Reconfigurable Computing Systems for Robotics using a Component-Oriented Approach

Robotic platforms are becoming more complex due to the wide range of modern applications, including multiple heterogeneous sensors and actuators. In order to comply with real-time and power-consumption constraints, these systems need to process a large amount of heterogeneous data from multiple sensors and take action (via actuators), which represents a problem as the resources of these systems have limitations in memory storage, bandwidth, and computational power. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are programmable logic devices that offer high-speed parallel processing. FPGAs are particularly well-suited for applications that require real-time processing, high bandwidth, and low latency. One of the fundamental advantages of FPGAs is their flexibility in designing hardware tailored to specific needs, making them adaptable to a wide range of applications. They can be programmed to pre-process data close to sensors, which reduces the amount of data that needs to be transferred to other computing resources, improving overall system efficiency. Additionally, the reprogrammability of FPGAs enables them to be repurposed for different applications, providing a cost-effective solution that needs to adapt quickly to changing demands. FPGAs' performance per watt is close to that of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), with the added advantage of being reprogrammable. Despite all the advantages of FPGAs (e.g., energy efficiency, computing capabilities), the robotics community has not fully included them so far as part of their systems for several reasons. First, designing FPGA-based solutions requires hardware knowledge and longer development times as their programmability is more challenging than Central Processing Units (CPUs) or Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Second, porting a robotics application (or parts of it) from software to an accelerator requires adequate interfaces between software and FPGAs. Third, the robotics workflow is already complex on its own, combining several fields such as mechanics, electronics, and software. There have been partial contributions in the state-of-the-art for FPGAs as part of robotics systems. However, a study of FPGAs as a whole for robotics systems is missing in the literature, which is the primary goal of this dissertation. Three main objectives have been established to accomplish this. (1) Define all components required for an FPGAs-based system for robotics applications as a whole. (2) Establish how all the defined components are related. (3) With the help of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) techniques, generate these components, deploy them, and integrate them into existing solutions. The component-oriented approach proposed in this dissertation provides a proper solution for designing and implementing FPGA-based designs for robotics applications. The modular architecture, the tool 'FPGA Interfaces for Robotics Middlewares' (FIRM), and the toolchain 'FPGA Architectures for Robotics' (FAR) provide a set of tools and a comprehensive design process that enables the development of complex FPGA-based designs more straightforwardly and efficiently. The component-oriented approach contributed to the state-of-the-art in FPGA-based designs significantly for robotics applications and helps to promote their wider adoption and use by specialists with little FPGA knowledge

Equipo didáctico de desarrollo para Procesamiento Digital de Señales utilizando DSPic

Se diseñó y construyó una placa de desarrollo para la arquitectura DSPic de Microchip [1] destinada al procesamiento digital de señales analógicas de frecuencia menores a 300.000 ciclos por segundo. La misma se podrá emplear para adquisición de señales analógicas provenientes de sensores de magnitudes físicas y para el procesamiento de señales de audio, pudiéndose obtener una salida analógica como resultado, o la transmisión de la información a través de protocolos de comunicación de uso general en la industria (RS232, I2C, SPI RS485, USB). Con la placa se podrán experimentar distintas técnicas de filtrado de señales digitales estudiadas en la cátedra de Técnicas Digitales III [2] que hoy en día realiza estas prácticas por simulación. Además, permitirá aplicar técnicas de depuración de código en tiempo real del procesador mediante el uso de un programador para este tipo de tecnología denominado ICD2 [3]. La arquitectura elegida tiene como principales ventajas su disponibilidad, bajo costo, abundancia de bibliografía y soporte técnico, y herramientas de desarrollo gratuitas combinadas con una mediana capacidad de procesamiento.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Towards information-based feedback control for binaural active localization

International audienceThis paper takes place within the field of sound source localization by combining the signals sensed by a binaural head with its motor commands. Such so-called "active" schemes are known to overcome limitations occurring in the static context, such as front-back ambiguities or distance non-observability. On the basis of a stochastic filter, which approximates the posterior probability density function of the sensor-to-source situation, a feedback controller of the sensor motion is proposed so as to reduce the associated uncertainty. An information-theoretic analysis of the effect of the sensor motion on the localization uncertainty is first conducted. Then, a gradient ascent scheme is used to drive the head towards the area of minimum uncertainty (maximum information). An evaluation on simulated scenarios, as well as on data coming from real experiments, is included

