Gesture Recognition Aplication based on Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) FOR Omni-Wheel Mobile Robot

This project presents of the movement of omni-wheel robot moves in the trajectory obtained from the gesture recognition system based on Dynamic Time Warping. Single camera is used as the input of the system, which is also a reference to the movement of the omni-wheel robot. Some systems for gesture recognition have been developed using various methods and different approaches. The movement of the omni-wheel robot using the method of Dynamic Time Wrapping (DTW) which has the advantage able to calculate the distance of two data vectors with different lengths. By using this method we can measure the similarity between two sequences at different times and speeds. Dynamic Time Warping to compare the two parameters at varying times and speeds. Application of DTW widely applied in video, audio, graphics, etc. Due to data that can be changed in a linear manner so that it can be analyzed with DTW. In short can find the most suitable value by minimizing the difference between two multidimensional signals that have been compressed. DTW method is expected to gesture recognition system to work optimally, have a high enough value of accuracy and processing time is realtime

Optic-Flow Based Car-Like Robot Operating in a 5-Decade Light Level Range

International audienceIn this paper, we present (i) a novel bio-inspired 1-D OF sensor which is robust to high-dynamic-range lighting conditions and independent of the visual patterns encountered, and (ii) a low-cost car-like robot called BioCarBot, which estimates its velocity and steering angle by means of an Extended Kalman Filer (EKF) using only the OF measurements delivered by two downward-facing sensors of this kind. Indoor experiments were carried out, in which the robot was driven in the closed-loop mode, using a proportional integral (PI) controller based on the velocity and steering angle estimates. The results presented here show that our novel OF sensor can deliver a wide range of high-frequency (333 Hz) OF measurements (from 1 to 10 rad s) with a relatively high resolution (up to 0.05 rad s) in a 5-decade high-dynamic range of light levels. Neither the refresh rate nor the resolution of the OF sensors presented here depended on either the visual patterns or the lighting conditions, and could be theoretically set at whatever value required

Combined visual odometry and visual compass for off-road mobile robots localization

In this paper, we present the work related to the application of a visual odometry approach to estimate the location of mobile robots operating in off-road conditions. The visual odometry approach is based on template matching, which deals with estimating the robot displacement through a matching process between two consecutive images. Standard visual odometry has been improved using visual compass method for orientation estimation. For this purpose, two consumer-grade monocular cameras have been employed. One camera is pointing at the ground under the robot, and the other is looking at the surrounding environment. Comparisons with popular localization approaches, through physical experiments in off-road conditions, have shown the satisfactory behavior of the proposed strateg

Localization in Low Luminance, Slippery Indoor Environment Using Afocal Optical Flow Sensor and Image Processing

