Android based autonomous mobile robot

The spreading of mobile robots is getting more significant nowadays. This is due to their ability to perform tasks that are dangerous, uncomfortable or impossible to people. The mobile robot must be endowed with a wide variety of sensors (cameras, microphones, proximity sensors, etc.) and processing units that makes them able to navigate in their environment. This generally carried out with unique, small series produced and thus expensive equipment. This paper describes the concept of a mobile robot with a control unit integrating the processing and the main sensor functionalities into one mass produced device, an Android smartphone. The robot is able to perform tasks such as tracking colored objects or human faces and orient itself. In the meantime, it avoids obstacles and keeps the distance between the target and itself. It is able to verbally communicate wit

Mobile Dua and Zikr for Hajj (MDZ4H)

In the last decade, the number of mobile phone users has increased dramatically. Nowadays, mobile phone has become part of people's life. Today's mobile phones provide not just voice call and messaging services, but plethora of other services. This research is about the utilization of mobile phone for dua and zikr for Hajj. The main aim of this research is to develop a mobile Dua and Zikr in order to help Hajj pilgrims to recite them while performing all the required rituals. At the moment, this research focuses on developing the application on Android platform. In developing the application, all the required Dua and Zikr have to be gathered, compiled and verified before the prototype could be developed using J2ME. The prototype consists of the text and audio files of the recited Dua and Zikr in Arabic as well as the translation in Malay. Finally the prototype has been evaluated by users and experts using two sets of questionnaires. It is hoped that the developed prototype would be able to help the pilgrims to easily and conveniently recite the Dua and Zikr towards achieving Hajj Mabrur

Auto Target Tracking Robot Design Based on Smartphone

This paper describes a robot tracking control design based on a smartphone using a commercial microprocessor. The system hardware consists of four major parts: an Android smartphone with an embedded camera, a Microchip microprocessor, a motor driver circuit and an Attacknid robot. First, an image of the surrounding environment is captured by the high definition camera embedded in the smartphone. The target is then recognized from the image using an algorithm developed in Android OS and OpenCV library. Third, motion control and laser activation strategies are achieved using the proposed algorithm implemented in Java. Fourth, the motion commands are delivered to the microchip processor through a USB interface. Finally, the processor produces a pulse width modulation (PWM) voltage to control the robot’s motion and activate the laser diode according commands sent from the smart phone. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of this proposed architecture

Effects of typical dining styles on conversation behaviours and acoustic perception in restaurants in China

The acoustic environment of restaurants is important for diners. Based on acoustic measurements and a questionnaire survey of typical restaurants, differences in diners’ conversation behaviour and acoustic perception were analysed. Three dining styles were compared (centralized, separate, and dispersed), and crowd density and background music were considered. Several interesting findings were gained. First, dining styles affected conversation behaviour. When there were four or more diners per table, conversation increased compared to when there were three or fewer; and background music did not reduce conversation. With the centralized style, the proportion of speech diners heard was greater than for the other two dining styles, even as crowd density increased. Second, dining styles affected sound pressure level. With background music, the separate style decreased sound pressure level more effectively than the other two styles when crowd density was low, and without background music, the separate style decreased sound pressure level more effectively than the other two dining styles irrespective of crowd density. Dining styles also affected acoustic comfort: with the centralized and separate styles, acoustic comfort took on a parabolic shape, first increasing and then decreasing as crowd density increased, while with the dispersed style, as crowd density increased, the acoustic comfort of diners decreased

Adaptive physical human-robot interaction (PHRI) with a robotic nursing assistant.

