Dynamic update of a virtual cell for programming and safe monitoring of an industrial robot

A hardware/software architecture for robot motion planning and on-line safe monitoring has been developed with the objective to assure high flexibility in production control, safety for workers and machinery, with user-friendly interface. The architecture, developed using Microsoft Robotics Developers Studio and implemented for a six-dof COMAU NS 12 robot, established a bidirectional communication between the robot controller and a virtual replica of the real robotic cell. The working space of the real robot can then be easily limited for safety reasons by inserting virtual objects (or sensors) in such a virtual environment. This paper investigates the possibility to achieve an automatic, dynamic update of the virtual cell by using a low cost depth sensor (i.e., a commercial Microsoft Kinect) to detect the presence of completely unknown objects, moving inside the real cell. The experimental tests show that the developed architecture is able to recognize variously shaped mobile objects inside the monitored area and let the robot stop before colliding with them, if the objects are not too small

Natural Virtual Reality User Interface to Define Assembly Sequences for Digital Human Models

Digital human models (DHMs) are virtual representations of human beings. They are used to conduct, among other things, ergonomic assessments in factory layout planning. DHM software tools are challenging in their use and thus require a high amount of training for engineers. In this paper, we present a virtual reality (VR) application that enables engineers to work with DHMs easily. Since VR systems with head-mounted displays (HMDs) are less expensive than CAVE systems, HMDs can be integrated more extensively into the product development process. Our application provides a reality-based interface and allows users to conduct an assembly task in VR and thus to manipulate the virtual scene with their real hands. These manipulations are used as input for the DHM to simulate, on that basis, human ergonomics. Therefore, we introduce a software and hardware architecture, the VATS (virtual action tracking system). This paper furthermore presents the results of a user study in which the VATS was compared to the existing WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointer) interface. The results show that the VATS system enables users to conduct tasks in a significantly faster way

Architecture, Design, and Implementation of a Rapidly Prototyped Virtual Environment for a Military Spaceplane

The new Global Engagement vision places increased emphasis on the Air Force\u27s ability to control and exploit space. A military spaceplane combining reliable access to space, high operational tempos, and multi-mission capabilities is in conceptual stages of development. Virtual environment technology provides an opportunity to investigate system requirements and unconventional interface paradigms for this unique vehicle. A virtual environment architecture and design based on support for a rapid prototyping development process, separation of concerns, and user interface development is presented. The rapid prototyping process allowed management of changing requirements via an evolutionary approach to implementation. Separation of the activities performed by the virtual environment into classes enabled high performance through computational distribution, prevented modifications from rippling through the system and impeding development, and promoted reuse of computation and geometric models. A technique was developed to reduce the flimmer induced by the large spatial extent of the virtual environment. The architecture succeeded in providing a flexible framework for the AFIT Virtual Spaceplane. The Virtual Spaceplane is a large-scale virtual environment within which an immersed user commands a military spaceplane through atmospheric and orbital regimes to complete several simulated missions via an unconventional virtual interface

A software toolkit for web-based virtual environments based on a shared database

We propose a software toolkit for developing complex web-based user interfaces, incorporating such things as multi-user facilities, virtual environments (VEs), and interface agents. The toolkit is based on a novel software architecture that combines ideas from multi-agent platforms and user interface (UI) architectures. It provides a distributed shared database with publish-subscribe facilities. This enables UI components to observe the state and activities of any other components in the system easily. The system runs in a web-based environment. The toolkit is comprised of several programming and other specification languages, providing a complete suite of systems design languages. We illustrate the toolkit by means of a couple of examples

Virtutopia: A Framework for Virtual Environments

Virtutopia is a framework for the design and maintenance of persistent virtual online worlds. In this project we designed, implemented and evaluated a proposed architecture for the first stage of Virtutopia. The initial architecture provides capabilities for networking, defining objects and behaviors, receiving user input and rendering output. The outcome is a network system, utilizing a hybrid client-server peer-to-peer architecture, combined with a 3D client interface capable of interacting with other clients in the virtual world

Infrastructure development for a mind attention interface

The “Mind Attention Interface” (MAI) enables sensor measurements of a person’s mind states, and attention states, to be used in a virtual environment. As well as serving as a platform for Human Computer Interface and Brain-Computer Interface research, the MAI aspires to build artistic installations, particularly in computer-generated music. This thesis describes the development of the MAI System: the enabling software infrastructure of the Mind Attention Interface. It discusses the investigation and purchase of hardware and the design of the MAI System architecture. The requirements, design, and implementation of the MAI System, accompanied by a set of profiling tests, demonstrate the effectiveness of the design architecture and the overall usefulness of the system

GRIDCC - Providing a real-time grid for distributed instrumentation

The GRIDCC project is extending the use of Grid computing to include access to and control of distributed instrumentation. Access to the instruments will be via an interface to a Virtual Instrument Grid Service (VIGS). VIGS is a new concept and its design and implementation, together with middleware that can provide the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS), is a key part of the GRIDCC development plan. An overall architecture for GRIDCC has been defined and some of the application areas, which include distributed power systems, remote control of an accelerator and the remote monitoring of a large particle physics experiment, are briefly discussed.E

COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN IN URBAN ARHITECTURE 3D MODELING

The gap from the PC made sketches with the help of the china ink pen and ruler to the digitised drawing boards, high diagonal monitors and 3D projecting is truly spectacular. The increasingly efficient and more specialized programs allow the architects a whole range of facilities providing drawing commands and changes very easy to use, automatic rating, operating simultaneously in multiple windows, building sections and extracts of the plan, 3D views design and even projecting in virtual reality. Applications made to date using virtual reality technologies are characterized, essentially, by generating artificial world and immerging the user into this world. Evolution and effectiveness of such systems are conditioned, first, by the increased hardware performance (computers and specialized devices for interaction) so as to ensure a full immersion of man in the virtual world and, implicitly, a real-time communication with him.Computer aided design, Architecture, C# interface, urban 3D modeling, urban design. Journal: Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management