7,468 research outputs found
Multirobot heterogeneous control considering secondary objectives
Cooperative robotics has considered tasks that are executed frequently, maintaining the
shape and orientation of robotic systems when they fulfill a common objective, without taking
advantage of the redundancy that the robotic group could present. This paper presents a proposal
for controlling a group of terrestrial robots with heterogeneous characteristics, considering primary
and secondary tasks thus that the group complies with the following of a path while modifying its
shape and orientation at any time. The development of the proposal is achieved through the use
of controllers based on linear algebra, propounding a low computational cost and high scalability
algorithm. Likewise, the stability of the controller is analyzed to know the required features that have
to be met by the control constants, that is, the correct values. Finally, experimental results are shown
with di erent configurations and heterogeneous robots, where the graphics corroborate the expected
operation of the proposalThis research was funded by Corporación Ecuatoriana para el Desarrollo de la Investigación
y Academia–CEDI
Control strategy for cooperating disparate manipulators
To manipulate large payloads typical of space construction, the concept of a small arm mounted on the end of a large arm is introduced. The main purposes of such a configuration are to increase the structural stiffness of the robot by bracing against or locking to a stationary frame, and to maintain a firm position constraint between the robot's base and workpieces by grasping them. Possible topologies for a combination of disparate large and small arms are discussed, and kinematics, dynamics, controls, and coordination of the two arms, especially when they brace at the tip of the small arm, are developed. The feasibility and improvement in performance are verified, not only with analytical work and simulation results but also with experiments on the existing arrangement Robotic Arm Large and Flexible and Small Articulated Manipulator
Selecting source image sensor nodes based on 2-hop information to improve image transmissions to mobile robot sinks in search \& rescue operations
We consider Robot-assisted Search Rescue operations enhanced with some
fixed image sensor nodes capable of capturing and sending visual information to
a robot sink. In order to increase the performance of image transfer from image
sensor nodes to the robot sinks we propose a 2-hop neighborhood
information-based cover set selection to determine the most relevant image
sensor nodes to activate. Then, in order to be consistent with our proposed
approach, a multi-path extension of Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing (called
T-GPSR) wherein routing decisions are also based on 2-hop neighborhood
information is proposed. Simulation results show that our proposal reduces
packet losses, enabling fast packet delivery and higher visual quality of
received images at the robot sink
Towards Declarative Safety Rules for Perception Specification Architectures
Agriculture has a high number of fatalities compared to other blue collar
fields, additionally population decreasing in rural areas is resulting in
decreased work force. These issues have resulted in increased focus on
improving efficiency of and introducing autonomy in agriculture. Field robots
are an increasingly promising branch of robotics targeted at full automation in
agriculture. The safety aspect however is rely addressed in connection with
safety standards, which limits the real-world applicability. In this paper we
present an analysis of a vision pipeline in connection with functional-safety
standards, in order to propose solutions for how to ascertain that the system
operates as required. Based on the analysis we demonstrate a simple mechanism
for verifying that a vision pipeline is functioning correctly, thus improving
the safety in the overall system.Comment: Presented at DSLRob 2015 (arXiv:1601.00877
Asymmetric Dual-Arm Task Execution using an Extended Relative Jacobian
Coordinated dual-arm manipulation tasks can be broadly characterized as
possessing absolute and relative motion components. Relative motion tasks, in
particular, are inherently redundant in the way they can be distributed between
end-effectors. In this work, we analyse cooperative manipulation in terms of
the asymmetric resolution of relative motion tasks. We discuss how existing
approaches enable the asymmetric execution of a relative motion task, and show
how an asymmetric relative motion space can be defined. We leverage this result
to propose an extended relative Jacobian to model the cooperative system, which
allows a user to set a concrete degree of asymmetry in the task execution. This
is achieved without the need for prescribing an absolute motion target.
Instead, the absolute motion remains available as a functional redundancy to
the system. We illustrate the properties of our proposed Jacobian through
numerical simulations of a novel differential Inverse Kinematics algorithm.Comment: Accepted for presentation at ISRR19. 16 Page
Space robotics: Recent accomplishments and opportunities for future research
The Langley Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technical Committee (GNCTC) was one of six technical committees created in 1991 by the Chief Scientist, Dr. Michael F. Card. During the kickoff meeting Dr. Card charged the chairmen to: (1) establish a cross-Center committee; (2) support at least one workshop in a selected discipline; and (3) prepare a technical paper on recent accomplishments in the discipline and on opportunities for future research. The Guidance, Navigation, and Control Committee was formed and selected for focus on the discipline of Space robotics. This report is a summary of the committee's assessment of recent accomplishments and opportunities for future research. The report is organized as follows. First is an overview of the data sources used by the committee. Next is a description of technical needs identified by the committee followed by recent accomplishments. Opportunities for future research ends the main body of the report. It includes the primary recommendation of the committee that NASA establish a national space facility for the development of space automation and robotics, one element of which is a telerobotic research platform in space. References 1 and 2 are the proceedings of two workshops sponsored by the committee during its June 1991, through May 1992 term. The focus of the committee for the June 1992 - May 1993 term will be to further define to the recommended platform in space and to add an additional discipline which includes aircraft related GN&C issues. To the latter end members performing aircraft related research will be added to the committee. (A preliminary assessment of future opportunities in aircraft-related GN&C research has been included as appendix A.
