Realization of reactive control for multi purpose mobile agents

Mobile robots are built for different purposes, have different physical size, shape, mechanics and electronics. They are required to work in real-time, realize more than one goal simultaneously, hence to communicate and cooperate with other agents. The approach proposed in this paper for mobile robot control is reactive and has layered structure that supports multi sensor perception. Potential field method is implemented for both obstacle avoidance and goal tracking. However imaginary forces of the obstacles and of the goal point are separately treated, and then resulting behaviors are fused with the help of the geometry. Proposed control is tested on simulations where different scenarios are studied. Results have confirmed the high performance of the method

A systematic literature review of decision-making and control systems for autonomous and social robots

In the last years, considerable research has been carried out to develop robots that can improve our quality of life during tedious and challenging tasks. In these contexts, robots operating without human supervision open many possibilities to assist people in their daily activities. When autonomous robots collaborate with humans, social skills are necessary for adequate communication and cooperation. Considering these facts, endowing autonomous and social robots with decision-making and control models is critical for appropriately fulfiling their initial goals. This manuscript presents a systematic review of the evolution of decision-making systems and control architectures for autonomous and social robots in the last three decades. These architectures have been incorporating new methods based on biologically inspired models and Machine Learning to enhance these systems’ possibilities to developed societies. The review explores the most novel advances in each application area, comparing their most essential features. Additionally, we describe the current challenges of software architecture devoted to action selection, an analysis not provided in similar reviews of behavioural models for autonomous and social robots. Finally, we present the future directions that these systems can take in the future.The research leading to these results has received funding from the projects: Robots Sociales para Estimulación Física, Cognitiva y Afectiva de Mayores (ROSES), RTI2018-096338-B-I00, funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; Robots sociales para mitigar la soledad y el aislamiento en mayores (SOROLI), PID2021-123941OA-I00, funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. This publication is part of the R&D&I project PLEC2021-007819 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR

Behavior-based Fuzzy Control For A Mobile Robot With Non-holonomic Constraints

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2005Thesis (M.Sc.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 2005Bu çalışmada robotik alanında yeni yaklaşımlar olan davranış temelli robotik ve bulanık mantık konuları gerçek zamanda mobil robot uygulamaları bakımından incelenmiş, dört ilerlemeli, dört yönelmeli bir mobil robot için Engelden Sakın , Hedefe Git , Duvarı İzle , Yola Teğet İlerle , Avare Gez davranışları oluşturulmuştur. Bu davranışların içinden Engelden Sakın , Hedefe Git ve Duvarı İzle davranışları için sonar sensör matematik modelleri oluşturulmuş ve bu davranışların yapısında bulanık mantık yaklaşımı kullanılmıştır. Mobil robot, kinetik ve dinamik olarak holonomik olmayan kısıtları kullanılarak modellenmiştir ve simülasyon sırasında mobil robotun pozisyonu, tekerlek ve robot yönelimleri, tekerlek ve robot hızları, tekerlek torkları gibi parametreler izlenebilmektedir. Davranışlar da, simülasyon ortamında kazanımları, bulanık mantık işleme yapıları, gerçek zaman uygulanabilirliği ve davranışların koordine edilmeleri bakımından incelenmiştir. Bu çalışma gerçek bir robotta yapılacak deneyler için temel teşkil etmektedir.In this study, the new approaches to the robotics subject, behavior-based robotics and fuzzy logic control are investigated for the real-time applications of mobile robots, Avoid Obstacle , Move to Goal , Wall Following , Head-on , Wander behaviors are built up for a four-wheel driven and four-wheel steered mobile robot. Sonar sensor mathematical models are formed for Avoid Obstacle , Move to Goal and Wall Following behaviors and fuzzy logic concepts are used in the structure of these behaviors. The mobile robot is modelled kinematically and dynamically considering the non-holonomic constraints. The posture and speed of the robot and the configurations, speeds and torques of the wheels can be obtained from the simulation. The behaviors are investigated regarding their gains, fuzzy inference structures, real-time applicabilities and thein coordination. This study constitutes basis for the experiments on a real mobile robot.Yüksek LisansM.Sc

A biologically inspired architecture for an autonomous and social robot

Lately, lots of effort has been put into the construction of robots able to live among humans. This fact has favored the development of personal or social robots, which are expected to behave in a natural way. This implies that these robots could meet certain requirements, for example, to be able to decide their own actions (autonomy), to be able to make deliberative plans (reasoning), or to be able to have an emotional behavior in order to facilitate human-robot interaction. In this paper, the authors present a bioinspired control architecture for an autonomous and social robot, which tries to accomplish some of these features. In order to develop this new architecture, authors have used as a base a prior hybrid control architecture (AD) that is also biologically inspired. Nevertheless, in the later, the task to be accomplished at each moment is determined by a fix sequence processed by the Main Sequencer. Therefore, the main sequencer of the architecture coordinates the previously programmed sequence of skills that must be executed. In the new architecture, the main sequencer is substituted by a decision making system based on drives, motivations, emotions, and self-learning, which decides the proper action at every moment according to robot's state. Consequently, the robot improves its autonomy since the added decision making system will determine the goal and consequently the skills to be executed. A basic version of this new architecture has been implemented on a real robotic platform. Some experiments are shown at the end of the paper.This work has been supported by the Spanish Government through the project called “Peer to Peer Robot-Human Interaction” (R2H), of MEC (Ministry of Science and Education), the project “A new approach to social robotics” (AROS), of MICINN (Ministry of Science and Innovation), the CAM Project S2009/DPI-1559/ROBOCITY2030 II, developed by the research team RoboticsLab at the University Carlos III of Madrid

Affective Communication for Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

Research on affective communication for socially assistive robots has been conducted to enable physical robots to perceive, express, and respond emotionally. However, the use of affective computing in social robots has been limited, especially when social robots are designed for children, and especially those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social robots are based on cognitiveaffective models, which allow them to communicate with people following social behaviors and rules. However, interactions between a child and a robot may change or be different compared to those with an adult or when the child has an emotional deficit. In this study, we systematically reviewed studies related to computational models of emotions for children with ASD. We used the Scopus, WoS, Springer, and IEEE-Xplore databases to answer different research questions related to the definition, interaction, and design of computational models supported by theoretical psychology approaches from 1997 to 2021. Our review found 46 articles; not all the studies considered children or those with ASD.This research was funded by VRIEA-PUCV, grant number 039.358/202