301 research outputs found
Modeling, Control and Energy Efficiency of Underwater Snake Robots
This thesis is mainly motivated by the attribute of the snake robots that they
are able to move over land as well as underwater while the physiology of the robot
remains the same. This adaptability to different motion demands depending on the
environment is one of the main characteristics of the snake robots. In particular,
this thesis targets several interesting aspects regarding the modeling, control and
energy efficiency of the underwater snake robots.
This thesis addresses the problem of modeling the hydrodynamic effects with
an analytical perspective and a primary objective to conclude in a closed-form
solution for the dynamic model of an underwater snake robot. Two mathematical
models of the kinematics and dynamics of underwater snake robots swimming in
virtual horizontal and vertical planes aimed at control design are presented. The
presented models are derived in a closed-form and can be utilized in modern modelbased
control schemes. In addition, these proposed models comprise snake robots
moving both on land and in water which makes the model applicable for unified
control methods for amphibious snake robots moving both on land and in water.
The third model presented in this thesis is based on simplifying assumptions in
order to derive a control-oriented model of an underwater snake robot moving in a
virtual horizontal plane that is well-suited for control design and stability analysis.
The models are analysed using several techniques. An extensive analysis of the
model of a fully immersed underwater snake robot moving in a virtual horizontal
plane is conducted. Based on this analysis, a set of essential properties that characterize
the overall motion of underwater snake robots is derived. An averaging
analysis reveals new fundamental properties of underwater snake robot locomotion
that are useful from a motion planning perspective.
In this thesis, both the motion analysis and control strategies are conducted
based on a general sinusoidal motion pattern which can be used for a broad class
of motion patterns including lateral undulation and eel-like motion. This thesis
proposes and experimentally validates solutions to the path following control problem
for biologically inspired swimming snake robots. In particular, line-of-sight
(LOS) and integral line-of-sight (I-LOS) guidance laws, which are combined with
a sinusoidal gait pattern and a directional controller that steers the robot towards
and along the desired path are proposed. An I-LOS path following controller for
steering an underwater snake robot along a straight line path in the presence of
ocean currents of unknown direction and magnitude is presented and by using a
PoincarĂŠ map, it is shown that all state variables of an underwater snake robot,
except for the position along the desired path, trace out an exponentially stable periodic orbit. Moreover, this thesis presents the combined use of an artificial potential
fields-based path planner with a new waypoint guidance strategy for steering
an underwater snake robot along a path defined by waypoints interconnected by
straight lines. The waypoints are derived by using a path planner based on the
artificial potential field method in order to also address the obstacle avoidance
problem.
Furthermore, this thesis considers the energy efficiency of underwater snake
robots. In particular, the relationship between the parameters of the gait patterns,
the forward velocity and the energy consumption for the different motion patterns
for underwater snake robots is investigated. Based on simulation results, this thesis
presents empirical rules to choose the values for the parameters of the motion
gait pattern of underwater snake robots. The experimental results support the derived
properties regarding the relationship between the gait parameters and the
power consumption both for lateral undulation and eel-like motion patterns. Moreover,
comparison results are obtained for the total energy consumption and the
cost of transportation of underwater snake robots and remotely operated vehicles
(ROVs). Furthermore, in this thesis a multi-objective optimization problem is developed
with the aim of maximizing the achieved forward velocity of the robot and
minimizing the corresponding average power consumption of the system
Task-Space Control of Articulated Mobile Robots With a Soft Gripper for Operations
A task-space method is presented for the control of a head-raising articulated mobile robot, allowing the trajectory tracking of a tip of a gripper located on the head of the robot in various operations, e.g., picking up an object and rotating a valve. If the robot cannot continue moving because it reaches a joint angle limit, the robot moves away from the joint limit and changes posture by switching the allocation of lifted/grounded wheels. An articulated mobile robot with a gripper that can grasp objects using jamming transition was developed, and experiments were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller in operations
Bio-Inspired Robotics
