Robotics handbook. Version 1: For the interested party and professional

This publication covers several categories of information about robotics. The first section provides a brief overview of the field of Robotics. The next section provides a reasonably detailed look at the NASA Robotics program. The third section features a listing of companies and organization engaging in robotics or robotic-related activities; followed by a listing of associations involved in the field; followed by a listing of publications and periodicals which cover elements of robotics or related fields. The final section is an abbreviated abstract of referred journal material and other reference material relevant to the technology and science of robotics, including such allied fields as vision perception; three-space axis orientation and measurement systems and associated inertial reference technology and algorithms; and physical and mechanical science and technology related to robotics

Low computation vision-based navigation for mobile robots

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73).by Andrew S. Gavin.M.S

The Human Factors of Transitions in Highly Automated Driving

The aim of this research was to investigate the nature of the out-of-the-loop (OoTL) phenomenon in highly automated driving (HAD), and its effect on driver behaviour before, during, and after the transition from automated to manual control. The work addressed questions relating to how automation affects drivers' (i) performance in transition situations requiring control- and tactical-level responses, (ii) their behaviour in automation compared to in manual driving, (iii-iv) their visual attention distribution before and during the transition, as well as (v) their perceptual-motor performance after resuming control. A series of experiments were developed to take drivers progressively further OoTL for short periods during HAD, by varying drivers' secondary task engagement and the amount of visual information from the system and environment available to them. Once the manipulations ended, drivers were invited to determine a need to resume control in critical and non-critical vehicle following situations. Results showed that, overall, drivers looked around more during HAD, compared to manual driving, and had poorer vehicle control in critical transition situations. Generally, the further OoTL drivers were during HAD, the more dispersed their visual attention. However, within three seconds of the manipulations ending, the differences between the conditions resolved, and in many cases, this was before drivers resumed control. Differences between the OoTL manipulations emerged once again in terms of the timing of drivers' initial response (take-over time) in critical events, where the further OoTL drivers were the longer it took them to resume control, but there was no difference in the quality of the subsequent vehicle control. Results suggest that any information presented to drivers during automation should be placed near the centre of the road and that kinematically early avoidance response may be more important for safety than short take-over times. This thesis concludes with a general conceptualisation of the relationship between a number of driver and vehicle/environment factors that influence driver performance in the transition

Control y generación de trayectorias de un nuevo sistema de locomoción para sillas de ruedas con capacidad para subir y bajar escaleras

La tesis presentada muestra un original avance en la tecnología existente para la auto locomoción de personas con alto grado de minusvalía permitiendo la superación de barreras arquitectónicas. Como principales aportaciones de esta tesis se han de resaltar las siguientes: En primer lugar, se ha realizado una correcta metodología de trabajo a la hora de realizar el diseño. Implantación y verificación tanto del sistema sensorial como de la unidad de control del prototipo desarrollado. En segundo lugar, se ha desarrollado un modelo cinemática, un modelo de calibración y un generador de trayectorias basado en representación compleja que hace uso de los grados de libertad adicionales del prototipo con la finalidad de conseguir un mayor confort para el pasajero. Finalmente, se ha desarrollado un algoritmo de control basado en modos deslizantes y en la información obtenida por el sistema sensorial del prototipo con la finalidad de conseguir una mejor adaptación dinámica al entorno

