Design of Autonomous Cleaning Robot

Today, the research is concentrated on designing and developing robots to address the challenges of human life in their everyday activities. The cleaning robots are the class of service robots whose demands are increasing exponentially. Nevertheless, the application of cleaning robots is confined to smaller areas such as homes. Not much autonomous cleaning products are commercialized for big areas such as schools, hospitals, malls, etc. In this thesis, the proof of concept is designed for the autonomous floor-cleaning robot and autonomous board-cleaning robot for schools. A thorough background study is conducted on domestic service robots to understand the technologies involved in these robots. The components of the vacuum cleaner are assembled on a commercial robotic platform. The principles of vacuum cleaning technology and airflow equations are employed for the component selection of the vacuum cleaner. As the autonomous board-cleaning robot acts against gravity, a magnetic adhesion is used to adhere the robot to the classroom board. This system uses a belt drive mechanism to manoeurve. The use of belt drive increases the area of magnetic attraction while the robot is in motion. A semi-systematic approach using patterned path planning techniques for the complete coverage of the working environment is discussed in this thesis. The outcome of this thesis depicts a new and conceptual mechanical design of an autonomous floor-cleaning robot and an autonomous board-cleaning robot. This evidence creates a preliminary design for proof-of-concept for these robots. This proof of concept design is developed from the basic equations of vacuum cleaning technology, airflow and magnetic adhesion. A general overview is discussed for collaborating the two robots. This research provides an extensive initial step to illustrate the development of an autonomous cleaning robot and further validates with quantitative data discussed in the thesis

Obstacle avoidance for an autonomous Rover

This project presents the improvement of an autnonomous rover to make it capable of performing 3D obstacle detection and avoidance. To do so, the previous architecture has been renovated with new hardware and software. A calibration of the new sensor and validation tests have been performed and presented

GUARDIANS final report

Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for firefghters. The large dimensions together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major challenges. The Guardians robot swarm is designed to assist fire fighters in searching a large warehouse. In this report we discuss the technology developed for a swarm of robots searching and assisting fire fighters. We explain the swarming algorithms which provide the functionality by which the robots react to and follow humans while no communication is required. Next we discuss the wireless communication system, which is a so-called mobile ad-hoc network. The communication network provides also one of the means to locate the robots and humans. Thus the robot swarm is able to locate itself and provide guidance information to the humans. Together with the re ghters we explored how the robot swarm should feed information back to the human fire fighter. We have designed and experimented with interfaces for presenting swarm based information to human beings

Advances in Human Robot Interaction for Cloud Robotics applications

In this thesis are analyzed different and innovative techniques for Human Robot Interaction. The focus of this thesis is on the interaction with flying robots. The first part is a preliminary description of the state of the art interactions techniques. Then the first project is Fly4SmartCity, where it is analyzed the interaction between humans (the citizen and the operator) and drones mediated by a cloud robotics platform. Then there is an application of the sliding autonomy paradigm and the analysis of different degrees of autonomy supported by a cloud robotics platform. The last part is dedicated to the most innovative technique for human-drone interaction in the User’s Flying Organizer project (UFO project). This project wants to develop a flying robot able to project information into the environment exploiting concepts of Spatial Augmented Realit

Design and Test of a UAV Swarm Architecture over a Mesh Ad-Hoc Network

The purpose of this research was to develop a testable swarm architecture such that the swarm of UAVs collaborate as a team rather than acting as several independent vehicles. Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components were used as they were low-cost, readily available, and previously proven to work with at least two networked UAVs. Initial testing was performed via software-in-the-loop (SITL) demonstrating swarming of three simulated multirotor aircraft, then transitioned to real hardware. The architecture was then tested in an outdoor nylon netting enclosure. Command and control (C2) was provided by software implementing an enhanced version of Reynolds’ flocking rules via an onboard companion computer, and UDP multicast messages over a W-Fi mesh ad-hoc network. Experimental results indicate a standard deviation between vehicles of two meters or less, at airspeeds up to two meters per second. This aligns with navigation instrumentation error, permitting safe operation of multiple vehicles within five meters of each other. Qualitative observations indicate this architecture is robust enough to handle more aircraft, pass additional sensor data, and incorporate different swarming algorithms and missions