A One-step-ahead Information-based Feedback Control for Binaural Active Localization

International audienceFundamental limitations of binaural localization, such as front-back ambiguity or distance non-observability, can be overcome by combining the sensed audio signals with the sensor motor commands into "active" schemes. Such strategies can rely on stochastic filtering. In this context, this paper addresses the determination of an admissible motion of a binaural head leading, on average, to the one-step-ahead most informative localization. To this aim, a constrained optimization problem is set up, which consists in maximizing the entropy of the next predicted measurement probability density function over a cylindric admissible set. The proposed optimum policy is validated on real-life robotic experiments

An Information Based Feedback Control for Audio-Motor Binaural Localization

International audienceIn static scenarios, binaural sound localization is fundamentally limited by front-back ambiguity and distance non-observability. Over the past few years, "active" schemes have been shown to overcome these shortcomings, by combining spatial binaural cues with the motor commands of the sensor. In this context, given a Gaussian prior on the relative position to a source, this paper determines an admissible motion of a binaural head which leads, on average, to the one-step-ahead most informative audio-motor localization. To this aim, a constrained optimization problem is set up, which consists in maximizing the entropy of the next predicted measurement probability density function over a cylindric admissible set. The method is appraised through geometrical arguments, and validated in simulations and on real-life robotic experiments

Supporting Utilities for Heterogeneous Embedded Image Processing Platforms (STHEM): An Overview

The TULIPP project aims to simplify development of embedded vision applications with low-power and real-time requirements by providing a complete image processing system package called the TULIPP Starter Kit. To achieve this, the chosen high-performance embedded vision platform needs to be extended with performance analysis and power measurement features. The lack of such features plagues most embedded vision platforms in general and practitioners have adopted adhoc methods to circumvent the problem. In this paper, we describe four generic utilities that complement and refine the capabilities of existing platforms for embedded vision applications. Concretely, we describe a novel power measurement and analysis utility, a platform-optimized image processing library, a dynamic partial reconfiguration utility, and an utility providing support for using the real-time OS HIPPEROS within Xilinx SDSoC. Collectively, these utilities enable efficient development of image processing applications on the TULIPP hardware platform. In future work, we will evaluate the relative benefit of these utilities on key embedded image processing metrics such as frame rate and power consumption

Database of binaural room impulse responses of an apartment-like environment

International audienceWe present a database of binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) measured in an apartment-like environment. The BRIRs were captured at four different sound source positions, each combined with four listener positions. A head and torso simulator (HATS) with varying head-orientation in the range of ±78 • with 2 • resolution was used. Additionally, BRIRs of 20 listener positions along a trajectory connecting two of the four positions were measured, each with a fixed head-orientation. The data is provided in the Spatially Oriented Format for Acoustics (SOFA) and it is freely available under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-4.0) license. It can be used to simulate complex acoustic scenes in order to study the process of auditory scene analysis for humans and machines

Binaural room impulse responses of an apartment-like environment

<p>Measured Binaural Room Impulse Responses (BRIR) of the ADREAM Laboratory, LAAS-CNRS, Toulouse, France. The measurements are described in detail in this publication:</p> <p>F. Winter, H. Wierstorf, A. Podlubne, T. Forgue, J. Manhès, M. Herrb, S. Spors, A. Raake, and P. Danès, "Database of binaural room impulse responses of an apartment-like environment," Proc. of 140th Aud. Eng. Soc. Conv., Paris, 2016</p> <p>Abstract of the Publication:</p> <p>We present a database of measured binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) captured in an apartment-like environment. The BRIRs were measured for four different sound source positions, each combined with four listener positions with a head-orientation varying in the range of +-78° with 2° resolution.  Additionally,  BRIRs for 20 listener positions along a trajectory connecting two of the four positions were measured, each with a fixed head-orientation. The data is provided in the Spatially Oriented Format for Acoustics (SOFA) and it is freely available under Creative Commons (CC-BY-4.0). It can be used to simulate complex acoustic scenes in order to study the process of auditory scene analysis for humans and machines.</p