94 research outputs found

    Motion Planning For Micro Aerial Vehicles

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    A Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) is capable of agile motion in 3D making it an ideal platform for developments of planning and control algorithms. For fully autonomous MAV systems, it is essential to plan motions that are both dynamically feasible and collision-free in cluttered environments. Recent work demonstrates precise control of MAVs using time-parameterized trajectories that satisfy feasibility and safety requirements. However, planning such trajectories is non-trivial, especially when considering constraints, such as optimality and completeness. For navigating in unknown environments, the capability for fast re-planning is also critical. Considering all of these requirements, motion planning for MAVs is a challenging problem. In this thesis, we examine trajectory planning algorithms for MAVs and present methodologies that solve a wide range of planning problems. We first introduce path planning and geometric control methods, which produce spatial paths that are inadequate for high speed flight, but can be used to guide trajectory optimization. We then describe optimization-based trajectory planning and demonstrate this method for solving navigation problems in complex 3D environments. When the initial state is not fixed, an optimization-based method is prone to generate sub-optimal trajectories. To address this challenge, we propose a search-based approach using motion primitives to plan resolution complete and sub-optimal trajectories. This algorithm can also be used to solve planning problems with constraints such as motion uncertainty, limited field-of-view and moving obstacles. The proposed methods can run in real time and are applicable for real-world autonomous navigation, even with limited on-board computational resources. This thesis includes a carefully analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of our planning paradigm and algorithms, and demonstration of their performance through simulation and experiments

    Efficient Learning and Inference for High-dimensional Lagrangian Systems

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    Learning the nature of a physical system is a problem that presents many challenges and opportunities owing to the unique structure associated with such systems. Many physical systems of practical interest in engineering are high-dimensional, which prohibits the application of standard learning methods to such problems. This first part of this work proposes therefore to solve learning problems associated with physical systems by identifying their low-dimensional Lagrangian structure. Algorithms are given to learn this structure in the case that it is obscured by a change of coordinates. The associated inference problem corresponds to solving a high-dimensional minimum-cost path problem, which can be solved by exploiting the symmetry of the problem. These techniques are demonstrated via an application to learning from high-dimensional human motion capture data. The second part of this work is concerned with the application of these methods to high-dimensional motion planning. Algorithms are given to learn and exploit the struc- ture of holonomic motion planning problems effectively via spectral analysis and iterative dynamic programming, admitting solutions to problems of unprecedented dimension com- pared to known methods for optimal motion planning. The quality of solutions found is also demonstrated to be much superior in practice to those obtained via sampling-based planning and smoothing, in both simulated problems and experiments with a robot arm. This work therefore provides strong validation of the idea that learning low-dimensional structure is the key to future advances in this field

    A framework for roadmap-based navigation and sector-based localization of mobile robots

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    Personal robotics applications require autonomous mobile robot navigation methods that are safe, robust, and inexpensive. Two requirements for autonomous use of robots for such applications are an automatic motion planner to select paths and a robust way of ensuring that the robot can follow the selected path given the unavoidable odometer and control errors that must be dealt with for any inexpensive robot. Additional difficulties are faced when there is more than one robot involved. In this dissertation, we describe a new roadmapbased method for mobile robot navigation. It is suitable for partially known indoor environments and requires only inexpensive range sensors. The navigator selects paths from the roadmap and designates localization points on those paths. In particular, the navigator selects feasible paths that are sensitive to the needs of the application (e.g., no sharp turns) and of the localization algorithm (e.g., within sensing range of two features). We present a new sectorbased localizer that is robust in the presence of sensor limitations and unknown obstacles while still maintaining computational efficiency. We extend our approach to teams of robots focusing on quickly sensing ranges from all robots while avoiding sensor crosstalk, and reducing the pose uncertainties of all robots while using a minimal number of sensing rounds. We present experimental results for mobile robots and describe a webbased route planner for the Texas A&M campus that utilizes our navigator

    On Comparative Algorithmic Pathfinding in Complex Networks for Resource-Constrained Software Agents

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    Software engineering projects that utilize inappropriate pathfinding algorithms carry a significant risk of poor runtime performance for customers. Using social network theory, this experimental study examined the impact of algorithms, frameworks, and map complexity on elapsed time and computer memory consumption. The 1,800 2D map samples utilized were computer random generated and data were collected and processed using Python language scripts. Memory consumption and elapsed time results for each of the 12 experimental treatment groups were compared using factorial MANOVA to determine the impact of the 3 independent variables on elapsed time and computer memory consumption. The MANOVA indicated a significant factor interaction between algorithms, frameworks, and map complexity upon elapsed time and memory consumption, F(4, 3576) = 94.09, p \u3c .001, h2 = .095. The main effects of algorithms, F(4, 3576) = 885.68, p \u3c .001, h2 = .498; and frameworks, F(2, 1787) = 720,360.01, p .001, h2 = .999; and map complexity, F(2, 1787) = 112,736.40, p \u3c .001, h2 = .992, were also all significant. This study may contribute to positive social change by providing software engineers writing software for complex networks, such as analyzing terrorist social networks, with empirical pathfinding algorithm results. This is crucial to enabling selection of appropriately fast, memory-efficient algorithms that help analysts identify and apprehend criminal and terrorist suspects in complex networks before the next attack

    Coverage & cooperation: Completing complex tasks as quickly as possible using teams of robots