Recently, more and more robots are being investigated for future applications in health-care. For instance, in nursing assistance, seamless Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is very important for sharing workspaces and workloads between medical staff, patients, and robots. In this thesis we introduce a novel robot - the Adaptive Robot Nursing Assistant (ARNA) and its underlying components. ARNA has been designed specifically to assist nurses with day-to-day tasks such as walking patients, pick-and-place item retrieval, and routine patient health monitoring. An adaptive HRI in nursing applications creates a positive user experience, increase nurse productivity and task completion rates, as reported by experimentation with human subjects. ARNA has been designed to include interface devices such as tablets, force sensors, pressure-sensitive robot skins, LIDAR and RGBD camera. These interfaces are combined with adaptive controllers and estimators within a proposed framework that contains multiple innovations. A research study was conducted on methods of deploying an ideal HumanMachine Interface (HMI), in this case a tablet-based interface. Initial study points to the fact that a traded control level of autonomy is ideal for tele-operating ARNA by a patient. The proposed method of using the HMI devices makes the performance of a robot similar for both skilled and un-skilled workers. A neuro-adaptive controller (NAC), which contains several neural-networks to estimate and compensate for system non-linearities, was implemented on the ARNA robot. By linearizing the system, a cross-over usability condition is met through which humans find it more intuitive to learn to use the robot in any location of its workspace, A novel Base-Sensor Assisted Physical Interaction (BAPI) controller is introduced in this thesis, which utilizes a force-torque sensor at the base of the ARNA robot manipulator to detect full body collisions, and make interaction safer. Finally, a human-intent estimator (HIE) is proposed to estimate human intent while the robot and user are physically collaborating during certain tasks such as adaptive walking. A NAC with HIE module was validated on a PR2 robot through user studies. Its implementation on the ARNA robot platform can be easily accomplished as the controller is model-free and can learn robot dynamics online. A new framework, Directive Observer and Lead Assistant (DOLA), is proposed for ARNA which enables the user to interact with the robot in two modes: physically, by direct push-guiding, and remotely, through a tablet interface. In both cases, the human is being “observed” by the robot, then guided and/or advised during interaction. If the user has trouble completing the given tasks, the robot adapts their repertoire to lead users toward completing goals. The proposed framework incorporates interface devices as well as adaptive control systems in order to facilitate a higher performance interaction between the user and the robot than was previously possible. The ARNA robot was deployed and tested in a hospital environment at the School of Nursing of the University of Louisville. The user-experience tests were conducted with the help of healthcare professionals where several metrics including completion time, rate and level of user satisfaction were collected to shed light on the performance of various components of the proposed framework. The results indicate an overall positive response towards the use of such assistive robot in the healthcare environment. The analysis of these gathered data is included in this document. To summarize, this research study makes the following contributions: Conducting user experience studies with the ARNA robot in patient sitter and walker scenarios to evaluate both physical and non-physical human-machine interfaces. Evaluation and Validation of Human Intent Estimator (HIE) and Neuro-Adaptive Controller (NAC). Proposing the novel Base-Sensor Assisted Physical Interaction (BAPI) controller. Building simulation models for packaged tactile sensors and validating the models with experimental data. Description of Directive Observer and Lead Assistance (DOLA) framework for ARNA using adaptive interfaces

Software system for remote control and monitoring of robots based on Android operating system and wireless communication.

