An Investigation of Different Modeling Techniques for Autonomous Robot Navigation

This research aims to give recommendations towards modeling the navigation control architectures for an autonomous rover designed for an unstructured, outdoors environment. These recommendations are equally applicable to other autonomous vehicles, such as aircraft or underwater vehicles. Many successful architectures for this application have been developed, but there is no common terminology for the discussion of robotics architectures and their properties in general. This paper suggests the use of terms borrowed from administrative theory to facilitate interdisciplinary dialog about the tradeoffs of various kinds of models for robotics and similar systems. Past approaches to modeling autonomous robot navigation architectures have broken the architecture up into layers or levels. The upper levels or layers make high-level decisions about how the robot is going to accomplish a task, and the lower levels or layers make low-level decisions. This is analogous to a CEO of a corporation telling the managers how he wants the corporation to work towards its goal. The managers each oversee a part of the corporation. The workers are told what to do, but still make low-level decisions such as how hard to twist a screw, what tool to use to remove a rivet, or to do something other than what they were told in the interest of safety. Traditionally, there have been two or three layers for robot architectures, and every module developed fits into one of these layers. Every branch of the hierarchy has one module in each of the layers. The reasons given for breaking the architecture up into two or three layers vary from implementation to implementation. This paper aims to take a more generalized view. The benefits of the two or three layered approach are well published, including reliability, reusability, and scalability among others. This paper asserts that these layers are unnecessary, and that vertical specialization can be implemented to a different degree on different branches of the hierarchy. For example, the velocity controller on a rover might have two layers, whereas the steering controller on the same rover might have four. They share the highest layer, which is the navigational planner that coordinates them. But the two branches of hierarchy between the navigational planner and the two actuators look very different from one another. This facilitates a decentralization of the decision making duties and greater freedom in the process of breaking the navigation system up into modules

Registración de componentes para programación de robots móviles autónomos

Se presenta el diseño de un ambiente de programación para robots móviles autónomos utilizando el concepto de registración de componentes. Mediante este concepto se dispone de la facilidad de incorporar nuevos algoritmos de planificación, navegación y/o nuevas representaciones para su utilización en el control del robot y además, su comparación. El objetivo final es presentar un ambiente lo suficientemente flexible que permita la implementación y evaluación práctica de distintos algoritmos y representaciones en la programación de robots móviles autónomos.Área: Ingeniería de Software - Bases de DatosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Registración de componentes para programación de robots móviles autónomos

Se presenta el diseño de un ambiente de programación para robots móviles autónomos utilizando el concepto de registración de componentes. Mediante este concepto se dispone de la facilidad de incorporar nuevos algoritmos de planificación, navegación y/o nuevas representaciones para su utilización en el control del robot y además, su comparación. El objetivo final es presentar un ambiente lo suficientemente flexible que permita la implementación y evaluación práctica de distintos algoritmos y representaciones en la programación de robots móviles autónomos.Área: Ingeniería de Software - Bases de DatosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Registración de componentes para programación de robots móviles autónomos

Se presenta el diseño de un ambiente de programación para robots móviles autónomos utilizando el concepto de registración de componentes. Mediante este concepto se dispone de la facilidad de incorporar nuevos algoritmos de planificación, navegación y/o nuevas representaciones para su utilización en el control del robot y además, su comparación. El objetivo final es presentar un ambiente lo suficientemente flexible que permita la implementación y evaluación práctica de distintos algoritmos y representaciones en la programación de robots móviles autónomos.Área: Ingeniería de Software - Bases de DatosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

A Multi-Agent Control Architecture for a Robotic Wheelchair

Abstract: Assistant robots like robotic wheelchairs can perform an effective and valuable work in our daily lives. However, they eventually may need external help from humans in the robot environment (particularly, the driver in the case of a wheelchair) to accomplish safely and efficiently some tricky tasks for the current technology, i.e. opening a locked door, traversing a crowded area, etc. This article proposes a control architecture for assistant robots designed under a multi-agent perspective that facilitates the participation of humans into the robotic system and improves the overall performance of the robot as well as its dependability. Within our design, agents have their own intentions and beliefs, have different abilities (that include algorithmic behaviours and human skills) and also learn autonomously the most convenient method to carry out their actions through reinforcement learning. The proposed architecture is illustrated with a real assistant robot: a robotic wheelchair that provides mobility to impaired or elderly people

