Interactive and active learning in social robots

Mención Internacional en el título de doctorThe aim of this thesis is to study how social robots should interact with people when these people are teaching them new concepts. This objective is motivated by the need of having robots operating in real, unstructured environments where they have to cooperate or to socialize with humans. From a robot’s point of view, people have the –almost obsessive– tendency to be unpredictable. This unpredictability makes the job of programming the robot’s social behaviours a daunting task, especially if the robot’s programmer has to take into account all the possible situations that the robot may encounter during its life cycle. A common solution to this problem is to let the robot to learn continuously from its environment and from the people it interacts with. Our inspiration comes from the way children learn from their teachers, parents, or from other people. Generally, they ask for the concepts they do not understand (e.g. unknown objects, places, etc.) to adults. Our approach is to mix techniques from Supervised Machine Learning and Human Robot Interaction to enable a natural, interactive learning where the robot plays the role of a child asking to a human teacher. To achieve this, we study and apply techniques from Active Learning literature to enable the robot to decide which questions are more appropriate to ask and when its better to ask them. We apply these techniques in two different areas, human pose detection and object recognition, to enable the robot to detect the situations in which it needs to expand its knowledge so it can ask for it to its human partner.El objetivo de esta tesis es estudiar como los robots sociales deben interaccionar con personas que les están enseñando nuevos conceptos. Este objetivo viene motivado por la necesidad de disponer de robots capaces de operar en entornos reales y desestructurados en los cuales tienen que cooperar o convivir con humanos. Desde el punto de vista de un robot, los seres humanos tenemos la tendencia, casi obsesiva, de ser impredecibles. Esto supone una seria dificultad para los ingenieros encargados de desarrollar sus comportamientos sociales, ya que es muy costoso tener en cuenta todas las posibles situaciones en las que el robot se puede encontrar durante su ciclo de vida. Una solución a este problema es permitir que el robot aprenda por sí mismo tanto de su entorno como de las personas con las que interacciona. Esta idea se inspira en cómo los niños aprenden de sus profesores, padres o de otras personas. Generalmente, ellos preguntan a los adultos por aquellas cosas que no entienden o no conocen: objetos desconocidos, lugares, personas, etc. Nuestra aproximación es mezclar técnicas de los campos de Aprendizaje Automático Supervisado y de Interacción Humano-Robot para establecer interacciones naturales e interactivas donde el robot aprende adoptando el rol de un niño que pregunta a un adulto. Para ello aplicamos técnicas presentes en la literatura de Aprendizaje Activo que permitirán al robot decidir qué preguntas son más apropiadas en cada momento. En esta tesis aplicamos dichas técnicas en dos distintas áreas, detección de las poses adoptadas por una persona y reconocimiento de objetos, para permitir que el robot detecte las situaciones en las que éste necesita aumentar su conocimiento y así poder preguntar a su compañero humano.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y AutomáticaPresidente: Jose María Sebastián y Zúñiga.- Secretario: Concepción Alicia Monje Micharet.- Vocal: Rodrigo Ventur

Sistemes Linux empotrats 2

En este proyecto se desa demostrar la capacidad que tienen los sistemas Linux para añadir inteligencia a sistemas empotrados. Para demostrar esto se diseñará una aplicación que permita añadir funcionalidades a un sistema empotrado que antes no tenía. Como sistema empotrado se utilizará un router. En este dispositivo se le instalará una distribución de Linux en la cual se hará correr la aplicación desarrollada. La aplicación será un monitorizador de red que permita escuchar el tráfico que circula por la red durante un examen de programacón. Para ello será necesario introducir primero el sistema operativo Linux. Se explicarán sus principales características así como una breve introducción a su funcionamiento interno. Tras esto se realizará un descripción de los sistemas empotrados: sus clasificaciones y arquitecturas principales. También se realizará una descripción de los distintos configuraciones de desarrollo que existen en estos dispositivos. Una vez conocidos el sistema operativo Linux y los sistemas empotrados, se realizará una introducción a las redes, ya que la aplicación hará un uso extensivo de ellas. Finalmente se describirá la aplicación desarrollada y se analizarán los resultados obtenidos con ella

Sistemes Linux empotrats 2

En este proyecto se desa demostrar la capacidad que tienen los sistemas Linux para añadir inteligencia a sistemas empotrados. Para demostrar esto se diseñará una aplicación que permita añadir funcionalidades a un sistema empotrado que antes no tenía. Como sistema empotrado se utilizará un router. En este dispositivo se le instalará una distribución de Linux en la cual se hará correr la aplicación desarrollada. La aplicación será un monitorizador de red que permita escuchar el tráfico que circula por la red durante un examen de programacón. Para ello será necesario introducir primero el sistema operativo Linux. Se explicarán sus principales características así como una breve introducción a su funcionamiento interno. Tras esto se realizará un descripción de los sistemas empotrados: sus clasificaciones y arquitecturas principales. También se realizará una descripción de los distintos configuraciones de desarrollo que existen en estos dispositivos. Una vez conocidos el sistema operativo Linux y los sistemas empotrados, se realizará una introducción a las redes, ya que la aplicación hará un uso extensivo de ellas. Finalmente se describirá la aplicación desarrollada y se analizarán los resultados obtenidos con ella

