Robot Serpiente Modular Simulado

Para complementar la investigación teórica que explota las capacidades de locomoción de los robots serpiente modulares, un conjunto grande de herramientas es requerido para validar los modelos y controladores diseñados para ese propósito. En nuestra investigación, la mayoría de esos procesos de validación requieren los prototipos del robot real para realizar experimentos que consumen tiempo y en algunos casos comprometen la estructura mecánica del robot. Para superar este último problema un software de simulación se presenta como una herramienta que permite a los investigadores enfrentar el diseño de controles y experimentar de una manera segura, con esta clase de sistemas costosos. El robot Lola-OPTM, diseñado por KM-RoBoTa y liberado como una plataforma abierta de investigación, sirve de personaje virtual principal en la primera versión de nuestro software de simulación de robots serpiente modulares. Los componentes principales de este conjunto de herramientas de simulación corresponden al motor de física, el motor gráfico, la definición del ambiente y el módulo de comunicación que permite que las entradas del simulador se obtengan y la integración con una arquitectura de control mayor utilizada con el robot real.To complement the theoretical research that exploits the locomotion capabilities of Modular Snake Robots, a large collection of tools are required to validate the models and controllers designed for that purpose. In our research, most of these validation processes require the real robot prototypes to perform experiments that are time consuming and a variety of cases compromise the robot s mechanical structure. To overcome this last issue a simulation software arises as a tool that allows researches to face controller design processes and experimentation in a safe manner, with this kind of expensive systems. The robot Lola-OPTM, designed by KM-RoBoTa and released as an open research platform, serves as the main virtual character for the first version of our modular snake robot simulation software. The main components of this set of simulation software tools correspond to the physics engine, the graphics engine, the environment definition and the communication module that allow the inputs to the simulator data to be retrieved and the integration with a major control software architecture used with the real robot.Ingeniero (a) ElectrónicoPregrad

Sincronización entre módulos para la captura de información en un robot modular tipo serpiente

Este trabajo de grado pretende ayudar en la labor realizada por el grupo SIRP del departamento de ingeniería electrónica en la sincronización y captura de información entre módulos de un robot serpiente. Se lleva a cabo la implementación de dos estrategias de sincronización y se propone un protocolo de pruebas con el fin de evaluar los comportamientos evidenciados por las dos estrategias. El primer protocolo consiste en la sincronización por medio de NTP, el segundo se lleva a cabo por medio del envío de una trama serial. El trabajo de grado ha sido realizado para su uso en N módulos del robot tipo serpiente del grupo.This degree work intends to help in the work done by the SIRP group of the department of electronic engineering in the synchronization and information acquisition between modules of a snake-like robot. The implementation of two synchronization strategies is carried out and a test protocol is proposed in order to evaluate the behaviors evidenced by the two strategies. The first protocol consists of the synchronization through NTP, the second is carried out by sending a serial frame. The degree work has been done for use in N modules of the snake-like robot of the group.Ingeniero (a) ElectrónicoPregrad

Mechatronic Systems

Mechatronics, the synergistic blend of mechanics, electronics, and computer science, has evolved over the past twenty five years, leading to a novel stage of engineering design. By integrating the best design practices with the most advanced technologies, mechatronics aims at realizing high-quality products, guaranteeing at the same time a substantial reduction of time and costs of manufacturing. Mechatronic systems are manifold and range from machine components, motion generators, and power producing machines to more complex devices, such as robotic systems and transportation vehicles. With its twenty chapters, which collect contributions from many researchers worldwide, this book provides an excellent survey of recent work in the field of mechatronics with applications in various fields, like robotics, medical and assistive technology, human-machine interaction, unmanned vehicles, manufacturing, and education. We would like to thank all the authors who have invested a great deal of time to write such interesting chapters, which we are sure will be valuable to the readers. Chapters 1 to 6 deal with applications of mechatronics for the development of robotic systems. Medical and assistive technologies and human-machine interaction systems are the topic of chapters 7 to 13.Chapters 14 and 15 concern mechatronic systems for autonomous vehicles. Chapters 16-19 deal with mechatronics in manufacturing contexts. Chapter 20 concludes the book, describing a method for the installation of mechatronics education in schools

Design of novel adaptive magnetic adhesion mechanism for climbing robots in ferric structures

The work presented in this thesis proposes a novel adaptive magnetic adhesion mechanism that can be implemented in most locomotion mechanisms employed in climbing robots for ferric structures. This novel mechanism has the capability to switch OFF and ON its magnetic adhesion with minimal power consumption, and remain at either state after the excitation is removed. Furthermore, the proposed adhesion mechanism has the ability to adapt the strength of the adhesive force to a desired magnitude. These capabilities make the proposed adhesion mechanism a potential solution in the field of wall climbing robots. The novel contributions of the proposed mechanism include the switching of the adhesive force, selectivity of the adhesive force magnitude; determination of the parameters that have an impact in the final adhesive force. Finally, a final prototype is constructed with customised components and it is subject to a set of simulations and experiments to validate its performance