Generic Expression in B of the Influence/Reaction Model: Specifying and Verifying Situated Multi-Agent Systems

This paper addresses the formal specification and verification of situated multi-agent systems that can be formulated within the influence-reaction model as proposed in 1996 by Ferber & Muller. In this framework our objective is to prove the correctness of reactive multi-agent systems with respect to a certain formal specification or property, using formal methods. This is an important step to bring multi-agent systems to high quality standards as required for critical applications encountered in domains such as transport systems. A generic B writing of systems instantiating the influence reaction model is proposed, using patterns of specification. An illustration is then presented on the formal specification of a system operating electrical vehicles under precise automatic control at close spacings to form a platoon. The papers ends with considerations about further improvements of the framework, involving simulation and study of the properties of the system

Migration from Teleoperation to Autonomy via Modular Sensor and Mobility Bricks

In this thesis, the teleoperated communications of a Remotec ANDROS robot have been reverse engineered. This research has used the information acquired through the reverse engineering process to enhance the teleoperation and add intelligence to the initially automated robot. The main contribution of this thesis is the implementation of the mobility brick paradigm, which enables autonomous operations, using the commercial teleoperated ANDROS platform. The brick paradigm is a generalized architecture for a modular approach to robotics. This architecture and the contribution of this thesis are a paradigm shift from the proprietary commercial models that exist today. The modular system of sensor bricks integrates the transformed mobility platform and defines it as a mobility brick. In the wall following application implemented in this work, the mobile robotic system acquires intelligence using the range sensor brick. This application illustrates a way to alleviate the burden on the human operator and delegate certain tasks to the robot. Wall following is one among several examples of giving a degree of autonomy to an essentially teleoperated robot through the Sensor Brick System. Indeed once the proprietary robot has been altered into a mobility brick; the possibilities for autonomy are numerous and vary with different sensor bricks. The autonomous system implemented is not a fixed-application robot but rather a non-specific autonomy capable platform. Meanwhile the native controller and the computer-interfaced teleoperation are still available when necessary. Rather than trading off by switching from teleoperation to autonomy, this system provides the flexibility to switch between the two at the operator’s command. The contributions of this thesis reside in the reverse engineering of the original robot, its upgrade to a computer-interfaced teleoperated system, the mobility brick paradigm and the addition of autonomy capabilities. The application of a robot autonomously following a wall is subsequently implemented, tested and analyzed in this work. The analysis provides the programmer with information on controlling the robot and launching the autonomous function. The results are conclusive and open up the possibilities for a variety of autonomous applications for mobility platforms using modular sensor bricks

Interaction décisionnelle homme-robot : la planification de tâches au service de la sociabilité du robot

Cette thèse aborde la problématique du robot assistant et plus particulièrement les aspects décisionnels qui y sont liés. Un robot assistant est amené à interargir avec des hommes ce qui impose qu'il doit intègrer dans son processus décisionnel de haut-niveau les contraintes sociales inhérentes à un comportement acceptable par son(ses) partenaire(s) humain(s). Cette thèse propose une approche permettant de décrire de manière générique diverses règles sociales qui sont introduites dans le processus de planification du robot afin d'évaluer la qualité sociale des plans solutions et de ne retenir que le(s) plus approprié(s). Cette thèse décrit également l'implémentation de cette approche sous la forme d'un planificateur de tâches appelé HATP (Human Aware Task Planner en anglais). Enfin, cette thèse propose une validation de l'approche développée grâce à un scénario de simulation et à une mise en oeuvre sur un robot réel.This thesis is about assistive robot challenge et more especially about decisional issues linked to it. An assistive robot has to interact with humans which implies that it must integrate in its high-level decisional process some social constraints inherent in a behaviour acceptable by its human partner(s). This thesis proposes an approach allowing to describe, in a generic way, a set of social rules introduced in the robot planning process in order to evaluate social quality of solution plans and, thus, keep the most appropriate. This thesis also describes implementation of this approach in the form of a task planner called HATP (Human Aware Task Planner). Finally, this thesis proposes a validation of the developed approach with a simulation scenario and an implementation on a real robot

