基于主动环形闭合约束的移动机器人分层同时定位和地图创建

基于Rao-Blackwellized粒子滤波器提出了一种基于主动闭环策略的移动机器人分层同时定位和地图创建(simultaneous localization and mapping,SLAM)方法,基于信息熵的主动闭环策略同时考虑机器人位姿和地图的不确定性;局部几何特征地图之间的相对关系通过一致性算法估计,并通过环形闭合约束的最小化过程回溯修正.在仅有单目视觉和里程计的基础上,建立了鲁棒的感知模型;通过有效的尺度不变特征变换(scale invariant feature transform,SIFT)方法提取环境特征,基于KD-Tree的最近邻搜索算法实现特征匹配.实际实验表明该方法为实现SLAM提供了一种有效可靠的途径.     

Robust omnidirectional mobile robot topological navigation system using omnidirectional vision

Robust topological navigation strategy for omnidirectional mobile robot using an omnidirectional camera is described. The navigation system is composed of on-line and off-line stages. During the off-line learning stage, the robot performs paths based on motion model about omnidirectional motion structure and records a set of ordered key images from omnidirectional camera. From this sequence a topological map is built based on the probabilistic technique and the loop closure detection algorithm, which can deal with the perceptual aliasing problem in mapping process. Each topological node provides a set of omnidirectional images characterized by geometrical affine and scale invariant keypoints combined with GPU implementation. Given a topological node as a target, the robot navigation mission is a concatenation of topological node subsets. In the on-line navigation stage, the robot hierarchical localizes itself to the most likely node through the robust probability distribution global localization algorithm, and estimates the relative robot pose in topological node with an effective solution to the classical five-point relative pose estimation algorithm. Then the robot is controlled by a vision based control law adapted to omnidirectional cameras to follow the visual path. Experiment results carried out with a real robot in an indoor environment show the performance of the proposed method.     

Sonar mapping of a mobile robot considering position uncertainty

This paper suggests a new sonar mapping method considering the position uncertainty of a mobile robot. Sonar mapping is used for recognizing the unknown environment for a mobile robot during navigation. Usually accumulated position error of a mobile robot causes considerable deterioration of the quality of a constructed map. In this paper, therefore, a new Bayesian probability map construction method is proposed, which considers estimation of the position error of a mobile robot. In this method, we applied approximation transformation theory to estimate the position uncertainty of a real mobile robot, and introduced cell ordering uncertainty caused by the position uncertainty of a robot in cell-based map updating. Through simulation we showed the effect of a robot's position uncertainty on the quality of a reconstructed map. Also, the developed methods were implemented on a real mobile robot, AMROYS-II, which was built in our laboratory and shown to be useful enough in a real environment.     

双足机器人实时障碍检测视觉系统

提出一种双足步行机器人的实时障碍检测视觉系统．基于图像平面与机器人行走地面之间的映射变换矩阵的唯一性准则，判别图像中的像点是否位于地面上，高于或低于地面的点被认为是障碍点，为减少实际行走过程中系统外部和内部参数变化对映射变换矩阵的影响，系统加入了在线校正映射变换矩阵模块．在提取出障碍物体边缘后，通过对其三维信息的简单恢复，建立了机器人行走空间的障碍投影图．该系统计算量小，可靠性强，能基本满足双足步行机器人实时避障的要求。     

受限管道空间内压壁机器人控制方法研究

为了能够在受限管道空间内自由移动,机器人必须适应管道的各种几何变化。提出了一种压壁式机器人,可以适应管道直径和坡度的变化。还提出了一种利用安装在压壁机构上的角度传感器估计机器人主体与管道之间的相对姿态的方法。由于法向力和姿态可以从角度传感器测量的角度信息估计,机器人的姿态控制比使用压力或视觉传感器更加简单、有效。相对于管道的几何姿态估计使机器人能够识别管道的倾斜度,机器人可以根据管道倾斜度的变化来控制法向力。经过实验验证,使用所提出的方法在机器人姿态控制的同时,还可以降低机器人部件的功耗和应力。     

