Automated Foosball Table

This project is the second iteration of an automated foosball table for Yaskawa America as a trade show display. The table is meant to provide an interactive experience which highlights the speed and precision of the Yaskawa hardware. The first iteration of the project was mainly focused on creating the physical hardware for the system and to begin the basic programming for the system. This phase of the project was focused on finalizing the physical hardware of the system, implementing the vision system and to continue the basic programing of the system AI. A third team will be assigned to bring the project to completion by fully implementing the AI system and making any required changes to the physical hardware which are required. The automated Foosball system is comprised of two major system elements. The first element is the motor cabinet, which houses the PLC, motors and amplifiers used to actuate the system. It also acts as a display case for the motors system. The other major element is the foosball table itself, which is comprised of several subsystem components. The foosball table system contains a vision arch which houses the vision system, a playfield cover which prevents users from injury, and a roof which blocks direct lighting on the table. Several hardware components were created or modified during this phase of the project. The roof structure was designed and built complete this quarter, as were brackets which connected the motor cabinet and foosball table. A gap cover was also designed and built to cover an exposed portion of the motor cabinet. While not fully completed, the hardware used in the safety system has been begun and should be completed by the future team. The scoring system for the table was also approached during this phase of the project, and it was concluded that the current scoreboard should be redesigned. The original vision system started by the first team was found to be insufficient to meet the requirements of the foosball system. To simplify the process of creating the vision system, a Cognex Insight 7400 camera system was donate d to the project by Cognex. This camera system was found to be sufficient to meet the minimum requirements of the project with relatively little work. Future teams should focus on improving the frame rate of the vision system. The AI program developed during this phase is working and playable, though it is relatively crude. Future iterations of the AI program should use sequential function charts to organize the program and predictive play should be implemented. More sophisticated play strategies can also be implemented to improve the playability of the system

Matraquilhos inclusivos : controlo inteligente de eixos

Mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica e InformáticaExame público realizado em 14 de junho de 2023Nos dias de hoje, apesar de haver uma crescente consciencialização para uma melhor adaptação dos meios físicos de modo a permitir a interação de indivíduos com necessidades Específicas, existe ainda uma discrepância considerável na quantidade e qualidade de tarefas ou eventos em que podem participar. Uma atividade aparentemente simples como um jogo de matraquilhos fica vedada a indivíduos com Necessidades Específicas. Contudo, estas dificuldades podem ser atenuadas com a ajuda de meios eletrónicos e informáticos. Para ajudar estas pessoas em contexto terapêutico, o ponto central da dissertação é uma Mesa de Matraquilhos robotizada já presente na Universidade, na qual se definiu que o movimento autónomo dos eixos da mesa com a possibilidade de recolha dos dados para futura análise é o objetivo do projeto. Pretende-se que a base de dados seja boa o suficiente para que os seus dados sirvam para futuras análises de, por exemplo, terapias. Foram estudados os componentes da Mesa de Matraquilhos e projetaram-se novos comandos do tipo ‘joystick’, para permitir um maior controlo dos eixos por parte dos jogadores. A Mesa de Matraquilhos sofreu uma atualização para permitir que os eixos fossem autónomos. Os joysticks criados mereceram a aprovação de terapeutas. Utilizou-se um sistema de aquisição de dados que permitiu recolher os dados dos sensores da mesa. A estes dados aplicou-se um método de Inteligência Artificial (Naïve Bayes gaussiano). O campo de jogo foi dividido em áreas por onde a bola se move e passou-se essa representação para as memórias dos autómatos. Depois, colocaram-se os eixos a mover autonomamente. Os dados recolhidos da mesa ficam associados a um jogador. Caso se pretenda, os dados podem ser acrescentados ao ficheiro para se aplicar novamente o método de Inteligência Artificial, tornando mais robustas as decisões tomadas. O método de Inteligência Artificial acabou por prever 99,5% dos movimentos dos eixos e 96,7% dos estados de remate, culminando num acerto total de 96,2%, sendo considerado este um valor aceitável de acertos. O método de captação dos dados consegue exibir uma taxa de atualização de 50 ms sendo que o único fator negativo é o tamanho das áreas do campo para detetar a bola. Os resultados alcançados foram positivos e mostram que, enquanto prova de conceito, épossível utilizar uma Mesa de Matraquilhos robotizada para recolher informação sobre mobilidade e capacidade cognitiva, motivando a participação dos intervenientes utilizando aspetos lúdicos e inclusivos. Palavras-chave: Automação, Base de Dados, Aprendizagem Automática, Matraquilhos RobotizadosNowadays, although there is a growing awareness for a better adaptation of physical environments to allow the interaction of individuals with Special Needs, there is still a considerable discrepancy in the quantity and quality of tasks or events in which they can participate. A seemingly simple activity like a game of foosball is closed to individuals with Special Needs. However, these difficulties can be alleviated with the help of electronic and computer aids. To help these people in a therapeutic context, the central point of the dissertation is a robotic table soccer table already present at the University, in which it was defined that the autonomous movement of the axes of the table with the possibility of data collection for future analysis is the goal of the project. It is intended that the database be good enough for its data to be used for future analysis of, for example, therapies. The components of the Foosball Table were studied and new joystick type controls were designed to allow for greater control of the axes by the players. The table soccer table was upgraded to allow the axes to be autonomous. The joysticks created met with the approval of therapists. A data acquisition system was used to collect data from the table's sensors. An Artificial Intelligence method (Gaussian Naïve Bayes) was applied to this data. The playing field was divided into areas where the ball moves and this representation was passed to the automata's memories. Then, the axes were placed to move autonomously. The data collected from the table is associated with a player. If desired, the data can be added to the file to apply the Artificial Intelligence method again, making the decisions made more robust. The Artificial Intelligence method ended up predicting 99.5% of the axis movements and 96.7% of the shot states, culminating in a total accuracy of 96.2%, being considered an acceptable value of accuracy. The data capture method is able to display a 50 ms update rate, and the only negative factor is the size of the field areas to detect the ball. The results achieved were positive and show that, as a proof of concept, it is possible to use a robotic foosball table to collect information on mobility and cognitive ability, motivating the participation of the participants using playful and inclusive aspects. Keywords: Automation, Database, Machine Learning, Robotic Foosbal

