6,199 research outputs found
Optimal path planning for surveillance with temporal-logic constraints
In this paper we present a method for automatically generating optimal robot paths satisfying high-level mission specifications. The motion of the robot in the environment is modeled as a weighted transition system. The mission is specified by an arbitrary linear temporal-logic (LTL) formula over propositions satisfied at the regions of a partitioned environment. The mission specification contains an optimizing proposition, which must be repeatedly satisfied. The cost function that we seek to minimize is the maximum time between satisfying instances of the optimizing proposition. For every environment model, and for every formula, our method computes a robot path that minimizes the cost function. The problem is motivated by applications in robotic monitoring and data-gathering. In this setting, the optimizing proposition is satisfied at all locations where data can be uploaded, and the LTL formula specifies a complex data-collection mission. Our method utilizes Büchi automata to produce an automaton (which can be thought of as a graph) whose runs satisfy the temporal-logic specification. We then present a graph algorithm that computes a run corresponding to the optimal robot path. We present an implementation for a robot performing data collection in a road-network platform.This material is based upon work supported in part by ONR-MURI (award N00014-09-1-1051), ARO (award W911NF-09-1-0088), and Masaryk University (grant numbers LH11065 and GD102/09/H042), and other funding sources (AFOSR YIP FA9550-09-1-0209, NSF CNS-1035588, NSF CNS-0834260). (N00014-09-1-1051 - ONR-MURI; W911NF-09-1-0088 - ARO; LH11065 - Masaryk University; GD102/09/H042 - Masaryk University; FA9550-09-1-0209 - AFOSR YIP; CNS-1035588 - NSF; CNS-0834260 - NSF
Directed Exploration using a Modified Distance Transform
Mobile robots operating in unknown environments need to build maps. To do so they must have an exploration algorithm to plan a path. This algorithm should guarantee that the whole of the environment, or at least some designated area, will be mapped. The path should also be optimal in some sense and not simply a "random walk" which is clearly inefficient. When multiple robots are involved, the algorithm also needs to take advantage of the fact that the robots can share the task. In this paper we discuss a modification to the well-known distance transform that satisfies these requirements
Magnetic suspension turbine flow meter
Measurement of liquid flow in certain area such as industrial plant is in critical. Inaccurate measurement can cause serious result. Most of the liquid flow are using Bernoulli principle‘s but in turbine flow meter the flow rate is determine differently by using kinetic energy. Turbine flow meter is one of flow rate transducer that widely used in metallurgical, petroleum, chemical and other industrial and agricultural areas, as shown in Figure 1.1. It is present as high precision of flow meter and when fluid flow troughs it the impeller that faces the fluid will rotate due to flow force exist. The rotation speed is directly proportional to the speed of fluid. During the process, the working states of impeller and bearing are very complicated due the interactive effects from the fluid axial thrust, impeller rotating, and static and dynamic components. In current turbine flow meter design, the common material use for meter bulk body is 1Cr18Ni9Ti, while for the blade 2Gr13 are used. Axis and bearing are made from stainless steel or carbide alloy. The space between the axis and bearing determines it minimum flow rate and life span, and also determines its measurement range (1:10~1:15 - maximum flow rate to minimum flow rate). Since the turbine has movable parts it can produce friction between the axis and ring during the operation. This will cause accuracy of the measurement decrease and can damage the impeller blade. In this research, the friction can be reduced by adopting the principle of magnetic suspension. Rotating shaft will levitate in the magnetic field due to the forces. Friction coefficient reduced because of rotating shaft rotates without abrasion and mechanical contact in space
Wavefront Propagation and Fuzzy Based Autonomous Navigation
Path planning and obstacle avoidance are the two major issues in any
navigation system. Wavefront propagation algorithm, as a good path planner, can
be used to determine an optimal path. Obstacle avoidance can be achieved using
possibility theory. Combining these two functions enable a robot to
autonomously navigate to its destination. This paper presents the approach and
results in implementing an autonomous navigation system for an indoor mobile
robot. The system developed is based on a laser sensor used to retrieve data to
update a two dimensional world model of therobot environment. Waypoints in the
path are incorporated into the obstacle avoidance. Features such as ageing of
objects and smooth motion planning are implemented to enhance efficiency and
also to cater for dynamic environments
Combining Subgoal Graphs with Reinforcement Learning to Build a Rational Pathfinder
In this paper, we present a hierarchical path planning framework called SG-RL
(subgoal graphs-reinforcement learning), to plan rational paths for agents
maneuvering in continuous and uncertain environments. By "rational", we mean
(1) efficient path planning to eliminate first-move lags; (2) collision-free
and smooth for agents with kinematic constraints satisfied. SG-RL works in a
two-level manner. At the first level, SG-RL uses a geometric path-planning
method, i.e., Simple Subgoal Graphs (SSG), to efficiently find optimal abstract
paths, also called subgoal sequences. At the second level, SG-RL uses an RL
method, i.e., Least-Squares Policy Iteration (LSPI), to learn near-optimal
motion-planning policies which can generate kinematically feasible and
collision-free trajectories between adjacent subgoals. The first advantage of
the proposed method is that SSG can solve the limitations of sparse reward and
local minima trap for RL agents; thus, LSPI can be used to generate paths in
complex environments. The second advantage is that, when the environment
changes slightly (i.e., unexpected obstacles appearing), SG-RL does not need to
reconstruct subgoal graphs and replan subgoal sequences using SSG, since LSPI
can deal with uncertainties by exploiting its generalization ability to handle
changes in environments. Simulation experiments in representative scenarios
demonstrate that, compared with existing methods, SG-RL can work well on
large-scale maps with relatively low action-switching frequencies and shorter
path lengths, and SG-RL can deal with small changes in environments. We further
demonstrate that the design of reward functions and the types of training
environments are important factors for learning feasible policies.Comment: 20 page
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