Maze solving robot with automated obstacle avoidance

A quick development of innovation moves us to plan the best choice for an accurate mission. Numerous independent automated innovations are intimated in the lives of individuals making their work much easier. It has been seen that automated vehicles are presented so far, with shrewd abilities after enormous measures of cash spent yearly on the examination. Here in this paper, autonomous maze solving robot is developed with independent mapping and localization skill. Firstly, the maze solving vehicle is designed with three infrared sensors of which two is used for wall detection to avoid collision and the third is for obstacle detection for picking and placing the objects to clear its pathway with the help of robotic arm. Also, it desires to use robot where an environment unreachable for human. In addition, there are also places where use of robots is the only way to achieve a goal. For this, appropriate placement of sensory devices is very critical. We have successfully implemented a maze solving ability onto the robot so called MazeBot. It has been tested that the robot can solve the maze successfully without any interruption with the walls and the objects. In this design, the accuracy of measurements and the real-time processing allied with minimum processing power are the key components in overall embedded design

3D Simulator with hardware-in-the-loop capability for the micromouse competition

Robotics competitions are a way to challenge researchers, roboticists and enthusiastic to address robot applications. One of the well-known international competition is the Micromouse where the fastest mobile robot to solve a maze is the winner. There are several topics addressed in this competition such as robot prototyping, control, electronics, path planning, optimization, among others while keeping the size of the robot as small as possible. A simulation can be used to speed-up the development and testing algorithms but faces the gap between a simulation and reality, specially in the dynamics behaviour. There are some simulation environments that allow to simulate the Micromouse competition, but in this paper, an Hardware-in-the-loop simulator tool is presented where the simulated robot is controlled by the same microcontroller used by the robot. By this way, the developed algorithms are tested and validated with the limitations and constraints presented in the real hardware, such as memory and processing capabilities. The robot dynamics, the slippage of the wheels, the friction and the 3D visualization are present in the simulator. The presented results show that the same code and hardware controlling the simulated and the real robot identically.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ROBOT IN A RECONFIGURABLE MAZE

Autonomous vehicles have existed since several decades and they continue to evolve promptly. Their usage in different domains made them an interesting area for academic researchers as well as governments’ projects. Issues that are still holding back the development of autonomous vehicles are the accurate mapping and localization of the surrounding that enable these vehicles to perform independently in a precise manner. Using either the left-wall following or right-wall following algorithm alone will sometimes result in the robot being stuck in a loop and failed to solve the maze. This report describes a hybrid method where one of the two algorithms is selected based on the first opening of a reconfigurable maze. It has been demonstrated that by combining the two algorithms, unless the maze was purposely configured containing a loop, the rate of success is more than 90 percent

ROBOT IN A RECONFIGURABLE MAZE

Autonomous vehicles have existed since several decades and they continue to evolve promptly. Their usage in different domains made them an interesting area for academic researchers as well as governments’ projects. Issues that are still holding back the development of autonomous vehicles are the accurate mapping and localization of the surrounding that enable these vehicles to perform independently in a precise manner. Using either the left-wall following or right-wall following algorithm alone will sometimes result in the robot being stuck in a loop and failed to solve the maze. This report describes a hybrid method where one of the two algorithms is selected based on the first opening of a reconfigurable maze. It has been demonstrated that by combining the two algorithms, unless the maze was purposely configured containing a loop, the rate of success is more than 90 percent

Small scale implementation of a robotic urban search and rescue network

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2012With the advancement of robotics technologies, it is now possible to use robots for high risk jobs that have historically been accomplished by humans. One such example is the use of robots for Urban Search and Rescue (USR): finding chemical spills, fires, or human survivors in disaster areas. With the ability to include inexpensive wireless transceivers, it is possible to network numerous robots as part of a swarm that can explore an area much more expeditiously than a single robot can. With the inclusion of wireless capabilities comes the necessity to create a protocol for the communication between robots. Also necessary is the creation of an exploration protocol that allows the network of robots to explore such a building or search area in as little time as possible yet as accurately as possible. This thesis covers the development of such a network of robots, starting with the hardware/software co-design, the individual robots' control mechanisms, and their mapping and communications protocols

UnimouseSim: a real-time mobile robot simulator with hardware-in-the-loop support for the micromouse contest

