309 research outputs found
A snake-based scheme for path planning and control with constraints by distributed visual sensors
YesThis paper proposes a robot navigation scheme using wireless visual sensors deployed in an environment.
Different from the conventional autonomous robot approaches, the scheme intends to relieve massive on-board
information processing required by a robot to its environment so that a robot or a vehicle with less intelligence can
exhibit sophisticated mobility. A three-state snake mechanism is developed for coordinating a series of sensors to
form a reference path. Wireless visual sensors communicate internal forces with each other along the reference snake
for dynamic adjustment, react to repulsive forces from obstacles, and activate a state change in the snake body from a
flexible state to a rigid or even to a broken state due to kinematic or environmental constraints. A control snake is
further proposed as a tracker of the reference path, taking into account the robotâs non-holonomic constraint and
limited steering power. A predictive control algorithm is developed to have an optimal velocity profile under robot
dynamic constraints for the snake tracking. They together form a unified solution for robot navigation by distributed
sensors to deal with the kinematic and dynamic constraints of a robot and to react to dynamic changes in advance.
Simulations and experiments demonstrate the capability of a wireless sensor network to carry out low-level control
activities for a vehicle.Royal Society, Natural Science Funding Council (China
Toward Dynamical Sensor Management for Reactive Wall-following
We propose a new paradigm for reactive wallfollowing by a planar robot taking the form of an actively steered sensor model that augments the robotâs motion dynamics. We postulate a foveated sensor capable of delivering third-order infinitesimal (range, tangent, and curvature) data at a point along a wall (modeled as an unknown smooth plane curve) specified by the angle of the ray from the robotâs body that first intersects it. We develop feedback policies for the coupled (point or unicycle) sensorimotor system that drive the sensorâs foveal angle as a function of the instantaneous infinitesimal data, in accord with the trade-off between a desired standoff and progress-rate as the wallâs curvature varies unpredictably in the manner of an unmodeled noise signal. We prove that in any neighborhood within which the thirdorder infinitesimal data accurately predicts the local âshapeâ of the wall, neither robot will ever hit it. We empirically demonstrate with comparative physical studies that the new active sensor management strategy yields superior average tracking performance and avoids catastrophic collisions or wall losses relative to the passive sensor variant.
This work was supported by AFOSR MURI FA9550â10â1â0567.
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Sensor Network Based Collision-Free Navigation and Map Building for Mobile Robots
Safe robot navigation is a fundamental research field for autonomous robots
including ground mobile robots and flying robots. The primary objective of a
safe robot navigation algorithm is to guide an autonomous robot from its
initial position to a target or along a desired path with obstacle avoidance.
With the development of information technology and sensor technology, the
implementations combining robotics with sensor network are focused on in the
recent researches. One of the relevant implementations is the sensor network
based robot navigation. Moreover, another important navigation problem of
robotics is safe area search and map building. In this report, a global
collision-free path planning algorithm for ground mobile robots in dynamic
environments is presented firstly. Considering the advantages of sensor
network, the presented path planning algorithm is developed to a sensor network
based navigation algorithm for ground mobile robots. The 2D range finder sensor
network is used in the presented method to detect static and dynamic obstacles.