Quantifying the Evolutionary Self Structuring of Embodied Cognitive Networks
We outline a possible theoretical framework for the quantitative modeling of
networked embodied cognitive systems. We notice that: 1) information self
structuring through sensory-motor coordination does not deterministically occur
in Rn vector space, a generic multivariable space, but in SE(3), the group
structure of the possible motions of a body in space; 2) it happens in a
stochastic open ended environment. These observations may simplify, at the
price of a certain abstraction, the modeling and the design of self
organization processes based on the maximization of some informational
measures, such as mutual information. Furthermore, by providing closed form or
computationally lighter algorithms, it may significantly reduce the
computational burden of their implementation. We propose a modeling framework
which aims to give new tools for the design of networks of new artificial self
organizing, embodied and intelligent agents and the reverse engineering of
natural ones. At this point, it represents much a theoretical conjecture and it
has still to be experimentally verified whether this model will be useful in
practice.
On the simulation of interactive non-verbal behaviour in virtual humans
Development of virtual humans has focused mainly in two broad areas - conversational agents and computer game characters. Computer game characters have traditionally been action-oriented - focused on the game-play - and conversational agents have been focused on sensible/intelligent conversation. While virtual humans have incorporated some form of non-verbal behaviour, this has been quite limited and more importantly not connected or connected very loosely with the behaviour of a real human interacting with the virtual human - due to a lack of sensor data and no system to respond to that data. The interactional aspect of non-verbal behaviour is highly important in human-human interactions and previous research has demonstrated that people treat media (and therefore virtual humans) as real people, and so interactive non-verbal behaviour is also important in the development of virtual humans. This paper presents the challenges in creating virtual humans that are non-verbally interactive and drawing corollaries with the development history of control systems in robotics presents some approaches to solving these challenges - specifically using behaviour based systems - and shows how an order of magnitude increase in response time of virtual humans in conversation can be obtained and that the development of rapidly responding non-verbal behaviours can start with just a few behaviours with more behaviours added without difficulty later in development
M.I.N.G., Mars Investment for a New Generation: Robotic construction of a permanently manned Mars base
A basic procedure for robotically constructing a manned Mars base is outlined. The research procedure was divided into three areas: environment, robotics, and habitat. The base as designed will consist of these components: two power plants, communication facilities, a habitat complex, and a hangar, a garage, recreation and manufacturing facilities. The power plants will be self-contained nuclear fission reactors placed approx. 1 km from the base for safety considerations. The base communication system will use a combination of orbiting satellites and surface relay stations. This system is necessary for robotic contact with Phobos and any future communication requirements. The habitat complex will consist of six self-contained modules: core, biosphere, science, living quarters, galley/storage, and a sick bay which will be brought from Phobos. The complex will be set into an excavated hole and covered with approximately 0.5 m of sandbags to provide radiation protection for the astronauts. The recreation, hangar, garage, and manufacturing facilities will each be transformed from the four one-way landers. The complete complex will be built by autonomous, artificially intelligent robots. Robots incorporated into the design are as follows: Large Modular Construction Robots with detachable arms capable of large scale construction activities; Small Maneuverable Robotic Servicers capable of performing delicate tasks normally requiring a suited astronaut; and a trailer vehicle with modular type attachments to complete specific tasks; and finally, Mobile Autonomous Rechargeable Transporters capable of transferring air and water from the manufacturing facility to the habitat complex
Towards Interactive, Incremental Programming of ROS Nodes
Writing software for controlling robots is a complex task, usually demanding
command of many programming languages and requiring significant
experimentation. We believe that a bottom-up development process that
complements traditional component- and MDSD-based approaches can facilitate
experimentation. We propose the use of an internal DSL providing both a tool to
interactively create ROS nodes and a behaviour-replacement mechanism to
interactively reshape existing ROS nodes by wrapping the external interfaces
(the publish/subscribe topics), dynamically controlled using the Python command
line interface.Comment: Presented at DSLRob 2014 (arXiv:cs/1411.7148
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