학위논문 (박사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 공과대학 전기·정보공학부, 2017. 8. 조동일.실내 서비스로봇의 위치 추정은 자율 주행을 위한 필수 요건이다. 특히 카메라로 위치를 추정하기 어려운 실내 저조도 환경에서 미끄러짐이 발생할 경우에는 위치 추정의 정확도가 낮아진다. 미끄러짐은 주로 카펫이나 문턱 등을 주행할 때 발생하며, 휠 엔코더 기반의 주행기록으로는 주행 거리의 정확한 인식에 한계가 있다. 본 논문에서는 카메라 기반 동시적 위치추정 및 지도작성 기술(simultaneous localization and mappingSLAM)이 동작하기 어려운 저조도, 미끄러운 환경에서 저가의 모션센서와 무한초점 광학흐름센서(afocal optical flow sensorAOFS) 및 VGA급 전방 단안카메라를 융합하여 강인하게 위치를 추정하는 방법을 제안했다. 로봇의 위치 추정은 주행거리 순간 변화량과 방위각 순간 변화량을 누적 융합하여 산출했으며, 미끄러운 환경에서도 좀 더 정확한 주행거리 추정을 위해 휠 엔코더와 AOFS로부터 획득한 이동 변위 정보를 융합했고, 방위각 추정을 위해 각속도 센서와 전방 영상으로부터 파악된 실내 공간정보를 활용했다. 광학흐름센서는 바퀴 미끄러짐에 강인하게 이동 변위를 추정 하지만, 카펫처럼 평평하지 않은 표면을 주행하는 이동 로봇에 광학흐름센서를 장착할 경우, 주행 중 발생하는 광학흐름센서와 바닥 간의 높이 변화가 광학흐름센서를 이용한 이동거리 추정 오차의 주요인으로 작용한다. 본 논문에서는 광학흐름센서에 무한초점계 원리를 적용하여 이 오차 요인을 완화하는 방안을 제시하였다. 로봇 문형 시스템(robotic gantry system)을 이용하여 카펫 및 세가지 종류의 바닥재질에서 광학흐름센서의 높이를 30 mm 에서 50 mm 로 변화시키며 80 cm 거리를 이동하는 실험을 10번씩 반복한 결과, 본 논문에서 제안하는 AOFS 모듈은 1 mm 높이 변화 당 0.1% 의 계통오차(systematic error)를 발생시켰으나, 기존의 고정초점방식의 광학흐름센서는 14.7% 의 계통오차를 나타냈다. 실내 이동용 서비스 로봇에 AOFS를 장착하여 카펫 위에서 1 m 를 주행한 결과 평균 거리 추정 오차는 0.02% 이고, 분산은 17.6% 인 반면, 고정초점 광학흐름센서를 로봇에 장착하여 같은 실험을 했을 때에는 4.09% 의 평균 오차 및 25.7% 의 분산을 나타냈다. 주위가 너무 어두워서 영상을 위치 보정에 사용하기 어려운 경우, 즉, 저조도 영상을 밝게 개선했으나 SLAM에 활용할 강인한 특징점 혹은 특징선을 추출하기 어려운 경우에도 로봇 주행 각도 보정에 저조도 이미지를 활용하는 방안을 제시했다. 저조도 영상에 히스토그램 평활화(histogram equalization) 알고리즘을 적용하면 영상이 밝게 보정 되면서 동시에 잡음도 증가하게 되는데, 영상 잡음을 없애는 동시에 이미지 경계를 뚜렷하게 하는 롤링 가이던스 필터(rolling guidance filterRGF)를 적용하여 이미지를 개선하고, 이 이미지에서 실내 공간을 구성하는 직교 직선 성분을 추출 후 소실점(vanishing pointVP)을 추정하고 소실점을 기준으로 한 로봇 상대 방위각을 획득하여 각도 보정에 활용했다. 제안하는 방법을 로봇에 적용하여 0.06 ~ 0.21 lx 의 저조도 실내 공간(77 sqm)에 카펫을 설치하고 주행했을 경우, 로봇의 복귀 위치 오차가 기존 401 cm 에서 21 cm로 줄어듦을 확인할 수 있었다.제 1 장 서 론 1 1.1 연구의 배경 1 1.2 선행 연구 조사 6 1.2.1 실내 이동형 서비스 로봇의 미끄러짐 감지 기술 6 1.2.2 저조도 영상 개선 기술 8 1.3 기여도 12 1.4 논문의 구성 14 제 2 장 무한초점 광학흐름센서(AOFS) 모듈 16 2.1 무한초점 시스템(afocal system) 16 2.2 바늘구멍 효과 18 2.3 무한초점 광학흐름센서(AOFS) 모듈 프로토타입 20 2.4 무한초점 광학흐름센서(AOFS) 모듈 실험 계획 24 2.5 무한초점 광학흐름센서(AOFS) 모듈 실험 결과 29 제 3 장 저조도영상의 방위각보정 활용방법 36 3.1 저조도 영상 개선 방법 36 3.2 한 장의 영상으로 실내 공간 파악 방법 38 3.3 소실점 랜드마크를 이용한 로봇 각도 추정 41 3.4 최종 주행기록 알고리즘 46 3.5 저조도영상의 방위각 보정 실험 계획 48 3.6 저조도영상의 방위각 보정 실험 결과 50 제 4 장 저조도 환경 위치인식 실험 결과 54 4.1 실험 환경 54 4.2 시뮬레이션 실험 결과 59 4.3 임베디드 실험 결과 61 제 5 장 결론 62Docto