Desarrollo de un cuadricóptero operado por ROS

Este proyecto se centra en el desarrollo de un cuadricóptero y su control integrado en el entorno de ROS. ROS (Robotic Operating System) es un pseudo sistema operativo orientado a plataformas robóticas. El trabajo desarrollado cubre desde el manejo del sistema operativo en distintas plataformas robóticas o el estudio de las diversas formas de programación en ROS hasta la evaluación de alternativas de construcción, desarrollo de la interfaz con ROS o ensayos prácticos con la plataforma construida. En primer lugar, se ha realizado un estudio de las posibilidades de ROS aplicadas a robots voladores, las alternativas de desarrollo y su viabilidad de integración. Entre estas aplicaciones cabe destacar las de SLAM (Localización y Mapeo Simultáneos) y navegación autonoma. Tras la evaluación de las distintas alternativas considerando funcionalidad, autonomía y precio, la plataforma de desarrollo se ha basado en ArduCopter. Aunque existen algunos ejemplos de vehículos aéreos no tripulados en ROS, no hay soporte para este sistema, por lo cual se ha desarrollado el trabajo necesario para hacer estas dos plataformas compatibles. El hardware ha sido montado sobre una plataforma de fabricación propia, realizada mediante impresión 3D, y se ha evaluado su funcionamiento en entornos reales. También se ha valorado y ensayado una plataforma de aluminio, con resultados menos satisfactorios. Para el correcto funcionamiento del conjunto se ha tenido que conseguir una conexión entre el cuadricóptero y la estación de tierra. En este caso, se han diseñado alternativas de conexión entre ordenadores (para el caso de que se monte un ordenador en la aeronave) o conexión entre ordenador y ArduCopter (para el caso de que no haya ordenador de a bordo). También se ha implementado una serie de algoritmos para llevar a cabo el control del cuadricóptero de manera autónoma: navegación de puntos vía, control de la rotación y control de altitud. Estos módulos funcionan bajo el sistema ROS y operan en remoto desde la estación de tierra. Finalmente, se ha desarrollado un módulo de lectura para una unidad de medida inercial actualmente en desarrollo por la universidad de Luleå (KFly). Este dispositivo sólo se ha probado en entornos controlados y aún no ha pasado a formar parte del cuadricóptero, aunque en un futuro próximo se espera que sirva de reemplazo al ordenador de a bordo

The use of modern tools for modelling and simulation of UAV with Haptic

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a research field in robotics which is in high demand in recent years, although there still exist many unanswered questions. In contrast, to the human operated aerial vehicles, it is still far less used to the fact that people are dubious about flying in or flying an unmanned vehicle. It is all about giving the control right to the computer (which is the Artificial Intelligence) for making decisions based on the situation like human do but this has not been easy to make people understand that it’s safe and to continue the enhancement on it. These days there are many types of UAVs available in the market for consumer use, for applications like photography to play games, to map routes, to monitor buildings, for security purposes and much more. Plus, these UAVs are also being widely used by the military for surveillance and for security reasons. One of the most commonly used consumer product is a quadcopter or quadrotor. The research carried out used modern tools (i.e., SolidWorks, Java Net Beans and MATLAB/Simulink) to model controls system for Quadcopter UAV with haptic control system to control the quadcopter in a virtual simulation environment and in real time environment. A mathematical model for the controlling the quadcopter in simulations and real time environments were introduced. Where, the design methodology for the quadcopter was defined. This methodology was then enhanced to develop a virtual simulation and real time environments for simulations and experiments. Furthermore, the haptic control was then implemented with designed control system to control the quadcopter in virtual simulation and real time experiments. By using the mathematical model of quadcopter, PID & PD control techniques were used to model the control setup for the quadcopter altitude and motion controls as work progressed. Firstly, the dynamic model is developed using a simple set of equations which evolves further by using complex control & mathematical model with precise function of actuators and aerodynamic coefficients Figure5-7. The presented results are satisfying and shows that flight experiments and simulations of the quadcopter control using haptics is a novel area of research which helps perform operations more successfully and give more control to the operator when operating in difficult environments. By using haptic accidents can be minimised and the functional performance of the operator and the UAV will be significantly enhanced. This concept and area of research of haptic control can be further developed accordingly to the needs of specific applications

The use of modern tools for modelling and simulation of UAV with Haptic

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a research field in robotics which is in high demand in recent years, although there still exist many unanswered questions. In contrast, to the human operated aerial vehicles, it is still far less used to the fact that people are dubious about flying in or flying an unmanned vehicle. It is all about giving the control right to the computer (which is the Artificial Intelligence) for making decisions based on the situation like human do but this has not been easy to make people understand that it’s safe and to continue the enhancement on it. These days there are many types of UAVs available in the market for consumer use, for applications like photography to play games, to map routes, to monitor buildings, for security purposes and much more. Plus, these UAVs are also being widely used by the military for surveillance and for security reasons. One of the most commonly used consumer product is a quadcopter or quadrotor. The research carried out used modern tools (i.e., SolidWorks, Java Net Beans and MATLAB/Simulink) to model controls system for Quadcopter UAV with haptic control system to control the quadcopter in a virtual simulation environment and in real time environment. A mathematical model for the controlling the quadcopter in simulations and real time environments were introduced. Where, the design methodology for the quadcopter was defined. This methodology was then enhanced to develop a virtual simulation and real time environments for simulations and experiments. Furthermore, the haptic control was then implemented with designed control system to control the quadcopter in virtual simulation and real time experiments. By using the mathematical model of quadcopter, PID & PD control techniques were used to model the control setup for the quadcopter altitude and motion controls as work progressed. Firstly, the dynamic model is developed using a simple set of equations which evolves further by using complex control & mathematical model with precise function of actuators and aerodynamic coefficients Figure5-7. The presented results are satisfying and shows that flight experiments and simulations of the quadcopter control using haptics is a novel area of research which helps perform operations more successfully and give more control to the operator when operating in difficult environments. By using haptic accidents can be minimised and the functional performance of the operator and the UAV will be significantly enhanced. This concept and area of research of haptic control can be further developed accordingly to the needs of specific applications