Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots (SIMPAR 2010)

Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Simulation, Modeling and Programming for Autonomous Robots, SIMPAR 2010, Darmstadt, Germany, November 15-18, 2010

Workshops of Second International Conference, SIMPAR 2010 Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots - , Darmstadt, Germany, November 15-18, 2010

Proceedings of the Workshops of Second International Conference, SIMPAR 2010 Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots - , Darmstadt, Germany, November 15-18, 201

Modeling of the youBot in a serial link structure using twists and wrenches in a bond graph

We present a walk-through tutorial on the modeling of a complex robotic system, like the newly developed desktop mobile manipulator youBot developed by KUKA[5, 4]. The tutorial shows the design of models for typical robotic elements, done in a reusable object-oriented style. We employ an energy-based approach for modeling and its bondgraph notation to ensure encapsulation of functionality, extendability and reusability of each element of the model. The kinematic representation of mechanical elements is captured using screw theory. The modeling process is explained in two steps: first submodels of separate components are elaborated and next the model is constructed from these components

Systematic literature review of realistic simulators applied in educational robotics context

This paper presents a systematic literature review (SLR) about realistic simulators that can be applied in an educational robotics context. These simulators must include the simulation of actuators and sensors, the ability to simulate robots and their environment. During this systematic review of the literature, 559 articles were extracted from six different databases using the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, Context (PICOC) method. After the selection process, 50 selected articles were included in this review. Several simulators were found and their features were also analyzed. As a result of this process, four realistic simulators were applied in the review’s referred context for two main reasons. The first reason is that these simulators have high fidelity in the robots’ visual modeling due to the 3D rendering engines and the second reason is because they apply physics engines, allowing the robot’s interaction with the environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

PequeBot: Propuesta de un Sistema Ludificado de Robótica Educativa para la Educación Infantil

En este trabajo se presenta el diseño de un sistema ludificado para el aprendizaje en la educación infantil por medio de la robótica educativa (PequeBot), que mediante la utilización de metodologías de aprendizaje basada juegos y en proyectos, facilite a los estudiantes la adquisición de conocimientos en las diferentes áreas del currículo educativo de manera lúdica, promoviendo la construcción de experiencias de aprendizaje con significado propio, incentivando la curiosidad, creatividad y participación activa de los estudiantes, permitiendo a su vez la adquisición de conocimientos en las áreas de las ciencias, tecnología, ingeniería, matemáticas y arte (STEAM), además de adquirir destrezas digitales al familiarizarse con las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación. Dicho sistema, está compuesto de un robot, una aplicación para dispositivos móviles, un set de tarjetas de programación y una página web, cuya prueba y puesta en práctica se plantea como un futuro proyecto a fin de determinar su usabilidad y eficacia como herramienta en la facilitación del proceso de aprendizaje de los estudiantes de educación infantil

A Real Time Distributed Approach to Collision Avoidance for Industrial Manipulators

Robot interaction with the surrounding environment is an important and newsworthy problem in the context of industrial and service robotics. Collision avoidance gives the robot the ability to avoid contacts with objects around it, but most of the industrial controls implementing collision avoidance checks only the robot Tool Center Point (TCP) over the objects in the cell, without taking into account the shape of the tool, mounted on the robot flange. In this paper a novel approach is proposed, based on an accurate 3D simulation of the robotic cell. A distributed real time computing approach has been chosen to avoid any overloading of the robot controller. The simulator and the client application are implemented in a personal computer, connected via a TCP-IP socket to the robot controller, which hosts and manages the anti-collision policies, based on a proper speed override control. The real time effectiveness of the proposed approach has been confirmed by experimental tests, carried out for a real industrial setup in two different scenarios

Approaches for Efficiently Detecting Frontier Cells in Robotics Exploration.

Many robot exploration algorithms that are used to explore office, home, or outdoor environments, rely on the concept of frontier cells. Frontier cells define the border between known and unknown space. Frontier-based exploration is the process of repeatedly detecting frontiers and moving towards them, until there are no more frontiers and therefore no more unknown regions. The faster frontier cells can be detected, the more efficient exploration becomes. This paper proposes several algorithms for detecting frontiers. The first is called Naïve Active Area (NaïveAA) frontier detection and achieves frontier detection in constant time by only evaluating the cells in the active area defined by scans taken. The second algorithm is called Expanding-Wavefront Frontier Detection (EWFD) and uses frontiers from the previous timestep as a starting point for searching for frontiers in newly discovered space. The third approach is called Frontier-Tracing Frontier Detection (FTFD) and also uses the frontiers from the previous timestep as well as the endpoints of the scan, to determine the frontiers at the current timestep. Algorithms are compared to state-of-the-art algorithms such as Naïve, WFD, and WFD-INC. NaïveAA is shown to operate in constant time and therefore is suitable as a basic benchmark for frontier detection algorithms. EWFD and FTFD are found to be significantly faster than other algorithms

A Corroborative Approach to Verification and Validation of Human--Robot Teams

We present an approach for the verification and validation (V&V) of robot assistants in the context of human-robot interactions (HRI), to demonstrate their trustworthiness through corroborative evidence of their safety and functional correctness. Key challenges include the complex and unpredictable nature of the real world in which assistant and service robots operate, the limitations on available V&V techniques when used individually, and the consequent lack of confidence in the V&V results. Our approach, called corroborative V&V, addresses these challenges by combining several different V&V techniques; in this paper we use formal verification (model checking), simulation-based testing, and user validation in experiments with a real robot. We demonstrate our corroborative V&V approach through a handover task, the most critical part of a complex cooperative manufacturing scenario, for which we propose some safety and liveness requirements to verify and validate. We construct formal models, simulations and an experimental test rig for the HRI. To capture requirements we use temporal logic properties, assertion checkers and textual descriptions. This combination of approaches allows V&V of the HRI task at different levels of modelling detail and thoroughness of exploration, thus overcoming the individual limitations of each technique. Should the resulting V&V evidence present discrepancies, an iterative process between the different V&V techniques takes place until corroboration between the V&V techniques is gained from refining and improving the assets (i.e., system and requirement models) to represent the HRI task in a more truthful manner. Therefore, corroborative V&V affords a systematic approach to 'meta-V&V,' in which different V&V techniques can be used to corroborate and check one another, increasing the level of certainty in the results of V&V