Ein mobiler Serviceroboter zur Automatisierung der Probenahme und des Probenmanagements in einem biotechnologischen Pilotlabor

Scherer T. A mobile service robot for automisation of sample taking and sample management in a biotechnological pilot laboratory. Bielefeld (Germany): Bielefeld University; 2004.In biotechnologischen Laboratorien ist die Qualität der typischerweise pharmazeutischen Produkte ein wortwörtlich lebenswichtiges Ziel. Die Qualität der Zellkultivierungen wurde historisch nur durch off-line Messungen von physikalischen Prozessparametern wie pH und pO2 sichergestellt. Biologische Parameter wie die Zelldichte und -viabilität wurden nur off-line gemessen, weil das dazu notwendige Probenmanagement hochkomplizierte Manipulationen und Analysen beinhaltet und deshalb nicht automatisiert werden konnte. Es gibt zwar mehrere automatisierte Geräte, um einem Labortechniker zu assistieren, aber kein System, welches das gesamte Probenmanagement automatisiert. In dieser Arbeit wird ein neuer Typ von Serviceroboter präsentiert, der aus einem auf einer mobilen Plattform montierten Roboterarm besteht und diese Lücke schließt. Dieser Roboter muss eine ganze Reihe von Problemen bewältigen: Er muss seine Position im Labor bestimmen können (Lokalisation), er muss eine kollisionsfreie Bahn zu den beteiligten Geräten finden können (Bahnplanung mit Hindernisvermeidung), er darf bei seinen Bewegungen keine Menschen gefährden oder Laborausrüstung beschädigen (Kollisionsvermeidung), er muss die zu bedienenden Geräte erkennen und ihre Position präzise messen können (Bildverarbeitung), er muss sie bedienen können (Armsteuerung), er muss Objekte greifen können (Greifer und Finger) und er muss sie gefügig handhaben können, um sie nicht zu beschädigen (Kraftregelung). Er muss autonom sein, um nur die allernotwendigste Menge an Benutzereingriffen zu benötigen, und doch durch ein Laborsteuerprogramm kontrollierbar sein, um Eingriffe zu erlauben. Schließlich muss er einfach durch ungeschultes Personal zu warten sein. All diese Aspekte werden von dem in dieser Arbeit präsentierten neuen Robotersystem abgedeckt.In biotechnolgical laboratories, the quality of the typically pharmaceutical product is a literally life-important goal. Historically, the quality of the cell cultivations was ensured by on-line measurements of physical process parameters like pH and pO2 only. Biological parameters like cell density and viability were only measured off-line, because the necessary sample management involves highly complicated manipulations and analyses and could therefore not be automated. Various automated devices to assist a laboratory technician do exist, but so far no system to automate the entire sample management. In this work a novel type of service robot consisting of a robot arm mounted on a mobile platform is presented that closes this gap. This robot has to master a multitude of problems: It must be able to locate its position in the laboratory (localisation), it must be able to find a collision-free path to the involved devices (path planning with obstacle avoidance), it must not endanger humans or damage laboratory equipment while moving (collision avoidance), it must be able to recognize the devices to be manipulated and measure their precise position (computer vision), it must be able to manipulate them (arm control), it must be able to grasp objects (gripper and fingers) and it must be able to handle them with compliance in order to not damage them (force control). It must be autonomous in order to only require the least possible amount of user intervention, and yet controllable by a laboratory control program in order to allow intervention. Finally, it must be easily maintainable by non-expert personell. All these aspects are covered by the novel robot system presented in this thesis

Object Recognition

Vision-based object recognition tasks are very familiar in our everyday activities, such as driving our car in the correct lane. We do these tasks effortlessly in real-time. In the last decades, with the advancement of computer technology, researchers and application developers are trying to mimic the human's capability of visually recognising. Such capability will allow machine to free human from boring or dangerous jobs

