Smart element aware gate controller for intelligent wheeled robot navigation

The directing of a wheeled robot in an unknown moving environment with physical barriers is a difficult proposition. In particular, having an optimal or near-optimal path that avoids obstacles is a major challenge. In this paper, a modified neuro-controller mechanism is proposed for controlling the movement of an indoor mobile robot. The proposed mechanism is based on the design of a modified Elman neural network (MENN) with an effective element aware gate (MEEG) as the neuro-controller. This controller is updated to overcome the rigid and dynamic barriers in the indoor area. The proposed controller is implemented with a mobile robot known as Khepera IV in a practical manner. The practical results demonstrate that the proposed mechanism is very efficient in terms of providing shortest distance to reach the goal with maximum velocity as compared with the MENN. Specifically, the MEEG is better than MENN in minimizing the error rate by 58.33%

Embodied Cognitive Science of Music. Modeling Experience and Behavior in Musical Contexts

Recently, the role of corporeal interaction has gained wide recognition within cognitive musicology. This thesis reviews evidence from different directions in music research supporting the importance of body-based processes for the understanding of music-related experience and behaviour. Stressing the synthetic focus of cognitive science, cognitive science of music is discussed as a modeling approach that takes these processes into account and may theoretically be embedded within the theory of dynamic systems. In particular, arguments are presented for the use of robotic devices as tools for the investigation of processes underlying human music-related capabilities (musical robotics)

Robobo SmartCity: An Autonomous Driving Model for Computational Intelligence Learning through Educational Robotics

© 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.[Abstract]: This paper presents the Robobo SmartCity model, an educational resource to introduce students in Computational Intelligence (CI) topics using educational robotics as the core learning technology. Robobo SmartCity allows educators to train learners in Artificial Intelligence (AI) fundamentals from a feasible and practical perspective, following the recommendations of digital education plans to introduce AI at all educational levels. This resource is based on the Robobo educational robot and an autonomous driving setup. It is made up of a city mockup, simulation models, and programming libraries adapted to the students' skill level. In it, students can be trained in CI topics that support robot autonomy, as computer vision, machine learning, or human-robot interaction, while developing solutions in the motivating and challenging scope of autonomous driving. The main details of this open resource are provided with a set of possible challenges to be faced in it. They are organized in terms of the educational level and students’ skills. The resource has been mainly tested with secondary and high school students, obtaining successful learning outcomes, presented here to inspire other teachers in taking advantage of this learning technology in their classes.Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/01This work has been partially funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union through grant number 2019-1-ES01-KA201-065742, and the Centro de Investigación de Galicia "CITIC", funded by Xunta de Galicia and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund- Galicia 2014-2020 Program), by grant ED431G 2019/01. In addition, the “Programa de ayudas a la etapa predoctoral” from Xunta de Galicia (Consellería de Cultura, Educación y Universidad) supported this work through Sara Guerreiro’s grant

Desarrollo de un modelo de simulación en V-REP de un robot móvil basado en smartphone y soporte al lenguaje Python

[Resumen] El, cada vez más presente, uso de robots en aplicaciones industriales, científicas o educativas, ha popularizado el uso de modelos de simulación para realizar experimentos con robots en distintos escenarios virtuales sin necesidad de tener el robot físico, evitando así posibles problemas derivados de probar el robot en entornos reales como por ejemplo choques, ambientes agresivos, caídas, etc. Estos modelos también permiten simular el comportamiento de los robots en entornos en los que, por distintas razones, no se podrían probar, y realizar las pruebas de forma más rápida En cuanto a la robótica educativa, aparte de las ventajas comentadas anteriormente, estos modelos, con una programación idéntica al robot real, mejoran la accesibilidad de los alumnos a los robots al permitirles acceder a los conocimientos relacionados con su uso sin necesidad de que exista un robot por cada uno. Además, en el caso de este tipo de usuarios, es especialmente interesante aumentar la seguridad del robot debido al desconocimiento del funcionamiento del robot o su programación. Este Trabajo de Fin de Máster tiene como objetivo desarrollar un modelo realista del Robobo real en el simulador V-REP, de forma que sus movimientos y su sensorización sean análogos a los del Robobo real.[Resumo] O, cada vez máis presente, emprego de robots en aplicacións industriais, científicas ou educativas, popularizaron o uso de modelos de simulación para realizar experimentos con robots en distintos escenarios virtuais sen necesidade de ter o robot físico, evitanto así posibles problemas derivados de probar o robot en entornos reais como, por exemplo, choques, ambientes agresivos, caídas, etc. Estos modelos tamén permiten simular o comportamento dos robots en entornos nos que, por distintas razóns, non se poderían probar, e realizar as probas de maneira máis rápida. En canto á robotica educativa, aparte das vantaxes comentadas anteriormente, estes modelos, cunha programación idéntica ao robot real, melloran a accesibilidade dos alumnos aos robots ao permitirlles acceder aos coñecementos relacionados co seu uso sen necesidades de que exista un robot para cada un. Ademáis, no caso deste tipo de usuarios, é especialmente interesante aumentar a seguridade do robot debido ao descoñecemento do funcionamento do robot e a súa programación.. Este Traballo de Fin de Máster ten como obxectivo desenvolver un modelo realista do Robobo real no simulador V-REP, de forma que os seus movementos e a sua sensorización sexan análogos aos do Robobo real.[Abstract] The increasingly use of robots in industrial, scientific or educational applications, has popularized the use of simulation models to perform experiments with robots in different virtual scenarios without having the physical robot, which avoide possible problems derived from testing the robot in real environments such as shocks, aggressive environments, falls, etc. These models also allow to simulate the behavior of robots in environments where, for different reasons, they could not be tested, and test the experiments more quickly. In terms of educational robotics, apart from the advantages discussed above, these models, with a programming identical to the real robot, improve the accessibility of students to robots by allowing them to access knowledge related to their use without needing a robot for each one. In the case of this type of users, it is especially interesting to increase the safety of the robot due to the lack of knowledge of the robot's operation or its programming. This work aims to develop a realistic model of the real Robobo in the V-REP simulator, so that its movements and sensorization are analogous to those of the real Robobo.Traballo fin de mestrado (UDC.EPS). Enxeñaría industrial. Curso 2018/201

