The augmented reality framework : an approach to the rapid creation of mixed reality environments and testing scenarios

Debugging errors during real-world testing of remote platforms can be time consuming and expensive when the remote environment is inaccessible and hazardous such as deep-sea. Pre-real world testing facilities, such as Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL), are often not available due to the time and expense necessary to create them. Testing facilities tend to be monolithic in structure and thus inflexible making complete redesign necessary for slightly different uses. Redesign is simpler in the short term than creating the required architecture for a generic facility. This leads to expensive facilities, due to reinvention of the wheel, or worse, no testing facilities. Without adequate pre-real world testing, integration errors can go undetected until real world testing where they are more costly to diagnose and rectify, e.g. especially when developing Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs). This thesis introduces a novel framework, the Augmented Reality Framework (ARF), for rapid construction of virtual environments for Augmented Reality tasks such as Pure Simulation, HIL, Hybrid Simulation and real world testing. ARF’s architecture is based on JavaBeans and is therefore inherently generic, flexible and extendable. The aim is to increase the performance of constructing, reconfiguring and extending virtual environments, and consequently enable more mature and stable systems to be developed in less time due to previously undetectable faults being diagnosed earlier in the pre-real-world testing phase. This is only achievable if test harnesses can be created quickly and easily, which in turn allows the developer to visualise more system feedback making faults easier to spot. Early fault detection and less wasted real world testing leads to a more mature, stable and less expensive system. ARF provides guidance on how to connect and configure user made components, allowing for rapid prototyping and complex virtual environments to be created quickly and easily. In essence, ARF tries to provide intuitive construction guidance which is similar in nature to LEGOR pieces which can be so easily connected to form useful configurations. ARF is demonstrated through case studies which show the flexibility and applicability of ARF to testing techniques such as HIL for UUVs. In addition, an informal study was carried out to asses the performance increases attributable to ARF’s core concepts. In comparison to classical programming methods ARF’s average performance increase was close to 200%. The study showed that ARF was incredibly intuitive since the test subjects were novices in ARF but experts in programming. ARF provides key contributions in the field of HIL testing of remote systems by providing more accessible facilities that allow new or modified testing scenarios to be created where it might not have been feasible to do so before. In turn this leads to early detection of faults which in some cases would not have ever been detected before

Virtual remote laboratory for teaching of computer vision and robotics in the University of Alicante

Comunicación presentada en IBCE'04, Second IFAC Workshop on Internet Based Control Education, 5-7 septiembre 2004, Grenoble, FranciaIn this article, we describe the virtual and remote laboratory for computer vision and robotics education at the University of Alicante (Spain). Its aims are to provide access for all the students to the available robotic and computer vision equipments, generally limited, due to its high cost

Simulation of underwater robots using MS Robot Studio©

One stage in designing the control for underwater robot swarms is to confirm the control algorithms via simulation. To perform the simulation Microsoftpsilas Robotic Studiocopy was chosen. The problem with this simulator and others like it is that it is set up for land-based robots only. This paper explores one possible way to get around this limitation. This solution cannot only work for underwater vehicles but aerial vehicles as well.<br /

A 3d Real-Time Monitoring System for a Production Line

It is hypothesized than a transparent view of the factory floor, in real time, will provide grounds for achieving a better control over the factory assets, including maintenance activities and scheduling optimization. The main goal of this research is to provide a Real-Time 3D Monitoring of manufacturing systems by capitalizing the early 3D model created for simulation proposes and the eventualized information offered by the Factory Information Systems in the shape of web services via DPWS. In addition the monitoring application should be accessible via a web-based application allowing multi-viewers on multi-platform, including mobile ones. The thesis discusses the background of Factory Monitoring and Visualization Systems, including 3D Modeling and Animation, and Web-based Applications. Then a robotized assembly line located at FAST-Lab. is presented for been used as the test bed of the implementation by the designed System. CATIA and DELMIA Software model the 3D view of the line assets. A method for importing to Unity3d Software is also developed and documented. The Unity Game engine produces the animation of the 3D models. Then, the Application is published as a web-based application running under Unity browser plugin. Lastly, an interface for the communication of the 3D virtual world and the line Sensors and Data Acquisition application is presented in order to achieve the Real-Time triggering of the events driven the 3D virtual representation of the assembly line