The sensor network can guide each ground mobile robot in the detected safe area
to the target. Furthermore, the presented navigation algorithm is extended into
3D environments. With the measurements of the sensor network, any flying robot
in the workspace is navigated by the presented algorithm from the initial
position to the target. Moreover, in this report, another navigation problem,
safe area search and map building for ground mobile robot, is studied and two
algorithms are presented. In the first presented method, we consider a ground
mobile robot equipped with a 2D range finder sensor searching a bounded 2D area
without any collision and building a complete 2D map of the area. Furthermore,
the first presented map building algorithm is extended to another algorithm for
3D map building
Extended Kalman Filter Implementation for the Khepera II Mobile Robot
The accurate estimation of robot position and orientation in real-time is one of the fundamental challenges in mobile robotics. The Extended Kalman Filter is a nonlinear real-time recursive time domain ïŹlter that combines available sensor data to produce an accurate estimate of state, and has been successfully applied to the localization problem in mobile robotics and aircraft navigation. This report describes an Extended Kalman Filter implementa- tion for the Khepera II mobile robotics platform that seeks to produce accurate localization estimates in real-time using wheel odometry data, IR sensor range data, and compass heading data
Support polygon in the hybrid legged-wheeled CENTAURO robot: modelling and control
Search for the robot capable to perform well in the real-world has sparked an interest in the hybrid locomotion systems. The hybrid legged-wheeled robots combine the advantages of the standard legged and wheeled platforms by switching between the quick and efficient wheeled motion on the flat grounds and the more versatile legged mobility on the unstructured terrains. With the locomotion flexibility offered by the hybrid mobility and appropriate control tools, these systems have high potential to excel in practical applications adapting effectively to real-world during locomanipuation operations. In contrary to their standard well-studied counterparts, kinematics of this newer type of robotic platforms has not been fully understood yet. This gap may lead to unexpected results when the standard locomotion methods are applied to hybrid legged-wheeled robots. To better understand mobility of the hybrid legged-wheeled robots, the model that describes the support polygon of a general hybrid legged-wheeled robot as a function of the wheel angular velocities without assumptions on the robot kinematics or wheel camber angle is proposed and analysed in this thesis. Based on the analysis of the developed support polygon model, a robust omnidirectional driving scheme has been designed. A continuous wheel motion is resolved through the Inverse Kinematics (IK) scheme, which generates robot motion compliant with the Non-Sliding Pure-Rolling (NSPR) condition. A higher-level scheme resolving a steering motion to comply with the non-holonomic constraint and to tackle the structural singularity is proposed. To improve the robot performance in presence to the unpredicted circumstances, the IK scheme has been enhanced with the introduction of a new reactive support polygon adaptation task. To this end, a novel quadratic programming task has been designed to push the system Support Polygon Vertices (SPVs) away from the robot Centre of Mass (CoM), while respecting the leg workspace limits. The proposed task has been expressed through the developed SPV model to account for the hardware limits. The omnidirectional driving and reactive control schemes have been verified in the simulation and hardware experiments. To that end, the simulator for the CENTAURO robot that models the actuation dynamics and the software framework for the locomotion research have been developed
Development of a Hybrid Powered 2D Biped Walking Machine Designed for Rough Terrain Locomotion
Biped robots hold promise as terrestrial explorers because they require a single discrete foothold to place their next step. However, biped robots are multi-input multi-output dynamically unstable machines. This makes walking on rough terrain difficult at best. Progress has been made with non-periodic rough terrain like stairs or inclines with fully active walking machines. Terrain that requires the walker to change its gait pattern from a standard walk is still problematic. Most walking machines have difficulty detecting or responding to the small perturbations induced by this type of terrain. These small perturbations can lead to unstable gait cycles and possibly a fall. The Intelligent Systems and Automation Lab at the University of Kansas has built a three legged 2D biped walking machine to be used as a test stand for studying rough terrain walking. The specific aim of this research is to investigate how biped walkers can best maintain walking stability when acted upon by small perturbations caused by periodic rough terrain. The first walking machine prototype, referred to as Jaywalker has two main custom actuation systems. The first is the hip ratchet system. It allows the walker to have either a passive or active hip swing. The second is the hybrid parallel ankle actuator. This new actuator uses a pneumatic ram and stepper motor in parallel to produce an easily controlled high torque output. In open loop control it has less than a 1° tracking error and 0.065 RPM velocity error compared to a standard stepper motor. Step testing was conducted using the Jaywalker, with a passive hip, to determine if a walker with significant leg mass could walk without full body actuation. The results of testing show the Jaywalker is ultimately not capable of walking with a passive hip. However, the walking motion is fine until the terminal stance phase. At this point the legs fall quickly towards the ground as the knee extends the shank. This quick step phenomenon is caused by increased speeds and forces about the leg and hip caused by the extension of the shank. This issue can be overcome by fully actuating the hip, or by adding counterbalances to the legs about the hip
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