Robotic table football - game strategy

Cieľom diplomovej práce je úprava zariadenia robotického stolného futbalu a návrh herných stratégií. Diplomová práca bola rozšírená o návrh technológie pre bezpečnosť robotického stolného futbalu a návrh vizualizačného rozhrania. V úvode sú popísané doposiaľ vyvinuté riešenia a prezentácia spoločnosti B+R Automatizace. Ďalšie kapitoly popisujú úpravu mechanického riešenia, návrh elektrického zapojenia, vytvorenie simulácie vo vývojovom prostredí MATLAB, vyriešenie problematiky bezpečnosti a následnú aplikáciu riešenia do robotického stolného futbalu. Záver diplomovej práce je venovaný návrhu vizualizačného rozhrania.The aim of the master's thesis is the robotic table football device modification and the design of game strategies. The thesis was extended by the design of technology for the robotic table football safety and the design of the Human Machine Interface (HMI). In the introduction so far developed solutions and presentation of the B&R Automation company are described. The following chapters describe mechanical solution modification, electrical wiring diagram design, creating simulation in the MATLAB development environment, resolving security issues and the subsequent application of a solution into the robotic table football. The conclusion of the thesis is devoted to the visualization interface design.

The BG News January 26, 1996

The BGSU campus student newspaper January 26, 1996. Volume 78 - Issue 84https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/6952/thumbnail.jp

1995 BRAC Commission

NAWC Point Mugu, and China Lake - Data Obtained During Site Visits, Santa Cruz Island. (Box 277

Visual modeling and simulation of multiscale phenomena

Many large-scale systems seen in real life, such as human crowds, fluids, and granular materials, exhibit complicated motion at many different scales, from a characteristic global behavior to important small-scale detail. Such multiscale systems are computationally expensive for traditional simulation techniques to capture over the full range of scales. In this dissertation, I present novel techniques for scalable and efficient simulation of these large, complex phenomena for visual computing applications. These techniques are based on a new approach of representing a complex system by coupling together separate models for its large-scale and fine-scale dynamics. In fluid simulation, it remains a challenge to efficiently simulate fine local detail such as foam, ripples, and turbulence without compromising the accuracy of the large-scale flow. I present two techniques for this problem that combine physically-based numerical simulation for the global flow with efficient local models for detail. For surface features, I propose the use of texture synthesis, guided by the physical characteristics of the macroscopic flow. For turbulence in the fluid motion itself, I present a technique that tracks the transfer of energy from the mean flow to the turbulent fluctuations and synthesizes these fluctuations procedurally, allowing extremely efficient visual simulation of turbulent fluids. Another large class of problems which are not easily handled by traditional approaches is the simulation of very large aggregates of discrete entities, such as dense pedestrian crowds and granular materials. I present a technique for crowd simulation that couples a discrete per-agent model of individual navigation with a novel continuum formulation for the collective motion of pedestrians. This approach allows simulation of dense crowds of a hundred thousand agents at near-real-time rates on desktop computers. I also present a technique for simulating granular materials, which generalizes this model and introduces a novel computational scheme for friction. This method efficiently reproduces a wide range of granular behavior and allows two-way interaction with simulated solid bodies. In all of these cases, the proposed techniques are typically an order of magnitude faster than comparable existing methods. Through these applications to a diverse set of challenging simulation problems, I demonstrate the benefits of the proposed approach, showing that it is a powerful and versatile technique for the simulation of a broad range of large and complex systems

Community data portraiture : perceiving events, people, & ideas within a research community

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-73).As a research community grows, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand its dynamics, its history, and the varying perspectives with which that history is interpreted and remembered. This thesis focuses on three major components of research communities: events, people, and ideas. Within each of those components exploring how to construct and answer questions to improve connectivity and elucidate relationships for community members. Assuming the artifacts of a community (its publications, projects, etc) model a representation of its nature, we apply a variety of visualization and natural language processing techniques to those artifacts to produce a community data portrait. The goal of said portrait is to provide a compressed representation viable for consumption by a new researcher to learn about the community they are entering, or for a current member to reflect on the community's behavior and help construct future goals. Rather than evaluating a general technique, the tools and methods were developed specifically for the MIT Media Lab community, general principles can then be abstracted from this initial practical application.by Doug Fritz.S.M