Using Real-Time Stereo Vision for Mobile Robot Navigation

This paper describes a working vision-based mobile robot that navigates and autonomously explores its environment while building occupancy grid maps of the environment. We present a method for reducing stereo vision disparity images to two-dimensional map information. Stereo vision has several attributes that set it apart from other sensors more commonly used for occupancy grid mapping. We discuss these attributes, the errors that some of them create, and how to overcome them. We reduce errors by segmenting disparity images based on continuous disparity surfaces to reject spikes caused by stereo mismatches. Stereo vision processing and map updates are done at 5 Hz and the robot moves at speeds of 300 cm/s.     

移动机器人立体视觉高精度标定技术

摄像机标定是移动机器人立体视觉的一个关键步骤,标定精度直接影响到障碍检测和路径规划的精度。在前人研究的基础上,提出了一种迭代方式的摄像机标定算法。算法将摄像机参数分为畸变参数和非畸变参数两类,每次迭代中固定一类参数来求解另一类参数,最终得到优化解。通过合理组织参数求解次序,迭代的每一步都可以通过最小二乘法得到闭式解,从而简化了计算。算法可以方便地进行扩展以包含不同类型的畸变参数,而不会增加算法的复杂度。实验结果表明此算法可以有效提高标定精度,可用于移动机器人的视觉系统。     

基于立体视觉的移动机器人导航算法

移动机器人立体视觉系统不仅提供三维地形图用于障碍规避和路径规划,其结果还可以用于视觉导航。以移动机器人立体视觉系统为基础,研究了基于前后两个位置上立体图对的视觉测量算法用于移动机器人的连续导航,讨论了影响导航精度的因素和改进方法;研究了基于局部和全局三维地形图的地形匹配算法用于定期校正位置误差,算法实现简便,定位精度取决于地形图精度。实验结果证明了两种方法的有效性,可以兼顾近距离和中远距离导航任务。     

Neural Network Control of Mobile Robot Formations Using RISE Feedback

In this paper, an asymptotically stable (AS) combined kinematic/torque control law is developed for leader–follower-based formation control using backstepping in order to accommodate the complete dynamics of the robots and the formation, and a neural network (NN) is introduced along with robust integral of the sign of the error feedback to approximate the dynamics of the follower as well as its leader using online weight tuning. It is shown using Lyapunov theory that the errors for the entire formation are AS and that the NN weights are bounded as opposed to uniformly ultimately bounded stability which is typical with most NN controllers. Additionally, the stability of the formation in the presence of obstacles is examined using Lyapunov methods, and by treating other robots in the formation as obstacles, collisions within the formation do not occur. The asymptotic stability of the follower robots as well as the entire formation during an obstacle avoidance maneuver is demonstrated using Lyapunov methods, and numerical results are provided to verify the theoretical conjectures.      

移动机器人双目立体视觉测量系统研究

研究了一种用于移动机器人进行三维感知的被动双目立体视觉测量系统。首先建立了该系统的数学模型,然后针对其双通道图像同时采集和大数据量快速处理的需要,采用了基于多媒体DSP芯片DM642硬件系统构架,并应用了一种基于SUSAN角点特征的区域匹配算法。实验表明该系统测量速度快、精度高。     

基于立体视觉的移动机器人导航方法的研究

提出一种新颖、有效的移动机器人导航方法.首先利用归一化RGB值的特性和几何封闭性提取出道路区域和可疑障碍物区域;然后利用重投影以及灰度相似性剔除路面水迹及裂痕;接着对障碍物区域进行局部视差连续性约束下的相似性匹配,并构造障碍物的最大包围盒;最后对连续二帧图像进行色调均值和方差的匹配以估计障碍物的相对速度,利用不同的策略进行避障.道路区域和障碍物区域的提取实验以及避障的仿真实验验证了该方法的有效性.     

Neural Network-Based Vision for Precise Control of a Walking Robot

This article describes a connectionist vision system for the precise control of a robot designed to walk on the exterior of the space station. The network learns to use video camera input to determine the displacement of the robot's gripper relative to a hole in which the gripper must be inserted. Once trained, the network's output is used to control the robot, with a resulting factor of five fewer missed gripper insertions than occur when the robot walks without sensor feedback. The neural network visual feedback techniques described could also be applied in domains such as manufacturing, where precise robot positioning is required in an uncertain environment.     

Training a Vision Guided Mobile Robot

This paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a trainable vision guided mobile robot. The robot, CORGI, has a CCD camera as its only sensor which it is trained to use for a variety of tasks. The techniques used for training and the choice of natural light vision as the primary sensor makes the methodology immediately applicable to tasks such as trash collection or fruit picking. For example, the robot is readily trained to perform a ball finding task which involves avoiding obstacles and aligning with tennis balls. The robot is able to move at speeds up to 0.8 ms^-1 while performing this task, and has never had a collision in the trained environment. It can process video and update the actuators at 11 Hz using a single $20 microprocessor to perform all computation. Further results are shown to evaluate the system for generalization across unseen domains, fault tolerance and dynamic environments.     

Training a Vision Guided Mobile Robot

This paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a trainable vision guided mobile robot. The robot, CORGI, has a CCD camera as its only sensor which it is trained to use for a variety of tasks. The techniques used for train ing and the choice of natural light vision as the primary sensor makes the methodology immediately applicable to tasks such as trash collection or fruit picking. For example, the robot is readily trained to perform a ball finding task which involves avoiding obstacles and aligning with tennis balls. The robot is able to move at speeds up to 0.8 ms^-1 while performing this task, and has never had a collision in the trained environment. It can process video and update the actuators at 11 Hz using a single $20 microprocessor to perform all computation. Further results are shown to evaluate the system for generalization across unseen domains, fault tolerance and dynamic environments.     

