Autonomous Tennis Ball Collector

Practicing tennis often involves hitting many tennis balls from one side of the court to the other without an opponent to hit the balls back. In training sessions like these, the task of collecting the balls is laborious when performed manually. The objective of this project is to develop a robotic tennis ball collector that can automatically collect the balls from one side of the court so that the player can rest rather than collect the balls manually. This document outlines the process of designing such a robot. Included in this report is background research, prototype, and concept modeling, along with a finalized design, and a complete timeline of our process. We will also detail the manufacturing process and the design verification. In the conclusion we will provide you with recommendations for future projects. Throughout our research, we discovered many similar products, but none met all of the customer’s requirements, thus opening a window for our product. After copious design consideration, we selected the strongest idea that satisfied our customers’ needs and are moving forward with structural modeling and preliminary analysis on it. After the structural prototype revealed issues in the design we went back to work and finalized a design that we felt confident with and still satisfied all the requirements. As seen in this report the final design utilizes structural framing materials to build the robot and allows for ease of attachment for all the electrical components. The final step in the design process was to test the verification prototype to ensure that it met all our specifications. Unfortunately, our design did not pass as many of the tests as we would have liked, and this is detailed in that section. While at the conclusion of this project, we did not complete as much as we hoped, there is a good foundation in place for the project to continue as our sponsor so desires

Exploring Immersive Co-Design: Comparing Human Interaction in Real and Virtual Elevated Urban Spaces in London

Virtual reality (VR) technology has the potential to revolutionize public engagement in the design of urban projects, leading to more sustainable and inclusive environments. This research scrutinizes this potential through a study of elevated urban spaces, specifically the Sky Garden and Crossrail Place in London. Comparing real and virtual interactions, the aim is to highlight their differences and similarities while underscoring the importance of design decision-making for sustainable public places. Through walk-along interviews with 33 visitors in each space and a VR experiment with a separate group of 33 participants, the study analyses the effectiveness of VR as a co-design tool. The outcomes demonstrate that VR positively influences user involvement and allows for the production and real-time testing of design alternatives. Significantly, the majority of participants, who had not physically visited the spaces, could identify design concerns and propose potential activities and features through the VR experiment. These findings were consistent with those expressed by actual users of the spaces. By comparing human activities, circulation, and design concerns in both physical and virtual environments, the research underscores the potential and limitations of VR as a co-design tool for creating sustainable public spaces

The Pan American (1978-10)

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/panamerican/1276/thumbnail.jp

The Pan American (1978-03)

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/panamerican/1280/thumbnail.jp

Developing a Semi-autonomous Robot to Engage Children with Special Needs and Their Peers in Robot-Assisted Play

Despite the wide variety of robots used in human-robot interaction (HRI) scenarios, the potential of robots as connectors whilst acting as play mediators has not been fully explored. Robots present an opportunity to redefine traditional game scenarios by being physical embodiments of agents/game elements. Robot assisted play has been used to reduce the barriers that children with physical special needs experience. However, many projects focus on child-robot interaction rather than child-child interaction. In an attempt to address this gap, a semi-autonomous mobile robot, MyJay, was created. This thesis discusses the successful development of MyJay and its potential contribution in future HRI studies. MyJay is an open-source robot that plays a basketball-like game. It features light and color for communicative feedback, omni-directional mobility, robust mechanisms, adjustable levels of autonomy for dynamic interaction, and a child-friendly aesthetically-pleasing outer shell. The design process included target users such as children with special needs and therapists in order to create a robot that ensures repeated use, engagement, and long-term interaction. A hybrid approach was taken to involve stakeholders, combining user-centered design and co-design, exemplifying that children can be included in the creation process even when it is not possible to hold in-person co-design sessions due to COVID-19. Aside from the care taken to meet user requirements, the robot was designed with researchers in mind, featuring extensible software and ROS compatibility. The frame is constructed from aluminum to ensure rigidity, and most functional parts related to gameplay are 3D printed to allow for quick swapping, should a need to change game mechanics arise. The modularity in software and in mechanical aspects should increase the potential of MyJay as a valuable research tool for future HRI studies. Finally, a novel framework to simulate teleoperation difficulties for individuals with upper-limb mobility challenges is proposed, along with a dynamic assistance algorithm to aid in the teleoperation process

The OctaVis: a VR-device for rehabilitation and diagnostics of visuospatial impairments

Dyck E. The OctaVis: a VR-device for rehabilitation and diagnostics of visuospatial impairments. Bielefeld: Universität Bielefeld; 2017

Computational intelligence approaches to robotics, automation, and control [Volume guest editors]

No abstract available

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

Resilient design for London's elevated social spaces: exploring challenges, opportunities, and harnessing interactive virtual reality co-design approaches for community engagement

In the face of escalating urban density, the emerging concept of elevated urban spaces such as sky gardens and roof gardens is becoming a compelling requirement for human well-being in the process of densification. These spaces have gained additional significance in light of the adaptability and resilience required during the Covid-19 pandemic. This research explores the challenges and opportunities related to the design and management of such spaces, with a specific focus on London. A novel facet of this investigation is the application of Virtual Reality (VR) technology as a co-design tool, aimed at enhancing public engagement and the overall design experience of these spaces. The study emphasizes two particular urban locales in London: the Sky Garden and Crossrail Place, chosen for their unique design characteristics, public accessibility, and popularity. These case studies allow for an in-depth examination of critical design aspects such as accessibility, people flow control, pinch points, user experience, and the spectrum of activities that these spaces can accommodate. To create more sustainable and inclusive environments, the study leverages VR technology to bridge the gap between the physical and virtual worlds. This approach is aimed at understanding the impact of this integration on architectural and urban design processes, specifically in terms of design decision-making and its implications for the sustainability and longevity of public places. The adopted methodology is a phenomenological qualitative approach employing the Participatory Action Research (PAR) method. This involved direct observational studies, walk-along interviews with 33 visitors at each site, VR exploratory experiments with the same number of participants, and follow-up semi-structured interviews. Observations were conducted before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic, providing a comprehensive perspective on the unique challenges influencing the design and management of elevated urban spaces. The results indicate that VR, as a co-design tool, effectively promotes interactive public participation in the design process. The VR experiments facilitated users to identify design limitations and suggest improvements, even among participants who had not physically visited the sites. The concerns and needs identified through VR closely mirrored those expressed by actual users of the spaces. The findings also offer a comparative analysis of human activities, circulation patterns, and design considerations in both physical and virtual environments, highlighting the potential of VR technology for designing sustainable public spaces in a post-pandemic world. This research contributes threefold: (a) it furnishes theoretical input by establishing guidelines for the design of elevated social spaces, and provides empirical input by suggesting a range of design and planning considerations for developing active, pleasant, and resilient elevated social spaces; (b) it offers methodological input through the development of a multidisciplinary pragmatic framework for assessing the use of VR as an interactive co-design tool; and (c) it presents a comparative analysis of two advanced interactive VR approaches – Building Information Modeling (BIM) and gamification techniques – to enhance public engagement in public and social space design