Une architecture de contrôle distribuée pour l'autonomie des robots

Pour des tâches simples ou dans un environnement contrôlé, la coordination des différents processus internes d’un robot est un problème relativement trivial, souvent implémenté de manière ad-hoc. Toutefois, avec le développement de robots plus complexes travaillant dans des environnements non contrôlés et dynamiques, le robot doit en permanence se reconfigurer afin de s’adapter aux conditions extérieures et à ses objectifs. La définition d’une architecture de contrôle efficace permettant de gérer ces reconfigurations devient alors primordiale pour l’autonomie de tels robots. Dans ces travaux, nous avons d’abord étudié les différentes architectures proposées dans la littérature, dont l’analyse a permis d’identifier les grandes problématiques qu’une architecture de contrôle doit résoudre. Cette analyse nous a mené à proposer une nouvelle architecture de contrôle décentralisée, générique et réutilisable, selon une démarche qui intègre une approche "intelligence artificielle" (utilisation de raisonneur logique, propagation dynamique de contraintes) et une approche "génie logiciel" (programmation par contrats, agents). Après une présentation des concepts qui sous-tendent cette architecture et une description approfondie de son fonctionnement, nous en décrivons une implémentation, qui est exploitée pour assurer le contrôle d’un robot terrestre d’extérieur dans le cadre de tâches de navigation, d’exploration ou de suivi. Des résultats sont présentés et analysés. Dans une seconde partie, nous nous sommes penchés sur la modélisation et la vérifiabilité d’une telle architecture de contrôle. Après avoir analysé différentes solutions, nous décrivons un modèle complet de l’architecture qui utilise la logique linéaire. Nous discutons ensuite des différentes approches possibles pour montrer des propriétés d’atteignabilité et de sûreté de fonctionnement en exploitant ce modèle. Enfin nous abordons différentes voies d’enrichissement de ces travaux. En particulier, nous discutons des extensions possibles pour le contrôle d’un ensemble de robots coopérants entre eux, mais aussi de la nécessité d’avoir des liens plus forts entre cette couche de contrôle, et les approches de modélisation des fonctionnalités sous-jacentes. ABSTRACT : For simple tasks in a controlled environment, the coordination of the internal processes of a robot is a relatively trivial task, often implemented in an ad-hoc basis. However, with the development of more complex robots that must operate in uncontrolled and dynamic environments, the robot must constantly reconfigure itself to adapt to the external conditions and its own goals. The definition of a control architecture to manage these reconfigurations becomes of paramount importance for the autonomy of such robots. In this work, we first study the different architectures proposed in the literature, and analyse the major issues that a control architecture must address. This analysis led us to propose a new architecture, decentralized, generic and reusable, integrating an artificial intelligence approach (use of logical reasoning, dynamic propagation of constraints) and a software engineering approach (programming by contract, agents). After a presentation of the concepts underlying this architecture and an in-depth description of its operation, we describe an implementation which is used to control of a ground robot for navigation, exploration and monitoring tasks. Results are presented and analyzed. In a second part, we focus on the modeling and verifiability of such a control architecture. After analyzing different solutions, we present a comprehensive model of the proposed architecture that uses linear logic. We then discuss the different possible approaches to assess the properties of reachability and safety within this model. Finally we discuss different ways to enrich this work. In particular, we discuss possible extensions to the control of a multiple cooperating robots, but also the need for stronger links between the control layer and the modeling