600 research outputs found
Master of Science
thesisThis thesis focuses on the design, modeling, fabrication, and testing of a ?ying and walking robot, called the Dynamic Underactuated Flying-Walking (DUCK) robot. The DUCK robot combines a high-mobility ?ying platform, such as a quadcopter (quadrotor helicopter), with passive-dynamic legs to create a versatile system that can ?y and walk. One of the advantages of using passive-dynamic legs for walking is that additional actuators are not needed for terrestrial locomotion, therefore simplifying the design, reducing overall weight, and decreasing power consumption. First, a mathematical model is developed for the DUCK robot, where the modeling combines the passive-dynamic walking mechanism with the swinging mass of the aerial platform. Second, simulations based on the model are used to help guide the design of two prototype robots, speci?cally to tailor the shape of the feet and the dimensions of the passive-dynamic walking mechanism. Third, an energy analysis is performed to compare the performances between ?ying and walking. More specifically, simulation results show that continuous active walking has a comparable energy efficiency to that of flying for the two prototype designs. For design Version 1, it is estimated that the robot is able to walk up to 1600 meters on a 30kJ battery (standard Li-Po battery) with a cost of transport of 1.0, while the robot can potentially fly up to 1800 meters horizontally with the weight of its legs and up to 2300 meters without the weight of its legs. Design Version 2 is estimated to be able to walk up to 4600 meters on a 30kJ battery with a cost of transport of .50, while it could fly up to 2600 meters with the weight of its legs or 4300 meters without its legs. The cost of transport of flying is estimated to be .89 in all scenarios. Finally, experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of combining an aerial platform with passive-dynamic legs to create an effective flying and walking robot. Two modes of walking are experimentally demonstrated: (1) passive walking down inclined surfaces for low-energy terrestrial locomotion and (2) active (powered) walking leveraging the capabilities of the flying platform, where thrust from the quadcopter's rotors enables the DUCK robot to walk on flat surfaces or up inclined surfaces
Advances in Human-Robot Interaction
Rapid advances in the field of robotics have made it possible to use robots not just in industrial automation but also in entertainment, rehabilitation, and home service. Since robots will likely affect many aspects of human existence, fundamental questions of human-robot interaction must be formulated and, if at all possible, resolved. Some of these questions are addressed in this collection of papers by leading HRI researchers
Machine Performers: Agents in a Multiple Ontological State
In this thesis, the author explores and develops new attributes for machine
performers and merges the trans-disciplinary fields of the performing arts and artificial
intelligence. The main aim is to redefine the term âembodimentâ for robots on the
stage and to demonstrate that this term requires broadening in various fields of
research. This redefining has required a multifaceted theoretical analysis of
embodiment in the field of artificial intelligence (e.g. the uncanny valley), as well as
the construction of new robots for the stage by the author. It is hoped that these
practical experimental examples will generate more research by others in similar
fields.
Even though the historical lineage of robotics is engraved with theatrical
strategies and dramaturgy, further application of constructive principles from the
performing arts and evidence from psychology and neurology can shift the perception
of robotic agents both on stage and in other cultural environments. In this light, the
relation between representation, movement and behaviour of bodies has been further
explored to establish links between constructed bodies (as in artificial intelligence)
and perceived bodies (as performers on the theatrical stage). In the course of this
research, several practical works have been designed and built, and subsequently
presented to live audiences and research communities. Audience reactions have been
analysed with surveys and discussions. Interviews have also been conducted with
choreographers, curators and scientists about the value of machine performers.
The main conclusions from this study are that fakery and mystification can be
used as persuasive elements to enhance agency. Morphologies can also be applied that
tightly couple brain and sensorimotor actions and lead to a stronger stage presence. In
fact, if this lack of presence is left out of human replicants, it causes an âuncannyâ
lack of agency. Furthermore, the addition of stage presence leads to stronger
identification from audiences, even for bodies dissimilar to their own. The author
demonstrates that audience reactions are enhanced by building these effects into
machine body structures: rather than identification through mimicry, this causes them
to have more unambiguously biological associations. Alongside these traits,
atmospheres such as those created by a cast of machine performers tend to cause even
more intensely visceral responses.