Computational resources of miniature robots: classification & implications

When it comes to describing robots, many roboticists choose to focus on the size, types of actuators, or other physical capabilities. As most areas of robotics deploy robots with large memory and processing power, the question “how computational resources limit what a robot can do” is often overlooked. However, the capabilities of many miniature robots are limited by significantly less memory and processing power. At present, there is no systematic approach to comparing and quantifying the computational resources as a whole and their implications. This letter proposes computational indices that systematically quantify computational resources—individually and as a whole. Then, by comparing 31 state-of-the-art miniature robots, a computational classification ranging from non-computing to minimally-constrained robots is introduced. Finally, the implications of computational constraints on robotic software are discussed

Classification and Management of Computational Resources of Robotic Swarms and the Overcoming of their Constraints

Swarm robotics is a relatively new and multidisciplinary research field with many potential applications (e.g., collective exploration or precision agriculture). Nevertheless, it has not been able to transition from the academic environment to the real world. While there are many potential reasons, one reason is that many robots are designed to be relatively simple, which often results in reduced communication and computation capabilities. However, the investigation of such limitations has largely been overlooked. This thesis looks into one such constraint, the computational constraint of swarm robots (i.e., swarm robotics platform). To achieve this, this work first proposes a computational index that quantifies computational resources. Based on the computational index, a quantitative study of 5273 devices shows that swarm robots provide fewer resources than many other robots or devices. In the next step, an operating system with a novel dual-execution model is proposed, and it has been shown that it outperforms the two other robotic system software. Moreover, results show that the choice of system software determines the computational overhead and, therefore, how many resources are available to robotic software. As communication can be a key aspect of a robot's behaviour, this work demonstrates the modelling, implementing, and studying of an optical communication system with a novel dynamic detector. Its detector improves the quality of service by orders of magnitude (i.e., makes the communication more reliable). In addition, this work investigates general communication properties, such as scalability or the effects of mobility, and provides recommendations for the use of such optical communication systems for swarm robotics. Finally, an approach is shown by which computational constraints of individual robots can be overcome by distributing data and processing across multiple robots

Proceedings of the 9th Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions

Welcome to ROBOTICA 2009. This is the 9th edition of the conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions, the third time with IEEE‐Robotics and Automation Society Technical Co‐Sponsorship. Previous editions were held since 2001 in Guimarães, Aveiro, Porto, Lisboa, Coimbra and Algarve. ROBOTICA 2009 is held on the 7th May, 2009, in Castelo Branco , Portugal. ROBOTICA has received 32 paper submissions, from 10 countries, in South America, Asia and Europe. To evaluate each submission, three reviews by paper were performed by the international program committee. 23 papers were published in the proceedings and presented at the conference. Of these, 14 papers were selected for oral presentation and 9 papers were selected for poster presentation. The global acceptance ratio was 72%. After the conference, eighth papers will be published in the Portuguese journal Robótica, and the best student paper will be published in IEEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Education Magazine. Three prizes will be awarded in the conference for: the best conference paper, the best student paper and the best presentation. The last two, sponsored by the IEEE Education Society ‐ Student Activities Committee. We would like to express our thanks to all participants. First of all to the authors, whose quality work is the essence of this conference. Next, to all the members of the international program committee and reviewers, who helped us with their expertise and valuable time. We would also like to deeply thank the invited speaker, Jean Paul Laumond, LAAS‐CNRS France, for their excellent contribution in the field of humanoid robots. Finally, a word of appreciation for the hard work of the secretariat and volunteers. Our deep gratitude goes to the Scientific Organisations that kindly agreed to sponsor the Conference, and made it come true. We look forward to seeing more results of R&D work on Robotics at ROBOTICA 2010, somewhere in Portugal

Multiple mobile robots - Fuzzy behavior based architecture and behavior evolution

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH