation with these technologies in a safe environment becomes essential for a well-founded investment decision. The first objective of this work is to explore the challenges of digital transformation that SME managers face, in particular the challenge of understanding the transformative potential of emerging technologies. This work assumes that simulation learning is an effective way to achieve this understanding. In this work we present an overview of how simulation has been applied to promote the learning of complex processes and technologies, namely in areas such as nursing and aviation. The experience reported in these areas is important to inform the use of simulation in the area of Information Systems as well as to base the decisions of this work. Thus, our work focuses on three central areas: (1) the implementation of digital transformation strategies in SMEs, (2) the emerging technologies with the transforming potential of SME business models, and (3) learning based on the simulation of use emerging technologies. Our work provides recommendations for the development of advanced digital skills in SMEs and presents a virtual environment to support digital transformation in these companies. The recommendations and virtual environment are useful to SME managers and point out ways for future research in the area of learning by simulation in the context of the digital transformation of SMEs

The integration of supply chain value stream mapping and discrete event simulation for lead time reduction of warehouse operations in a pharmaceutical organization

The supply chain lead time build-up that occurs due to inventory handling inside the warehouse that comprises of a set of waiting time, queuing time, and unwanted delays creates difficulties in meeting demand shocks and third party stakeholder requirements. These problems consistently prevail and tend to evolve no matter how sophisticated production planning is done. In that case, a pharmaceutical warehouse supply chain inventory would be a real challenge to study or map to find out ways for further improvements. In this research, a Malaysian pharmaceutical company’s warehouse was considered for the study. After a detailed field work and literature gap inferences, a case study approach was considered to be the best methodology for this study. It was applied to find effective ways to introduce lean integrated simulation modelling using Supply Chain Value Stream Mapping (SCVSM) and Discrete Event Simulation (DES) to capture, record, analyze, and reduce inventory waiting time, delays, queues and other wastes for a selected particular product family. After several lean suggestions in the future state SCVSM, the results of this study show that there is a considerable improvement in the warehouse lead time. The production lead time and total process time has decreased by 51.43% and 44.41 % respectively. The total value-added time has increased by 29.21 % the non-value added time has decreased by 31.86 %. In the second segment, there was a 20.22 % increase in the value-added time and a 23.17 % decrease in the non-value added time. DES models were then developed to replicate the entire operations for the purpose of present and future state simulation along with the suggestions for improvements. This study proved to possess strong managerial and practical implications that shall help in better decision making by deeply understanding the supply chain activities that occur as discrete events inside a warehouse

From components to compositions: (de-)construction of computer-controlled behaviour with the robot operating system

Robots and autonomous systems play an increasingly important role in modern societies. This role is expected to increase as the computational methods and capabilities advance. Robots and autonomous systems produce goal-directed and context-dependent behaviour with an aim to loosen the coupling between the machines and their operators. These systems are a domain of complex digital innovation that intertwines the physical and digital worlds with computer-controlled behaviour as robots and autonomous systems render their behaviour from the interaction with the surrounding environment. Complex product and system innovation literature maintains that designers are expected to have detailed knowledge of different components and their interactions. To the contrary, digital innovation literature holds that end-product agnostic components can be generatively combined from heterogeneous sources utilising standardised interfaces. An in-depth case study into the Robot Operating System (ROS) was conducted to explore the conceptual tension between the specificity of designs and distributedness of knowledge and control in the context of complex digital innovation. The thematic analysis of documentary evidence, field notes and interviews produced three contributions. First, the case description presents how ROS has evolved over the past ten years to a global open-source community that is widely used in the development of robots and autonomous systems. Second, a model that conceptualises robots and autonomous as contextually bound and embodied chains of transformation is proposed to describe the structural and functional dynamics of complex digital innovation. Third, the generative-integrative mode of development is proposed to characterise the process of innovation that begins from a generative combination of components and subsequently proceeds to the integration phase during which the system behaviour is experimented, observed and adjusted. As the initial combination builds upon underspecification and constructive ambiguity, the generative combination is gradually crafted into a more dependable composition through the iterative removal of semantic incongruences