基于主动式全景视觉的移动机器人障碍物检测

针对现有的移动机器人视觉系统计算资源消耗大、实时性能欠佳、检测范围受限等问题,提出一种基于主动式全景视觉传感器(AODVS)的移动机器人障碍物检测方法。首先,将单视点的全方位视觉传感器(ODVS)和由配置在1个平面上的4个红色线激光组合而成的面激光发生器进行集成,通过主动全景视觉对移动机器人周边障碍物进行检测;其次,移动机器人中的全景智能感知模块根据面激光发生器投射到周边障碍物上的激光信息,通过视觉处理方法解析出移动机器人周边障碍物的距离和方位等信息;最后,基于上述信息采用一种全方位避障策略,实现移动机器人的快速避障。实验结果表明,基于AODVS的障碍物检测方法能在实现快速高效避障的同时,降低对移动机器人的计算资源的要求。     

Intelligent and Efficient Strategy for Unstructured Environment Sensing Using Mobile Robot Agents

In field environments it is not usually possible to provide robots in advance with valid geometric models of its task and environment. The robot or robot teams need to create these models by scanning the environment with its sensors. Here, an information-based iterative algorithm to plan the robot's visual exploration strategy is proposed to enable it to most efficiently build 3D models of its environment and task. The method assumes mobile robot (or vehicle) with vision sensors mounted at a manipulator end-effector (eye-in-hand system). This algorithm efficiently repositions the systems' sensing agents using an information theoretic approach and fuses sensory information using physical models to yield a geometrically consistent environment map. This is achieved by utilizing a metric derived from Shannon's information theory to determine optimal sensing poses for the agent(s) mapping a highly unstructured environment. This map is then distributed among the agents using an information-based relevant data reduction scheme. This method is particularly well suited to unstructured environments, where sensor uncertainty is significant. Issues addressed include model-based multiple sensor data fusion, and uncertainty and vehicle suspension motion compensation. Simulation results show the effectiveness of this algorithm.     

仿人机器人实时路径规划方法研究

为了使仿人机器人在人类生活环境中自由行走,将仿人机器人的动作离散化为指定的动作,将状态空间离散化为网格,利用立体视觉和平面提取方法建立环境地图,将仿人机器人的轮廓简化为双圆柱模型进行避障检测,最终在环境地图中搜寻代价最小的一系列可行的动作作为路径,通过仿真实验验证了方法的有效性。     

基于几何－拓扑广域三维地图和全向视觉的移动机器人自定位

面向大规模室内环境, 研究了基于全向视觉的移动机器人自定位. 提出用分层的几何－拓扑三维地图管理广域环境特征, 定义了不同层次的三维局部环境特征及全局拓扑属性, 给出了分层地图的应用方法. 构建了全向视觉传感器成像模型及其不确定性传播方法, 使得地图中的概率元素能够在系统中有效应用. 采用随机点预估搜索的方法提取环境元素对应的曲线边缘特征. 用带反馈的分层估计方法在融合中心对多观测特征产生的相应估计状态进行总体融合. 以分层逻辑架构设计实现了移动机器人交互式自定位系统. 实验分析了真实环境中不同初始位姿和观测信息情况下定位系统的收敛性和定位精度, 在考虑动态障碍物的遮挡情况下完成了机器人的在线环境感知和运动自定位任务. 实验结果表明本文方法的可靠性和实用性.     

Robust RGB-D simultaneous localization and mapping using planar point features

RGB-D cameras like PrimeSense and Microsoft Kinect are popular sensors in the simultaneous localization and mapping researches on mobile robots because they can provide both vision and depth information. Most of the state-of-the-art RGB-D SLAM systems employ the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm to align point features, whose spatial positions are computed by the corresponding depth data of the sensors. However, the depth measurements of features are often disturbed by noise because visual features tend to lie at the margins of real objects. In order to reduce the estimation error, we propose a method that extracts and selects the features with reliable depth values, i.e. planar point features. The planar features can benefit the accuracy and robustness of traditional ICP, while holding a reasonable computation cost for real-time applications. An efficient RGB-D SLAM system based on planar features is also demonstrated, with trajectory and map results from open datasets and a physical robot in real-world experiments.     