Роботски системи су сложени системи чији корисници морају бити добро обучени. Управљање се најчешће спроводи близу самог робота или употребом жичне конекције. Данашње брзе промене и напредак у развоју технологије захтевају имплементацију нових технолошких решења у области програмирања и управљања индустријских робота и других робота специјалне намене. У савременој роботској индустрији постоји стална потреба за унапређењем приступачности и интеракције у раду са роботским системима, па је све већи значај развоја корисничких интерфејса који су интуитивни и лаки за коришћење. У складу са тим, приликом пројектовања графичког корисничког интерфејса за програмирање и управљање робота није довољно направити фокус само на обезбеђивању детаљних и комплетних функционалности управљања, већ се ергономија употребе такође треба узети у обзир. Поред тога, масивни и недоступни роботи све више захтевају управљање независно од локације оператера. Ресурси везани за роботске лабораторије често нису доступни корисницима које тек треба обучити за рад са оваквим системима, a рад са роботским системима често захтева детаљно познавање софтверских парадигми за програмирање робота. Због наведених разлога студенти који тек уче о основним принципима роботике углавном нису у могућности да се упознају са програмирањем и управљањем комплексних роботских система на практичан начин. У области едукације у роботици, бежична виртуелна окружења, која дају реалну слику о раду робота, би била од великог значаја. Посебно би се издвојио њихов значај у случају примене таквог решења за едукацију у области управљања слабо доступних робота као што су, на пример, уређаји за адаптацију и тренинг пилота. Такође, поред едукативне сврхе, употреба лако доступних, широко распрострањених и економичних уређаја би била јако исплатива. Истраживање о генералној употреби и знању студената о технологији паметних телефона, које је спроведено у оквиру ове докторске дисертације, потврђује да данашњи брз развој технологије захтева унапређење метода за учење и едукацију...Robot control systems are complex systems whose users must be well trained to use them. Control process is mainly carried out near the robot or by using wired connections. Because of rapid advances in technology, it is of great importance to implement new technology solutions in training environments, in robotics and aerospace industry. In contemporary robotics industry there is a constant need to improve accessibility of robotic systems and human-robot interaction, so the significance of developing new user interfaces that are intuitive and easy to use is growing. Therefore, for designing robot control user interfaces it is not sufficient to simply focus on providing detailed and complete control capability, but ergonomy of use should also be taken into account. Besides, massive and unreachable robots require control that is independent of the user’s location. Resources in the robotics field are limited for a common user to access and demand deep knowledge of robot-specific programming paradigms. For these reasons, it is not often possible for inexperience students to become familiar with programming and control of complex robotic systems in a practical manner. Virtual wireless environments that provide realistic experience in robot control would be of great significance in the robotics education. It would be especially important in the case of application of such a solution for education in control of poorly accessible robots, such as devices for pilots’ training and flight simulations. Also, in addition to educational purposes, the use of easily accessible, widespread and cost-effective device would be very profitable. The evaluation of the general engineering students’ use and knowledge of smart phone technology, which was conducted within this dissertation, confirms that today's rapid development of technology requires improved methods for learning and education. There are a number of scientific and research papers and reports that describe software solutions that the majority of robot manufacturers and independent software vendors offer to developers and system integrators for design and simulation of manufacturing projects. A certain number of science and research papers report the implementation and the use of smart phones for robot monitoring and control. The remote monitoring of robot and machine performance is implemented by using camera, in textual form, or by using 3D animation, and robot programming is performed by using accelerometer, gyroscope or by filling out the text fields with desired values. Such programming methods are timeconsuming for setting up and generating the desired robot performance, that is especially pronounced when frequently use the same or a similar program. Also, these methods are not sufficiently intuitive, especially for education in robotics and students that only begin to learn about the basic elements of robotics..

Софтверски систем за даљинско управљање и надзор робота базиран на андроид оперативном систему и бежичној комуникацији

Роботски системи су сложени системи чији корисници морају бити добро обучени. Управљање се најчешће спроводи близу самог робота или употребом жичне конекције. Данашње брзе промене и напредак у развоју технологије захтевају имплементацију нових технолошких решења у области програмирања и управљања индустријских робота и других робота специјалне намене. У савременој роботској индустрији постоји стална потреба за унапређењем приступачности и интеракције у раду са роботским системима, па је све већи значај развоја корисничких интерфејса који су интуитивни и лаки за коришћење. У складу са тим, приликом пројектовања графичког корисничког интерфејса за програмирање и управљање робота није довољно направити фокус само на обезбеђивању детаљних и комплетних функционалности управљања, већ се ергономија употребе такође треба узети у обзир. Поред тога, масивни и недоступни роботи све више захтевају управљање независно од локације оператера. Ресурси везани за роботске лабораторије често нису доступни корисницима које тек треба обучити за рад са оваквим системима, a рад са роботским системима често захтева детаљно познавање софтверских парадигми за програмирање робота. Због наведених разлога студенти који тек уче о основним принципима роботике углавном нису у могућности да се упознају са програмирањем и управљањем комплексних роботских система на практичан начин. У области едукације у роботици, бежична виртуелна окружења, која дају реалну слику о раду робота, би била од великог значаја. Посебно би се издвојио њихов значај у случају примене таквог решења за едукацију у области управљања слабо доступних робота као што су, на пример, уређаји за адаптацију и тренинг пилота. Такође, поред едукативне сврхе, употреба лако доступних, широко распрострањених и економичних уређаја би била јако исплатива. Истраживање о генералној употреби и знању студената о технологији паметних телефона, које је спроведено у оквиру ове докторске дисертације, потврђује да данашњи брз развој технологије захтева унапређење метода за учење и едукацију..