23 research outputs found
Swarm Robotics, or: The Smartness of 'a bunch of cheap dumb things'
Not only recent Science Fiction – e.g., Star Trek Beyond (USA 2016) – celebrates the capacities of robot collectives. Also RoboCup, an annual robot soccer competition, or Harvard University’s Kilobot Project show stunning examples of the central idea behind Swarm Robotics: »[U]sing swarms is the same as getting a bunch of small cheap dumb things to do the same job as an expensive smart thing« (Beni/Wang 1989). This article examines some crucial aspects of the techno-history of a research field which intertwines engineering and biological knowledge and whose applications deal with compelling questions about synchronization and self-organization in changing environments – on the ground, in the air, and under water
Swarm Robotics, or: The Smartness of \u27a bunch of cheap dumb things\u27
Not only recent Science Fiction – e.g., Star Trek Beyond (USA 2016) – celebrates the capacities of robot collectives. Also RoboCup, an annual robot soccer competition, or Harvard University’s Kilobot Project show stunning examples of the central idea behind Swarm Robotics: »[U]sing swarms is the same as getting a bunch of small cheap dumb things to do the same job as an expensive smart thing« (Beni/Wang 1989). This article examines some crucial aspects of the techno-history of a research field which intertwines engineering and biological knowledge and whose applications deal with compelling questions about synchronization and self-organization in changing environments – on the ground, in the air, and under water
UAV/UGV Autonomous Cooperation: UAV Assists UGV to Climb a Cliff by Attaching a Tether
This paper proposes a novel cooperative system for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
(UAV) and an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) which utilizes the UAV not only as a
flying sensor but also as a tether attachment device. Two robots are connected
with a tether, allowing the UAV to anchor the tether to a structure located at
the top of a steep terrain, impossible to reach for UGVs. Thus, enhancing the
poor traversability of the UGV by not only providing a wider range of scanning
and mapping from the air, but also by allowing the UGV to climb steep terrains
with the winding of the tether. In addition, we present an autonomous framework
for the collaborative navigation and tether attachment in an unknown
environment. The UAV employs visual inertial navigation with 3D voxel mapping
and obstacle avoidance planning. The UGV makes use of the voxel map and
generates an elevation map to execute path planning based on a traversability
analysis. Furthermore, we compared the pros and cons of possible methods for
the tether anchoring from multiple points of view. To increase the probability
of successful anchoring, we evaluated the anchoring strategy with an
experiment. Finally, the feasibility and capability of our proposed system were
demonstrated by an autonomous mission experiment in the field with an obstacle
and a cliff.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, accepted to 2019 International Conference on
Robotics & Automation. Video: https://youtu.be/UzTT8Ckjz1
Folding Knots Using a Team of Aerial Robots
From ancient times, humans have been using cables and ropes to tie, carry,
and manipulate objects by folding knots. However, automating knot folding is
challenging because it requires dexterity to move a cable over and under
itself. In this paper, we propose a method to fold knots in midair using a team
of aerial vehicles. We take advantage of the fact that vehicles are able to fly
in between cable segments without any re-grasping. So the team grasps the cable
from the floor, and releases it once the knot is folded. Based on a composition
of catenary curves, we simplify the complexity of dealing with an
infinite-dimensional configuration space of the cable, and formally propose a
new knot representation. Such representation allows us to design a trajectory
that can be used to fold knots using a leader-follower approach. We show that
our method works for different types of knots in simulations. Additionally, we
show that our solution is also computationally efficient and can be executed in
real-time.Comment: International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS
2022, Kyoto, Japan, Oct 23 - Oct. 27, 202
Scalable underwater assembly with reconfigurable visual fiducials
We present a scalable combined localization infrastructure deployment and
task planning algorithm for underwater assembly. Infrastructure is autonomously
modified to suit the needs of manipulation tasks based on an uncertainty model
on the infrastructure's positional accuracy. Our uncertainty model can be
combined with the noise characteristics from multiple devices. For the task
planning problem, we propose a layer-based clustering approach that completes
the manipulation tasks one cluster at a time. We employ movable visual fiducial
markers as infrastructure and an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for
manipulation tasks. The proposed task planning algorithm is computationally
simple, and we implement it on AUV without any offline computation
requirements. Combined hardware experiments and simulations over large datasets
show that the proposed technique is scalable to large areas.Comment: Submitted to ICRA 202
Structure Assembly by a Heterogeneous Team of Robots Using State Estimation, Generalized Joints, and Mobile Parallel Manipulators
Autonomous robotic assembly by mobile field robots has seen significant advances in recent decades, yet practicality remains elusive. Identified challenges include better use of state estimation to and reasoning with uncertainty, spreading out tasks to specialized robots, and implementing representative joining methods. This paper proposes replacing 1) self-correcting mechanical linkages with generalized joints for improved applicability, 2) assembly serial manipulators with parallel manipulators for higher precision and stability, and 3) all-in-one robots with a heterogeneous team of specialized robots for agent simplicity. This paper then describes a general assembly algorithm utilizing state estimation. Finally, these concepts are tested in the context of solar array assembly, requiring a team of robots to assemble, bond, and deploy a set of solar panel mockups to a backbone truss to an accuracy not built into the parts. This paper presents the results of these tests
Economic Design of Things
Economics is a social science, so is economic design as a field. This short article discusses, in particular, the future of economic design, and of economic theory in general. By suggesting some examples, I hope to convince the readers that the recent technological advances in science and technology will not only be disruptive to the social machinery that surrounds us but also to the future of economic design as a field. However, economic design, as an established field, has the potential to add value to the society by offering an axiomatic framework to the design of the future with a social sciences perspective
Robot Tape Manipulation for 3D Printing
3D printing has enabled various applications using different forms of
materials, such as filaments, sheets, and inks. Typically, during 3D printing,
feedstocks are transformed into discrete building blocks and placed or
deposited in a designated location similar to the manipulation and assembly of
discrete objects. However, 3D printing of continuous and flexible tape (with
the geometry between filaments and sheets) without breaking or transformation
remains underexplored and challenging. Here, we report the design and
implementation of a customized end-effector, i.e., tape print module (TPM), to
realize robot tape manipulation for 3D printing by leveraging the tension
formed on the tape between two endpoints. We showcase the feasibility of
manufacturing representative 2D and 3D structures while utilizing conductive
copper tape for various electronic applications, such as circuits and sensors.
We believe this manipulation strategy could unlock the potential of other tape
materials for manufacturing, including packaging tape and carbon fiber prepreg
tape, and inspire new mechanisms for robot manipulation, 3D printing, and
packaging
Design of in-Situ Lightweight Structure with Autonomous Robot Traveling on 3-Dimensional Curved Rod
University of Tokyo(東京大学