A unified multimodal control framework for human–robot interaction

In human–robot interaction, the robot controller must reactively adapt to sudden changes in the environment (due to unpredictable human behaviour). This often requires operating different modes, and managing sudden signal changes from heterogeneous sensor data. In this paper, we present a multimodal sensor-based controller, enabling a robot to adapt to changes in the sensor signals (here, changes in the human collaborator behaviour). Our controller is based on a unified task formalism, and in contrast with classical hybrid visicn–force–position control, it enables smooth transitions and weighted combinations of the sensor tasks. The approach is validated in a mock-up industrial scenario, where pose, vision (from both traditional camera and Kinect), and force tasks must be realized either exclusively or simultaneously, for human–robot collaboration.     

Research into the application of AI robots in community home leisure interaction

This paper focuses on comprehensive application of artificial intelligence robots for community-based leisure interaction. We propose a multiple-layer perceptron network to design and implement the intelligent interactive home robot system, which includes establishment of an environment map, autonomous navigation, obstacle-avoidance control and human–machine interaction, to complete the positioning and perception functions required by the robot in the home environment. With this system, community residents use an interactive interface to manipulate robots remotely and create an environmental map. In order for the robot to adapt in this changing environment, the robot needs to have a completely autonomous navigation and obstacle-avoidance-control system. In this study, a long-distance obstacle-avoidance fuzzy system and a short-distance anti-fall obstacle-avoidance fuzzy system were used to enable the robot to accommodate unforeseen changes. This technology proved itself capable of navigating a home environment, ensuring that the robot could instantaneously dodge nearby obstacles and correcting the robot’s path of travel. At the same time, it could prevent the robot from falling off a high dropping point and thereby effectively control the robot’s movement trajectory. After combining the above-mentioned multi-sensor and image recognition functions, the intelligent interactive home robot showed that it clearly has the ability to integrate vision, perception and interaction, and we were able to verify that the robot has the necessary adaptability in changing environments and that the design of such interactive robots can be an asset in the home.

     

一种基于功用性图的目标推抓技能自监督学习方法

提出了一种基于功用性图的目标推抓技能自监督学习方法。首先,给出了杂乱环境下面向目标推抓任务的机器人技能自监督学习问题描述,将工作空间中机器人推抓操作的决策过程定义为一个全新的马尔可夫决策过程（MDP）,分别训练视觉机制模块与动作机制模块。其次,在视觉机制模块中融合自适应参数与分组拆分注意力模块设计了特征提取网络RGSA-Net,可由输入网络的原始状态图像生成功用性图,为目标推抓操作提供良好的前提。然后,在动作机制模块中搭建了基于演员－评论家（actor-critic）框架的深度强化学习自监督训练框架DQAC,机器人根据功用性图执行动作后利用该框架进行动作评判,更好地实现了推、抓之间的协同。最后,进行了实验对比与分析,验证了本文方法的有效性。     

基于EKF的全景视觉机器人SLAM算法

研究全景视觉机器人同时定位和地图创建（SLAM）问题。针对普通视觉视野狭窄, 对路标的连续跟踪和定位能力差的问题, 提出了一种基于改进的扩展卡尔曼滤波（EKF）算法的全景视觉机器人SLAM方法, 用全景视觉得到机器人周围的环境信息, 然后从这些信息中提取出环境特征, 定位出路标位置, 进而通过EKF算法同步更新机器人位姿和地图库。仿真实验和实体机器人实验结果验证了该算法的准确性和有效性, 且全景视觉比普通视觉定位精度更高。     

Improved visual SLAM: a novel approach to mapping and localization using visual landmarks in consecutive frames

Pathfinding is becoming more and more common in autonomous vehicle navigation, robot localization, and other computer vision applications. In this paper, a novel approach to mapping and localization is presented that extracts visual landmarks from a robot dataset acquired by a Kinect sensor. The visual landmarks are detected and recognized using the improved scale-invariant feature transform (I-SIFT) method. The methodology is based on detecting stable and invariant landmarks in consecutive (red-green-blue depth) RGB-D frames of the robot dataset. These landmarks are then used to determine the robot path, and a map is constructed by using the visual landmarks. A number of experiments were performed on various datasets in an indoor environment. The proposed method performs efficient landmark detection in various environments, which includes changes in rotation and illumination. The experimental results show that the proposed method can solve the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem using stable visual landmarks, but with less computation time.     