An Internet Robot Tele-operating System

Abstract-A server-decentralized internet model based on Jabber for robot tele-operation with P2P stream media transfer supplement based on JXTA is proposed. The system is composed of four components: operators, robots, transfer servers and datakeeper. The robot-controlling data/robot state data are packed with XML stanzas and delivered to the resolved robot/operator through XML streams. The locale audio/video media streams of the robot are sent directly through P2P pipes to the operators. In order to test its availability and performance, the model is implemented and instanced as remote control systems for Virtual Puma560 robot and the Hexapod Monster robot. Experiments of the systems and network tests are carried out to evaluate the instances; the results show that the systems are suitable for many kinds of robot tele-operation scenarios despite the tough network environment

MOCA: A Low-Power, Low-Cost Motion Capture System Based on Integrated Accelerometers

Human-computer interaction (HCI) and virtual reality applications pose the challenge of enabling real-time interfaces for natural interaction. Gesture recognition based on body-mounted accelerometers has been proposed as a viable solution to translate patterns of movements that are associated with user commands, thus substituting point-and-click methods or other cumbersome input devices. On the other hand, cost and power constraints make the implementation of a natural and efficient interface suitable for consumer applications a critical task. Even though several gesture recognition solutions exist, their use in HCI context has been poorly characterized. For this reason, in this paper, we consider a low-cost/low-power wearable motion tracking system based on integrated accelerometers called motion capture with accelerometers (MOCA) that we evaluated for navigation in virtual spaces. Recognition is based on a geometric algorithm that enables efficient and robust detection of rotational movements. Our objective is to demonstrate that such a low-cost and a low-power implementation is suitable for HCI applications. To this purpose, we characterized the system from both a quantitative point of view and a qualitative point of view. First, we performed static and dynamic assessment of movement recognition accuracy. Second, we evaluated the effectiveness of user experience using a 3D game application as a test bed

A communication module for capturing events in order to monitor a service-based automated production line

The efficiency, reliability and on time maintenance of a manufacturing process largely relies on a highly efficient and rapidly responsive monitoring system. The increasing demand of uninterrupted continuation of a production process emphasizes the need of anefficient real time monitoring mechanism of the process. The rapid advancements of modern technology especially in the communication field have largely affected every field of daily life as well as the industrial sector. The rise of wireless communication technology has made it possible to develop wireless sensors for industrial monitoring applications and revolutionize the monitoring techniques to a greater extent. The work researches a web based monitoring approach for real time monitoring of service-oriented production assembly with 3D visualization. The implementation deals with the design and implementation of a communication framework for receiving, processing and publishing events information of a service oriented assembly line. The processed information is then linked and simulated with a 3D replica of the actual process over the web in real time. The work demonstrates the usefulness of versatile features of 3D visualization in industrial monitoring applications. The online accessibility of the monitoring application enables all concerned individuals to access and monitor the manufacturing process in real time from any remote location. The developed web application can also be simulated for a given set of historical data. Currently, the research work focuses on capturing and simulating only two types of shop floor messages (Pallet activity notification message and Robot activity equipment change state message), but can be enhanced to include more features of the robotic assembly line in future

Enhanced online programming for industrial robots

The use of robots and automation levels in the industrial sector is expected to grow, and is driven by the on-going need for lower costs and enhanced productivity. The manufacturing industry continues to seek ways of realizing enhanced production, and the programming of articulated production robots has been identified as a major area for improvement. However, realizing this automation level increase requires capable programming and control technologies. Many industries employ offline-programming which operates within a manually controlled and specific work environment. This is especially true within the high-volume automotive industry, particularly in high-speed assembly and component handling. For small-batch manufacturing and small to medium-sized enterprises, online programming continues to play an important role, but the complexity of programming remains a major obstacle for automation using industrial robots. Scenarios that rely on manual data input based on real world obstructions require that entire production systems cease for significant time periods while data is being manipulated, leading to financial losses. The application of simulation tools generate discrete portions of the total robot trajectories, while requiring manual inputs to link paths associated with different activities. Human input is also required to correct inaccuracies and errors resulting from unknowns and falsehoods in the environment. This study developed a new supported online robot programming approach, which is implemented as a robot control program. By applying online and offline programming in addition to appropriate manual robot control techniques, disadvantages such as manual pre-processing times and production downtimes have been either reduced or completely eliminated. The industrial requirements were evaluated considering modern manufacturing aspects. A cell-based Voronoi generation algorithm within a probabilistic world model has been introduced, together with a trajectory planner and an appropriate human machine interface. The robot programs so achieved are comparable to manually programmed robot programs and the results for a Mitsubishi RV-2AJ five-axis industrial robot are presented. Automated workspace analysis techniques and trajectory smoothing are used to accomplish this. The new robot control program considers the working production environment as a single and complete workspace. Non-productive time is required, but unlike previously reported approaches, this is achieved automatically and in a timely manner. As such, the actual cell-learning time is minimal