Optical Wireless Data Center Networks

Bandwidth and computation-intensive Big Data applications in disciplines like social media, bio- and nano-informatics, Internet-of-Things (IoT), and real-time analytics, are pushing existing access and core (backbone) networks as well as Data Center Networks (DCNs) to their limits. Next generation DCNs must support continuously increasing network traffic while satisfying minimum performance requirements of latency, reliability, flexibility and scalability. Therefore, a larger number of cables (i.e., copper-cables and fiber optics) may be required in conventional wired DCNs. In addition to limiting the possible topologies, large number of cables may result into design and development problems related to wire ducting and maintenance, heat dissipation, and power consumption. To address the cabling complexity in wired DCNs, we propose OWCells, a class of optical wireless cellular data center network architectures in which fixed line of sight (LOS) optical wireless communication (OWC) links are used to connect the racks arranged in regular polygonal topologies. We present the OWCell DCN architecture, develop its theoretical underpinnings, and investigate routing protocols and OWC transceiver design. To realize a fully wireless DCN, servers in racks must also be connected using OWC links. There is, however, a difficulty of connecting multiple adjacent network components, such as servers in a rack, using point-to-point LOS links. To overcome this problem, we propose and validate the feasibility of an FSO-Bus to connect multiple adjacent network components using NLOS point-to-point OWC links. Finally, to complete the design of the OWC transceiver, we develop a new class of strictly and rearrangeably non-blocking multicast optical switches in which multicast is performed efficiently at the physical optical (lower) layer rather than upper layers (e.g., application layer). Advisors: Jitender S. Deogun and Dennis R. Alexande

Art and Engineering Inspired by Swarm Robotics

Swarm robotics has the potential to combine the power of the hive with the sensibility of the individual to solve non-traditional problems in mechanical, industrial, and architectural engineering and to develop exquisite art beyond the ken of most contemporary painters, sculptors, and architects. The goal of this thesis is to apply swarm robotics to the sublime and the quotidian to achieve this synergy between art and engineering. The potential applications of collective behaviors, manipulation, and self-assembly are quite extensive. We will concentrate our research on three topics: fractals, stability analysis, and building an enhanced multi-robot simulator. Self-assembly of swarm robots into fractal shapes can be used both for artistic purposes (fractal sculptures) and in engineering applications (fractal antennas). Stability analysis studies whether distributed swarm algorithms are stable and robust either to sensing or to numerical errors, and tries to provide solutions to avoid unstable robot configurations. Our enhanced multi-robot simulator supports this research by providing real-time simulations with customized parameters, and can become as well a platform for educating a new generation of artists and engineers. The goal of this thesis is to use techniques inspired by swarm robotics to develop a computational framework accessible to and suitable for both artists and engineers. The scope we have in mind for art and engineering is unlimited. Modern museums, stadium roofs, dams, solar power plants, radio telescopes, star networks, fractal sculptures, fractal antennas, fractal floral arrangements, smooth metallic railroad tracks, temporary utilitarian enclosures, permanent modern architectural designs, guard structures, op art, and communication networks can all be built from the bodies of the swarm

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

The Future of Humanoid Robots

This book provides state of the art scientific and engineering research findings and developments in the field of humanoid robotics and its applications. It is expected that humanoids will change the way we interact with machines, and will have the ability to blend perfectly into an environment already designed for humans. The book contains chapters that aim to discover the future abilities of humanoid robots by presenting a variety of integrated research in various scientific and engineering fields, such as locomotion, perception, adaptive behavior, human-robot interaction, neuroscience and machine learning. The book is designed to be accessible and practical, with an emphasis on useful information to those working in the fields of robotics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, computational methods and other fields of science directly or indirectly related to the development and usage of future humanoid robots. The editor of the book has extensive R&D experience, patents, and publications in the area of humanoid robotics, and his experience is reflected in editing the content of the book