Stabilization of Mobile Manipulators

The focus of this work is to generate a method of stabilization in a system generated through the marriage of a mobile robot and a manipulator. While the stability of a rigid manipulator is a solved problem, upon the introduction of flexibilities into the manipulator base structure there is the simultaneous introduction of an unmodeled, induced, oscillatory disturbance to the manipulator system from the mobile base suspension and mounting. Under normal circumstances, the disturbance can be modeled through experimentation and then a form of vibration suppression control can be employed to damp the induced oscillations in the base. This approach is satisfactory for disturbances that are measured, however the hardware necessary to measure the induced oscillations in the manipulator base is generally not included in mobile manipulation systems. Because of this lack of sensing hardware it becomes difficult to directly compensate for the induced disturbances in the system. Rather than developing a direct method for compensation, efforts are made to find postures of the manipulator where the flexibilities of the system are passive. In these postures the manipulator behaves as if it is on a rigid base, this allows the use of higher feedback gains and simpler control architectures.Ph.D

Kinematic and dynamic analysis of mobile robot

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

The Otbot project: Dynamic modelling, parameter identification, and motion control of an omnidirectional tire-wheeled robot

In recent years, autonomous mobile platforms are finding an increasing range of applications in inspection or surveillance tasks, or to the transport of objects, in places such as smart warehouses, factories or hospitals. In these environments it is useful for the robot to have omnidirectional capability in the plane, so it can navigate through narrow or cluttered areas, or make position and orientation changes without having to maneuver. While this capability is usually achieved with directional sliding wheels, this work studies a particular robot that achieves omnidirectionality using conventional wheels, which are easier to manufacture and maintain, and support larger loads in general. This robot, which we call ``Otbot'' (for omnidirectional tire-wheeled robot), was already conceived in the late 1990s, but all the controllers that have been proposed for it are based on purely kinematic models so far. These controllers may be sufficient if the robot is light, or if its motors are powerful, but on platforms that have to carry large loads, or that have more limited motors, it is necessary to resort to control laws based on dynamic models if the full acceleration capacities are to be exploited. This work develops a dynamic model of Otbot, proposes a plausible methodology to identify its parameters, and designs a control law that, using this model, is able to track prescribed trajectories in an accurate and robust manner.Comment: The contents of this document corresponds to reference [7] with minor modification

Feasible, Robust and Reliable Automation and Control for Autonomous Systems

The Special Issue book focuses on highlighting current research and developments in the automation and control field for autonomous systems as well as showcasing state-of-the-art control strategy approaches for autonomous platforms. The book is co-edited by distinguished international control system experts currently based in Sweden, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom, with contributions from reputable researchers from China, Austria, France, the United States of America, Poland, and Hungary, among many others. The editors believe the ten articles published within this Special Issue will be highly appealing to control-systems-related researchers in applications typified in the fields of ground, aerial, maritime vehicles, and robotics as well as industrial audiences

Design of a Mobile Robotic Platform with Variable Footprint

This thesis presents an in-depth investigation to determine the most suitable mobile base design for a powerful and dynamic robotic manipulator. It details the design process of such a mobile platform for use in an indoor human environment that is to carry a two-arm upper-body humanoid manipulator system. Through systematic dynamics analysis, it was determined that a variable footprint holonomic wheeled mobile platform is the design of choice for such an application. Determining functional requirements and evaluating design options is performed for the platform’s general configuration, geometry, locomotion system, suspension, and propulsion, with a particularly in-depth evaluation of the problem of overcoming small steps. Other aspects such as processing, sensing and the power system are dealt with sufficiently to ensure the feasibility of the overall proposed design. The control of the platform is limited to that necessary to determine the appropriate mechanical components. Simulations are performed to investigate design problems and verify performance. A basic CAD model of the system is included for better design visualization. The research carried out in this thesis was performed in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt)’s Robotics and Mechatronics Institute (DLR RM). The DLR RM is currently utilizing the findings of this research to finish the development of the platform with a target completion date of May 2008

