An Improved Approach For Multi-Robot Localization

Cooperative multi-robot localization techniques use sensor measurements to estimate poses (locations, orientations) of robots relative to a given map of the environment. Existing approaches update a robot\u27s pose instantly whenever it detects another robot. However, such instant update may not be always necessary and effective, since both robots\u27 pose estimates could be highly uncertain at the time of the detection. In this thesis, we develop a new information exchange mechanism to collaborative multi-robot localization. We also propose a new scheme to calculate how much information is contained in a robot\u27s belief by using entropy. Instead of updating beliefs whenever detection occurs, our approach first compares the beliefs of the robots which are involved in the detection, and then decide whether the information exchange is necessary. Therefore, it avoids unnecessary information exchange whenever one robot perceives another robot. On the other hand, this approach does allow information exchange between detecting robots and such information exchange always contributes positively to the localization process, hence, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of multi-robot localization. The technique has been implemented and tested using two mobile robots as well as simulations. The results indicate significant improvements in localization speed and accuracy when compared to the single mobile robot localization

Multiple Robot Boundary Tracking with Phase and Workload Balancing

This thesis discusses the use of a cooperative multiple robot system as applied to distributed tracking and sampling of a boundary edge. Within this system the boundary edge is partitioned into subsegments, each allocated to a particular robot such that workload is balanced across the robots. Also, to minimize the time between sampling local areas of the boundary edge, it is desirable to minimize the difference between each robot’s progression (i.e. phase) along its allocated sub segment of the edge. The paper introduces a new distributed controller that handles both workload and phase balancing. Simulation results are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the controller in an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) under ice edge sampling application. Successful results from experimentation with three iRobot(R) Creates are also presented

User interface and function library for ground robot navigation

Master's Project (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017A web application user interface and function library were developed to enable a user to program a ground robot to navigate autonomously. The user interface includes modules for generating a grid of obstacles from a map image, setting waypoints for a path through the map, and programming a robot in a code editor to navigate autonomously. The algorithm used for navigation is an A* algorithm modified with obstacle padding to accommodate the width of the robot and path smoothing to simplify the paths. The user interface and functions were designed to be simple so that users without technical backgrounds can use them, and by doing so they can engage in the development process of human-centered robots. The navigation functions were successful in finding paths in test configurations, and the performance of the algorithms was fast enough for user interactivity up to a certain limit of grid cell sizes

User interface and function library for ground robot navigation

Master's Project (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017A web application user interface and function library were developed to enable a user to program a ground robot to navigate autonomously. The user interface includes modules for generating a grid of obstacles from a map image, setting waypoints for a path through the map, and programming a robot in a code editor to navigate autonomously. The algorithm used for navigation is an A* algorithm modified with obstacle padding to accommodate the width of the robot and path smoothing to simplify the paths. The user interface and functions were designed to be simple so that users without technical backgrounds can use them, and by doing so they can engage in the development process of human-centered robots. The navigation functions were successful in finding paths in test configurations, and the performance of the algorithms was fast enough for user interactivity up to a certain limit of grid cell sizes

A vision based aerial rbot solution for the IARC 2014 by the Technical University of Madrid

The IARC competitions aim at making the state of the art in UAV progress. The 2014 challenge deals mainly with GPS/Laser denied navigation, Robot-Robot interaction and Obstacle avoidance in the setting of a ground robot herding problem. We present in this paper a drone which will take part in this competition. The platform and hardware it is composed of and the software we designed are introduced. This software has three main components: the visual information acquisition, the mapping algorithm and the Aritificial Intelligence mission planner. A statement of the safety measures integrated in the drone and of our efforts to ensure field testing in conditions as close as possible to the challenge?s is also included

Haris: an Advanced Autonomous Mobile Robot for Smart Parking Assistance

This paper presents Haris, an advanced autonomous mobile robot system for tracking the location of vehicles in crowded car parks using license plate recognition. The system employs simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for autonomous navigation and precise mapping of the parking area, eliminating the need for GPS dependency. In addition, the system utilizes a sophisticated framework using computer vision techniques for object detection and automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) for reading and associating license plate numbers with location data. This information is subsequently synchronized with a back-end service and made accessible to users via a user-friendly mobile app, offering effortless vehicle location and alleviating congestion within the parking facility. The proposed system has the potential to improve the management of short-term large outdoor parking areas in crowded places such as sports stadiums. The demo of the robot can be found on https://youtu.be/ZkTCM35fxa0?si=QjggJuN7M1o3oifx.Comment: Accepted in 2024 IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE), Las Vegas, NV, USA, 202

The Creation of a low-cost, reliable platform for mobile robotics research

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, June 2011."June 2011." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 29).This work documents the planning process, design, fabrication, and integration of a low-cost robot designed for research on the problem of life-long robot mapping. The robotics platform used is the iRobot Create. This robot also employs the PrimeSensor, a sensor with the ability to provide a pixel-matched, colored depth field in real time. This sensor was later purchased by Microsoft and leveraged in their popular gaming device, the Microsoft Kinect. The robot has a powerful Acer Aspire 1830T-6651 laptop with an Intel Core i5 to perform processor-intensive, real-time image processing. The actual construction of the robot consisted of two phases: the physical integration of the components on a chassis and the software integration through the computer. The physical integration is mainly a central chassis made from laser-cut acrylic. This chassis is capable of securely holding the laptop computer in place and provides an elevated mount for the PrimeSensor. This mount has the ability to change the viewing angle of the sensor and lock that angle at 5' increments using a pin. The software integration was completed using open-source packages for the Robot Operating System (ROS) developed by Brown University and a not-for-profit company called OpenNI. These packages were installed on the onboard laptop and the ROS core functions running on the laptop provide the foundation to run new code on this testing platform. This robot is low in cost and provides a reliable, robust, and versatile platform for visionbased artificial intelligence research. The mapping software and vision algorithms developed on this platform will contribute to the development of more intelligent and meaningful vision capabilities for tomorrow's robots.by Taylor Harrison Gilbert.S.B