Modern robotic technologies have enabled robots to operate in a variety of unstructured and dynamically-changing environments, in addition to traditional structured environments. Robots have, thus, become an important element in our everyday lives. One key approach to develop such intelligent and autonomous robots is to draw inspiration from biological systems. Biological structure, mechanisms, and underlying principles have the potential to provide new ideas to support the improvement of conventional robotic designs and control. Such biological principles usually originate from animal or even plant models, for robots, which can sense, think, walk, swim, crawl, jump or even fly. Thus, it is believed that these bio-inspired methods are becoming increasingly important in the face of complex applications. Bio-inspired robotics is leading to the study of innovative structures and computing with sensoryâmotor coordination and learning to achieve intelligence, flexibility, stability, and adaptation for emergent robotic applications, such as manipulation, learning, and control. This Special Issue invites original papers of innovative ideas and concepts, new discoveries and improvements, and novel applications and business models relevant to the selected topics of ``Bio-Inspired Robotics''. Bio-Inspired Robotics is a broad topic and an ongoing expanding field. This Special Issue collates 30 papers that address some of the important challenges and opportunities in this broad and expanding field
Underwater Robots Part I: Current Systems and Problem Pose
International audienceThis paper constitutes the first part of a general overview of underwater robotics. The second part is titled: Underwater Robots Part II: existing solutions and open issues
Intelligent Escape of Robotic Systems: A Survey of Methodologies, Applications, and Challenges
Intelligent escape is an interdisciplinary field that employs artificial
intelligence (AI) techniques to enable robots with the capacity to
intelligently react to potential dangers in dynamic, intricate, and
unpredictable scenarios. As the emphasis on safety becomes increasingly
paramount and advancements in robotic technologies continue to advance, a wide
range of intelligent escape methodologies has been developed in recent years.
This paper presents a comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art research work on
intelligent escape of robotic systems. Four main methods of intelligent escape
are reviewed, including planning-based methodologies, partitioning-based
methodologies, learning-based methodologies, and bio-inspired methodologies.
The strengths and limitations of existing methods are summarized. In addition,
potential applications of intelligent escape are discussed in various domains,
such as search and rescue, evacuation, military security, and healthcare. In an
effort to develop new approaches to intelligent escape, this survey identifies
current research challenges and provides insights into future research trends
in intelligent escape.Comment: This paper is accepted by Journal of Intelligent and Robotic System
A modal approach to hyper-redundant manipulator kinematics
This paper presents novel and efficient kinematic modeling techniques for âhyper-redundantâ robots. This approach is based on a âbackbone curveâ that captures the robot's macroscopic geometric features. The inverse kinematic, or âhyper-redundancy resolution,â problem reduces to determining the time varying backbone curve behavior. To efficiently solve the inverse kinematics problem, the authors introduce a âmodalâ approach, in which a set of intrinsic backbone curve shape functions are restricted to a modal form. The singularities of the modal approach, modal non-degeneracy conditions, and modal switching are considered. For discretely segmented morphologies, the authors introduce âfittingâ algorithms that determine the actuator displacements that cause the discrete manipulator to adhere to the backbone curve. These techniques are demonstrated with planar and spatial mechanism examples. They have also been implemented on a 30 degree-of-freedom robot prototype
A study towards the potentials of robotic technologies to decrease risk to personnelâs safety in Statnett
Background of the project
Health, safety and the environment (HSE) is Statnett´s nr.1 priority and Statnett has a zero vision towards accidents. Unfortunately, Statnett and their entrepreneurs experience accidents each year. With an increasing activity level towards 2020, it is natural to estimate that the number of accidents will increase in line with the activity. It can therefore be interesting to study new technologies with high potential to reduce risk, if it is rapidly implemented.
Goals
There were three goals with this thesis. The first was to identify robotic technologies, available now or within a five-year period with potential for use in Statnett. The second goal was to identify dangerous operations performed by Statnett or Statnett´s entrepreneurs. The third goal was to provide a recommendation of which robotic technologies that can both execute the identified operations and reduce the risks of the operations.