Cellulo: Tangible Haptic Swarm Robots for Learning

Robots are steadily becoming one of the significant 21st century learning technologies that aim to improve education within both formal and informal environments. Such robots, called Robots for Learning, have so far been utilized as constructionist tools or social agents that aided learning from distinct perspectives. This thesis presents a novel approach to Robots for Learning that aims to explore new added values by means of investigating uses for robots in educational scenarios beyond those that are commonly tackled: We develop a platform from scratch to be "as versatile as pen and paper", namely as composed of easy to use objects that feel like they belong in the learning ecosystem while being seamlessly usable across many activities that help teach a variety of subjects. Following this analogy, we design our platform as many low-cost, palm-sized tangible robots that operate on printed paper sheets, controlled by readily available mobile computers such as smartphones or tablets. From the learners' perspective, our robots are thus physical and manipulable points of hands-on interaction with learning activities where they play the role of both abstract and concrete objects that are otherwise not easily represented. We realize our novel platform in four incremental phases, each of which consists of a development stage and multiple subsequent validation stages. First, we develop accurately positioned tangibles, characterize their localization performance and test the learners' interaction with our tangibles in a playful activity. Second, we integrate mobility into our tangibles and make them full-blown robots, characterize their locomotion performance and test the emerging notion of moving vs. being moved in a learning activity. Third, we enable haptic feedback capability on our robots, measure their range of usability and test them within a complete lesson that highlights this newly developed affordance. Fourth, we develop the means of building swarms with our haptic-enabled tangible robots and test the final form of our platform in a lesson co-designed with a teacher. Our effort thus contains the participation of more than 370 child learners over the span of these phases, which leads to the initial insights into this novel Robots for Learning avenue. Besides its main contributions to education, this thesis further contributes to a range of research fields related to our technological developments, such as positioning systems, robotic mechanism design, haptic interfaces and swarm robotics

Desarrollo de módulo adaptador IoT para monitoreo y control de señales en sistemas que carecen de comunicación inalámbrica.

T3-2020En CETYS Universidad campus Mexicali, se trabaja en un proyecto de investigación que consiste en el desarrollo de un vehículo autónomo eléctrico para el transporte de la comunidad CETYS dentro del mismo campus. El cual ha tenido varias versiones de prototipos, que han provocado cambios a la arquitectura que se había planteado inicialmente, y con ello componentes se han removido y otros se agregaron, llegando a un punto en que se necesita un dispositivo que pueda comunicar el vehículo autónomo hacia al Internet y más específico aún a una nube, donde puede interactuar en ambas direcciones. Algunos de los dispositivos que integran el vehículo cuentan con módulos de comunicación W-Fi. El objetivo de este trabajo es el desarrollo de un módulo adaptador para poder enviar información a una plataforma digital donde se pueda realizar un monitoreo e interacción de datos y comandos a larga distancia con múltiples dispositivos, sensores y actuadores, trabajando en la integración de diferentes protocolos de comunicación por medio de servicios de nube e Internet de las cosas. Para llegar a eso se utilizó una metodología de tres etapas, donde cada etapa aportará una o más características para Módulo Adaptador, además se obtendrán resultados que ayudarán a la siguiente etapa para la preparación de sus pruebas. En la primera etapa se enfoca en encontrar algún dispositivo ya interno del vehículo para funcionar como el módulo adaptador y el protocolo de comunicación alámbrico. En la segunda etapa su objetivo es especificar cuál es la nube que se utilizara, puede ser tanto privada, comercial o local, además de establecer el protocolo de comunicación de la capa de aplicación hacia la nube seleccionada. La última etapa se enfoca más en las pruebas ya con el dispositivo adaptador comunicándose con el resto de los dispositivos del vehículo y mando información a la nube para desplegarla en un tablero interactivo. Uno de los resultados de este trabajo fue un módulo adaptador conformado por dos dispositivos (ATmega 2560 y Wemo D1 mini) los cuales ya se encontraban dentro del vehículo. Adicionalmente a eso, se redujo el número de dispositivos que se requerían para su operación, la mejor nube que se probó fue una local. La información fue recolectada, enviada y desplegada correctamente en el tablero interactivo, con velocidades de transferencia aceptables para los requerimientos del proyecto.Maestri

Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

The Joint Publication 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms sets forth standard US military and associated terminology to encompass the joint activity of the Armed Forces of the United States. These military and associated terms, together with their definitions, constitute approved Department of Defense (DOD) terminology for general use by all DOD components

Humanoid Robot Soccer Locomotion and Kick Dynamics: Open Loop Walking, Kicking and Morphing into Special Motions on the Nao Robot

Striker speed and accuracy in the RoboCup (SPL) international robot soccer league is becoming increasingly important as the level of play rises. Competition around the ball is now decided in a matter of seconds. Therefore, eliminating any wasted actions or motions is crucial when attempting to kick the ball. It is common to see a discontinuity between walking and kicking where a robot will return to an initial pose in preparation for the kick action. In this thesis we explore the removal of this behaviour by developing a transition gait that morphs the walk directly into the kick back swing pose. The solution presented here is targeted towards the use of the Aldebaran walk for the Nao robot. The solution we develop involves the design of a central pattern generator to allow for controlled steps with realtime accuracy, and a phase locked loop method to synchronise with the Aldebaran walk so that precise step length control can be activated when required. An open loop trajectory mapping approach is taken to the walk that is stabilized statically through the use of a phase varying joint holding torque technique. We also examine the basic princples of open loop walking, focussing on the commonly overlooked frontal plane motion. The act of kicking itself is explored both analytically and empirically, and solutions are provided that are versatile and powerful. Included as an appendix, the broader matter of striker behaviour (process of goal scoring) is reviewed and we present a velocity control algorithm that is very accurate and efficient in terms of speed of execution