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáMobile robots are applied to various industrial contexts, performing repetitive and highperformance tasks. One way of generating interest in the study of robotics in this context is through robotics competitions. The aim of this work is the development of a 3D mobile robotics simulator with hardware-in-the-loop capabilities. It includes developing models for standard components, such as time-of-flight sensors, wheel encoders, and direct current motors. The simulator interacts with development boards, programmed through Arduino-compatible libraries for communication with each robot component. By having the microcontrollers process each sensor’s output and determine the appropriate motor commands, the microcontroller’s limitations are present even during the simulation. The simulator contains different environments, where users have to complete challenges that require sensor data to be interpreted and motor commands to be calculated for different purposes, namely following walls, controlling the robot speed, and developing algorithms for completing the micromouse competition. A modification to the flood fill algorithm, commonly used in the micromouse competition, was proposed and analysed. It targets robots with a simple movement set, unable to perform turns while maintaining linear speed. The simulator was used in the RoboSTEM hackathon, where students were presented with the challenge environments and developed their solutions. It provided insights about the problems they were asked to solve and the simulator software itself.A robótica móvel é aplicada a diferentes contextos industriais, executando tarefas repetitivas e de alta performance. Uma forma de gerar interesse no estudo da robótica é por meio de competições. O objetivo deste trabalho é o desenvolvimento de um simulador 3D de robótica com hardware-in-the-loop. Foi feito o desenvolvimento de components comumente utilizados nos robôs, como sensores time-of-flight, encoders e motores de corrente contínua. A intereção com o simulador é feita por placas de desenvolvimento programadas por bibliotecas compatíveis com o ambiente Arduino, específicas para cada componente. Sendo o microcontrolador responsável por processar as medições dos esnsores e determinar o comando apropriado para os motores, as limitações de memória e poder de processamento dos microcontroladores se fazem presentes mesmo no ambiente de simulação. O simulador contém diferentes ambientes, em que o tulizador deve completar desafios que requerem a utilização dos sensores e atuadores para dieferentes fins, nomeadamnete o seguimento de paredes, controlo de velocidade e completar a competição do micromouse. Foi proposta e analizada uma modificação ao algorítmo flood fill, comumente usado na competição do micromouse, que visa robôs com um conjunto de movimento limitado, inaptos a fazer curvas enquanto mantêm velocidade linear. O simulador foi utilizado no hackathon RoboSTEM, em que os diferentes desafios foram apresentados a estudantes, e as soluções elaboradas por eles continham observações imporotantes sobre os problemas apresentados e sobre o simulador em si

Development of an autonomous mobile robot with planning and location in a structured environment

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáWith the advance of technology mobile robots have been increasingly applied in the industry, performing repetitive work with high performance, and in environments that pose risks to human health. The present work plans and develops a mobile robot platform for the micromouse competition. The micromouse consists of a small autonomous mobile robot that, when placed in an unknown labyrinth, is able to map it, search for the best path between the starting point and the goal and travel it in the shortest possible time. To accomplish these tasks, the robot must be able to self-locate, map the maze as it traverses it and plan paths based on the map obtained. The developed self-localization method is based on the odometry, the laser sensors present in the robot and on a previous knowledge of the start point and the configuration of the environment. Several methodologies of locomotion in unknown environment and route planning are analyzed in order to obtain the combination with the best performance. In order to verify the results, the present work is developed in real environment, in 3D simulation and also with a hardware in the loop capability. Labyrinths from previous competitions are used as basis for comparing methodologies and validating results. At the end it presents the algorithm capable of fulfilling all the requirements of the micromouse competition together with the results of its evaluation run.Com o avanço da tecnologia, os robôs móveis têm sido cada vez mais aplicados na indústria, realizando trabalhos repetitivos com alto desempenho e em ambientes que expõem riscos à saúde humana. O presente trabalho planeja e desenvolve um robô móvel para a competição micromouse. O micromouse consiste em um pequeno robô autônomo que, ao ser colocado em um labirinto desconhecido, é capaz de mapeá-lo, procurar o melhor caminho entre o ponto de partida e o objetivo, e percorrê-lo no menor tempo possível. Para realizar estas tarefas, o robô deve ser capaz de se auto-localizar, mapear o labirinto enquanto o percorre e planejar caminhos com base no mapa obtido. O método de auto-localização desenvolvido baseia-se na odometria, nos sensores a laser presentes no robô e em um prévio conhecimento do ponto de início e da configuração do ambiente. Diversas metodologias de locomoção em ambiente desconhecido e planejamento de rotas são analisadas buscando-se obter a combinação com o melhor desempenho. Para averiguação de resultados o presente trabalho desenvolve-se em ambiente real e em simulação 3D com hardware in the loop. Labirintos de competições anteriores são utilizados de base para o comparativo de metodologias e validação de resultados. Ao final apresenta-se o algoritmo capaz de cumprir todas as exigências da competição micromouse juntamente com os resultados em sua corrida de avaliação

Development of General Search Based Path Follower in Real Time Environment

Mobile robots are being used for various industrial, medical, research and other applications to perform the various tasks accurately and efficiently. Path planning of such mobile robots plays a prominent role in performing these tasks. This paper deals with the path planning of mobile robots in a predefined structured environment. In this case the environment chosen is the roadmap of NIT Rourkela obtained from Google maps as reference. An Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) is developed and programmed so as to move autonomously from an indicated source location to the defined destination in the given map following the most optimal path among the available paths. The source and destination points are the different departments, academic blocks in NIT Rourkela campus map. In this case we use a two wheeled mobile robot consisting of IR sensors is used to verify the validation of the proposed algorithm. A linear search based algorithm is implemented on the autonomous robot to generate shortest paths in the NIT Rourkela campus map generated. The algorithm is similar to that of the right wall follower algorithm, Dijkstra algorithm etc. used in maze solving robots but in this case the paths treaded are not stored in the memory and the vehicle does not check the available paths to choose the shortest one, but chooses them with the aid of the information provided by the sensors. The coordinates of source and goal positions plays a prominent role in deciding the particular path at the branching node. This method saves the time and cost of following all the available paths to check if it is the shortest one. The results are verified with the simulations performed using MATLAB. Moreover experiments were performed on the developed model in the scaled version of NIT Rourkela campus map printed on a banner to compare and verify the result

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationWe propose to examine a representation which features combined action and perception signals, i.e., instead of having a purely geometric representation of the perceptual data, we include the motor actions, e.g., aiming a camera at an object, which are al