Maggie: A Social Robot as a Gaming Platform

Edutainment robots are robots designed to participate in people's education and in their entertainment. One of the tasks of edutainment robots is to play with their human partners, but most of them offer a limited pool of games. Moreover, it is difficult to add new games to them. This lack of flexibility could shorten their life cycle. This paper presents a social robot on which several robotic games have been developed. Our robot uses a flexible and modular architecture that allows the creation of new skills by the composition of existing and simpler skills. With this architecture, the development of a new game mainly consists in the composition of the skills that are needed for this specific game. In this paper, we present the robot, its hardware and its software architecture, including its interaction capabilities. We also provide a detailed description of the development of five of the games the robot can play.The authors gratefully acknowledge the funds provided by the Spanish MICINN (Ministry of Science and Innovation) through the project "A new Approach to Social Robotics (AROS)". The research leading to these results has also received funding from the RoboCity2030-II-CM project(S2009/DPI-1559), funded by Programas de Actividades I+D en la Comunidad de Madrid and cofunded by Structural Funds ofthe EU

UAVs mission planning with imposition of flight level through fast marching square

Many proposed activities to be carried out by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in urban environments require a control over the altitude for different purposes. Energy saving and minimization of costs are some of these objectives. This work presents a method to impose a flight level in a mission planning carried out by a UAV in a 3D urban environment. The planning avoids all obstacles encountered in the environment and maintains a fixed flight level in the majority of the trajectory. The method used as planner is the Fast Marching Square (FM2) method, which includes two adjustment parameters. Depending on the values of these parameters, it is possible to introduce into the planning an altitude constraint, as well as to modify the smoothness of the trajectory and the safety margins from the obstacles. Several simulated experiments have been carried out in different situations obtaining very good results.The research leading to these results has received funding from the RoboCity2030-III-CM project (Robótica aplicada a la mejora de la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos, fase III; S2013/MIT-2748), funded by Programas de Actividades I+D en la Comunidad de Madrid and cofunded by Structural Funds of the EU

Biliary PAH metabolites in European eel (Anguilla anguilla) from Mar Menor lagoon (SE Spain)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous organic contaminants present in marine sediments as a consequence of their continuous input from either land- or marine-based sources. Fishes have a higher capacity to metabolize and excrete PAHs than invertebrates such as mollusks and consequently the concentration of PAH metabolites in the bile fluid of fish can be used as an indirect indicator of exposure to PAH contamination. In this study the concentration and distribution of major PAHs metabolites in European eel (Anguilla anguilla) bile from the hypersaline Mar Menor coastal lagoon (SE Spain) were characterized for the first time. Eels of two different weight classes (350 g) were sampled from the northern and southern part of the lagoon using traditional fishing methods by local fishermen in spring 2014 and winter 2015. Bile samples were treated individually and maintained at -20ºC until analysis. 10 L of bile sample was diluted with water for liquid chromatography, incubated with β-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase for 2 hours at 37ºC, then the reaction was stopped with cold methanol and the sample centrifuged. The concentrations of PAHs metabolites (phenanthrol and pyrenol) in the supernatant were directly analysed by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection using a standard solution for external calibration. Phenanthrol and pyrenol were found in all samples, with pyrenol being always the predominant one. The metabolite concentrations were higher in specimens sampled in spring 2014 than in winter 2015, suggesting a different seasonal pattern of PAH exposure to fish in the Mar Menor lagoon

Projection Surfaces Detection and Image Correction for Mobile Robots in HRI

Projectors have become a widespread tool to share information in Human-Robot Interaction with large groups of people in a comfortable way. Finding a suitable vertical surface becomes a problem when the projector changes positions when a mobile robot is looking for suitable surfaces to project. Two problems must be addressed to achieve a correct undistorted image: (i) finding the biggest suitable surface free from obstacles and (ii) adapting the output image to correct the distortion due to the angle between the robot and a nonorthogonal surface. We propose a RANSAC-based method that detects a vertical plane inside a point cloud. Then, inside this plane, we apply a rectangle-fitting algorithm over the region in which the projector can work. Finally, the algorithm checks the surface looking for imperfections and occlusions and transforms the original image using a homography matrix to display it over the area detected. The proposed solution can detect projection areas in real-time using a single Kinect camera, which makes it suitable for applications where a robot interacts with other people in unknown environments. Our Projection Surfaces Detector and the Image Correction module allow a mobile robot to find the right surface and display images without deformation, improving its ability to interact with people

Biosorption of Heavy Metals by Candida albicans

The objective of this work was to study the resistance and removal capacity of heavy metals by the yeast Candida albicans. The resistance of some heavy metals was analyzed: the yeast grows in 2000 ppm of chromium, zinc, lead, and copper, 1500 ppm of arsenic (III), 500 ppm of silver, and little bit in cobalt (300 ppm) and mercury and cadmium (200 ppm). Analyzing its potential to remove heavy metals, it can efficiently remove is as follows: Cr(VI) (76%), lead (57%), silver (51%), cadmium (46%), fairly arsenic(III) (40% with the modified biomass), cobalt (37%), mercury (36%), copper (31%), little bit zinc (22%), and fluoride (10%). We determine the optimal characteristics for chromium(VI) removal in living cells and death biomass. The ideal conditions for the removal of 50 mg/L of Cr(VI) in living cells were 28°C, pH 7.0, and 10 × 106 yeast/mL, with glycerol-like carbon source. In dead yeast biomass, the ideal conditions for removal of metal are 200 mg/L of Cr(VI), 60°C, pH 1.0, 20 h, and 5 g of biomass