In this thesis, âembodimentâ has emerged as a paradigm shift â as well as
within this shift â and morphological computing has been explored as a method to
deepen this visceral immersion. Therefore, this dissertation considers and builds
machine performers as âtrueâ performers for the stage, rather than mere objects with
an aura. Their singular and customized embodiment can enable the development of
non-anthropocentric performances that encompass the abstract and conceptual patterns
in motion and generate â as from human performers â empathy, identification and
experiential reactions in live audiences
Locomotion and balance control of humanoid robots with dynamic and kinematic constraints
Building a robot capable of servicing and assisting people is one of the ultimate goals in humanoid robotics. To realize this goal, a humanoid robot first needs to be able to perform some fundamental locomotion tasks, such as balancing and walking. However, simply performing such basic tasks in static, open environments is insufficient for a robot to be useful. A humanoid robot should also possess the ability to make use of the object in the environment to generate dynamic motions and improve its mobility. Also, since humanoid robots are expected to work and live closely with humans, having human-like motions is important for them to be human-friendly. This dissertation addresses my work on endowing humanoid robots with the ability to handle dynamic and kinematic constraints while performing the basic tasks in order to achieve more complex locomotion tasks. First, as a representative case of handling dynamic constraints, a biped humanoid robot is required to balance and walk on a cylinder that rolls freely on the ground. This task is difficult even for humans. I introduce a control method for a humanoid robot to execute this challenging task. In order for the robot to be able to actively control cylinder's motion, the dynamics of the cylinder has been taken into account together with the dynamics of the robot in deriving the control method. Its effectiveness has been verified by full-body dynamics simulation and hardware experiments on the Sarcos humanoid robot. Second, as an example of tasks with kinematic constraints, I present a method for real-time control of humanoid robots to track human motions while maintaining balance. It consists of a standard proportional-derivative tracking controller that computes the desired acceleration to track the given reference motion and an optimizer that computes the optimal joint torques and contact forces to realize the desired acceleration, considering the full-body dynamics of the robot and strict constraints on contact forces. By taking advantage of the property that the joint torques do not contribute to the six degrees of freedom of the floating base, I decouple the computation of joint torques and contact forces such that the optimization problem with strict contact force constraints can be solved in real time. In full-body simulation, a humanoid robot is able to imitate various human motions by using this method. Through this work, I demonstrate that considering dynamic and kinematic constraints in the environment in the design of controllers enables humanoid robots to achieve more complex locomotion tasks, such as manipulating a dynamic object or tracking given reference motions, while maintaining balance.Doctor of Philosoph
Design of a walking robot
Carnegie Mellon University's Autonomous Planetary Exploration Program (APEX) is currently building the Daedalus robot; a system capable of performing extended autonomous planetary exploration missions. Extended autonomy is an important capability because the continued exploration of the Moon, Mars and other solid bodies within the solar system will probably be carried out by autonomous robotic systems. There are a number of reasons for this - the most important of which are the high cost of placing a man in space, the high risk associated with human exploration and communication delays that make teleoperation infeasible. The Daedalus robot represents an evolutionary approach to robot mechanism design and software system architecture. Daedalus incorporates key features from a number of predecessor systems. Using previously proven technologies, the Apex project endeavors to encompass all of the capabilities necessary for robust planetary exploration. The Ambler, a six-legged walking machine was developed by CMU for demonstration of technologies required for planetary exploration. In its five years of life, the Ambler project brought major breakthroughs in various areas of robotic technology. Significant progress was made in: mechanism and control, by introducing a novel gait pattern (circulating gait) and use of orthogonal legs; perception, by developing sophisticated algorithms for map building; and planning, by developing and implementing the Task Control Architecture to coordinate tasks and control complex system functions. The APEX project is the successor of the Ambler project
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Bodies and labour: industrialisation, dance and performance
This thesis was submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel UniversityThis thesis presents an interdisciplinary analysis of ideas regarding the introduction of
technologies in the field of dance and performance since the industrial era. The first
two chapters analyse different historical periods, thus creating a parallel between the
establishment of work-science, and emerging methods and styles within performing
arts that utilise technology as a core element for its creation. The historical
examination of the field of work-science studies allows the sketching of a variety of
relationships between labour and technical developments, focusing especially on the
systematisation of productive processes, the integration of new technical
developments and the measurements of bodyâs rhythms and capacities. Therefore,
rather than presenting a full historical study of industrialisation and technological
performance, this research proposes a segmented analysis of two different periods:
firstly, a parallel between Taylorism and Electric Dance since the late nineteenth
century; and secondly, some relevant notions of Fordism, Mass Ornament and film
studies from the 1920s. In the last part of this thesis, I present some general ideas on
post-Fordism and digital performance that will serve as a base for future research
development.
This investigation is rooted in the field of performing arts, introducing ideas and
concepts from labour studies and generating a critical approach to the integration of
technologies within performing arts and its aesthetical, methodological and creative
outcomes. The research encompasses a wide range of perspectives, from early
photographic experiments, film studies, entertainment culture, video games, and
digital technologies, formulating a general approach to technological transformations
since the late nineteenth century.
The key question throughout this research is precisely a double-sided adaptation
between movement style and technical development: a process of intermedial
configurations based on technological progress, analysed from a labour-science
perspective, and then applied to performance art and entertainment culture
Automated Analysis of Synchronization in Human Full-body Expressive Movement
The research presented in this thesis is focused on the creation of computational models for the study of human full-body movement in order to investigate human behavior and non-verbal communication. In particular, the research concerns the analysis of synchronization of expressive movements and gestures. Synchronization can be computed both on a single user (intra-personal), e.g., to measure the degree of coordination between the joints\u2019 velocities of a dancer, and on multiple users (inter-personal), e.g., to detect the level of coordination between multiple users in a group. The thesis, through a set of experiments and results, contributes to the investigation of both intra-personal and inter-personal synchronization applied to support the study of movement expressivity, and improve the state-of-art of the available methods by presenting a new algorithm to perform the analysis of synchronization
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