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    As the robotics industry grows and robots enter our homes and public spaces, they are increasingly expected to work in cooperation with each other. My thesis focuses on multirobot planning, specifically in the context of coverage robots, such as robotic lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners. Two problems unique to multirobot teams are task allocation and search. I present a task allocation algorithm which balances the workload amongst all robots in the team with the objective of minimizing the overall mission time. I also present a search algorithm which robots can use to find lost teammates. It uses a probabilistic belief of a target robot’s position to create a planning tree and then searches by following the best path in the tree. For robust multirobot coverage, I use both the task allocation and search algorithms. First the coverage region is divided into a set of small coverage tasks which minimize the number of turns the robots will need to take. These tasks are then allocated to individual robots. During the mission, robots replan with nearby robots to rebalance the workload and, once a robot has finished its tasks, it searches for teammates to help them finish their tasks faster

    Robot Motion Planning Under Topological Constraints

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    My thesis addresses the the problem of manipulation using multiple robots with cables. I study how robots with cables can tow objects in the plane, on the ground and on water, and how they can carry suspended payloads in the air. Specifically, I focus on planning optimal trajectories for robots. Path planning or trajectory generation for robotic systems is an active area of research in robotics. Many algorithms have been developed to generate path or trajectory for different robotic systems. One can classify planning algorithms into two broad categories. The first one is graph-search based motion planning over discretized configuration spaces. These algorithms are complete and quite efficient for finding optimal paths in cluttered 2-D and 3-D environments and are widely used [48]. The other class of algorithms are optimal control based methods. In most cases, the optimal control problem to generate optimal trajectories can be framed as a nonlinear and non convex optimization problem which is hard to solve. Recent work has attempted to overcome these shortcomings [68]. Advances in computational power and more sophisticated optimization algorithms have allowed us to solve more complex problems faster. However, our main interest is incorporating topological constraints. Topological constraints naturally arise when cables are used to wrap around objects. They are also important when robots have to move one way around the obstacles rather than the other way around. Thus I consider the optimal trajectory generation problem under topological constraints, and pursue problems that can be solved in finite-time, guaranteeing global optimal solutions. In my thesis, I first consider the problem of planning optimal trajectories around obstacles using optimal control methodologies. I then present the mathematical framework and algorithms for multi-robot topological exploration of unknown environments in which the main goal is to identify the different topological classes of paths. Finally, I address the manipulation and transportation of multiple objects with cables. Here I consider teams of two or three ground robots towing objects on the ground, two or three aerial robots carrying a suspended payload, and two boats towing a boom with applications to oil skimming and clean up. In all these problems, it is important to consider the topological constraints on the cable configurations as well as those on the paths of robot. I present solutions to the trajectory generation problem for all of these problems

    Path planning in time dependent flows using level set methods

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    Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-177).Autonomous underwater vehicles such as gliders have emerged as valuable scientific platforms due to their increasing uses in several oceanic applications, ranging from security, acoustic surveillance and military reconnaissance to collection of ocean data at specific locations for ocean prediction, monitoring and dynamics investigation. Gliders exhibit high levels of autonomy and are ideal for long range missions. As these gliders become more reliable and affordable, multi-vehicle coordination and sampling missions are expected to become very common in the near future. This endurance of gliders however, comes at an expense of being susceptible to typical coastal ocean currents. Due to the physical limitations of underwater vehicles and the highly dynamic nature of the coastal ocean, path planning to generate safe and fast vehicle trajectories becomes crucial for their successful operation. As a result, our motivation in this thesis is to develop a computationally efficient and rigorous methodology that can predict the time-optimal paths of underwater vehicles navigating in continuous, strong and dynamic ow-fields. The goal is to predict a sequence of steering directions so that vehicles can best utilize or avoid ow currents to minimize their travel time. In this thesis, we fist review existing path planning methods and discuss their advantages and drawbacks. Then, we discuss the theory of level set methods and their utility in solving front tracking problems. Then, we present a rigorous (partial differential equation based) methodology based on the level set method, which can compute time-optimal paths of swarms of underwater vehicles, obviating the need for any heuristic control based approaches. We state and prove a theorem, along with several corollaries, that forms the foundation of our approach for path planning. We show that our algorithm is computationally efficient - the computational cost grows linearly with the number of vehicles and geometrically with spatial directions. We illustrate the working and capabilities of our path planning algorithm by means of a number of applications. First, we validate our approach through simple benchmark applications, and later apply our methodology to more complex, realistic and numerically simulated ow-fields, which include eddies, jets, obstacles and forbidden regions. Finally, we extend our methodology to solve problems of coordinated motion of multiple vehicles in strong dynamic ow-fields. Here, coordination refers to maintenance of specific geometric patterns by the vehicles. The level-set based control scheme that we derive is shown to provide substantial advantages to a local control approach. Specifically, the illustrations show that the resulting coordinated vehicle motions can maintain specific patterns in dynamic flow fields with strong and complex spatial gradients.by Sri Venkata Tapovan Lolla.S.M

    Hierarchical Swarm Robotics

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    Distributed computing is becoming more and more prevalent in engineering today. Swarm robotics is simply an extension of that, not only dividing the computing power, but also the physical capabilities. This project served as a proof of concept investigation into the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a hierarchical swarm topology (HST), which better mimics the organization of many societal structures. This goal was approached by designing a three-tier robotic swarm as well as a specialized abstract coverage algorithm designed to map an unknown area. Experiments were conducted by modifying various parameters of an HST including the number of tiers and robots per tier. Results supported the original hypothesis that by adding robots, overall runtime and individual workload is reduced
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