3,763 research outputs found
Analysis and Observations from the First Amazon Picking Challenge
This paper presents a overview of the inaugural Amazon Picking Challenge
along with a summary of a survey conducted among the 26 participating teams.
The challenge goal was to design an autonomous robot to pick items from a
warehouse shelf. This task is currently performed by human workers, and there
is hope that robots can someday help increase efficiency and throughput while
lowering cost. We report on a 28-question survey posed to the teams to learn
about each team's background, mechanism design, perception apparatus, planning
and control approach. We identify trends in this data, correlate it with each
team's success in the competition, and discuss observations and lessons learned
based on survey results and the authors' personal experiences during the
challenge
A survey of the benefits and issues arising from the deployment of physical artefacts in computer science teaching
This paper describes the introduction of the use of physical artefacts in the teaching of the curriculum in the Department of Computer Science at Middlesex University. The rationale for the change is discussed, together with a description of the various technologies and the areas in which they were deployed. We conclude with a discussion of the outcomes of the work and the conclusions reached, prime amongst which are that the policy has been successful in motivating and engaging students, with a resultant improvement in student progression. In addition to their value in the taught part of the curriculum, these technologies have enabled students to become involved in real-world projects, interacting with external organizations and producing products of value in diverse areas such as the arts and assistive technologies
Object detection for KRSBI robot soccer using PeleeNet on omnidirectional camera
Kontes Robot Sepak Bola Indonesia (KRSBI) is an annual event for contestants to compete their design and robot engineering in the field of robot soccer. Each contestant tries to win the match by scoring a goal toward the opponent's goal. In order to score a goal, the robot needs to find the ball, locate the goal, then kick the ball toward goal. We employed an omnidirectional vision camera as a visual sensor for a robot to perceive the object’s information. We calibrated streaming images from the camera to remove the mirror distortion. Furthermore, we deployed PeleeNet as our deep learning model for object detection. We fine-tuned PeleeNet on our dataset generated from our image collection. Our experiment result showed PeleeNet had the potential for deep learning mobile platform in KRSBI as the object detection architecture. It had a perfect combination of memory efficiency, speed and accuracy
COEL: A Cloud-Based Reaction Network Simulator
Chemical Reaction Networks (CRNs) are a formalism to describe the macroscopic behavior of chemical systems. We introduce COEL, a web- and cloud-based CRN simulation framework, which does not require a local installation, runs simulations on a large computational grid, provides reliable database storage, and offers a visually pleasing and intuitive user interface. We present an overview of the underlying software, the technologies, and the main architectural approaches employed. Some of COEL’s key features include ODE-based simulations of CRNs and multicompartment reaction networks with rich interaction options, a built-in plotting engine, automatic DNA-strand displacement transformation and visualization, SBML/Octave/Matlab export, and a built-in genetic-algorithm- based optimization toolbox for rate constants. COEL is an open-source project hosted on GitHub (doi:10.5281/zenodo.46544), which allows interested research groups to deploy it on their own sever. Regular users can simply use the web instance at no cost at coel-sim.org. The framework is ideally suited for a collaborative use in both research and education
Modular Customizable ROS-Based Framework for Rapid Development of Social Robots
Developing socially competent robots requires tight integration of robotics,
computer vision, speech processing, and web technologies. We present the
Socially-interactive Robot Software platform (SROS), an open-source framework
addressing this need through a modular layered architecture. SROS bridges the
Robot Operating System (ROS) layer for mobility with web and Android interface
layers using standard messaging and APIs. Specialized perceptual and
interactive skills are implemented as ROS services for reusable deployment on
any robot. This facilitates rapid prototyping of collaborative behaviors that
synchronize perception with physical actuation. We experimentally validated
core SROS technologies including computer vision, speech processing, and GPT2
autocomplete speech implemented as plug-and-play ROS services. Modularity is
demonstrated through the successful integration of an additional ROS package,
without changes to hardware or software platforms. The capabilities enabled
confirm SROS's effectiveness in developing socially interactive robots through
synchronized cross-domain interaction. Through demonstrations showing
synchronized multimodal behaviors on an example platform, we illustrate how the
SROS architectural approach addresses shortcomings of previous work by lowering
barriers for researchers to advance the state-of-the-art in adaptive,
collaborative customizable human-robot systems through novel applications
integrating perceptual and social abilities
Towards a Framework for Smart Manufacturing adoption in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Smart Manufacturing (SM) paradigm adoption can scale production with demand without compromising on the time for order fulfillment. A smart manufacturing system (SMS) is vertically and horizontally connected, and thus it can minimize the chances of miscommunication. Employees in an SME are aware of the operational requirements and their responsibilities. The machine schedules are prepared based on the tasks a machine must perform. Predictive maintenance reduces the downtime of machines. Design software optimizes the product design. Production feasibility is checked with the help of simulation. The concepts of product life cycle management are considered for waste reduction. Employee safety, and ergonomics, identifying new business opportunities and markets, focus on employee education and skill enhancement are some of the other advantages of SM paradigm adoption. This dissertation develops an SM paradigm adoption framework for manufacturing SMEs by employing the instrumental research approach.
The first step in the framework identified the technical aspects of SM, and this step was followed by identifying the research gaps in the suggested methods (in literature) and managerial aspects for adopting SM paradigm. The technical and the managerial aspects were integrated into a toolkit for manufacturing SMEs. This toolkit contains seven modular toolboxes that can be installed in five levels, depending on an SME’s readiness towards SM. The framework proposed in this dissertation focuses on how an SME’s readiness can be assessed and based on its present readiness what tools and practices the SMEs need to have to realize their tailored vision of SM. The framework was validated with the help of two SMEs cases that have recently adopted SM practices
A Review of Platforms for the Development of Agent Systems
Agent-based computing is an active field of research with the goal of
building autonomous software of hardware entities. This task is often
facilitated by the use of dedicated, specialized frameworks. For almost thirty
years, many such agent platforms have been developed. Meanwhile, some of them
have been abandoned, others continue their development and new platforms are
released. This paper presents a up-to-date review of the existing agent
platforms and also a historical perspective of this domain. It aims to serve as
a reference point for people interested in developing agent systems. This work
details the main characteristics of the included agent platforms, together with
links to specific projects where they have been used. It distinguishes between
the active platforms and those no longer under development or with unclear
status. It also classifies the agent platforms as general purpose ones, free or
commercial, and specialized ones, which can be used for particular types of
applications.Comment: 40 pages, 2 figures, 9 tables, 83 reference
A survey of the benefits and issues arising from the deployment of physical artefacts in computer science teaching
This paper describes the introduction of the use of physical artefacts in the teaching of the curriculum in the Department of Computer Science at Middlesex University. The rationale for the change is discussed, together with a description of the various technologies and the areas in which they were deployed. We conclude with a discussion of the outcomes of the work and the conclusions reached, prime amongst which are that the policy has been successful in motivating and engaging students, with a resultant improvement in student progression. In addition to their value in the taught part of the curriculum, these technologies have enabled students to become involved in real-world projects, interacting with external organizations and producing products of value in diverse areas such as the arts and assistive technologies
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