General information about the thesis
This report was made as a master thesis at the end of a five-year study towards a Master's Degree in science at Norwegian University of Life Science(NMBU). The study was performed between January and May 2016, and represent 30 ECTS. The thesis is written under collaboration between Statnett and NMBU.
Method
This thesis is based on literature study, interviews, observations and data analysis.
Results
The main outcome was the following:
⢠There are many types of robotic technologies with different abilities and potential for implementation in Statnett and Statnett´s entrepreneurs, all with a high level of technology readiness(TRL) or already in use. There are however limitations with every type of robotic technologies, e.g. many of the line suspended robotic devices have problems crossing suspension towers and there is actually only one that is supposedly able to cross dead-end towers.
⢠There is no doubt that Statnett and their entrepreneurs perform dangerous operations. Many high risk operations are identified, but there are still reasons to believe that even more could be found. All of the identified operations contain different factors of risk. Some of the risk factors have led to tragic accidents ending with death or severe illness. The biggest identified risk factors are working with helicopter and working at height.
⢠There are several robotic technologies with the possibility to both perform and reduce the risk of some of the dangerous operations identified in this thesis.
Recommendation for further work
Based on the robotic technology with the highest potential to both execute operations and reduce the operations risks, eleven technologies are recommended for further research and development towards permanent implementation in specific operations.Bakgrunn for prosjektet
Helse, miljø og sikkerhet (HMS) er Statnetts topp prioritet. Statnett har en visjon om null
ulykker, men opplever ulykker hvert ür sammen med sine entreprenører. Frem mot 2020 er
det planlagt økt aktivitet og det er derfor naturlig ü anta at antall ulykker vil øke i takt med
aktiviteten. Det kan derfor vĂŚre interessant ĂĽ se pĂĽ ny teknologis mulighet til ĂĽ redusere
risiko, hvis det kan implementeres raskt.
MĂĽl:
Oppgaven har tre mül. Det første er ü identifisere robotteknologi tilgjengelig i dag eller innen
en femĂĽrs periode med potensial for bruk i Statnett. MĂĽl nummer to er ĂĽ identifisere farlige
operasjoner utført av Statnett eller deres entreprenører. Det siste mület er ü gi en anbefaling av
hvilken robotteknologi som har størst mulighet til ü büde utføre operasjonene samtidig som
den kan redusere operasjonens risiko.
Generell informasjon om oppgaven
Oppgaven er skrevet som en masteroppgave i siste semester av et femĂĽrig masterstudie pĂĽ
Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet (NMBU). Oppgaven representerer 30
studiepoeng og er skrevet som et samarbeid mellom Statnett og NMBU.
Metode
Oppgaven er basert pĂĽ litteratur, intervjuer, observasjoner og analyse av innsamlet data.
Resultat
Hovedresultatene var som følger:
⢠Det er identifisert mange typer robotteknologi med forskjellige anvendelser og potensial
for implementering hos Statnett og Statnetts entreprenører. Alle teknologiene var langt i
utviklingen, høy âtechnology readiness levelâ (TRL), eller var allerede i bruk. Det var like
vell utfordringer med alle teknologiene, som f.eks. at fĂĽ âline suspended robotic devicesâ
kan krysse bĂŚremaster og at det faktisk bare er en som skal klare ĂĽ krysse ankermaster.
⢠Det er ingen tvil om at Statnett og deres entreprenører utfører farlige operasjoner. Det er
identifisert mange høy risiko operasjoner, men det er fortsatt grunn til ü tro at enda flere
kan identifiseres ved et grundigere studium. Alle operasjonene inneholder forskjellige
risikofaktorer og noen av risikofaktorene har ført til tragiske ulykker som har endt med
død eller alvorlige skader. De største risikofaktorene er identifisert som bruk av helikopter
og arbeid i høyden.
⢠Det er identifisert flere robotteknologier med potensial for ü büde kunne utføre og
redusere risikoen til noen av de identifiserte operasjonene.
Anbefaling for videre arbeid
Basert pü den robotteknologien med høyest potensial for ü bade utføre og redusere risikoen til
noen av de identifiserte operasjonene er elleve teknologier anbefalt for videre arbeid.M-M
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