An Inexpensive Robot Platform for Teleoperation and Experimentation

Most commercially-available robots are either aimed at the research community, or are designed with a single purpose in mind. The extensive hobbyist community has tended to focus on the hardware and the low-level software aspects. We claim that there is a need for a low-cost, general-purpose robot, accessible to the hobbyist community, with sufficient computation and sensing to run ``research-grade\u27\u27 software. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of such a robot. We explicitly outline our design goals, and show how a capable robot can be assembled from off-the-shelf parts, for a modest cost, by a single person with only a few tools. We also show how the robot can be used as a low-cost telepresence platform, giving the system a concrete purpose beyond being a low-cost development platform

Technology for the Future: In-Space Technology Experiments Program, part 2

The purpose of the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) In-Space Technology Experiments Program In-STEP 1988 Workshop was to identify and prioritize technologies that are critical for future national space programs and require validation in the space environment, and review current NASA (In-Reach) and industry/ university (Out-Reach) experiments. A prioritized list of the critical technology needs was developed for the following eight disciplines: structures; environmental effects; power systems and thermal management; fluid management and propulsion systems; automation and robotics; sensors and information systems; in-space systems; and humans in space. This is part two of two parts and contains the critical technology presentations for the eight theme elements and a summary listing of critical space technology needs for each theme

A generic controller for teleoperation on robotic manipulators using low-cost devices

[Abstract] A usual form of human-robot interaction is the ability of the former to remotely command the latter through any sort of auxiliary device; this interaction is referred to with the term “teleoperation”. Robots are common examples of systems that can be controlled remotely. Depending on the task at hand, said systems can grow in complexity and costs. Specifically, the peripherals devoted to controlling the robot could require costly engineering and even an ad hoc design. However, a range of low-cost, commercial devices and controllers, originally intended for other purposes, can also be a good fit for teleoperation tasks in robotics. This work explores a selected collection of popular devices of this kind, and proposes a unified framework to exploit their capabilities as remote controllers for a set of robotic platforms. Their suitability is proven both on real and simulated versions of these platforms through simple experiments that show how they could be further used in more complex scenarios.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; PID2020-113508RB-I00Comunidad de Madrid; S2018/NMT-433

O2S: Open-source open shuttle

Currently, commercially available intelligent transport robots that are capable of carrying up to 90kg of load can cost \$5000 or even more. This makes real-world experimentation prohibitively expensive and limits the applicability of such systems to everyday home or industrial tasks. Aside from their high cost, the majority of commercially available platforms are either closed-source, platform-specific or use difficult-to-customize hardware and firmware. In this work, we present a low-cost, open-source and modular alternative, referred to herein as "open-source open shuttle (O2S)". O2S utilizes off-the-shelf (OTS) components, additive manufacturing technologies, aluminium profiles, and a consumer hoverboard with high-torque brushless direct current (BLDC) motors. O2S is fully compatible with the robot operating system (ROS), has a maximum payload of 90kg, and costs less than$1500. Furthermore, O2S offers a simple yet robust framework for contextualizing simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms, an essential prerequisite for autonomous robot navigation. The robustness and performance of the O2S were validated through real-world and simulation experiments. All the design, construction and software files are freely available online under the GNU GPL v3 license at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/K83X7. A descriptive video of O2S can be found at https://osf.io/v8tq2

Migration from Teleoperation to Autonomy via Modular Sensor and Mobility Bricks

In this thesis, the teleoperated communications of a Remotec ANDROS robot have been reverse engineered. This research has used the information acquired through the reverse engineering process to enhance the teleoperation and add intelligence to the initially automated robot. The main contribution of this thesis is the implementation of the mobility brick paradigm, which enables autonomous operations, using the commercial teleoperated ANDROS platform. The brick paradigm is a generalized architecture for a modular approach to robotics. This architecture and the contribution of this thesis are a paradigm shift from the proprietary commercial models that exist today. The modular system of sensor bricks integrates the transformed mobility platform and defines it as a mobility brick. In the wall following application implemented in this work, the mobile robotic system acquires intelligence using the range sensor brick. This application illustrates a way to alleviate the burden on the human operator and delegate certain tasks to the robot. Wall following is one among several examples of giving a degree of autonomy to an essentially teleoperated robot through the Sensor Brick System. Indeed once the proprietary robot has been altered into a mobility brick; the possibilities for autonomy are numerous and vary with different sensor bricks. The autonomous system implemented is not a fixed-application robot but rather a non-specific autonomy capable platform. Meanwhile the native controller and the computer-interfaced teleoperation are still available when necessary. Rather than trading off by switching from teleoperation to autonomy, this system provides the flexibility to switch between the two at the operator’s command. The contributions of this thesis reside in the reverse engineering of the original robot, its upgrade to a computer-interfaced teleoperated system, the mobility brick paradigm and the addition of autonomy capabilities. The application of a robot autonomously following a wall is subsequently implemented, tested and analyzed in this work. The analysis provides the programmer with information on controlling the robot and launching the autonomous function. The results are conclusive and open up the possibilities for a variety of autonomous applications for mobility platforms using modular sensor bricks

Redesigning the human-robot interface : intuitive teleoperation of anthropomorphic robots

textA novel interface for robotic teleoperation was developed to enable accurate and highly efficient teleoperation of the Industrial Reconfigurable Anthropomorphic Dual-arm (IRAD) system and other robotic systems. In order to achieve a revolutionary increase in operator productivity, the bilateral/master-slave approach must give way to shared autonomy and unilateral control; autonomy must be employed where possible, and appropriate sensory feedback only where autonomy is impossible; and today’s low-information/high feedback model must be replaced by one that emphasizes feedforward precision and minimal corrective feedback. This is emphasized for task spaces outside of the traditional anthropomorphic scale such as mobile manipulation (i.e. large task spaces) and high precision tasks (i.e. very small task spaces). The system is demonstrated using an anthropomorphically dimensioned industrial manipulator working in task spaces from one meter to less than one millimeter, in both simulation and hardware. This thesis discusses the design requirements and philosophy of this interface, provides a summary of prototype teleoperation hardware, simulation environment, test-bed hardware, and experimental results.Mechanical Engineerin

Safe, Remote-Access Swarm Robotics Research on the Robotarium

This paper describes the development of the Robotarium -- a remotely accessible, multi-robot research facility. The impetus behind the Robotarium is that multi-robot testbeds constitute an integral and essential part of the multi-agent research cycle, yet they are expensive, complex, and time-consuming to develop, operate, and maintain. These resource constraints, in turn, limit access for large groups of researchers and students, which is what the Robotarium is remedying by providing users with remote access to a state-of-the-art multi-robot test facility. This paper details the design and operation of the Robotarium as well as connects these to the particular considerations one must take when making complex hardware remotely accessible. In particular, safety must be built in already at the design phase without overly constraining which coordinated control programs the users can upload and execute, which calls for minimally invasive safety routines with provable performance guarantees.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 3 code samples, 72 reference