Global Navigation in Dynamic Environments Using Case-Based Reasoning

This paper presents a global navigation strategy for autonomous mobile robots in large-scale uncertain environments. The aim of this approach is to minimize collision risk and time delays by adapting to the changes in a dynamic environment. The issue of obstacle avoidance is addressed on the global level. It focuses on a navigation strategy that prevents the robot from facing the situations where it has to avoid obstacles. To model the partially known environment, a grid-based map is used. A modified wave-transform algorithm is described that finds several alternative paths from the start to the goal. Case-based reasoning is used to learn from past experiences and to adapt to the changes in the environment. Learning and adaptation by means of case-based reasoning permits the robot to choose routes that are less risky to follow and lead faster to the goal. The experimental results demonstrate that using case-based reasoning considerably increases the performance of the robot in a difficult uncertain environment. The robot learns to take actions that are more predictable, minimize collision risk and traversal time as well as traveled distances.     

Environment model adaptation for mobile robot exploration

In this work, we propose a methodology to adapt a mobile robot’s environment model during exploration as a means of decreasing the computational complexity associated with information metric evaluation and consequently increasing the speed at which the system is able to plan actions and travel through an unknown region given finite computational resources. Recent advances in exploration compute control actions by optimizing information-theoretic metrics on the robot’s map. These metrics are generally computationally expensive to evaluate, limiting the speed at which a robot is able to explore. To reduce computational cost, we propose keeping two representations of the environment: one full resolution representation for planning and collision checking, and another with a coarse resolution for rapidly evaluating the informativeness of planned actions. To generate the coarse representation, we employ the Principal of Relevant Information from rate distortion theory to compress a robot’s occupancy grid map. We then propose a method for selecting a coarse representation that sacrifices a minimal amount of information about expected future sensor measurements using the Information Bottleneck Method. We outline an adaptive strategy that changes the robot’s environment representation in response to its surroundings to maximize the computational efficiency of exploration. On computationally constrained systems, this reduction in complexity enables planning over longer predictive horizons, leading to faster navigation. We simulate and experimentally evaluate mutual information based exploration through cluttered indoor environments with exploration rates that adapt based on environment complexity leading to an order-of-magnitude increase in the maximum rate of exploration in contrast to non-adaptive techniques given the same finite computational resources.     

Selecting Landmarks for Localization in Natural Terrain

We describe techniques to optimally select landmarks for performing mobile robot localization by matching terrain maps. The method is based upon a maximum-likelihood robot localization algorithm that efficiently searches the space of possible robot positions. We use a sensor error model to estimate a probability distribution over the terrain expected to be seen from the current robot position. The estimated distribution is compared to a previously generated map of the terrain and the optimal landmark is selected by minimizing the predicted uncertainty in the localization. This approach has been applied to the generation of a sensor uncertainty field that can be used to plan a robot's movements. Experiments indicate that landmark selection improves not only the localization uncertainty, but also the likelihood of success. Examples of landmark selection are given using real and synthetic data.     

Detection of robustly collision-free trajectories in unpredictable environments in real-time

One of the ultimate goals in robotics is to make robots of high degrees of freedom (DOF) work autonomously in real world environments. However, real world environments are unpredictable, i.e., how the objects move are usually not known beforehand. Thus, whether a robot trajectory is collision-free or not has to be checked on-line based on sensing as the robot moves. Moreover, in order to guarantee safe motion, the motion uncertainty of the robot has to be taken into account. This paper introduces a general approach to detect if a high-DOF robot trajectory is continuously collision-free even in the presence of robot motion uncertainty in an unpredictable environment in real time. Our method is based on the novel concept of dynamic envelope, which takes advantage of progressive sensing over time without predicting motions of objects in an environment or assuming specific object motion patterns. The introduced approach can be used by general real-time motion planners to check if a candidate robot trajectory is continuously and robustly collision-free (i.e., in spite of uncertainty in the robot motion).