Coordination on Systems of Multiple UAVs

Esta tesis trata acerca de métodos para coordinar las trayectorias de un sistema de Vehículos Aéreos no Tripulados y Autónomos (en adelante UAVs). El primer conjunto de técnicas desarrolladas durante la tesis se agrupan dentro de las técnicas de planificación de trayectorias. En este caso, el objetivo es generar planes de vuelo para un conjunto de vehículos coordinadamente de forma que no se produzcan colisiones entre ellos. Además, este tipo de técnicas puede usarse para modificar el plan de vuelo de un subconjunto de UAVs en tiempo real. Entre los algoritmos desarrollados en la tesis podemos destacar la adaptación de algoritmos evolutivos como los Algoritmos Genéticos y el Particle Swarm (Enjambre de Partículas), la incorporación de nuevas formas de muestreo del espacio para la aplicación del algoritmo Optimal Rapidly Exploring Random Trees (RRT*) en sistemas multi-UAV usando técnicas de muestreo novedosas. También se ha estudiado el comportamiento de parte de estos algoritmos en situaciones variables de incertidumbre del estado del sistema. En particular, se propone el uso del Filtro de Partículas para estimar la posición relativa entre varios UAVs. Además, se estudia la aplicación de métodos reactivos para la resolución de colisiones en tiempo real. Esta tesis propone un nuevo algoritmo para la resolución de colisiones entre múltiples UAVs en presencia de obstáculos fijos llamado G-ORCA. Este algoritmo soluciona varios problemas que han surgido al aplicar el algoritmo ORCA en su variante 3D en sistemas compuestos por vehículos reales. Su seguridad se ha demostrado tanto analíticamente, como empíricamente en pruebas con sistemas reales. De hecho, durante esta tesis numerosos experimentos en sistemas multi-UAV reales compuestos hasta por 4 UAVs han sido ejecutados. En dichos experimentos, se realiza una coordinación autónoma de UAVs en las que se asegura la ejecución de trayectorias libres de colisiones garantizando por tanto la seguridad del sistema. Una característica reseñable de esta tesis es que los algoritmos desarrollados han sido probados e integrados en sistemas más complejos que son usados en aplicaciones reales. En primer lugar, se presenta un sistema para aumentar la duración del vuelo de planeadores aprovechando las corrientes ascendentes de viento generadas por el calor (térmicas). En segundo lugar, un sistema de detección y resolución de colisiones coordinado para sistemas con múltiples UAVs reactivo ha sido diseñado, desarrollado y probado experimentalmente. Este sistema ha sido integrado dentro de un sistema automático de construcción de estructuras mediante múltiples UAVs.The aim of this thesis is to propose methods to coordinately generate trajectories for a system of Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The first set of proposed techniques developed in this thesis can be defined as trajectory planning techniques. In this case, the objective is to generate coordinated flight plans for a system of UAVs in such a way that no collision are produced among each pair of UAVs. Besides, these techniques can be applied online in order to modify the original flight plan whenever a potential collision is detected. Amongst the developed algorithms in this thesis we can highlight the adaptation of evolutionary algorithms such as Genetic Algorithms and Particle Swarm, and the application of Optimal Rapidly Exploring Random Trees (RRT*) algorithm into a system of several UAVs with novel sampling techniques. In addition, many of these techniques have been adapted in order to be applicable when only uncertain knowledge of the state of the system is available. In particular, the use of the Particle Filter is proposed in order to estimate the relative position between UAVs. The estimation of the position as well as the uncertainty related to this estimation are then taken into account in the conflict resolution system. All techniques proposed in this thesis have been validated by performing several simulated and real tests. For this purpose, a method for randomly generating a huge test batch is presented in chapter 3. This will allow to test the behavior of the proposed methods in a great variety of situations. During the thesis, several real experimentations with fleets composed by up to four UAVs are presented. In these experiments, the UAVs in the system are automatically coordinated in order to ensure collision-free trajectories and thus guarantee the safety of the system. The other main topic of this thesis is the application of reactive methods for real-time conflict resolution. This thesis proposes a novel algorithm for collision resolution amongst multiple UAVs in the presence of static obstacles, which has been called Generalized-Optimal Reciprocal Collision Avoidance (G-ORCA). This algorithm overcomes several issues that have been detected into the algorithm 3D-ORCA in real applications. A remarkable characteristic of this thesis is that the developed algorithms have been applied as a part of more complex systems. First, a coordinated system for flight endurance extension of gliding aircrafts by profiting the ascending wind is presented. Second, a reactive collision avoidance block has been designed, developed and tested experimentally based in the aforementioned G-ORCA algorithm. This block has been integrated into a system for assembly construction with multiple UAVs