Simulação de um Sistema Robótico de Co-transporte

Os robôs móveis são usados para automatizar as operações de transporte na indústria desde meados do séc. XX. São cada vez mais as empresas que possuem estes sistemas, sendo que algumas já são constituídas por frotas numerosas que trabalham incansavelmente nas suas fábricas e armazéns. Com a evolução do mercado, espera-se que muitas mais possam adquirir e usufruir destas tecnologias. Conforme o número de robôs disponíveis nas empresas aumenta, ´e importante que se estudem estratégias que permitam que estes cooperem entre si. Isto fará com que vários problemas sejam resolvidos mais facilmente, tal como ´e o caso do transporte de cargas de elevada dimensão - tarefa que ainda é um obstáculo `a produtividade de algumas empresas. No presente trabalho são estudadas três estratégias que permitem a dois robôs omnidirecionais, um leader e um follower, coordenarem o seu movimento e cooperarem no transporte de uma carga (co-transporte) que não poderia ser transportada por apenas um robô. As estratégias exploradas diferem consoante a abordagem seguida na construção mecânica de um suporte, cuja função ´e permitir aos robôs agarrar e transportar a carga no topo do seu chassis, e na arquitetura de controlo do robô follower. No que diz respeito ao suporte, este possuirá um sensor de força de modo a possibilitar a minimização das forças de contacto entre o robô follower e a carga. Será a partir deste conceito, implementado através de um controlador PI, que irá ser estabelecida a cooperação entre os robôs, de modo a eliminar ou reduzir o máximo possível a comunicação direta entre eles. Enquanto que o leader irá conduzir o sistema até ao destino, o follower deverá reagir `as forças impostas na carga e que resultam do seu movimento. O sistema e as potenciais estratégias de cooperação, idealizados numa primeira fase, são testados recorrendo a um simulador, mais concretamente o CoppeliaSim. Ao longo deste documento será descrito todo o processo da modelação dos robôs e dos suportes, da implementação dos algoritmos de controlo e da sua simulação no ambiente virtual. Os resultados obtidos através da simulação são alvo de uma análise que irá avaliar qual a estratégia que melhor complementa a mobilidade omnidirecional dos constituintes do sistema e que, ao mesmo tempo, garante que menos forças são exercidas sobre a carga durante o transporte. Por fim, será também apresentada uma comparação direta entre as estratégias no seguimento de uma mesma trajetória por parte do robô leader.Mobile robots have been used to automate transport operations in the industry since the middle of the 20th century. More and more companies have these systems, some of which are already made up of numerous fleets that work tirelessly in their factories and warehouses. With the evolution of the market, it is expected that many more will be able to acquire and benefit from the use of these technologies. As the number of robots available in companies increases, it is important to study strategies that allow them to cooperate with each other. This will make several problems easier to solve. One good example is the transportation of a large cargo, which is a task that still presents obstacles to the productivity of some companies. In the present work, three strategies are studied in order to allow a team of two omnidirectional robots, a leader and a follower, to coordinate their movement and cooperate in the transport of a load that could not be transported by just one robot. The strategies explored differ according to the approach followed in the mechanical construction of a support, whose function is to allow robots to grab and transport the load on the top of its chassis, and in the control architecture of the follower robot. Regarding the support, it will have a force sensor to allow the minimization of contact forces between the follower robot and the load. Based on this concept, implemented through a PI controller, the cooperation between the robots will be established, in order to eliminate or reduce as much as possible the direct communication between them. While the leader will drive the system to its destination, the follower must react to the forces imposed on the load and which result from its movement. The system and its cooperation strategies are idealized and then tested in a simulator, more specifically, in the CoppeliaSim simulator. Throughout this document, the entire modelling process of the robots and supports, implementation of control algorithms and simulation in the virtual environment will be described. The results obtained through the simulation are the target of an analysis that will assess which strategy best complements the omnidirectional mobility of the system’s constituents and, at the same time, ensures that less forces are exerted on the load during transport. Finally, it will also be presented a direct comparison between the strategies for the same trajectory followed by the leader robot