融合路径跟踪模式的多移动机器人有序化群集运动控制

针对多移动机器人群集运动的实现及其避障问题,提出了一类融合路径跟踪模式的有序化群集运动控制算法．该算法将有leader的群集运动模式与队列运动模式相结合,实现了多机器人系统快速聚合行为与有效避障行为的统一．移动机器人群仿真实验验证了该方法的有效性．     

Active Appearance-Based Robot Localization Using Stereo Vision

A vision-based robot localization system must be robust: able to keep track of the position of the robot at any time even if illumination conditions change and, in the extreme case of a failure, able to efficiently recover the correct position of the robot. With this objective in mind, we enhance the existing appearance-based robot localization framework in two directions by exploiting the use of a stereo camera mounted on a pan-and-tilt device. First, we move from the classical passive appearance-based localization framework to an active one where the robot sometimes executes actions with the only purpose of gaining information about its location in the environment. Along this line, we introduce an entropy-based criterion for action selection that can be efficiently evaluated in our probabilistic localization system. The execution of the actions selected using this criterion allows the robot to quickly find out its position in case it gets lost. Secondly, we introduce the use of depth maps obtained with the stereo cameras. The information provided by depth maps is less sensitive to changes of illumination than that provided by plain images. The main drawback of depth maps is that they include missing values: points for which it is not possible to reliably determine depth information. The presence of missing values makes Principal Component Analysis (the standard method used to compress images in the appearance-based framework) unfeasible. We describe a novel Expectation-Maximization algorithm to determine the principal components of a data set including missing values and we apply it to depth maps. The experiments we present show that the combination of the active localization with the use of depth maps gives an efficient and robust appearance-based robot localization system.     

移动机器人网络控制系统的输出反馈控制

以线性时不变系统为被控对象,建立了四轮移动机器人网络控制系统的离散数学模型。诱导时延是影响系统性能的关键因素,通过在节点中设置缓冲区的方法可以将网络控制系统中的随机诱导时延转化为确定性时延,从而将网络控制系统由随机系统转化为确定性系统。通过被控对象移动机器人控制实验系统,设计了一个能处理网络诱导时延的输出反馈控制器,分析了采样周期和网络诱导时延对网络控制系统稳定性的影响。仿真结果表明了该控制器和控制策略的正确性及有效性。     

球形移动机器人基于神经网络的反馈线性化运动控制研究与实验

实现了一种对球形移动机器人的滚动速度进行控制的方法.球形移动机器人的控制输入和状态输出间存在难以精确数学描述的非线性关系,本文采用径向基函数神经网络,以在线训练的方式建立了球形机器人输入与输出的非线性映射;然后采用反馈线性化方法,设计了球形机器人的速度控制器,该控制器由反馈线性化控制器和减小神经网络逼近误差的补偿控制器构成;给出了该控制器的实现步骤.多次实验结果表明,该方法可以实现球形移动机器人稳定的速度控制.     

拖挂式移动机器人反馈镇定控制问题研究

由于拖挂式移动机器人系统存在非完整约束,导致系统的反馈镇定控制问题不存在任何连续时不变渐近稳定控制方法,为此基于有限时间高阶滑摸方法提出一种非连续的反馈镇定控制方法.首先分析了系统的控制特性,证明系统的位形控制问题不存在稳定的时不变的光滑的反馈控制;然后利用进行坐标和输入变换,将系统变换为链接形式;基于链式系统利用有限时间高阶滑模设计了一种非连续的控制方法.数值仿真结果表明该控制方法能够在有限时间内控制拖挂式移动机器人稳定在给定位形.     

基于模糊控制的移动机器人视觉反馈跟踪

探讨视觉空间下非完整移动机器人的跟踪问题。在不校准摄像机视觉参数的前提下,提出一种利用视觉反馈信息设计非完整移动机器人轨迹跟踪的模糊控制方法。其模糊控制使用Mamdani推理机,包含if-then规则和重心法,对线速度和角速度进行控制。仿真结果证明了该方法的有效性。     

Neural Network Control of Multifingered Robot Hands Using Visual Feedback

It is interesting to observe that humans are able to manipulate an object easily and skillfully without the exact knowledge of the object, contact points, or kinematics of our fingers. However, research so far on multifingered robot control has assumed that the kinematics and contact points of the fingers are known exactly. In many applications of multifingered robot hands, the kinematics and contact points of the fingers are uncertain and structures of the Jacobian matrices are unknown. In this paper, we propose an adaptive neural network (NN) Jacobian controller for multifingered robot hand with uncertainties in kinematics, Jacobian matrices, and dynamics. It is shown that using NNs, the uniform ultimate boundedness of the position error can be achieved in the presence of the uncertainties. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed controller.     

基于机器视觉的工业机器人定位系统

建立了一个主动机器视觉定位系统,用于工业机器人对零件工位的精确定位.采用基于区域的匹配和形状特征识别相结合的图像处理方法,该方法经过阈值和形状判据,识别出物体特征.经实验验证,该方法能够快速准确地得到物体的边界和质心,进行数据识别和计算,再结合机器人运动学原理控制机器人实时运动以消除此误差,满足工业机器人自定位的要求.     

移动机器人视觉导航控制研究

该文研究了移动机器人视觉导航的控制问题。针对导航中的图像畸变以及视野有限易造成导航线丢失等问题,提出了一种简单的单目视觉目标定位算法和一种新的控制策略。在导航时,首先利用定位算法精确地获取地面目标的深度信息,然后控制机器人沿一系列切线方向平滑接近导航线(或目标),并根据实施控制的时间间隔控制速度,以保证机器人视野中导航线(或目标)不丢失。实际的应用证明了该定位算法和策略的有效性。